For a season that started off strong, Volume Two of Stranger Things 5 missed the mark by a long shot. After counting down the days for the new episodes after Thanksgiving (when Volume One was released) the final moments of the show seemed promising. Not only did the time between each episode’s release build my anticipation for the show more, but there were multiple other factors that made this season feel like it would be monumental: the three-year gap from Season 4 to Season 5, the status of Stranger Things as one of Netflix’s top shows of all time and the long-running commitments of the cast and writers, Matt and Ross Duffer, professionally known as the Duffer Brothers. However, the last four episodes of this beloved series revealed cracks in the writing and incomplete character arcs, raising the question of whether or not the show should have ended after its first two seasons. 

In Volume One, some of the dialogue was awkward and stilted, as stated in my Dec. 11 review. In Volume Two, this problem worsened, making it clear how shaky the writing quality had become. Throughout all four of the final episodes, many characters delivered drawn-out monologues, resulting in multiple overly boring scenes. Nonetheless, I do believe some of the longer lines from characters served a few moments well, such as Hopper’s (David Harbour) speech to Mike (Finn Wolfhard) in the finale. Others fell flat. Max’s (Sadie Sink) explanation to Holly (Nell Fisher) of how to escape Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) mind occurred in such a high-stakes situation that it seriously slowed the momentum of what had the potential to be a very impactful scene.

The final episodes could have benefited from giving some characters more lines and cutting down many of the longer deliveries from others. This would have also fixed an overarching problem that accumulated as the season went on: too many characters with too little time to give each one a proper sendoff. Stranger Things went from being a show with a very tight crew of characters to one with an expansive ensemble cast. In the last few episodes, some characters’ personalities suffered due to how small a role they had in the grander narrative of this season, especially Mike and Joyce (Winona Ryder). While there could have been a perfect balance struck that featured everyone, the Duffer Brothers didn’t find it. 

Additionally, I wrote in my initial review that I believed someone from the main group was most likely going to die. There was ultimately an ambiguous ending for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), leaving viewers questioning if she sacrificed herself or if she faked her death and escaped, as Mike theorizes to his friends and heavily implies to those watching the show at the end of the finale. But the Duffer Brothers did what they do best and killed off a character with minimal development, Kali (Linnea Berthelson), as they have done in the past with Barb (Shannon Purser), Bob (Sean Astin) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn).
Throughout the final moments of the show, there were times when it seemed like prominent characters weren’t going to make it and then somehow always did, which made the real deaths feel less significant.

There were moments that I actually enjoyed — as a long-term fan, how could I not? Following the final battle, when Joyce kills Vecna, the camera focuses on the other characters standing around, flashing back to times when Vecna had orchestrated something that personally affected them. This was one of the most impactful scenes in the entire season. I especially enjoyed the very last moment in which Mike, Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max play one last game of Dungeons and Dragons, a direct parallel to the show’s pilot episode. When the group leaves to walk out of the basement, seemingly for the last time, they are replaced by a new generation of kids who run into the room to start a game of their own. This was a touching and nostalgic way to end the show forever. 

After finding out that the original prediction for Stranger Things was a one-season arc, I think the show became too big for the Duffer Brothers to handle, resulting in very apparent flaws and overly long episodes. Looking back on how nostalgic, poignant and dark the first two seasons were, it definitely would have been better to leave it at two. There are parts of Seasons 3 to 5 that I love. But overall, the series is disjointed, and the final part of Season 5 contributed to this feeling on a grand scale.