Stranger Things Season 5 — Second part of the show Review

December is relentlessly approaching its end, and with it the main event of the small-screen industry — the final season of Stranger Things. On the 25th, and for some on the 26th, the second part of the fifth season was released, that is, episodes five through seven inclusive. One final episode remains, and that’s it. In terms of scale, what’s happening is comparable to the eighth season of Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, such a parallel comes to mind not only because of the public’s universal interest, but also because of the disappointment that same audience experiences while watching. As sad as it is to say, Netflix’s flagship has huge problems that are unlikely to be fixed by the final two hours of runtime. I’ll go into everything in more detail, and you can draw your own conclusions.

By analogy with the review of the first part of the season, I’ll first describe my overall impressions without key spoilers, and then I’ll break down what we were shown for those who have already watched it and are trying to make sense of it.

The new episodes start at exactly the same moment where the previous ones ended. Everyone who was waiting for some kind of time skip was wrong. The creators decided not to complicate their task, so no one is going to justify the children’s sudden growing up. They are still made up to look like schoolkids, although it comes across as somewhat less organic than in the first four episodes.

After Vecna finally kidnapped 12 children and Will discovered the Force within himself, the heroes in Hawkins are left with two intermediate problems: to rescue Hopper, Eleven, Steve, and the others from the Upside Down, since contact with them has been lost, and also to save Max. About the latter, though, no one knows, because Lucas has absolutely no understanding of what is currently happening to his lady love.

Overall, this is exactly what the heroes are busy with throughout all three episodes. There are even fewer important details in the second part than in the first, while conversations are many times more numerous. The characters dump exposition, explaining the screenwriters’ ideas to the viewers, and also resolve interpersonal problems, but all of this is completely on a different scale than expected. There have become an exorbitant number of characters, and everyone needs time. But there seem to be no truly central drivers of the plot. As a result, the Duffer brothers try to sketch out dialogues for literally everyone and give viewers at least some kind of conclusions to personal arcs, but what comes out is just a mess of agenda, cringe, and lack of logic. If, in return, we were offered teeth-grinding action, the reasons would be understandable, but no. At the core of the three new episodes there is only chatter.

Understand me correctly: I’m not against characters communicating, and I never wanted Stranger Things to turn into a Marvel-attraction with one-page script lines. But in this case the moments are chosen so off the mark that it even feels awkward. In the end, there’s a feeling that absolutely all characters, except Will, exist just to check a box, and their problems are not the result of four previous seasons of runtime, but instant plot obstacles that are easily resolved with a 10-minute conversation. Sometimes it gets downright ridiculous, when someone is facing imminent danger right now, but that does not in any way stop the characters from having a thorough discussion.

By the way, how children easily grasp years-long physical-paranormal research conducted by gray-haired scientists is also not explained. They are just very smart, since in childhood they assembled all sorts of stuff out of junk. Exposition has to be delivered somehow, I get it.

And closer to the end, the Duffer brothers suddenly realized that, by focusing on Will, they somehow completely forgot about Eleven and Mike, who have been doing perfectly fine all season. At least in the two and a half times they’re together. So now they also have some kind of conflict. And yes, such a contradiction could very well exist. Moreover, many were expecting something like this from the very beginning. But the way it is presented and acted out causes nothing but rejection. It’s hard to believe in the reality of what’s happening. On top of that, Mike himself is still not particularly fleshed out. His thoughts and position in everything that’s going on are actively passive. He does what is necessary, but is not emotionally involved.

And if we’re talking about interpersonal problems, it was impossible to avoid a scene between Nancy and Jonathan. It had been asking for itself for quite a while, though not everyone fully understood why. And once again, the way it’s realized turns out to be far from even the most modest expectations. Many viewers, myself included, didn’t even understand what the characters ultimately came to, it was filmed and written so poorly. I had to watch interviews with the Duffers themselves to get a clear answer straight from the source.

The only conflict that fits organically into what’s happening is Dustin and Steve. In the review of the first part, I criticized the screenwriters for the stupid quarrels that kept happening again and again between the two best friends. Now everything has fallen into place, and in this format I personally am ready to accept the characters’ development. They truly come to understand something new about each other and approach the final battle in a complete catharsis of interpersonal connection. Their conflict is not about anger, but about fear.

