Stranger Things' Last Adventure

Colin Kim • February 28th, 2026

Nine years, five seasons and intricate storylines have all led up to the recent conclusion of Netflix’s hit show “Stranger Things” – written, directed and produced by twin filmmakers Matt and Ross Duffer. Beginning on Nov. 26, 2025, multi-episode installments of the new season were released up until its seventh episode on Christmas Day. Then, the season’s finale was released on New Year’s Eve of 2025. Over the years, “Stranger Things” has remained an enormously popular series, gathering over 1.2 billion views across all five seasons for numerous reasons (Variety). Whether it is the small-town, cozy mystery style that intrigues viewers or the gleaming nostalgia of the 80s, “Stranger Things” has undoubtedly become a pop culture cornerstone over the past decade.

From a quiet town in Indiana, to another dimension known as the “Upside Down”, “Stranger Things” has explored various locations, characters and stories. The narrative begins with a group of nerdy, outcast middle schoolers who, after their friend Will Byers goes missing, finds a young girl, named Eleven. It is revealed that she was escaping from the corrupt Department of Energy which houses a mysterious gate to a dimension of ominous creatures. As the series progressed audiences see these characters explore, advance and uncover the mysteries surrounding Eleven and The Upside Down. The uncanny, faceless monster known as a “demogorgan” introduced in season one, would soon lead to a web of obscure creatures being introduced. The two most recent seasons, four and five, introduced the main antagonist of the series, Vecna. Although terrifying in the fourth season with a molten face and obscured voice, his intimidating presence began to wane this past season due to a lack of character deaths by his hands to how quickly he was defeated in the final battle. This is just one of the many instances of this season paling in comparison to its predecessors that actually captured the charming, ‘80s coming of age movie style.

Not only has there been a shift in genre that seems modernized, physically actors appear more like themselves than their characters and there has been changes in the quality of performances. In the latest season, viewers have noticed a significant growth spurt within the actors, straying away from the characters’ in-show ages. The series ends with the many of the main characters graduating high school while the cast remains in their early 20s with noticeable changes in their appearance. Actress Millie Bobby Brown has been criticized for noticeable cosmetic enhancements which fans claim to have obstructed her most recent performance in season five, hindering facial expressions. Another former child actor, Noah Schnapp has been criticized for his decline in portraying a range of emotion. From once showcasing an impressive range of skills, to monotone performances that fall flat, fans are disappointed. Choices in writing and the plot also affected the quality of the show. Protagonist Mike Wheeler’s little sister Holly becomes the focus of the children' s storyline despite being an extremely minimal character in the first four seasons. Due to this drastic change, audiences lacked enough time to truly connect with the character, making her plot feel flat and detached. Sophomore Sebastian Sugeti shares his thoughts on this topic.

“Honestly I didn’t have too many gripes about [Holly Wheeler] being super important because [the actress] did okay and I liked the Vecna and the Mr.Whatsit stuff. It helped seeing that he was not totally evil” Sugeti said. “In season four his only motivation being that El attacked him, even though he was killing everybody was a dumb reason. ”

The inconsistencies and weaknesses in the story led to fans debating whether the Duffer Brothers were even competent writers in the first place. Over the course of getting to know the complex and fantastical world of Stranger Things, we have been introduced to various critters such as, Demogorgons, Demobats, Demodogs, The Spider Monster, sentient vines and flesh. Despite the abundance of creatures, the final battle took place in The Abyss with only the entity controlling the hivemind of monsters known as The Mind Flayer, and Vecna. For a final battle, it was lackluster and very rushed, approximately lasting around only six minutes. Other inconsistencies, such as mistakes in plot information and mischaracterizations of the main group, led to the creation of a popular theory made by fans across social media platforms nicknamed “Conformity Gate”. This viral fan theory comes from the idea that the events of season five’s finale, is a false perception created by Vecna and a real finale would be released on January 7th with a ninth episode. Senior Dakota Pfligder shared his thoughts on this wild fan theory.

“Although the theory is incredibly well put together, I don’t think it’s true,’ Pflidger said. “I think it says a lot that if a finale is so unsatisfying, audiences feel the need to come up with an alternate ending. Sometimes I read fan theories online and they’re more interesting than actual plot points in the show.”

“Conformity Gate” was elaborately planned out by fans - showing off the dedication audiences have to fulfilling and satisfying endings, however was highly unlikely from the start. As “Conformity Gate” has proven to be false with no surprise release of an episode, fans are left with the ambiguous final minutes of “Stranger Things”, leaving Eleven’s fate up to interpretation. While some may deem this narrative as pandering, the impact of this final scene adds to the discourse necessary for television shows. Many fans, alongside the teenage characters, choose to believe that El is still alive. Yet, the hopeful outcome is not shared by everyone. Senior Diego Hollerbach stated his opinion on this heated matter of discussion.

“I find it difficult to believe that the sister [Kali] survived through the gunshot wounds for an hour and held the blood in while passed out,” Hollerbach said. “Personally I don’t know or care if she’s still alive because the show’s over.”

Filled by the hope that the once beloved show would integrate interesting, witty and mindboggling twists, audiences were left largely disappointed by the season’s poor writing that impacted the dialogue, characterization and plot inconsistencies. The fifth season felt like a parody of the previous more engaging seasons, as it had predictable writing and bad pacing. Although “Stranger Things 5” has been deemed as a weak final season to many, this series’ legacy of nostalgia and magic will remain in people’s hearts for decades.