We were anxiously awaiting the final episode of the hit series “Stranger Things,” so we skipped our “super fun” family New Year’s Eve parties to hunker down in our rooms and watch the finale. Little did we know that the New Year’s Eve family parties probably would have been way more enjoyable.
How the show started
The hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” is based on The Montauk Project, which allegedly took place at Camp Hero, a military base in Montauk, New York. The project involved conspiracy theories in which the United States government allegedly tested telekinesis on children, developed psychological warfare techniques and researched time travel and alien contact. Camp Hero shut down in the early 1980s. The theories surrounding the Montauk project are what influenced the Duffer Brothers, the creators of the show.
Incredible first three seasons
The show had a strong first three seasons.
Set in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, it centers around four middle school boys: Mike, Lucas, Will and Dustin who encounter a girl with supernatural powers named Eleven. Numerous bizarre events cause the boys and Eleven to investigate suspicious government agencies and fight off dark monsters from another dimension called the Upside Down.
The first three seasons have elements of mystery and a unique storyline that kept us excited, terrified and wanting more.
At the end of season three, we still had no idea what the Upside Down was or why the evil monsters were attacking Hawkins. Will’s mysterious disappearance, Eleven closing the massive gate under Hawkins Lab and the Mind Flayer taking its fleshy form through rat and human remains were all exciting twists that led up to a highly anticipated climax.
These first three award-winning seasons were highly entertaining and honestly, the show could have ended there.
How the show turned “Upside Down”
Season four featured enjoyable plot elements like the mysterious deaths of teenagers across Hawkins and Hopper’s battle against the Demogorgon in Russia. We enjoyed the exploration of Eleven’s powers and how she regained her powers at the secret lab in Nevada. The new character, Eddie, quickly became a fan favorite because of his ’80s rock energy.
The season had its highs, but it also had a lot of lows.
What we didn’t enjoy about this season was the setting was no longer just the small town of Hawkins. The Byers moved out to California, Hopper was stuck in Russia and the rest of the characters were back in Hawkins. The cast was split up, and the show was missing the interactions between characters that made it such an interesting watch.
Along with the character split, the villain character Vecna was a mistake. The writers spent the previous seasons setting up the Mind Flayer, only for them to disregard it and build up Vecna as the villain instead.
Additionally, Vecna just wasn’t as intimidating as the Mind Flayer. Although he was powerful, the fact that Vecna could speak his feelings and was originally a boy with supernatural powers like Eleven made him less scary compared to the Mind Flayer, who had never said a word and was just a large, mysterious cloud of black mist. Adding Vecna is when the show lost its horror element.
The end of “Stranger Things”
Season five wasn’t any better.
The two-year time jump was anticlimactic. Season four ended on a large cliff-hanger with Hawkins split open by Upside Down gates, leaving the town vulnerable. At the beginning of season five, the time jump downsized the threat with a tidy, military solution that all happened off-camera. They wasted the build up of the cliff-hanger at the end of season four.
We liked the crew being back together, working together to solve the mysteries of the missing kids, but season five just didn’t feel like the “Stranger Things” of 2016. The characters were taking field trips in the Upside Down, which was originally supposed to be a terrifying place.
There were also many plot holes that were never addressed.
The bats in season four never appeared again in the fifth season, and the show also introduced Vecna as Henry Creel, a character who supposedly grew up with the parents in the show, though they never addressed Vecna as Henry.
The highly-anticipated epilogue (SPOILER WARNING)
The final episode of “Stranger Things” was not what we were hoping for.
The last battle against Vecna and the Mind Flayer was short and dissatisfying, and the epilogue failed to wrap up all storylines. For example, it didn’t address the military or why they left Hawkins after the battle. There were no answers to questions that came up in the earliest seasons: what was the motivation or origins of the Mind Flayer, or why didn’t Will die with Vecna because of their connection?
Many fans noticed that the writing suffered in the final two seasons. In the “Stranger Things” documentary, the Duffer brothers stated that while Episode 7 was in production, they hadn’t even finished writing the script for the season finale. Because of the weak writing and plot holes in the season finale, it was widely thought that the brothers rushed the script, and some even speculated that the Duffer Brothers used ChatGPT to complete the episode. This has since been debunked, but the bad script can’t be denied.
We’ve seen Stranger (and worse) Things
“Stranger Things” was groundbreaking in the first three seasons, but it failed to wrap the story up and produce an enjoyable finale in the last two seasons.
So is “Stranger Things” worth the watch? Yes! We’ve seen worse shows, and you can binge watch the series when you’re stuck at home this chilly season.
But maybe just watch the show up until the third season to save yourself from the disappointment of the show’s finale.
Let us know in the comments what you liked or disliked about the series finale.
