When a show like Stranger Things splits its final season into three, releasing the anticipated second part on Christmas Day and the finale on New Year’s Eve, including a theatre run for the movie-length final episode, expectations are high that it’s going to deliver. This is so as well when conversations about the episodes centre around nail-biting tension and a series of adjectives used by the creators and actors in interviews to suggest that something huge, devastating, deeply emotional is about to happen. I prepped myself for the Christmas evening late-night binge. I warned my son that he was probably going to be upset about something. But none of that panned out. I feel like we got a bait and switch that has me both worried for and anticipating the finale.
Note: This review contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5, Episodes 5-7.
We Shouldn’t Have Had to Wait for Part 2
Splitting the final season into three parts suggests that the second part, made up of three episodes, would be worth the wait. In reality, they paled in comparison to the first four episodes, serving like filler that wasn’t worth the one-month wait. While the narrative did drive forward, the long drawn out, dialogue-driven scenes were too much, uninteresting at times even. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) proclaiming their love for one another in what they believed to be their final moments might have paid off had they actually died. But it was a complete fake-out, the emotionality of the scene simply their presumed break-up.
The same goes for Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin’s (Gaten Matarazzo) teased “if you die, I die” speech. The rising tensions between them that were evident since Part 1 are dealt with, apparently attributed to Steve having felt a twinge of jealousy over Dustin’s friendship with Eddie (Joseph Quinn) and Dustin resenting Steve in the wake of Eddie’s death. It was a conversation that could have been had ages ago in between the hectic moments, not a colossal waste of time when they should have been investigating in the Upside Down to save Holly (Nell Fisher).
The most frustrating situation, however, was with Max (Sadie Sink) who, once arriving at the opening once again where she could finally escape back into her comatose body in Hawkins, decides to give Holly a five-minute pep talk. I was literally screaming at my screen for her to run and get the heck out of there, considering she knows how close she got last time only to watch the escape slip through her fingers. When she managed to help Holly open her own gate as well, presumably absolving her of any guilt for leaving the young girl behind, the pair at first walked slowly towards them. It made for a lovely in-unison scene. But for the love of logic, please run as if you’re actually running away from a terrifying monster who is trying to kill you. In fact, this horrifying monster just tried to kill Max barely an hour before. Being fearless is one thing, being dumb is a complete other.
Perhaps the most controversial letdown was Will’s (Noah Schnapp) decision to sit his friend and family members down to finally come out to them about his sexuality. The importance of this moment to the plot and his journey isn’t lost. It’s Will’s decision to be comfortable and accepting of himself, thanks to guidance from Robin (Maya Hawke), that gave him the power to fight back in the first place and harness the hive mind’s powers. When Will realized Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) was still using his shame and guilt over keeping this secret against him as a tactic of manipulation, Will knew what he had to do to free himself. But as it turns out, this was the big emotional scene that was referenced from the episode. As important as the scene is, it could have been a side scene outside of the main plot. It left fans feeling cheated, baited and switched. This is part of Will’s journey, but it’s not the central part of the story.
I don’t want to say we feel disappointed that no major characters died, but the expectation has been that that would happen. Dare I say, we were kind of expecting it. And when the massively emotional scene being described for the last month was Will telling everyone he doesn’t like girls to get it off his chest and show Vecna he was wrong, it was anticlimactic. It’s like the creators got us mentally prepared for something that never happened and may never happen. Instead, we were told that Will finally coming out is the huge story for the penultimate part of the final season.
Setting Up for a Sad End
It became evident by the end of these three episodes that the purpose was to set up the tragedy for the end, which is the position Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is in. Vecna is a nuisance, the big villain they need to conquer to prevent the end of the world as we know it. That’s no small feat nor accomplishment, assuming they achieve it. But the government and military are the big villains, the ones that will continue to hunt Eleven down for as long as they are around and know her potential. Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) might be the one continuing Dr. Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) work right now, but even if she were gone, there would be someone else to take her place. Eleven will never be safe, as her sister in blood Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) has made her aware.
So, will the show end with Eleven and the others finding a way to eliminate the Upside Down, the bridge between Hawkins and the place where Vecna and the Mind Flayer exist, then kill Vecna? Probably. But will Eleven follow through with Kali’s plan and sacrifice herself with Kali to put an end to this program and any more suffering for good? It’s the only way to end the cycle, and a fitting way to see Eleven go out in epic fashion so that Hawkins can finally return to what it was like it before she arrived.
This sadly reduces the series to a predictable end, ironically so considering fans were expecting so many other theories to come true. Steve would die, Eleven would team up with Kali and Henry (through Will by proxy) to take down Vecna. Henry would somehow get redemption. Max would sacrifice herself for the kids. There are so many theories that did not come true, some that still could.
While the series finale is still one of the most anticipated television events of this year, and to kick off 2026, Part 2 could easily have been condensed into a single episode, maybe two, and released at the same time as Part 1, or alongside the final episode. I’m still holding out hope that the series will end in a satisfying way, and the theatrical finale will give fans what they want. What that is anymore, I’m not sure. But Season 2, Part 2 over-promised and under-delivered. This means Part 3 has a big, wormhole weight on its shoulders to make up for it.