STRANGER THINGS: THE COMPLETE FINAL SEASON
Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Sadie Sink
Creators: The Duffer Brothers
AMARÚ
VOLUME ONE
Even after years between episodes, once you return to Hawkins for each season of Stranger Things, series creators The Duffer Brothers quickly remind you why we have loved this show for so long. Their writing and directing aren’t off-the-wall unique or top of the line, but it’s everything we want from our favorite franchises: an absolute blast. Combined with a cast that, while hilariously older, injects charm and care into the perfect handle the Duffers have on their creation, Volume One of the final season ups the action, scares, scope, and stakes to bring us all back into the inevitable fold. It’s just so good.
VOLUME TWO & FINALE
Aside from an anticlimactic government side plot, I am glad that Season Five’s series finale landed much more solidly than Volume Two did, with the finale mostly prioritizing showing over telling after the (kind of) necessarily overlong and super-expository previous three episodes. With five seasons and nine years of epic storytelling to wrap up, the massive explanations were sluggishly knocked out before returning to the finale’s better pacing, more emotional character wrap-ups, and a fittingly hopeful epilogue that felt right for the long journey we’ve traversed. It had bumps that might irk some more than others, but I was satisfied with my last look at Hawkins.
PAIGE
VOLUME ONE
After the long awaited return of Stranger Things, the first four episodes throw you right back into Hawkins without missing a beat. The fast-paced narrative can feel a bit convoluted, offering a heavy dose of setup and lots to take in, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this show is a true phenomenon because of its characters and scope. Volume One may be a lot to digest, but it leads to such an eventful and impactful moment to make it all worth it. With only four episodes left, I’m on the edge of my seat to see where The Upside Down will take us.
VOLUME TWO & FINALE
Stranger Things Volume Two slows things down to raise the stakes in the upside down. On the other hand, the finale plays it a bit safe whilst wrapping everything up in a sentimental bow. While the final battle felt brief, the epilogue delivered all the feels and a heartfelt send-off. After watching these characters grow and endure so much over five seasons, it’s clear the show is much more than its action or sci-fi spectacle. It refocuses itself to what mattered most, which is to the characters we learned to love. It may have felt underwhelming in some parts, but in the end I found it bittersweet to reach the end of these characters' journeys in the rightside up.
QUENTIN
VOLUME ONE
Given its momentum-killing, decade-long path to Season Five, Stranger Things viewers probably fit one of two categories: blindly committed, eager to champion the series while ignoring its flaws; Or begrudgingly committed, determined to see how it ends while tolerating its flaws. I go back and forth, and Volume One epitomizes my wishy-washiness. On the blind hand, the action, gore, and stakes are elevated to series highs. On the begrudging hand, most everything is confusingly convoluted story setup, the release schedule is annoying, several actors’ performances have badly regressed, and the younger cast’s ages are laughably distracting. However, with six hours of story still to come, we’ll see…
VOLUME TWO & FINALE
…well, we’ve seen. The verdict? Very meh. Granted, this final run of Stranger Things episodes doesn’t reach Game of Thrones-levels of tragically bad, but between the overabundance of forced character moments (many of which feel unearned due to the long breaks between seasons), plot holes, logical fallacies, and the unnecessary military subplot that is ultimately abandoned, there are more things to dislike than like. That’s all without mentioning some terrible performances (Noah Schnapp and Millie Bobby Brown being the worst among them), the 50-minute epilogue in the two-hour finale, the absolute waste of Linda Hamilton, and complete lack of “oh shit!” moments. So, yeah…very meh.
ROBERT
VOLUME ONE
When a hype train loses steam, it generally is hard to recapture it; however, Stranger Things managed to reclaim the center of the zeitgeist with Season Four. Going into Season Five, given another significant chunk of time between airings, it opened itself up to criticism despite the goodwill it regenerated. Yes, the kids are grown-ass people, but in long-form storytelling, kids mature and wear their hardships, which the Hawkins contingent does. While the series-creating Duffers lost me with how the whole gang morphed into super spies, they roped me back in with fabulous production design and thrilling horror action. No frowns for Upside Downs.
VOLUME TWO & FINALE
Volume One ended on such a high that excitement for Volume Two was palpable. Unfortunately, with a lot of break-pumping happening to work on galvanizing relationships, while it mostly worked it also grinded happenings to a standstill. By the finale, a plan was set and a boss battle for the ages was foreshadowed, but disappointment ensued as converging storylines did not meet as anticipated. The visuals remained top-notch, but the action lacked overall satisfaction narratively. Luckily, the epilogue (which was half of the finale) put our beloved characters in the emotional spots we needed as an audience. Overall, minus one Intelligence and plus one Charisma.
