created by: duffer brothers
Language: English
Mould: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Jamie Campbell Bower and Linda Hamilton
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rating: 2/5
Stranger Things Season 5 Review: After a month-long wait, the highly anticipated finale of Stranger Things season 5 is finally here, and the story picks up where it left off. With a runtime of 2 hours and 8 minutes, expectations were high that the Duffer Brothers would deliver a powerful, cohesive conclusion to one of Netflix’s most ambitious series. The main question was simple: could the finale tie it all together? Unfortunately, the answer leans towards ‘no’.
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an overextended final act
Despite its lengthy runtime, the finale effectively concludes its main conflict within the first hour. The remaining time is devoted to extended emotional beats and subplots that feel unnecessary and could have been significantly cut down. What should have been a tightly packed conclusion should have been emotionally resonant, but instead becomes bloated, contributing little to the overall resolution in the final hour.
Limited impact of key emotional scenes
Emotionally, the episode struggles the most, and this weakness ultimately defines the finale. The narrative relies heavily on extended sequences of characters crying, pausing, and remembering the past, which clearly attempts to evoke a sense of nostalgia and finality. These moments are given a considerable amount of screen time, yet they rarely translate into real emotional impact.
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Even moments meant to symbolize hope, closure or celebration, such as the characters’ graduation, fail to leave a lasting impression. Instead of feeling triumphant or bittersweet, these scenes pass by without establishing a strong emotional connection.
Many characters are shown grieving, reflecting, or breaking down without enough groundwork being laid to justify such intensity. As a result, these reactions feel exaggerated and disconnected from the relationships established throughout the season.
character progression in the finale
Character treatment remains uneven. Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) undergoes remarkable development throughout the season, only to make meaningful use of his powers once. Eleven is once again pushed firmly into the role of central protagonist, although her ending is one of the few aspects that works well. Meanwhile, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Max, and Will have been largely sidelined, and the spotlight has focused almost entirely on Henry Creel/001. While this focus makes sense thematically, it comes at the cost of ignoring the group that defines the series.
Nancy appears briefly in a few scenes, but Jonathan and Robin suffer from a lack of emotional foundation. Their shared moments of sadness and nostalgia feel confusing, as the series never establishes a deep emotional bond between them. As a result, their responses lack authenticity and impact.
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Visually Strong Start
Visually, the finale shines in its first half, delivering the cinematic spectacle you’ve come to expect from Stranger Things. However, the second half feels forced visually and narratively, as if the style is compensating for the lack of content. Vecna’s backstory is finally revealed, but it plays out in a largely predictable manner, and some of the anticipated connections, particularly those involving Joyce, remain unexplained.
The series has always embraced a slow pace, but here it veers into slowness. The second half drags, with many dialogues and contemplative moments feeling unnecessary and self-indulgent. Kali’s increased presence provides a brief sense of continuity with previous seasons, but it’s not enough to restore balance or depth.
question filled ending
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is the lack of answers. Many pending questions from the previous season remain unresolved, making the finale intentionally feel incomplete rather than open-ended. Waiting from 2016 to 2026 for a conclusion, only to be left with an open-ended finale, makes the journey seem more tiring than rewarding.
The Stranger Things season 5 finale, now streaming on Netflix, delivers spectacle, nostalgia, and ambition, but fails to provide a truly satisfying conclusion.