It’s the end of an era. After nearly nine years and five seasons, “Stranger Things” has come to an end. In a fitting fashion, Season 5 and the series finale were packed with a roller-coaster of emotions, and many fans were flipped “upside down.” With the series officially wrapped up, let’s take a peek at how the story ended.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
“Stranger Things” Season 5 (2025) Review: The End of an Era
The Synopsis
Volume 1
Season 5 of “Stranger Things” opened in the aftermath of the Season 4 finale, with the town of Hawkins under quarantine and military control 19 months after Venca opened the rifts throughout the town. Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin are in high school. Steve and Robin are running the radio station where they can relay coded messages to the group. Nancy and Jonathan are… well, it’s never really explained what they do in their free time. Eleven is training with Hopper and Joyce, getting ready for the next time they encounter Vecna, and the military is searching for El.
We learn that the crew is still searching for Vecna in the Upside Down, going on “crawls” whenever they can without the military being aware. Murray is sneaking items to the crew and informing them of the gaps in military coverage for their crawls. Things go awry on the crawl we see Hopper embark upon, when the military is attacked and he’s stuck in the Upside Down. Will is still connected to the hive mind and witnesses the attack through the eyes of the Demogorgon.
We also come to learn that the Demogorgon is after Holly Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s younger sister, at the behest of Holly’s “imaginary” friend, Mr. Whatsit. The Demo is successful in capturing Holly, gravely injuring Karen and Ted Wheeler in the process. Eleven follows the Demo into the Upside Down and runs into Hopper. While this is happening, the crew realizes that Mr. Whatsit is actually Venca in his human form of Henry Creel. Will realizes that his visions have been from Henry’s perspective, meaning he can tap into the hive mind and see what Vecna is doing and who he is targeting. Additionally, Holly is trapped in Vecna’s mind, and we see an old friend, Max, who has been there the entire time she’s been in the coma that was caused by Vecna in Season 4.
Both crews end up on various missions, with the group in Hawkins attempting to protect the children Henry is targeting, and those in the Upside Down attempting to infiltrate the military base located within. The Upside Down crew discovers that inside the military base is Kali, also known as Eight, Eleven’s sister. They are almost successful in getting the children to safety, but are discovered by the military and attacked by Demogorgons. This section concludes with the Demos attacking to take the children, during which they realize that Will’s connection to the hive mind has granted him powers. He is then able to take control of the Demos and kill three of them, but the children are taken.
Volume 2
Volume 2 starts with the kidnapped children in Camazotz, which is the name Holly and Max have given Vecna’s mind. Vecna, as Henry/Mr. Whatsit, talks to the children and claims he saved them from “the dark thing” and they can help him destroy it, but Holly and Derek know what’s really going on. Holly escapes to Max with the help of Derek, and they venture through Holly’s memories to escape. Henry also discovers what’s happening and attempts to track them down as Will connects to the hive mind via the resurrected Demogorgon, and helps Holly and Max escape by snapping Henry’s leg.
Elsewhere, group members stuck in the Upside Down almost collapse the entire space, as Dustin realizes too late that they are in a wormhole. Luckily, they survive, as the crew starts to regain full strength and reunite in the human world. Max can escape back to her body, though not without some drama as Demos attack the hospital and are killed by Karen Wheeler. Holly is able to escape as well, but is dragged back by Venca. The crew comes up with their final plan to counter Vecna’s, and they prepare for what they hope is the final battle, as Vecna links to the children’s minds in an attempt to merge the worlds.
Finale
The finale opens with the groups splitting up yet again. Eleven, Kali and Max enter Henry’s mind with the help of Hopper and Murray, and the rest of the group heads into “the Abyss” to destroy this connection and save the children. In an action-packed showdown, the group is able to defeat Vecna and the Mind Flayer after discovering that Henry wasn’t always bad and was infected by the Mind Flayer. The children are saved, but as they escape, the military captures them before the connection to the Upside Down is destroyed. Eleven escapes into the Upside Down and is destroyed along with the Upside Down. Later, as the group graduates high school, they sit down for one final Dungeons & Dragons campaign, where Mike states that he believes Eleven could have survived, but they may never know. The series concludes with Holly taking Mike’s place as dungeon master and some of the other captured children sitting down to start a campaign.
The Review
In terms of production value, “Stranger Things” Season 5 is second to none, as many expected with it being the final season. The acting is superb, though the writing was not a highlight in my opinion. The score is perfection, and while it’s clear the direction of the show has changed from Season 1, the story got what I felt was a complete ending.
This season has been much maligned on social media, and I think much of this is simply not earned. There were complaints of slow playing the finale, and to me, that shows many new fans have simply not been paying attention, nor have they ever completed a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Many of the complaints that I saw on social media were about things not making sense or context not being there, and were truthfully just examples of a lack of attention to detail on the part of the viewers. There is also unfortunately, but clearly, some LGBTQ+ hate with Will’s coming out, even though it was explained why it was done and had been hinted at for the entirety of the series.
Overall, “Stranger Things” had one of the single best series finales of the last decade. I don’t believe it’s getting enough praise for this. In an era where we saw horrific finales such as “Game of Thrones,” to see this much hate about a strong final season simply makes no sense. When it comes to legacy, this show has left an incredible one, and I believe it will ultimately be remembered as one of the best finales in the history of modern television.
Final Rating: 9.4/10
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