The first four seasons of the Netflix hit show “Stranger Things” were amazing.

Then season five happened.

“Stranger Things” has completed its finale and closed the books on its original cast, who have not only grown with their audience but as a cast. 

I truly do love Stranger Things; it’s a great show with a boundless story and amazing character development. 

The end of it all, season four. The characters are going strong. 

But who’s here to get them? The very original lab patient from Hawkins Lab. Now turned into this creature that controls insecure teens’ minds and kills them.

The party does everything they can think of; they even go to the upside down to try to stop him, but just when they thought they defeated him, Hawkins and the upside down become one.

Season five was a hurricane of emotions and was quickly paced. Perhaps even too fast. With such a long wait between the release of season four in 2022 and season five in 2025, you would expect more thought to be put into scripts and plots, given the over three-year gap. 

One of the most frustrating aspects of the show was its unresolved subplots. For example, why did the party prepare so much like they were going into war with an army of Demogorgons and Demodogs, and instead just the mind flayer only?

Some fans had the theory that the flayer needed more power, like season three when rats and human remains formed it, so perhaps it formed itself better using the demos, but nope, wrong!

Show Creators Matt and Ross Duffer discussed the topic with “TheWrap” in an interview.

“Mainly, it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf. We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us,” The Duffers said. “He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack; he’s going to take care of this himself.”

This is a plan that I don’t believe was completely thought out. I think they knew they wanted to finish the series, so they just took the quickest, easiest way possible.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of good things about season five. The first thing that comes to mind is the scene where Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) comes out as gay. It was emotional to the right amount, and also sad how he had to come out in fear of it being used against him. Love isn’t something to be used against you.

There are many conflicts between characters like Steve Harrigington (Joe Keery) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton). Their constant battle for power and dominance, proving who’s the better man, trying to show off to Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), was really fun to watch. 

I have always wanted to see those kinds of scenes between these two, given how complex they are.

Since the ending, the Duffer Brothers have announced and released teasers for their new animated series “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85” featuring their characters discovering the ins and outs of Hawkins between seasons two and three, which will be fully released this year.

This show has had a significant impact on my life, as I have grown up with it and its actors. Growing up and watching my favorite characters graduate high school alongside me feels extremely surreal. I never expected it to end.

I truly hope that the Duffers are proud of the franchise they have created.

It’s all been incredible to watch, but now the quest is over, and the book is closed on an unfinished chapter.