“Stranger Things” is a science fiction horror series on Netflix that has gained huge popularity over the years since its first episode in 2016. It follows a group of kids, teens and adults in the 1980s, who uncover an alternate dimension called the Upside Down as well as government conspiracies and other mysteries. The fifth season of the series was made up of eight episodes in three parts being spread out in November and December. Even though potential spin-offs are said to be in development, and even though fans are theorizing episode 8 as a “fake finale” and suggesting the anticipated theoretical Conformity Gate episode, that supposedly would drop Jan. 7, the Duffer brothers, the creators of the show, claim that this season marks the true end to the series. Fans are skeptical about this though, because even when the Duffer brothers promised an emotional, dark and brutal ending to the show, a huge portion of the ending turned out to be the opposite.
The ending of season 4 was huge, leaving the audience thinking the characters killed Vecna, but with the Upside Down breaking through the ground and destroying Hawkins, viewers expected season 5 to pick up from this sense of urgency and tension from the characters. Contrarily, season 5 started with everyone’s lives being fairly normal, apart from the military guarding the town. While it was better that season 5 picked up and went right away into the plot audiences were waiting to see resolved, it was weird to see most of the town acting like nothing huge happened before.
In other seasons where characters would be split up into different groups doing different things, both the adults and the kids in the series were always working together by contributing ideas and plans to stop Vecna and the Upside Down in season 5. Even though there were not really any problems with acting, some actors like Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo and Charlie Heaton looked way too old to play their characters due to the huge three year gap between season 4, released in May 2022, and season 5, which released in November 2025. Even though this gap prevents binge watching an entire season, it can lead audiences to not only watch the actors grow up, but also to forget or become disinterested in watching the rest. Most importantly, it can cause the writers of the show to overlook events and details that lead to plot holes the audience actually notices and comments on thoroughly through social media.
Other than this, all the actors did really well by staying true to their characters personalities and dispositions, especially Nell Fisher, who played Holly Wheeler. Her story contributed a fresh addition to the season, adding an interesting, different approach to the story compared to the main group. Her side of the story with “Mr. Whatsit” was really fun to watch because she was with the character the entire cast was searching for. On the other hand, the main group of Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven followed an interesting but easy plot to understand, but it was written in a way where the characters would continue to over-explain things in the same exact way by using objects. Any time there was a problem, someone would figure it out really quickly and explain it with little D&D figurines, vinyls, toy cars or by drawing it out very clearly on the whiteboard for the audience. Though the pacing of this is perfect for short attention spans, this may not be the best for achieving in-depth storytelling. This can be due to Netflix’s “second screen strategy,” which involves Netflix intentionally creating simple, straightforward ways of storytelling in their content that the audience can follow along to easily while using their phone. Netflix does this to follow with the fact that the audience consumes shows in newer ways, trying to assume that a majority of the viewers are half paying attention, which can affect another majority of those who truly want to enjoy the fullness of a show.
Many fans were ultimately disappointed with the finale of “Stranger Things” claiming the ending was too safe, with not many major characters killed and too many questions left to interpretation. A simple ending is not too much of a problem because overall, the season did what it was supposed to do, which was to wrap things up nicely. Mostly everyone had a happy ending and the characters were finished with a satisfying conclusion matching with graduating high school. Say if a main character were to be officially killed off, fans would probably respond even more negatively towards the finale.
Having a fairly happy ending is not a bad thing, but “Stranger Things” should have at least explained the numerous plot holes they left unanswered. How did Max graduate when she was in a coma for almost two years? Why did Joyce and Hopper never acknowledge they were friends with Henry Creel in 1959? What happened to Dr. Kay or all the experimented pregnant women in the Upside Down? Why didn’t the military take any action on the kids, who killed multiple soldiers, after Eleven disappeared? There were at least seven major Stranger Things plot holes that failed to be fully addressed in the last hour of episode 8.
According to the Duffer brothers, the answers to some plot holes were assumptions that are made off-screen and should be clearly interpreted by the audience. Still, even if all of these plot holes do not get resolved in future spin-offs, fans should accept that the series is completed and resolved in the nicest way written, and be thankful for the significant role “Stranger Things” played in their pop culture for years.
Colton • Jan 9, 2026 at 11:21 am
Great title and coverage of the show!