“Stranger Things” ends, but the questions persist
From the beginning, I loved Stranger Things because it was unpredictable and intense. The tension is what made the series memorable. Season Five Volume Two, however, does not deliver a satisfying conclusion with the final episodes feeling incomplete and underdeveloped.
Season Five Volume Two released on Netflix on Dec. 25, and the finale aired on Dec. 31. It finishes the final season of Stranger Things as the main characters regroup and form plans to defeat Vecna and the Mind Flayer. These episodes signified the end of the entire series, which gave me and many others high expectations for a finale that would finally tie together five seasons of storylines.
One of the biggest issues in the season is the number of inconsistencies. These contradictions led to the fan theory known as “conformity gate.” According to this theory, the finale was an illusion created by Vecna, which would explain why events felt rushed and confusing. Character abilities suddenly shift without explanation, such as Eleven’s powers being noticeably weaker than in earlier seasons, and Lucas being able to kick a Demogorgon across the room. The theory claimed that the real final episode was planned to be released on Jan. 7. Although disproved, the popularity of the theory shows that the writing left enough unanswered questions that viewers expected a whole other episode to explain them.
The characters also feel noticeably different. Some became more forced and unnatural from the people that we came to love in previous seasons. For example, when Robin was introduced in Season Three, she immediately became my favorite character for being bubbly, outgoing and not afraid to be herself. I was very sad to see that in Season Five she became much more awkward and not at all the same Robin I adored in the previous two seasons.
Character relationships in this season are handled poorly, especially ones that had been built up over multiple seasons. Several emotional moments that felt necessary to the story are either rushed or completely ignored. One example is the lack of interaction between Hopper and Max after she wakes up. Given Hopper’s role as a father figure throughout the series, this absence feels unrealistic and unsatisfying. Ignoring moments like this made the season feel rushed, as if the show prioritized wrapping up the plot over giving characters closure. Because important relationships are overlooked in the final episodes, it makes the ending feel more insufficient.
Another inconsistency is that the Upside Down, which once defined the show’s horror, no longer carries the same weight. In Season One, the air was toxic, the place was unknown and overall it was genuinely terrifying. In Season Five, it feels much less threatening. Characters enter without a second thought, moving through with almost no obstacles and the environment isn’t deadly. As a result, the sense of danger that once drove the story is significantly reduced.
This lack of tension is most noticeable in the finale. The final confrontation feels anticlimactic and the scale feels smaller than expected. The absence of truly overwhelming threats weakens the impact of what should be the show’s most intense moment.
Most importantly, Season Five avoids fully carrying out consequences, especially in the ending. Given how many characters faced serious danger and death in previous seasons, I expected higher stakes in this finale, especially after five seasons of escalating tension. Decisions and actions that seem serious in the moment do not carry any negative effects, and some character arcs, like Dr. Kay’s fate and Robin and Vicky’s relationship are left unresolved. This combination of underdeveloped action and skipped follow-through makes the finale feel unfinished.
In the end, Season Five Volume Two of Stranger Things failed because it did not follow through with the danger of prior seasons. The ending feels less like a conclusion and more like a collection of unresolved moments, leaving many fans, including myself, disappointed that the ending of the show didn’t do it justice.
