★★★☆☆

After nearly 10 years, five seasons, and 42 episodes, Stranger Things has come to an end with a whimper rather than a bang. A cult show inspired by 1980s nostalgia and classic films, like Stand By Me (1986), grew until the children of Hawkins were battling ancient beings, army troops, and inter-dimensional portals.

The first four seasons were thrilling; while the writers clearly lost their way as budgets and fame grew, they remained enjoyable. However, the quality has dropped significantly in this fifth and final season, to the point that fans are still trying to bridge the plot holes themselves.

Split into two volumes and a feature-length finale, Stranger Things season five was, at times, a chore to complete. The biggest issue is that the writers made the safest possible choice at every turn. The creators, the Duffer Brothers, seem terrified of rattling their dedicated fanbase, resulting in a significant lack of emotional stakes. While the writing in previous seasons was never award-worthy, there are so many clichés and irregularities here that one could easily imagine an A.I wrote it.

The season picks up in the autumn of 1987, almost two years after Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) opened the gates of a hellish portal in Hawkins. Reality and the Upside Down have now bled into one. People are trying their best to continue their daily lives despite their Indiana town being under military quarantine. Under the radar, our team of suspiciously older-looking heroes is training to take on Vecna. The opening episode is exposition-heavy, using Robin (Maya Hawke) and Steve’s (Joe Keery) new roles at the local radio station to update the audience on the characters’ statuses. It’s also a handy way for the writers to cherry-pick what to retain from previous seasons and what to discard.

While Hawkins cosplays as a normal town — somehow, the inhabitants still don’t realise they live in a hellmouth — our heroes plan covert missions to find Vecna. While Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) are at school, Robin and Steve, along with Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), use radio equipment for scouting.

Aside from many of these school-age children looking old enough to have mortgages and families of their own, there’s a significant lack of character development. Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve are still trapped in a love triangle that is long past its sell-by date. The only character who receives a genuine arc post-season four is Dustin, who’s still grieving Eddie (Joseph Quinn). The former joker is now a bitter, angry shell of his former self.

While life goes on in Hawkins, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is being trained by Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) to become a superhero figure; she can now essentially fly and incapacitate enemies through mind control. The first few episodes disappointingly scatter the cast across different realms, forgetting that their chemistry is the show’s primary appeal.

The second episode picks up slightly as we finally reach the show’s homage to ‘80s horror. The third and fourth episodes show genuine promise as the gore ramps up, making this the most visceral season yet. However, the back end of the series begins to stall.

Aside from the threat of Vecna, season five struggles with a secret-lab plot line. Replacing Dr Martin Brenner this season is Dr Kay (Linda Hamilton), a sinister woman who has learned to run a lab within the Upside Down. This is one of several plot points that fizzles out without purpose. Kay’s existence feels less relevant to the plot and more like a need to retrace old steps. One of the writers’ biggest issues is a lack of originality and a tendency to return to a well-worn formula.

The first two volumes struggle to manage so many supporting characters. The show is almost allergic to killing people off; this is evident as the writers attempt to balance a massive main cast alongside various secondary characters. Also returning are Mike and Nancy’s mother, Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), the well-connected Murray (Brett Gelman), and Lucas’s sharp-tongued little sister, Erica (Priah Ferguson), who continues to steal every scene.

But then they add even more characters, with Robin’s new love interest Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) and science teacher Mr Clarke (Randy Havens) joining the core group. The writers manage this crowd by splitting them into teams, but there simply isn’t enough time or content to go around. This means some of our beloved core group are sidelined; Hopper, Joyce, Dustin, and Lucas certainly have less to do than they should.

Strangely, this final season marginalises our leads and places Mike and Nancy’s little sister at the centre of the action. Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) starts interacting with an imaginary friend called Mr Whatsit (also played by Bower). She and Max (Sadie Sink) — who remains trapped in a memory loop while her body lies in a coma —team up to escape a realm filled with lost thoughts and stolen children. After years of following the original five, it’s frustrating that the big moments of the first volume belong to Max and Holly. While Fisher is excellent as the plucky young heroine, pushing a minor character into the spotlight so close to the finale feels like an unusual choice.

These eight episodes feel simultaneously rushed and slow-paced. Individual episodes drag, yet the writers seemingly lacked the time to fully explore the plots or provide necessary character arcs. Emotional monologues and heart-to-hearts occupy large chunks of the middle episodes. While it’s pleasant to learn more about the characters’ inner lives, these moments are often poorly placed. Midway through perilous journeys, characters stop to discuss their relationships, which kills the pacing and eliminates any sense of urgency.

The penultimate episode is a full exposition dump explaining the true nature of the Upside Down. The mythology behind Vecna is one of the better elements here. However, the Duffer brothers do audiences a disservice by linking the TV show too closely to the stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is only available in two cities. Still, the world-building is compelling, and we finally get answers to long-standing questions. While these answers aren’t the most creative, they do offer resolution.

As the core cast enter their twenties, it’s become clear who the natural actors are. Noah Schnapp is a weak link, struggling with his character’s emotional beats. Millie Bobby Brown also delivers her lines somewhat mechanically, pouting through the big moments. Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Sadie Sink are the MVPs with strong careers ahead, while Caleb McLaughlin isn’t given enough to showcase his adult skills. Joe Keery continues his charm offensive, while Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, and Natalia Dyer bring more to their characters than the writing probably deserves.

Visually, season five is the show’s ugliest to date. With a budget rumoured to be around $60M per episode, the effects don’t look like they belong in such an expensive production. It often looks as though the team is walking through a 1990s Linkin Park music video. The changes to Vecna are also a downgrade; a new “tree-like” effect makes him look like an evil Groot. Giving the show such a massive budget was arguably a mistake; it was much scarier when they used lighting and unseen creatures instead of clunky CGI monsters.

The season builds towards an epic smackdown in the finale, where the characters unite to defeat evil. While the finale isn’t Game of Thrones (2011-19) levels of bad, and certainly won’t poison the show’s legacy, it felt like the safest possible exit. The show had established false memories, unreliable narrators, and even time travel, yet it ultimately played by the book to deliver an unmemorable two-hour climax. The writers should’ve trusted their audience more and provided more thrills, shocks, and consequences.

While the writing’s clunky, there’s still a sense of excitement to the proceedings. No matter how weak the dialogue or how many plot holes you encounter, you’ll always go back for more. This is why it’s so disappointing that the show never quite delivers on its promises.

The final half-hour’s an extended epilogue that’s unnecessary but not wholly ineffective. Set in 1989, it’s not just a farewell to these characters but a goodbye to the 1980s and to childhood itself. To some, the story ends on a note of optimism; to others, it’s a cop-out. In a world of cancelled shows and recasts, it’s at least nice that we got to say a proper goodbye to Hawkins.

USA | 2025 | 8 EPISODES | 2.00:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

writers: The Duffer Brothers, Caitlin Schneiderhan, Paul Dichter, Curtisa Gwinn & Kate Trefry,
directors: The Duffer Brothers, Frank Darabont & Shawn Levy.
starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Brett Gelman, Priah Ferguson, Linda Hamilton, Cara Buono & Jamie Campbell Bower.