The downfall of stranger things through season five

After a long three years since its last release, critically acclaimed TV series Stranger Things released its fifth and final season. The first volume, airing on Nov. 26, consisted of four episodes, followed by a three-episode volume released on Christmas Day, with the finale episode airing on New Year’s Eve. After years of anticipation, expectations for the finale were at their peak - but, instead of celebration, the finale caused viewers to feel widespread disappointment and borderline psychosis. Although it was an enjoyable watch, it should have been better prepared and executed as it ultimately felt more like a Marvel movie than a horror show.

The majority of the backlash from the new season was targeted towards the show’s creators, the Duffer brothers, whoshaped the overarching creative vision of the season. One major contention was how the Duffers undercut any sense of suspense by keeping almost every major character alive. As fans spread misinformation about multiple confirmed deaths between vol-umes, it was surprising when there was only one major death, Eleven, which even then was left ambiguous. The confusion was further amplified by the Duffers contradictory statements in interviews, first implying Eleven’s fate was uncertain, then later saying she was definitely dead. The Duffers later claimed that they didn’t want the show to end in a “huge bloodbath”, which would explain why the final abyss battle felt unrealistic.

The writing in season five felt inconsistent, especially in comparison with prior seasons. In the beginning of production, Ross Duffer divorced his wife, Leigh Janiak, a screenwriter and director of the Fear Street trilogy who was said to have been a key creative force behind Stranger Things. Emmy-nominated et decorator, Jess Royal, explained that Janeik is “the woman behind the scenes who makes everything happen for Strang-er Things.” The absence of Janiaks’ guidance on season five explains why it wasn’t as consistent or strong as past seasons. In addition to Janiak’s absence, other factors likely contributed to the weaker writing. One of the writers was allegedly seen with a ChatGPT tab open while in the writers room, which would explain the campy dialogue and noticeable plot holes. In an interview with Collider, the Duffer brothers admitted that some major elements, like Vecna needing twelve children to merge worlds and his fixation on clocks, didn’t have a “specific reason.” With no intention behind seemingly important pieces of the show, the storyline lost part of its complexity and depth.

Numerous unrealistic moments and plot holes further disrupted the entire show’s logic. In earlier seasons characters struggled to breathe in the Upside Down due to its toxic air, yet in season five the air was suddenly harmless. Similarly, despite believing Hopper had died in season three, Max, Karen and Mr Clarke weren’t surprised to see Hopper alive in season five, greeting him normally. The creatures in the Upsidedown, Demogorgons, were largely unharmed by gunshots yet retreated in pain after Lucas kicked them. There were several scenes that would have been more realistic if they carried consequences, such as Nancy and Jonathan trapped as their surroundings melted. The scene lost tension and emotional weight when everything around them conveniently stopped collapsing and they escaped unharmed. These patterns of minimal consequences made Venca’s defeat seem less fulfilling. His downfall came surprisingly easy, especially consider-ing how suspense and intensity had been built up in the past seasons.

The queerbaiting surround-ing Will and Mike was another aspect of the show that felt incomplete and misleading. By season four, the show had clearly built towards Will’s gay identity, which was confirmed in season five. Will admitted to liking someone in his coming out speech, which the Duffers verified was Mike. Yet after this, there was only one brief one on one scene between him and Mike, where Mike reassures him they can still be “best friends”, not even asking him who his crush was. Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, implied in an interview that he had to ask the Duf-fer brothers to write in that moment in order to resolve the story line. Throughout the seasons, lingering looks, suggestive dialogue, visual parallels to other romantic relationships, and comments from Finn Wolfhard about storylines “paying off” created expectations that were never fulfilled. The Duffers likely incorporated these elements intentionally to attract a larger audience and appear more inclusive, even if they didn’t plan to follow through. Will and Mike didn’t need to end up together, especially since Mike and Eleven’s ending was mov-ing and well done. However, after seasons of buildup, elements of Will and Mike’s storyline felt pointless if the Duffers were never intended to complete it.

One of the most recent and widespread theories was formed after the finale was released. This became known as “The Conformity Gate Theory”, which claimed that the finale was a decoy and that Vecna had actually won, with a real finale predicted for Jan. 7. Although this may seem a bit farfetched, there were numerous details suggesting the finale contained uncoincidental and intentionally misleading elements. After the characters placed their Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) books on the shelf in the epi-logue, the words on the books spelled out “X A LIE” which fans interpreted as confirmation that the characters were trapped in dimension x. In another scene, cassette tapes were positioned on a shelf in a way that translated to “you did not stop me” in morse code. The number seven also appeared repeatedly throughout the finale, including the finale roll of the die at the end credits, which led many fans to believe a new episode would be released on the Jan. 7. While some details could be dismissed as just a coincidence, the seemingly directness and complexity of these elements suggest they weren’t just accidental-ly incorporated.

On Jan. 12, a behind thescenes Stranger Things documen-tary was released, which only reinforced the widespread discontentment. Viewers posted on social media, mainly on TikTok and Youtube, that the documentary confirmed the production for season five included rushed decisions, inconsistency among the plot and uncertainty. In the documentary the Duffers stated that when they started filming the finale they hadn’t even finished writing it. Even though the documentary revealed that some aspects of production–like writing, booking locations, and building sets– were done at the very last min-ute, it did exhibit the immense work put into creating the season. The documentary did help me understand how much the Duffer brothers were taking on, and the reasoning behind the hasty writing.

Ultimately, the backlash following season 5 of Stranger Things reflects the passion and emo-tional investment held by its fanbase. Although I don’t think the show’s ending was perfect, I did enjoy the emotional weight and bittersweetness of graduation and the basement scene. The disap-pointment mainly came from the feeling that long established storylines were never fully honored and the rushed, inconsistent plot tarnished the series overall legacy. Even so, Stranger Things is a salient part of media and its influence shows how powerful storytelling can create deeper connectionswithin fandoms.