Evelyn Rose is a junior and a reporter for the Fishers Tiger Times. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
The Duffer Brothers created a close to perfect part one and I believed that maybe “Stranger Things” would end on a high note. What unfolded was not what audiences deserve for how long we have been watching this show.
The great writing found in season one and season two was nowhere to be found in episodes five through eight. Each intriguing reveal was ruined by characters overexplaining what is going on for the people scrolling TikTok. Those same fans of the show talked and then just started theorizing better endings.
There was no suspense because every time I thought the writers were going to make a bold choice instead, they went back on their own ideas. It became nonsensical and boring.
However, the one thing that I can compliment was the cinematography. It had some great shots that were immediately ruined by horrendous CGI, looking like it was a $20 million show instead of a $200 million show. It did not make sense for Netflix to rush the artists of this show when audiences waited three years for this to come out.
The reason “Stranger Things” found success being the no. 1 most watched show according to their top ten each time a new season came out was in the intrigue of solving a government mystery where the details mattered. The final season took all the relevant details audiences care about and threw them out the window because the Duffer Brothers just started phoning it in. The allegations that they stole the script for season one seems true because of how bad the second half of season five was.
It was so bland and predictable that I started guessing what the next line of dialogue was going to be out of annoyance. Every plot point treaded the same water for twenty minutes like the idea that the world ending event will begin soon. When something cool did happen, it was ruined by horrible writing because five characters needed to have their epiphany moment for no reason.
As a fan of “Stranger Things” that stayed up all night every time a new season dropped at 3 a.m. and grew up with the characters, I was utterly disappointed in what I had watched. If this show had any other showrunners, I believe that this finale would have been great.
Every actor that I had loved started having the worst performances of their career suddenly because of the writing, such as Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay) who the writers gave up on making menacing and David Harbour (Hopper) who they only use for ten minutes to then make him useless again. Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) was sidelined as a main character to explore other plot lines that the creators just continuously forget about and did not develop enough for me to be interested.
This finale was not what audiences deserve, and after a couple of years, I will look fondly at the ending of this show, but for now, it is just another horrible series finale like “Game of Thrones” that had a 4.0 IMDB average in the final season and “Umbrella Academy” With a 4.9 IMDB rating on its finale. Overall, I give “Stranger Things” season five parts two and three 2/5 stars because it was entertaining at parts.
