This recap and review contains spoilers for Stranger Things 5: Volume Two and the finale.
The anticipated wait for the last few and final episodes is over. So many opinions, theories and reviews have spread quickly across the internet and here at Santa Fe as well.
Episodes five through seven summary
On Christmas Day, three episodes were released on Netflix, leaving fans with a final gift of suspense. It delivered scenes from emotional character moments, like Max and Lucas’ reunion, to action-packed ones like Holly trying to escape from Henry. These episodes gave all the information and discoveries that led up to the finale.
The finale
On New Year’s Eve, the last episode of Stranger Things was released, and fans’ reactions were very mixed. Many movie theaters also had showings for the finale, so fans could have the enhanced big-screen experience. I decided to watch it in theaters, and it made the watch so much more intense.
Hawkins finds itself in an apocalyptic mode, and the groups are set on defeating Henry. Henry planned to combine the Abyss and the real world together, the Upside Down just being a bridge between the two.
In this episode, you get to see more of Henry’s backstory. As a child, he had a traumatic experience with a mysterious source that he found, and that consumed him. He was convinced that it needed him.
Eleven faces a hard choice that Kali informs her about. She could defeat Henry and stay, but she will continue to be hunted for her powers, or sacrifice herself with Kali to end all the violence. This decision caused emotions from characters and watchers.
One of the most popular scenes was Eleven’s choice. After a huge battle against Henry and the Mind Flayer, the Stranger Things group came out on top. Unfortunately, when they returned to Hawkins, El stayed behind inside the Upside Down, which was being destroyed. She pulled Mike into her mind for one last goodbye, and she disappeared.
It flashes forward 18 months, and it is graduation day. Everyone seems well, and some even came back to reunite for these last few moments. Dustin carries on Eddie’s dream, Steve is the new boys’ baseball coach, Jonathan attends NYU, Hopper and Joyce are engaged and looking for a place to move away to and so many more changes.
The last scene was the most emotional of them all. Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin and Max are in the famous basement playing DND just like the memorable times in season one. They finish the game, winning, but Max seems to think there should be something more. Mike goes on telling stories about the characters in the game, hinting that they are actually about his friends. The one character that he describes El as, the Mage, is hopeful. Mike thinks she is still out there somewhere and that she could’nt have used her powers that night. She could have easily escaped if people were distracted by one of Kali’s allusions. Overall, it could be true or not, whether you believe it.
In the last scene, you see Karen open the door, yelling down the stairs that dinner is ready. The group goes one by one, putting their books away and heading up the stairs. Mike, being last, takes one last look as Holly and her friends run past him, hurrying to the table, ready to play the game that started it all.
Student thoughts
This ending shocked us all, whether it was a moment we didn’t expect or something that was expected. Juniors Lucy Villasmil and Elise Truett, both early-on watchers, think the ending was rushed rather than planned out.
“It was kind of rushed, I think it wasn’t emotional,” Vilasmil says.
Many people online are also struck by different news in the Stranger Things documentary. The Duffer brothers shared that they were still writing the script as they were filming the last few episodes. Truett shares the same idea as Villasmil and many other fans.
“I think it could’ve been more well-written and climactic. I think it was rushed because Vecna died way too easily, and I wish they had gone more in-depth about how the wormhole worked,” Truett said.
Although a lot of people thought the ending was disappointing, there were many surprising moments spread throughout it. Villasmil explained how one of the moments at the beginning of the finale shocked her the most, as well as one of the most well-known ones.
“Steve, when they caught him. I thought he was going to die in that moment, and Henry’s whole story as a kid, how he became Vecna, how he killed that guy, and that he was actually a victim at some point,” Villasmil said.
Learning Vecna’s backstory was definitely one of the most interesting parts for me, too. One of my favorite moments was Max and Lucas reuniting in the hospital. Truett thinks this moment was surprising to her, too.
“The most surprising moment for me was finding out that Max was not actually in a coma, and she was in Vecna’s mind,” Truett said.
One of the biggest controversial scenes in the show was El’s ending. Did she sacrifice herself in the Upside Down, or is she somewhere far away starting over? Truett and Villasmil both share the thought that she chose to end all the violence through Kali’s plan.
“I believe that El is not alive because she basically told Mike to help the rest of their friends cope with her death,” Truett said.
This seems to be a common opinion with watchers, as Villasmil agreed.
“I think she dies, I think they are just making up a story so it’s less sad, and I think Mike is obsessed,” Villasmil said.
The end of this remarkable series leaves fans feeling emotional, wanting more and missing the characters they grew up with. In the end, Stranger Things leaves the Upside Down behind and leaves fans with a story they won’t forget.
