The Stranger Things Series Finale Is Almost Perfect — Until One Decision Ruins It
by Pauli Poisuo · /FilmThis article contains major spoilers for "Stranger Things" season 5, episode 8 — "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up."
The "Stranger Things" season 5 finale starts out strong. The series' build-up to the inevitable final encounter with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has massive physical and emotional stakes, and a fun twist that brings the best "Stranger Things" monster — the long-sidelined Mind Flayer — back as a serious threat. There's a massive endgame fight that unfolds on multiple fronts. There's death, sacrifice, tender goodbyes, and a thematically appropriate monologue about the state of Hawkins, Indiana, and the people who live there, courtesy of Robin's (Maya Hawke) apparently final shift at the radio station. What more could anyone expect from a series finale?
Yeah, that's exactly the problem. Because if you ask "Stranger Things," the answer is: 40 more minutes of incredibly predictable character endings after the good stuff is over.
The thing about all that tension leading to the final confrontation with the Vecna/Mind Flayer entity is that it only comprises a little over half of the episode. Once Robin's big speech is over, we get to spend the entire remaining runtime wrapping up the characters' stories in the most cookie-cutter of ways. It's great to see that the characters we've grown to love so much end the show in a good place, but really, the vast majority of those 40 minutes could have been covered as a montage during Robin's radio station monologue. And to be frank, the already overlong finale would have been all the better for it.
The Stranger Things finale takes a long time to tie up loose ends, but still misses many
Understandably, the Duffer Brothers bet on the audience being so invested in their characters that no less than 40 minutes suffice to cover their fates. It's just that none of the endings we see are particularly surprising. On the contrary, the majority of them seem content to run with the easiest "happy-ish ending" scenario for the character in question.
The season's resident big speech guy, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), gets one last go as the valedictorian at the group's graduation ceremony. Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink) continue their love story. Will (Noah Schnapp) is finally free to live happily as himself. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is heartbroken after losing Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), but continues his Dungeon Master role and facilitates his storytelling talent into writing. Eleven is heavily hinted to have survived her apparent heroic sacrifice, and is last seen viewing those much-teased three waterfalls. Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) are set to get married, while Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Steve (Joe Keery), and Robin all pursue their own respective happy ends.
Still, the most disappointing thing about the finale's lengthy cooldown period isn't all the obvious endings it depicts — it's the many questions it doesn't even bother to answer. Why did the military and Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) just pack up and leave without investigating El's death and with zero consequences to the protagonists? What happened to Murray (Brett Gelman) or Vickie (Amybeth McNulty)? All this and more remains unanswered or handwaved. When you're devoting a normal TV episode's runtime just to tie up loose ends, it's frustrating when the truly interesting ones are ignored.
"Stranger Things" season 5 is streaming on Netflix.