Stranger Things season 5 was one of the most, if not the most, highly anticipated television releases of 2025, and, while it had its good moments, overall did not live up to the hype surrounding it before its release.
In November of 2025, the long-awaited fifth season started its release, following an over three year wait since its previous season.
The season was released in three ‘volumes’ by Netflix, the first four episodes airing on November 26, the next three releasing on December 25, and the finale releasing on December 31. The finale was also shown in movie theatres all across the US and Canada.
Volume 1 picks up eighteen months after the end of season 4, with the characters quarantined inside Hawkins, and the viewer follows the group as they realize that the threat of Vecna has returned, and must be dealt with once and for all.
Even in these earlier episodes, the show struggles with having too many main characters that they need to follow, and has difficulties giving all of its characters and dynamics substantial screentime.
Despite this, Volume 1 is a relatively strong start to the season, setting up interesting plotlines and character arcs for the other two volumes, especially considering the plot twists episode 4 ends on with the discovery of Kali, also known as Eight, Will gaining his powers, and Vecna kidnapping the children of Hawkins.
Episode 4, Sorcerer, was the standout episode of the entire season. In fact, it became one of the highest-rated episodes of the entire series with a 9.4/10 on IMdD. The reveal of Will’s powers, brought on by his own self-acceptance, was a powerful message to end this volume on, and an engaging plot twist. It seems like something is finally going right for Will, a character who has done basically nothing but suffer for the past four seasons. This aligns with what the Duffer Brothers said prior to the season’s release, that this was ‘Will’s season’.
The plotline following Max and Holly trapped in Vecna’s mind is quite interesting, and Vecna continues to serve as a fascinating villain. Derek is a funny addition to the cast of characters. Dustin’s arc of dealing with his grief for Eddie, and how that leads him to more reckless actions and a tense relationship with Steve is extremely interesting and well done.
This volume is very action-heavy, and although that’s not my personal preference it’s not a huge criticism.
The only other real flaw with Volume 1 is the continuation of the love triangle between Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve, which just felt unnecessary.
All in all, it was a good volume, and promised good things for the rest of the season.
Unfortunately, that promise was not fulfilled.
While Volume 2 wasn’t necessarily bad, it just wasn’t great. It again struggled from the feeling that there was just not enough screen time for any of the characters, and it felt like both too much and not enough was happening.
There was too much time spent on the children trapped in Vecna’s mind (the reason for so many of them never really explained) and not enough time spent on the main cast of characters. While the addition of Holly as a major character was not necessarily bad, it meant that there was less time able to be focused on wrapping up the main characters arc, which is crucial in the final season of a show.
This volume, as well as the season in general, also really lacked stakes. We see the characters put in dangerous situations again and again and yet nothing happens. No one even really suffers from serious injury.
The best moments in Volume 2 come from the moments between Steve and Dustin, some of the most emotional of the season as a whole.
The reunion between Lucas and Max was also touching, and it was nice to finally see Max rejoining the main cast after spending the majority of the season in a coma.
Additionally, while this may be an unpopular opinion, I also think the decision to have Nancy and Jonathan break up was a good choice, although I do understand the criticism that the purpose behind the scene was not very clear. But it was a very emotional and touching scene, again one of the more emotional in the season, and is in line with the characters and the direction their arcs were going in.
Will’s coming out, although a touching scene and important aspect of his journey, could have been executed much better.
Volume 2 had its issues, but the real issue with this season lies with The Rightside Up, the 2-hour long finale. It simply does not live up to what was promised of it.
Prior to the season’s release, the Duffer Brothers stated that this season ‘would answer all of the unanswered questions’. However, this is simply not true. The season’s finale leaves many questions unanswered, as well as creating new ones.
For example, why was Will specifically taken, on that day? Why were twelve children specifically chosen by Vecna for his spell? What happened to characters such as Suzie and Argyle?
The finale also does not feel true to the show. It dedicated itself to being some sort of action-y, movie theater ready feature, instead of going into the heart of the mystery and utilizing the psychological aspects that were readily available. They went for big and flashy instead of committing to actually being high-quality.
In addition, it lacked emotion. Yes, Stranger Things in a supernatural show. But it has also been described by the creators as being a coming of age on numerous occasions, with this focus on watching this group of characters grow up and come into their own.
The characters themselves played no major role, it was all about the weapons they were using. For fighting a villain that invades the mind, it’s an odd writing choice that none of the characters’ emotional arcs were used in the final battle.
The best done scene was the one that did that, the scene where Vecna invades Hopper’s mind and forces him to live through ‘killing’ El, effectively disrupting the plan outside of the vision. If this method was done throughout the entire battle, it would have been significantly better and more impactful.
Instead, it was simply a fight against the Mind Flayer (the lore behind which is never really explained), a final battle that was formulaic and completed very quickly and easily.
For a show that stated throughout the season about ‘love overcoming fear’, it wasn’t love that saved anything at the end of the day. It was all firepower and guns.
