After nine and a half years, the hit series, Stranger Things, has come to an end. December 31, 2025, the final episode closed the book of a sci-fi, horror, coming-of-age series created by the Duffer brothers.
Stranger Things has built its reputation of a horror and mystery Netflix series through its intricate plot. The finale left many viewers confused with many unanswered questions.
In Season 4, it was found that Vecna was Dr. Brenner’s first subject, Henry Creel. At the end of the season, Eleven banished Vecna into the Upside Down, or so she thought. Her powers forced Vecna through an interdimentional wormhole and into the “Abyss.” The concept of this was intelligent, but confusing, making it seem more symbolic than logical. There were multiple scenes where the characters explained the wormhole, but many viewers say they were still confused.
“I did not like the ending, it was rushed and confusing, and they cut a ton of hours in the final episode,” senior Mollie Barth said.
Also, the powers of the Upside Down became inconsistent, which led to even more confusion. The timelines were blurred and it became an emotional focus with dramaticized visuals and unclear explanations. For example, the Upside Down was the biggest inanimate antagonist. As Season 4 ended, it started to invade Hawkins with cracks and vines connecting to the city. The citizens were unaware about the portal and seemed to ignore the supernatural attacks on their city. This is what made the Upside Down seem like less of a threat because there was no chaos, fear, or urgency shown throughout the city, which also takes away from the “horror” part of the story.
But that was not the only unrealistic thing. There were plenty of times where certain characters should’ve died, but didn’t. Before the release of the last episode, the Duffer brothers said that there would be a lot of deaths, but to me, it looked like everybody survived.
Steve was caught by Jonathan before he fell through a 500 foot tower. Although I would’ve been sad about the death of Steve, him surviving seemed impossible. Then again, we watched Jonathan ‘un-propose’ to Nancy while getting surrounded by thick, solidifying beige, substance, so I guess anything is possible in this show.
This scene was where Jonathan asked Nancy to not marry him, because they were about to die. But it confused a lot of the viewers if they were still together.
“I understood that they actually broke up, but I can see how some people could think that they’re still together, just not going to get married,” science teacher Dan Dischler said.
After Nancy and Jonathan had an honest, heartfelt discussion about their relationship, the substance then randomly stopped pouring into the room right before they are about to get engulfed in it. The audience would probably have had a more emotional impact if right after the two’s conversation, they sank into the goo.
“It seemed too convenient that the stuff hardend,” sophomore Brody Briganti said.
After years of chaotic control, Vecna and the Mind Flayer were deafted quickly in the middle of the final episode. The creatures the Mind Flayer controlled were not in the final fight, leading to questions on where they were. In prior seasons, it seemed as if these creatures were relentless and would defeat anything in their sight.
This shows how the Duffer brothers rushed the final episode to focus on El. On an interview with Collider, the Duffer brothers state that they planned for Vecna to be defeated in the middle of the episode, to then leave the rest to focus in on Eleven and the epilogue, however the final episode was not fully written before they started filming.
El stayed back on the bridge to the Upside Down, and what happened to El was left under interpretation. Mike came up with a theory that she didn’t actually stay on the bridge, and Eleven’s sister, Kali, had used her powers to project the illusion of Eleven being there. Mike believes that Eleven didn’t die on the bridge, but that she escaped to live a life she always dreamed of. He tells his friends this belief in his basement.
“The final basement scene was really good, but the ambiguity of El, not so great,” Dischler said.
The lack of planning for Season 5 reduced the horror aspect of the show. When the Mind Flayer was first introduced in Season 1, Barb is left in a portal. In Season 2, the Mind Flayer attaches to Will and the process to get it out is torture. Season 3 Billy is trapped in a sauna to melt the Mind Flayer, and in Season 4 Chrissy is dismembered in Eddie’s trailer.
Nothing with this level of horror or suspense was fulfilled because many of the characters were protected. The plot was affected by this, ultimately leading to a boring ending.