As for the plot specifically, there are no surprises here. Alas, almost none of the theories were confirmed. In the end, the fans turned out to be far bolder in their fantasies than the screenwriters. Moreover, there is a feeling that what’s happening is sliding into very trivial sci-fi for the youngest audience, where everything will ultimately end in a happy ending, everyone will win, and only a couple of expendable characters will sacrifice themselves. Right before our eyes, the story is being simplified, and the mysteries are resolved in ways completely different from what was expected. Naturally, within this concept there is no longer any room to talk about resurrecting Eddie or some kind of Upside Down dragon. It has become obvious that Vecna will remain the main villain, and even if there are unknown variables in his plan, the overall picture will not change fundamentally.

All the brothers’ words about the story being written out back at the very beginning of Stranger Things are lies. Just as I wrote in the first review. Don’t fall for the countless videos where YouTubers examine the scene of Will’s disappearance 9 years ago with a magnifying glass and the dark figure on the road resembling Vecna. I think that at that point the Duffer brothers did not yet have a clear understanding of the Demogorgon’s abilities, so that was him. Or perhaps there were already some early ideas about a villain controlling the creatures of the Upside Down, but it was clearly a completely different character, not Henry.

Why did I come to this conclusion? It’s very simple. The fifth season focuses on Will. And when I say this, I don’t mean only Will as a character, but his peculiarities. I think it won’t be a spoiler for anyone that the actor came out in real life. This happened around the time when the whole theme of Will’s otherness began to be actively pushed in the story. By the end of the second part, Will himself also comes out. The screenwriters turned this into a real climax and an internal victory over a weakness that prevents him from fighting Vecna on equal terms.

Now let’s think about whether anyone among the brothers or at Netflix could have assumed during the first season that the actor would turn out to have non-traditional views. The correct answer is no one. And if the story really had been conceived in advance, Will wouldn’t have had any problems at all. All the constant whining and inner turmoil would have disappeared, and Vecna would effectively lose any leverage of moral pressure. That would have been a victory even before the final episode, which is extremely stupid from a screenwriting standpoint.

Therefore, I now confidently state that the entire fifth season was written specifically around the actor Noah Schnapp and his updated life outlook. I don’t know whether this was the idea of the Duffer brothers or of Netflix itself, but the fact remains. And this is very bad, because the finale stems not from the development of the story as such, but from the actor’s real-life agenda statements. Right now, the final episode with that very coming-out scene is considered one of the lowest-rated among all episodes of the entire project. This means that most people have also seen through the deception and are now furious about what’s happening. One has to understand that this is not Euphoria and not Sex Education, so this simply should not have had a place here.

As I already wrote above, an important part of the three new episodes is saving Max. Few doubted that the redhead would come to her senses and join the rest of the characters, but even here the Duffers disappointed. The first part ended with Max and Holly traveling through Henry’s memories, trying to find a way out into reality. How exactly all of this works and where one can escape is explained very loosely. Max spent several years inside the memories and found nothing, but Mike’s little sister quickly sorts everything out. The characters spell out the mechanics several times, yet it still raises many questions. In the end, everything once again slides into some kind of farce which, judging by reactions online, the audience did not appreciate. The escape from Camazotz turned out to be nothing like what was expected.

Moreover, for some unfathomable reason, the creators decided to stuff an important part of Henry’s backstory into a theatrical production. It recently made a splash on Broadway — Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Apparently, the Duffers are confident that all of their viewers have the opportunity to see it, so in the series we are shown only a fragment that will be far more understandable for theatergoers than for everyone else. Meanwhile, it is precisely in the stage play that it is revealed that Henry was not originally a villain, as we were shown throughout the entire fourth season. Oh yes, that carefully planned-from-the-start story…

On the internet, I’ve seen the opinion that the fifth season became a victim of modern trends. And here we are not talking about agenda, but about a deep approach to screenwriting. The first season was made as a single cohesive work, a long movie if you will. Everything mattered: characters, events, internal logic. However, over time Netflix lost its competitors, and the series acquired cult status. Already by the fourth season, it had turned into one big compilation for short internet videos, conveniently going viral to the song Running Up That Hill. The fifth season went even further, and now it’s a project that’s comfortable to watch in the background while you go about your own business. That’s exactly why the characters repeatedly spell out what they want to do and why, and then just as many times discuss what they have achieved. Naturally, this devours a huge amount of precious runtime, and you can forget about deep development of characters and the universe.