Another thing that contributed to the lack of emotions in the final battle was, again, the lack of stakes. While it certainly wouldn’t have been nice to see a beloved character brutally injured or killed, it would have added a touch of emotion to it and made the seriousness of the fight more clear.
The final scene with Joyce cutting off Vecna’s head was a good scene, although it is really the only significant thing Joyce does the entire season, odd seeing as she was such a standout character in the earlier seasons.
Then there is the issue of El’s ending.
Having her end up just killing herself, without any chance of a real happy ending, is just unsatisfying after spending seasons never able to live a normal life. What was the point of having her have a conversation with Kali (another character that was not done well, introduced seemingly to just have someone to kill off in the final episode) about killing herself, just to end up actually doing it? What kind of twist is that? And then they can’t even fully commit to her being dead, leaving it open-ended.
Additionally, her goodbye is reduced to that of her love interest, Mike, with whom she had barely interacted with meaningfully the entire season. She makes the claim that he is ‘the only one who understands her’, despite the fact that a huge part of their arc the last two seasons revolves around the fact that they do not understand each other. The scene with the two of them honestly feels out of place, and lacks any real chemistry or build-up.
If they were going to follow through with having El sacrifice herself at the end, her goodbye would have been a lot more impactful if it was with Max, a character that actually proves to try and understand her and honestly had a much more impactful bond with than Mike, Hopper, her adoptive father or Will, a character who probably does on some level understand her. Instead, she is reduced to her poorly written relationship.
Then there’s the epilogue.
The ending for the teen characters feels earned. Steve becoming a teacher is very in line with his character, as is Nancy’s as a journalist. Jonathan’s path as a filmmaker also makes sense with his character, although I do wish his character arc had a little more to it in this season; he really didn’t contribute much. Robin’s ending isn’t bad, but not even caring to mention Vickie or the outcome of their relationship is a poor writing choice, especially considering they are the only canonical queer relationship in the show and the only one (save Dustin and Suzie), not given a conclusive ending.
With the younger kids, although it is nice to see them graduating and living happily after the horrors they have experienced, it is also not perfect.
Dustin’s anti-conformity speech mirroring Eddie’s dreams is a good callback, but the overall agreement from the audience seems strange. It’s as if the characters are gaining popularity, going against the general outcast themes of the show.
The ending of them playing D&D, mirroring their first scene in season 1 was a very good choice, in my opinion, but there are also some issues in the writing of the paths that the characters are on.
Dustin’s is good. He goes off to college, pursuing knowledge, and keeps up the resolved friendship with Steve. No real issues.
Lucas and Max going on their movie date that is alluded to in season 4 is touching, but that is all we get to know of their future. They don’t have anything else outside of their relationship. While this is not a massive issue, it would be nice to have seen more. In general, a big focus of these two characters this season was their relationship, which is an important part of their arcs, but it would have been nice to see a little more from their endings.
Will’s epilogue ending is seemingly reduced to his queerness, which, while it is an important part of his character, is not all his character is. His arc in general is entirely sidelined in the second volume and finale, with the nature of his powers wildly inconsistent, spending an entire episode passed out seeing a vision that the audience never gets to see, and his feelings for Mike reduced and never fully resolved despite being a major point in his character the past two seasons. The season was advertised as being the one where Will would be the main character, but that does not seem to hold up.
Mike’s ending has more to do with his issues as a character. His character throughout the seasons is incredibly inconsistent for what seems like no real reason. He goes from a well-fleshed out, loyal and compassionate character in the first couple seasons, to a jerk in seasons 3 and 4, and in season 5 he really lacks any actual character. He shows very little emotion or care throughout the entire season towards his friends and family, and doesn’t really contribute much to the overall plot. For being a character emphasized as ‘the heart of the party’ in season 4, and stated time and time again to be a ‘leader’, he really does not fulfill the role. He ends the show trapped in the past, unable to move on, and leaves many questions on why he acts in the way he does.
There are also numerous simple inconsistencies in the final season, with smaller things such as Max being able to graduate with the others despite being in a coma for almost 2 years, and the colors of certain things on set, like the dial for the radio tower, being incorrect.
In fact, there were so many inconsistencies in the final season, and specifically the finale, that fans began believing that it wasn’t real. A popular theory, created and dubbed ‘Conformitygate’ by fans on tumblr and X, began flying around, stating that there was a secret ninth episode releasing on January 7 that would reveal the epilogue and finale were all a part of Vecna’s mindscape, and that’s why things seemed so incorrect. The theory got so popular that actual news outlets began reporting and theorizing on it.
While there does not seem to be any truth behind the theory, it says a lot about that there was enough compiled evidence of flaws and plotholes in the show that people truly believed it was some sort of fakeout.
These plot holes and inconsistencies, combined with the lackluster character arcs, make for a rather disappointing final season. It wasn’t awful, and it definitely had its good moments, but it did not live up to the hype surrounding it or the quality of the previous four seasons.
⅗ stars