Stranger Things final season delivers 'emotional and thrilling' episodes as fans beg for the rest NOW

The final season of Stranger Things has been a long time coming, and Netflix has dropped the first part of the conclusion on Thursday.

The next three episodes will drop on Stephen’s Day, with the final instalment more than a month away on New Year’s Day.

Fan-favourite character Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, returns to the show with her group of friends, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Will, in the made-up town of Hawkins, which has been afflicted by evil forces from the Upside Down.

With four seasons’ worth of supernatural chaos, broken friendships, resurrected villains, and Upside Down mysteries, there’s a lot to keep straight.

Season 4 closed with the revelation that Vecna, the show’s most formidable villain, survived his apparent defeat, and though Nancy, Steve, and Robin injured him, he managed to escape and complete his plan to open four major gates throughout Hawkins.

And while the first part has only been available for a couple of hours, viewers and critics are already hailing it a “masterpiece.”

Many fans stayed up until 1:00am to watch the final episodes first-hand, to avoid as many spoilers as possible.

*Warning, spoilers ahead*

An unexpected star of the first episodes was Karen Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s mother, who bravely fought off a Demogorgon, drunk and using the bottle of wine she had downed earlier as her only weapon.

One wrote: “This scene is incredible, you can feel the tension and the fear, god, they did an amazing job the way Karen fights for her daughter, what a way to give the character a new twist for the better.”

Another praised her for her performance writing: “she has no powers, she was drunk as fvck, she’d never seen a demogorgon up close, she only had a wine bottle and yet she defended her daughter tooth and nail, HERO IN MY BOOKS #StrangerThings5“

The gruesome scene, which ended with the monster slicing through Karen’s stomach with one hand, signified the shift in tone of the final season, showing nobody is safe, and leaving fans terrified for their favourites…especially Steve.

Good news for fans is, by the end of the first part, Karen is still alive for now, recovering in the hospital.

Another scene that gripped viewers was the final few minutes, which showed Mike appear to have a nosebleed, similar to Elevens, suggesting he now has inherited powers.

One wrote: “i think this is objectively one of the most badass motherfucking scenes in the history of stranger things. this is MONUMENTAL. #StrangerThings5“

Another commented: “UNLIMITED CHILLS FOR THE LAST 25MINS OF EPISODE 4 OF STRANGER THINGS 5”

Others shared the disbelief that they will have to wait nearly a month for the next instalment, with one writing: “how am i supposed to wait a month for stranger things again AFTER THAT”

A second wrote: “9 year wait for a whole series, 3 year wait for the final season and now these fuckers are making us wait a month for three episodes and a further week for the finale #StrangerThings“

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