I am convinced that the final episode will be a major disappointment. I’d be happy to be wrong, but so far everything that’s happening strongly resembles the finale of Game of Thrones, and it’s no coincidence that I mentioned it at the beginning. The authors have lost the crucial thing that made their project exceptional, but offered nothing in return. The artificially bloated lore is cracking at the seams, heroes and villains are rapidly turning into cardboard cutouts, and interpersonal conflicts, with rare exceptions, look like attempts to kill time. At the same time, there are plenty of moments similar to Daenerys Targaryen’s sudden descent into rage, and there will surely be even more of them at the end. I advise everyone to lower their expectations and prepare for the worst, otherwise you risk being extremely disappointed. If my predictions do not come true and the eighth episode blows minds in a good way, I will be among the first to tell you why this finale was worth enduring the previous seven episodes, but for now my impressions are, to put it mildly, restrained.

Now let’s move on to spoilers, since there’s plenty of material. If I get something wrong in my interpretations, feel free to correct me in the comments.

So, let’s start with rescuing the kids from the Upside Down. Lucas, together with his sister, suggests finding Hopper and the others in two ways — by boosting the signal or via the Demogorgons’ hive mind, that is, with Will’s help. In the first case, a local physics teacher lends a hand, but in the second something strange happens. Will really does penetrate the collective hive mind, after which he effortlessly finds Vecna. It’s not very clear how exactly this is supposed to help the people stuck in the Upside Down or why the team decided to try both options in the first place, but so be it. By some incredible means, the boy turns out to be capable not only of taking control of Henry, but also of hurting him. Even Eleven was unable to do that. However, Vecna eventually throws Will out of his head — but he does so in a very unusual way.

According to the logic of the story, the boy should simply return to his body — and that’s it. Instead, the wounded Vecna, who was supposedly busy with completely different matters, manages to fling Will’s consciousness out and then even catch it. We are shown the Upside Down and a copy of the scene where the hero was first captured by the noseless one, but Will’s body is in the real world — he physically cannot be in the Upside Down. And if this is a mental prison, then how does Vecna do what he does to Will, given that all the other 12 children are in the same kind of prison, but there the sun is shining and everything is wonderful? It feels as if the creators simply invented narrative crutches for the sake of drama, but forgot to fit what’s happening into the logic of their own world.

Next, it makes sense to pause on the adventures of Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan inside the laboratory building, as well as on the characters’ final plan. Within the walls of the research center in the Upside Down, the group finds a clump of energy and also uncovers the truth about this world, but in the end everything sounds extremely vague. If the Upside Down is not another dimension and the fleshy wall was created by scientists to maintain a bridge with the Abyss, then how exactly can that wall be powered by this very energy clump? By magic? And before the scientists arrived, what was there without the wall? Why in none of the seasons did those who ended up in the Upside Down ever see it? And if my memory serves me right, the Upside Down exists not only beneath Hawkins. What happens in places where the wall hasn’t been built yet?

The concept starts to fall apart because of Dustin and Steve’s plan for the final battle with Vecna. The guys want to wait until the Abyss with Vecna descends low enough, after which they plan to infiltrate it, knock Henry out, and blow up the energy core, thereby destroying both the Upside Down and the Abyss. In other words, all this time Vecna has apparently been sitting somewhere up there, in the clouds of the Upside Down, and only from time to time, it seems, dropped down into Hawkins, bringing Demogorgons, vines, and other monstrosities along with him. On top of that, he somehow dragged the children there in the flesh. At the same time, Dustin himself tries to stop Nancy from shooting the core, since that could destroy Hawkins as well. In that case, how does the explosion of a reduced wall not destroy the town, but only the Upside Down and the Abyss? One could assume that blowing up the core right now is impossible because of the 12 children who are still somewhere out there, in Henry’s desert, but the question of how exactly all the monsters — and Vecna himself — move up and down remains open.

