It’s been over a decade since the cast of “Stranger Things” first shot the pilot and showed us the world of the Upside Down, but it was a bittersweet moment for everyone involved including the fandomas the very last episode of the monstrously popular coming of age sci-if series finally aired on New Year’s Eve. The finale became a grand event, with showings in limited theaters across the country selling out quickly and the massive platform showing signs of strain under the sheer weight of all its simultaneous viewers. Leading up to the last episode, the series has been under fire for both illegitimate and genuine reasons. The penultimate episode that was released on Christmas Day, “The Bridge’ became the target of a coordinated review bombing attack due to main character Will’s coming out scene.
The finale became season as a whole has also been criticized for bad acting, forced dialogue and a litany of other gripes that aren’t completely without merit. Did the Duffer Brothers make the same mistake D&D did with “Game of Thrones”? Definitely not. Could they have taken more care and paid more attention to the precedents that had been set in their most important show? It does seem that way as the Demogorgons somehow disappeared for the last episode and an atmosphere that once burned Vecna’s skin became instantly safe to everyone were amongst more than a few plot holes and loose ends in the story. Warning: beyond this point there are spoilers for anyone who is not up to date on the Netflix series, “Stranger Things”.
The finale became a grand event, with showings in limited theaters across the country selling out quickly and the massive platform showing signs of strain under the sheer weight of all its simultaneous viewers.”
The episode picks up right where episode 7 left off, the kids and adults all banding together to save the world. Even the science teacher Mr. Clarke is now in on the plan and helping fan favorite Erica on lookout. Their scene in the beginning is essentially the last time we get a meaningful moment with either character which feels like a missed opportunity as the Duffer Brothers use a lot of the finale’s runtime for an emotional epilogue – but we’ll cover that more later. Hopper gives Eleven a speech about all she’s been through, but honestly the dialogue didn’t feel nailed. His emotions didn’t feel as heartfelt as they’ve been before in the series and the stakes are at their highest, so the scene itself just becomes a bit jarring.
As Dimension X approaches the tower in the Upside Down, the first kink in the plan happens when the dimensional rift doesn’t perfectly line up with their plan to climb a super dangerous radio tower and Steve almost dies. We thought the Duffers were gonna let the hair fall, but it was poetic Justice to see Jonathan save him. A save from Dustin also would’ve had a lot of impact. Max navigating El and Kali through Henry’s mind was an interesting concept that felt rushed. When Eleven finally gets her hands on Henry, the payoff is rewarding but short lived. The plan to reveal Vecna’s true nature to the children was a great touch, but it’s wild that Kali wasted time to say “Hello, Brother.” Instead of just stabbing Henry in his own mind prison. Vecna’s encounter with Hopper was intense and terrifying and the fake out with El in the deprivation tank was a really strong storytelling decision. The image of a lifeless El definitely put more than a few viewers in panic mode.
Vecna using El and Kali’s suicide pact against them to create a rift between El and Hopper is a masterful manipulation move and again great storytelling by the brothers. As the troops make their way to the locations of multiple parts of the team, the expanded party finally makes their way onto Dimension X. It’s ironically strange how this dimension completely burned Henry’s body and gave him powers, but no one of the kids are affected in the least. Where are the Demogorgons? The Demodogs? Demobats? This is perhaps the biggest narrative flaw but we will live with the weird creative decision and move on.
As Henry catches up to the kids in his one hidden memory, the viewer gets information that only patrons of the play have seen before… Henry’s origin story. Here we ultimately ifnd out that the Mind Flayer manipulated Henry, but when Will tries to convince Henry he is a pawn, Creel doubles down and pitches the two as more of a co-dependent symbiotic relationship than one where the MF controls Vecna, OR Vecna controls the MF. This story point has been up for debate since season 4 made it seem like Henry formed the Mind Flayer while the play made it seem liek the Mind Flayer corrupted nad controlled young Henry’s mind. What do you think? Was Henry too proud to admit he was being controlled? Was Vecna too far gone?
After a miraculous save from Murray who Kobe’d a grenade to take down a helicopter that was playing El’s Kryptonite, El goes to Dimension X to duke it out with Vecna one last time. Just as the party is about to get crushed, El shows up and does one final hero jump to go into the belly of the Kaiju Mind Flayer (Dimension X version). Inside the MF’s belly, Eleven and Vecna have a proper boss fight, while the party outside gives somewhat of a repeat performance of the battle of Starcourt, only with better weaponry and less fireworks. The fight here should have ended with a t least one major injury or fatality, but the Duffers showed just how much they love making their favorite characters lucky.
Will comes in and helps Eleven deal the final blow…until Vecna starts trying to get up again and Joyce gets to use her axe. Apparently, the scene was originally intended for Vecna to plead for his life, but instead the Duffers opted for a cathartic decapitation. The scen was emotionally powerful as it showed a lot of the major emotionally traumatic moments almost all of the main characters have had to process and live with throughout the series. Huge R.I.P. shoutout to Barb, Bob and Billy amongst others.
Once the kids are rescued, the party heads home and sets the Upside Down on a self destruct sequence, but obviously things aren’t going tp be ending so easy. The military is predictably watching the portal and Doctor Kay who pretty much disappeared from the finale, gets a weak and non-definitive final scene. Eleven is with the group when they’re pulled over, but she disappears at some point and appears to be at the Upside Down side of the portal. Mike gets pulled into the astral plane for a goodbye with Eleven who is seemingly sacrificing herself. El seems to be sucked away into the emptiness fo space as the kids all watch in tears.
The show then flashes forward 18 months to the summer of ‘89 for the party’s graduation. Dustin has a great ‘screw the sytem’ type speech and we get to see a lot of our favorite side characters one last time. Mike and Hopper are still coping with the loss of El. The gang plays one last game of D&D that ends with a surprise magical character being resurrected. Mike talks about the future of the group and paints them all idyllic, proper character endings. Mike then goes into his theory why he thinks El’s alive. Eleven couldn’t have gotten to the gate with her kryptonite being used, unless Kali’s illusion magic was cloaking her. Mike’s theory seems a little far fetched as Kali seemed dead and her powers didn’t have m of a range, but it is feasible. Maybe Kali held on or gave the illusion that she was shot? Maybe she got closer to the gate? Either way, the kids all choose to believe and put their game books away one last time. As an added touch, Holly and her group of friends (including the magnificent and delightful Derek) start their own campaign.
The epilogue lasted longer than the majority of “Stranger Things” episode and did leave a fair amount of minor characters just completely missing. Most notable was possible Max’s mom, whose actor in real life has been fighting against cancer. It’s unclear why the Duffers didn’t at least give her a reunion scene at the graduation. Murray also not getting a satisfying resolution after becoming such a fan favorite character also seemed like a loose end. After all he’s been through, what’s next? Hooper and Joyce get their happy ending, but overall some things definitely fell through the cracks. We did love a lot about the finale and can forgive missed opportunities and plot holes, but we do wish there was more.
What do you think? Was the “Stranger Things” finale worthy of the hype? How will the spin-off connect to the flagship show? Even if no characters will be in both shows, will there be common locations, or monsters? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!
