The Duffer Brothers might be cooked. Recently, they have been facing major backlash, and they don’t know how to handle it. After season 4 of their hit show Stranger Things launched with glowing reviews, a 90% from Rotten Tomatoes critics, and fan edits blowing up on all platforms, season 5 was not only highly anticipated, but also overwhelmingly hyped. People were making video after video discussing which characters were most likely to survive the new season. The actors were only encouraging these debates, talking about how there would be “no dry eye” watching the show finale and releasing videos of the cast table reads, featuring many star actors in tears. While a season was released every year for the first three seasons, fans awaited the last season of the show for another three years. This extra waiting time was partly due to COVID-19, but also the Hollywood strikes that happened in 2023. Finally, after much anticipation, season 5 was released in three volumes. And the audience, to say the least, was not impressed. (Spoilers ahead!)
Volume 1 of season 5 released on Thanksgiving of 2025, and many people didn’t know how to react to it. The online reviews crowding Instagram, Google Search, and Tiktok were mixed. A decent amount of creators loved the way the creators wrote the character development, especially of the show’s “wonder boy” Will Byers. However, other people commented on how the season was starting slow and how it felt like it was playing entirely on the success of the previous episodes. Parts of it felt overly gory, random, and unplanned. One article even said that this volume “goes in circles,” commenting that “the characters feel redundant” and that “[the show] has found itself stuck in predictability.” Popular fan theories were taking over the Internet, and while there wasn’t as much commentary on the plot, it seemed like everyone was invested in the shipping wars of the characters (particularly Byler versus Mileven and Stancy versus Jancy). Zyreign Jacobo, a sophomore at Broad Run, argues that she liked volume 1, saying, “Volume 1 was really good… episode 4 was the best.” However, Lilah Kassaie, another sophomore, says, “I feel like volume 1 just rushed into things, especially like ‘the crawl’’, I just didn’t really know what was going on… they didn’t explain that much.” Both of these opinions are valid, and backed up by a plethora of other people online who feel similar ways.
Focusing on these characters’ development following season 4, Lilah says, “I feel like they developed, but like it wasn’t really clear what happened. They were all just kinda different, but there was no explanation and they didn’t really go into anyone’s feelings.” According to the show, two years passed between the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5. However, many of the characters came across as kind of stale, or like they didn’t really have much difference than the ways they acted before. Zyreign agrees, adding, “Most of the actors were acting more of themselves rather than their actual characters in this season, so I couldn’t really see El being El, like I saw her as Millie Bobby Brown.” This is another interesting point. Since the show has taken so long to release this new season, some of the actors are as much as ten years older than their characters are supposed to be. Because of this, it may be hard for them to act ten years younger than how old they really are. This could be a reason for why some of the acting felt so unnatural and so fake during emotional scenes. Even in humorous scenes, it’s easy to write a script with banter for young kids to perform, but it’s different to have full adults acting as kids, making jokes that are very obviously immature and childish. This is part of the reason why we saw some actors absolutely nailing the humor, such as the actor for the new character “Delightful” Derek, while others felt kind of dry. However, sophomore Addison Alberts says, “I liked how Steve and Robin are always employed.”
Next, volume 2 was released on Christmas, and the audience was now even harsher than with the first volume. “I feel like they set the standards really high for volume 1, so that peoples’ expectations for the next volumes were… higher than that, but they didn’t really reach anyone’s expectations,” Zyreign laments. At this point, episodes into the season, people were generally agreeing that the exposition felt excessive and full of filler material, such as repetitive heart-to-hearts that didn’t hold much real value to the development of the characters. However, some characters did have development that resonated with the fans. One example of this was the sweet unexpected duo of Max Mayfield and Holly Wheeler, which revealed a different side of both characters. Popular fan favorites Dustin Henderson and Steve Harrington were also beloved as their actors performed a very powerful and emotional scene.
Finally, the finale was released after much anticipation. And it hit… kind of? Some found it a satisfying ending to the show, while others were just confused. Why was there an hour of epilogue? What actually happened? When I asked her how she felt about the finale, Addison told me, “I was a little underwhelmed [by the finale].”
One thing that was underwhelming was, weirdly enough, the amount of deaths in this season. Zyreign recalls, “[The Duffer Brothers] were saying how there were six deaths this season, and they were going to be a really big deal, but then, like, it wasn’t… I feel like someone in the party should have died, like there was too much going on.” Many share this sentiment. While we’re not rooting for the deaths of any characters, it seems unrealistic that somehow, most (or all?) the party would have survived everything they went through. While Eleven (maybe?) died, Lilah says, “I feel like it wasn’t sad enough, like Eleven died, but I didn’t cry enough.” Addison chimes in, adding, “I wanted Jonathan and Nancy to die in the melting room, and then Steve and Dustin to come in and just find the [engagement] ring.” This is an example of what Zyreign called the “directors being biased.” Many characters survived through sheer plot armor in moments that they absolutely should have died (like Steve falling off the tower and miraculously getting saved by Jonathan).
Now that everything is released, people are still refusing to believe that that was the real ending to their beloved show. If you’ve been scrolling at all recently, you may have come across the “Conformity Gate Theory.” This is the theory that the Duffer Brothers only released the fake finale, and are going to release the real finale to shock the fans. More likely, the fans who weren’t satisfied with the ending are gaslighting themselves into thinking there has to be a different one. The Duffer Brothers must be experiencing major aura loss because of this. How could they release a finale to their show so underwhelming that fans are convincing themselves it wasn’t the real ending? There were just so many unanswered questions. Lilah asks, “What happened to Vickie?” Zyreign wants to know, “I feel like the MAC-Z just disappeared, too, like what happened with that?” These are just a few of the examples, but there’s been many, many more online. The Duffer Brothers claim they’re leaving things “up to interpretation,” but how many things can you really leave up to interpretation without just creating plot hole after plot hole?
All in all, while the last season may not have attracted the positive reviews that the Duffer Brothers wanted, they still managed to make an extremely popular, worldwide show that got people so attached they’re willing to overanalyze it this much. Writing conclusions is always hard, but we can still appreciate the parts of the show that we did like. We were along for the ride with the characters since season 1, and maybe it is unrealistic that so many survived, but can we really be mad they got the happy ending they deserved? Plot points that had lasted five seasons came together. The big bad guy was defeated. As Zyreign told me, the show was largely based off of D&D, and it ended with D&D.
So, maybe the real issue now is accepting the fact that a show we all looked forward to watching for so long is actually over. However, don’t be too sad, because the Stranger Things universe is only going to expand in the future. And I’m sure we’re all wondering what’s in store for our favorite – miraculously, still living – characters next.
