Stranger Things 5 is arguably the most uneven the Netflix megahit has ever looked, because, like other epic shows before it, it simply has too much to accomplish in too short a time. The show’s ever-expanding cast and ever-raising stakes in previous seasons made sure of that. There’s just so much there that the final season had no choice but to run down a massive checklist to make sure everyone had some kind of resolution or at least sense of direction. That’s left the show feeling crowded and, at times, overreliant on constantly explaining itself just to get to the finish line.
Now the finish line is here. On New Year’s Eve, audiences around the world got to see how The Duffer Brothers chose to end their runaway, career-making opus, and just like the rest of the season the results are mixed. This is a two-hour sendoff for a show that kept adding lore right up until the very end of its run, and most of its principal cast is still alive and well as the finale starts. So, how does it end? With a lot of awkward resolutions, a lot of explaining things to the audience and, when all of that is said and done, a picture-perfect conclusion that reminds us what the show could be at its very best.
It doesn’t feel like a spoiler at this point to tell you that this two-hour story is divided into roughly two parts, with one half devoted to the party’s final battle against Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the other devoted to resolving, well, everything else. Relationships, futures, losses, the fate of the Upside Down, and so much more is dealt with in these two hours, and it’s frankly more than a little head-spinning. A lot of the same problems that plagued the first two parts of the final season are still there. The show spends too much time letting the characters tell us what’s going on instead of showing us with dynamic storytelling, the character beats we do get are often shockingly uneven in their impact, and some decisions are clearly made just so the Duffers can set up some big scene that they may have been dreaming about for years.
Back when Part 1 of Stranger Things 5 arrived in November, it was a show clearly battling with its own legacy, wrestling with doing something new while also addressing all the lingering plot threads it had to resolve before the end of the run. That battle meant characters constantly reminding the audience of the stakes, repeating plot points, and even recapping things from previous seasons just to make sure we all understood how far this narrative had come, and where it was going. The visuals follow suit, giving us images that are clear but not necessarily dynamic. It looks like a series that’s hellbent on keeping up more than keeping us interested in what’s onscreen. And for much of the finale’s runtime, the show also seems to go out of its way to do things in the most predictable way possible…right up until it doesn’t.
Those big scenes, the ones the Duffers have been dreaming about, rise above all the doubts, all the sluggish plotting and oversized ensemble. Stranger Things has always been at its best when its emotions are big, even when its story gets small, and for all the stumbles along the way, everyone involved clearly knew they were playing for all the marbles here at the end. The young cast – featuring standout work from Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, and Maya Hawke – clearly came prepared, delivering the best performances of the season and cementing the show’s emotional payoffs with true vulnerability and grace. Scattered though it may be, this is a series finale that understands the importance of taking a moment to reflect on just how long these kids have been fighting, and exactly what it means for them to see the end in sight. You feel the weight of it, and it works. Then you get to the very, very end and, without giving too much away, you find the show has done something truly gutsy with its resolution that made the whole journey worth it.
Stranger Things changed streaming media as we know it, and carved out a place in popular culture that we won’t soon forget. It spawned an empire, and when it comes to shows like that, endings are especially tricky. How much of the show’s ending is on its own terms? How many members of the cast and crew still want to be there? How will those long waits between seasons impact the immediacy and the urgency of this moment? It’s clear they had some impact, and it’s also clear that this finale was never going to please everyone in every way. It’s also clear, though, that this is, against the odds, a show that got to go out on its own terms. It’s messy, it’s awkward, it’s protracted, but by the final scene it all feels worth it, and that’s just about the best we could ask for.
Stranger Things is streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
Summary
It’s messy, it’s awkward, it’s protracted, but by the final scene it all feels worth it, and that’s just about the best we could ask for.
Categorized: Reviews Television