Despite great expectations and the large production budget, “Stranger Things” season five fails to create a satisifying ending to one of the most anticipated show finales in recent memory.
Compared to the final episode of the fourth season, “Stranger Things” season five came as a massive disappointment for fans. Season four left off with an ominous view over Hawkins, showing fans what was supposed to come in the next season.
However, season five begins with a far cry from where season four left off.
This drastic transition from season to season threw many fans off and left many confused. A time skip like this one, without much explanation, made the story seem rushed and lazily produced.
The first two parts of the fifth season were similar to the rest of the show and somewhat upheld the expectations created in season four. However, the last part, or the final two episodes of season five, was lackluster compared to previously released works from the Duffer Brother.
The pacing for the final two episodes was one of the main concerns for critics and fans alike. With only three hours of screen time remaining, the show had a plethora of things it needed to tie together.
In this remaining time, the show focused more on individual character development rather than bigger plot points.
One example of this is the writer’s decision to put a major emphasis on Will’s coming out speech. While this speech was well-crafted and brought out a lot of emotion from the characters and audience, it was more drawn out than it needed to be.
Compared to the climax of the show, this speech took up just about as much screen time. This choice took away from what should have been the most important moment in the show and made it feel far less significant.
The ending itself was so disappointing for fans that they were left believing it wasn’t the real ending and there were more “secret” episodes yet to come.
This theory of a secret episode was called “Conformity Gate.”
The theory claimed that Vecna did not actually lose the final fight, but rather, Vecna had won and created an illusion for the audience to make them “conform” to a more peaceful, tame ending than what actually occurred.
Another concern among fans was the overall production, more specifically, the lack of consistency within it.
In many areas of the show, mainly the final battle, the production is amazing and looks just as good, perhaps better, than previous seasons’ productions.
Though in some areas, the production quality is a step down from the status quo.
In the scene where Max runs to Lucas to finally be freed from Vecna’s dream world and get back to normal reality, the background looks much worse in season five than it does in season four.
Overall, this final season came as a shock and a massive disappointment to many fans and felt like a step down from past production. Many fans walked away from this season wishing for a better final product to a show that had so much promise.