In addition to the discovery in the lab, there is a very dramatic dialogue between Nancy and Jonathan, which ultimately leads to their breakup. The Duffer brothers explained this by saying that the characters were bound together by many traumatic events, but it was long past time for them to move in different directions. And that would be a very adult decision, if not for several “buts”. First, after the shot at the energy core, the entire laboratory space begins to melt: concrete walls, floors, ceilings, and many other objects inside. Why? Unclear. What’s amusing, though, is something else. When Jonathan and Nancy find themselves in a locked room that is slowly filling with white molten sludge, they themselves remain unharmed. If we assume that only inorganic matter is melting, then another question arises. Why didn’t the floor in that very room melt, given that while Steve and Dustin are trying to save their friends, they see how literally all the floors are already breaking apart, with ceilings and walls missing in many places? In many places — but not in the room where Nancy and Jonathan are holding a psychotherapy session. In the end, at the right moment, everything freezes again, apparently by magic as well.

The second problem is deeper and tied to the characters themselves. Nancy and Jonathan got together a very long time ago. Moreover, Nancy left Steve for him. Even though she was bound to each of them by traumatic events. This leads us to the conclusion that she chose Will’s brother not by accident, but because of very specific qualities that seemed more attractive to her than Steve’s. Not trauma, but a conscious choice.

Jonathan himself was in love with Nancy, and her attention could not have become something ordinary for him — quite the opposite. Such a relationship is a stimulus to live up to expectations. To be Nancy’s protector and support, to grow above oneself. However, in the end, after so much time and so many shared ordeals, where each of them repeatedly proved to be a hero, the characters fail to find a way out of their interpersonal problem, do not try, by talking it through, to grow and reach a new level. Instead, Jonathan simply steps aside in order to remain the same sloppy loser without a future that the show tried to portray him as. That is, his relationship with Nancy gave him nothing and changed him in no way.

Nancy, in turn, does not want to compromise and does not accept in her partner the things that irritate her. If you look at the “non-proposal” scene through this lens, it comes across not as a mature decision, but as a massive screenwriting failure, where all the characters’ growth is ultimately thrown down the drain. With the same success, they could have broken up back in the second season with roughly the same lines. I’ve seen the opinion online that it would have been better if Nancy and Jonathan had died in that room, and, honestly, I’m inclined to agree. Yes, they could have voiced their mutual grievances and finally made it clear that no hardships can change the main thing — their love for each other. Jonathan proposes, she accepts, and after that they drown together as a couple and as people who went all the way to the end. Admit it, that sounds far more heartfelt and emotional.

However, the largest number of problems and screenwriting contrivances lies in Max and Holly’s storyline. Let’s start with the traumatic event. According to the girls’ version, they need to find in Henry’s memories the moment when he caught each of them in order to escape the prison of consciousness. At first, both of them look for a way out for Holly. Everything goes well until Vecna himself intervenes, after which Max gives up. Let’s close our eyes to the question of why Max didn’t look for her own traumatic memory in the first place, since she definitely had the opportunity to do so over two years. In the end, Holly decides to search for Henry’s own traumas. Again, it’s not very clear why this should work at all, which is exactly what Max asks the girl about, but Mike’s sister cannot be dissuaded. Together they scour the wasteland beyond that very cave and, of course, find nothing.

Only due to a fantastical coincidence does Holly accidentally fall through a hidden hatch under the sand, where that very scene from the theatrical production is discovered, along with Henry’s first murder. By the way, I familiarized myself with the plot of the play. It turns out that Henry was not some maniac at all, but ended up in the Upside Down and received a powerful charge from the Mind Flayer, which then proceeded to torment him. All the horrific events shown in the fourth season were supposedly carried out by the boy under the monster’s influence.

But wait, what about the scene from the finale of that same fourth season, where the newly born Vecna creates that very spider-like Mind Flayer? And then Eleven even tells him, "It was you". So what does this mean? Is there still someone standing above One, with him merely being a victim under total control, or not? In short, everything that’s happening has become even more confusing. There’s hope that Henry’s backstory will be revealed from a new angle in the eighth episode, but something tells me everything will stay as it is, and the entire play exists solely to squeeze a bit more money out of people against the backdrop of a month-long stretched-out premiere.

