After quite a slog that season 5 has become with the franchise often feeling like its treading in treacle at times the Season 5 finale crammed just about everything you could wish to love about the franchise in one episode.
So far we’ve had that a season that for all its ambition, has struggled under the weight of its own importance—bloated runtimes, uneven pacing, and narrative detours that dulled the urgency of what was supposed to be the endgame.
Characters have simply been forgotten about at times with Holly Wheeler and Max taking centerstage alongside Henry Creel (Vecna) as stars of Season 5 with the others playing bit part characters at best.
There’s no getting around the fact that the ending plays things very safe. The show doesn’t radically reinvent itself, nor does it take the kind of ruthless swings that might have permanently divided the fanbase but it has opened a dialogue especially regarding the rather open-ended way the show closed out.
There’s times during the finale that plays with certain characters fates but they’re just little teasers as opposed to genuine heart in mouth moments as the Duffer brothers tease the fans but with how the episode was going everything felt safe and at no point did I feel any character of relevance was ever in danger or doubt.
I thought things wrapped up very quickly as five seasons of build-up with our villains was quite abrupt and done with without much fight or effort which very much felt like the story of the season so far. All that bloatedness has to give at some point and it was a gone in 60 seconds dispatch in this finale episode.
Heartfelt moments did come in small doses but it wasn’t particular as hard-hitting as it could have been. The writers instead stuck to more crowd-pleasers than any sort of curveball or unpredictable ending.
All of Season 5’s best material is packed into this final chapter. Ideas that felt undercooked earlier suddenly snap into focus. Character dynamics sidelined for episodes are given sharp, effective (at times) payoffs whilst other characters were redeemed ultimately pointless (poor Linda Hamilton).
The soundtrack was superb in the finale and whilst the ending doesn’t particularly push any boundaries it leaves it open for the spin-offs and other money makers that are set to follow now the initial franchise has come to a close.
Viewers looking for a bold ending will sadly be disappointed but the weakest season of them all certainly had the best pay-off even if the whole ‘Will has powers, look at his eyes’ scenes were already as overplayed and predictable as Derrick saying ‘SUCK MY FAT ONE!’ too many times to the point where the initial line delivery has now been watered down considerable.
In the end, Season 5’s finale succeeds not because it reinvents the show, but because it reminds us why we cared in the first place. After a season-long slog, Stranger Things goes out the way it knows best: loud, heartfelt, visually spectacular, and just familiar enough to feel like coming home.
