This article contains spoilers.
I’m glad that one of my favorite shows as a kid stuck the landing in the end. Season 5 has been a wild ride. Sure, I can see its flaws and occasional pitfalls, but I still grew attached to this season almost as much as the first and second. It started off super strong with the characters all together, and as the mythology was built upon in the Upside Down with the Abyss and Vecna’s mind games I grew more invested in where this series was gonna end up. I’m glad Will got his chance to shine, Max got revived in a natural way, and Mike stepped into a leading role for the first time since the first season. All of the pieces seemed to fit together into a swan song of a story that felt bigger than ever before but also wielded the most personal and vulnerable writing since the beginning.
The finale, showcasing the protagonists’ plan to destroy the Abyss and the Upside Down for good, was as enthralling and cathartic as I was hoping it could be. The plot slowed down a bit in the middle to pay off character moments, sure, but I didn’t mind that the showrunners took their time. One of the reasons I love this show is the clear passion that the Duffer brothers show with their direction. They deeply care about these characters, and it shows in the final scene of the show, which is one of the warmest goodbyes I’ve seen in a while.
Season 5 wasn’t perfect, but it was developed with care and turned out to be a highly engaging time. I can nitpick about all the clunky dialogue or quote unquote cringy character moments like I’ve seen many other people online do, but I think they miss out on the dedication the actors and writers have to this world they created. I believe they tied up all loose ends lovingly and did what they could to live up to the legacy of this larger-than-life phenomenon.
Stranger Things holds a special place in my heart, if you couldn’t already tell, so I may be biased in its defense, but I really enjoyed this finale.