Next, the girls do eventually find yet another additional dimension or some kind of underside of Vecna’s memory… I honestly struggle to say what these sets are supposed to represent. They were already present in the fourth season, and I assumed that this was the mental prison where the villain traps his victims’ souls, but no — now we know that memories look like fairly natural scenes from the past.

The most problematic part begins when Max discovers her own exit and tells Holly that she cannot leave with her. Now a little schoolgirl has to fight Vecna one-on-one all by herself. A very heroic act, no doubt. Max’s conscience doesn’t trouble her much either. At the same time, in an attempt to justify her actions, the redhead launches into a huge monologue, explaining to Holly why she is abandoning her. And this happens at the exact moment when Vecna is chasing them, while Will is holding him back at the cost of his own safety. Right now, every second meme on the internet is about the speed at which Max runs away from danger, and that is a very bad sign for the Duffers. The illusion of realism crumbles before our eyes, and viewers stop empathizing with what’s happening. In the end, Holly doesn’t escape anywhere, which is very sad. It’s as if everyone betrayed the girl, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up on the dark side in the finale.

Rescuing Max from the hospital is a separate kind of pain. As per tradition, the Duffers mix events together, showing them simultaneously, so while Max and Holly are searching for a way out, Will inadvertently shows Vecna where the real Max is located. Of course, one might ask how a supervillain couldn’t solve such a simple problem on his own, but those are minor details. In the end, demodogs attack the hospital, and Lucas and Robin save the redhead. For some reason, Lucas also brings along a cassette player with a song already playing, despite having absolutely no idea that this is the perfect moment.

Then we get a cosplay of a scene from Jurassic Park, where dinosaurs prowl around a room while children hide under a table. Except here everything breaks again, because Lucas, let me remind you, has a blaring cassette player. The monsters diligently ignore it, but it’s completely unclear why. At that moment, I thought it would have been a great idea to give the unconscious Max headphones, since she had a player before, and even if it broke, Lucas could definitely have found a new one over two years — but apparently that’s not as cool as running away from dogs at full volume.

And now for the final elephant in the room and the main stumbling block — Will’s coming-out, the apotheosis of the fifth season, the culmination of the heroes’ long journey. I would like to look at this scene a bit more objectively than ordinary viewers, who disliked it right away for many reasons. Conceptually, there is nothing wrong with the moment itself. Vecna, much like Pennywise, loves to press on inner weaknesses, so Will was quite reasonably afraid for his secret. The other issue is that this secret was artificially pinned onto a character who was not originally planned to be non-traditional, but I already discussed that in detail above, so we won’t dwell on it. Once again, the problems begin not with the essence of the scene, but with how it is filmed and presented.

Few fans still failed to grasp Will’s inclinations, which began to manifest back in the fourth season. This was not a surprise now. However, the Duffers literally end the second part of the season with this scene. It serves as a kind of intermediate climax, a clear emphasis and an exclamation point for the story. At the same time, for some reason Will gathers absolutely all the characters together, which adds a layer of unintentional comedy to what’s happening. Apparently, the creators thought this would underscore the importance of the moment, but in practice it looks like some sort of symposium. Half of the heroes have a very tenuous connection to Will’s life at all; his secret does not concern them in any way. Nevertheless, everyone listens attentively and, of course, supports the boy — how could it be otherwise. Interestingly, his feelings for Mike are never revealed, which is strange, considering that Will asked Robin several times about confessing to a specific person rather than to a crowd. Either this storyline was abandoned altogether, or it was saved as the main twist of the finale, which will determine enemies and allies alike. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.

One could go on for a long time describing the script’s shortcomings, but personally I can’t stop being triggered by the presence of Eight in the story. I already wrote in my review of the first part that she is completely useless to the plot. By the second half, this became obvious. In all the large-scale scenes, Eight just stands there, not interacting with her rescuers in any way. At the same time, she has exactly two dialogues with Eleven, in which she instantly plants doubts in Jane’s head about a future happy life and nudges the girl toward self-destruction in the finale. Even Hopper says that trouble should be expected from Eight. I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes an antagonist after Vecna’s defeat, fixating on Eleven’s suicide.

This time, I’ll probably refrain from theorizing so as not to upset myself yet again, but I’ll still try to predict who will end up dying. We were promised a sea of tears and deaths — they have to happen eventually.

So, Lucas and Max, in my view, are completely safe. They’ve only just found each other, which means there’s still room for growth. You can’t say the same about Jonathan and Nancy, who have just ended their relationship. I think the guy has the highest chance of dying. Either that, or both of them will survive so the writers can really hammer home the idea of a new path forward. Nancy is strong, independent, and full of energy. A girl like that does not die in a Netflix series.

With Dustin and Steve, things are more complicated. Many predict Steve’s death and, honestly, I do too. Despite the fans’ love, the character has completely stalled in his development. Over almost five seasons, he hasn’t started a family, hasn’t left Hawkins, and hasn’t really changed as a person. Steve is probably the number one candidate for a very touching and very bloody death. The problem is imagining what happens to Dustin afterward. The kid could completely break down or fall into depression, or maybe even follow his friend into death. I think either both of them die, or both survive. Anything else just doesn’t work.

Now let’s move on to the heavy artillery: Hopper and Joyce. For some reason, fans rarely discuss the possible deaths of these two, even though Joyce, like Steve, is one of the most likely candidates to be written out. Both of her sons are already grown and independent, she’s found the man of her dreams, and overall she has grown as a mother, realizing that her children need freedom and trust, not constant supervision.

Hopper was basically preparing for a heroic death back in the first part, but his plot armor would make even the Avengers jealous. He might survive the conflict with Vecna, only to sacrifice himself in a fight with Eight so that Eleven can pull herself together and understand that she can still live a normal life. Or his death could become the catalyst for the girl’s true rage, allowing the tide of battle to turn. Still, my money is on Joyce having a much higher chance of dying.

Eleven and Eight have equal chances of dying or surviving, but experience suggests that when characters openly prepare to sacrifice themselves, it usually doesn’t happen. I’m convinced Eight will definitely run into serious trouble and die, but Eleven could very well fulfill her shared dream with Mike and leave Hawkins for good. That would be a fair act of liberation. We’ve already been shown that she can lose her powers. If she loses them as a result of destroying Vecna, why not.

Will and Mike are the hardest to figure out. Right now, Mike feels too bland a character for a spectacular death, but his potential demise would be a powerful motivator for Eleven. Fans would flood their TVs with tears, and the internet would explode with short emotional edits. That said, the same thing would happen if Eleven died, with Mike leaving his hometown in her memory.

Will, for now, has the largest number of possible paths. On the one hand, he has only just accepted himself, and killing off such a character, especially a representative of a minority, would feel wrong. On the other hand, it seems like he has already reached his peak, and there’s nothing more to say about him. He has overcome everything, grown beyond himself and his circumstances, gained strength, and even learned to control Henry. Even the version where he turns into a villain no longer feels convincing. The only truly unexpected outcome would be if Will sealed the Upside Down from the outside world and remained in the Abyss instead of Vecna, immersing himself in memories of the past the same way the villain does. The difference is that Will would stay in pleasant moments, for example in that endless game of Dungeons & Dragons.

That leaves Robin and Holly, but there’s not much to say about them. Robin has always been a secondary character, few people really care about her fate, so with a 90% probability she’ll stay alive and well. Holly is liked by viewers and has been through plenty of trauma, but she’s still too young, and children in shows like this are killed very rarely. I’ll be genuinely surprised if she isn’t saved in the end.

Well, time to wrap things up and prepare for the final episode. Sadly, things aren’t looking great for Stranger Things right now. In stories of this scale, the ending is no less important than the beginning. If the Duffer Brothers stick to the path they’ve chosen, they risk burying their own legacy under a mountain of criticism. People will remember a weak resolution and won’t want to rewatch or recommend the show. The ending of Game of Thrones is an all-too-obvious comparison. Still, I’m willing to believe that in the eighth episode the Duffers will finally realize their true vision, and that everything else was forced padding at Netflix’s request. If that’s the case, we’ll get a dense and genuinely right finale that leaves no one indifferent. A finale for Stranger Things itself, not for a boy who doesn’t like girls.