Television

Just finished S5 and quite enjoyed it. It was a bit drawn out, but as the culmination of the series, I think it should be allowed. Took a minute to read up on the Internet's opinions on why I should hate it and think those opinions are largely bunk given by people who don't really pay attention or can't feel emotions. I strictly avoid anything that smells like a spoiler, though, so that may have something to do with it - no "hyped" trailers to mislead or disappoint, or knowledge of plays with special lore. Honestly, it feels like people go out of their way to ruin things for themselves. I saw people stressing about how the actors said things in interviews "meaning" certain things for the show. Madness.

Anyway, Holly was a great inclusion to the season, and additional evidence that the Wheeler women kick serious ass. Max/Lucas were both standouts, and Dustin. If I'm being honest, I lost interest in El's whole schtick a while ago, so that didn't really hit for me, but I did like the relationship stuff with Hop. My only big hangup (for the whole series really) is the discrepancies with the ages of the actors. I get the Duffers had a specific vision, but a few time jumps would've done wonders. Still, I thought the epilogue was very sweet. Teared up myself at the final D&D session.

Overall, well done final season even if it wasn't perfect, and honestly it's just nice to see a series have a clean, definitive finale. So many just go on and on until they crumble into insignificance.

There was so much pointless bickering in season 5. Multiple times I was thinking bro shut up now is not the time to care about this random thing.

I did like that all the characters are moving on with their lives. Being a highschool coach makes so much sense for Steve.

They did a good job giving all of the characters something to do and wrapping up the overarching supernatural elements. They did about as much saying goodbye to the characters as they could get away with in the time limit, and it's a rare example of an ambiguous ending that didn't leave me feeling frustrated or that the writers had chickened out.

Part of me is simply relieved that the show got an ending at all, let alone a good one. I'm sure that in a few years time I'll want to watch the whole thing again, which I can't say for a lot of shows.

I was just waiting to get emotional like I did with the season 3 finale, when El reads the speech that Hop wrote for her. But it never really hit that high for me. I cry at everything and I didn't cry until the episode was over, and that was just because I didn't want it to end.

Overall I enjoyed the ride, but I really hate how they "Disney-fied" the Upside Down.

And just how much of a waste of screen time the military was. They were just so damn incompetent it wasn't even funny.

I absolutely loved it. The Duffer Brothers stuck the landing. They tied off all the characters perfectly.

I absolutely loved how the show ended with a shot of the Wheeler’s house and sprinkler that fades to Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas and now Max playing a D&D campaign.

That was the first time the audience met the kids in E1 of S1 ten years ago!

The final scene with Mike’s sister now taking over the basement and there is a new generation of Wheeler kids in the basement cave. That brought a tear to my eye.

The animated credits at the end were spectacular. I noticed immediately that the open crawl of the final episode didn’t identify any star’s names. It was so cool how they worked key moments of the show into the credits.

I really loved the scene where Joyce was hacking off Vecna’s head while each characters relived an evil and or a hurt that Vecna had done to them, damn that was spectacular. That was a really cathartic moment for the characters.

The Duffers had a lot of characters to resolve and while not perfect they did a really good job of tiring them off, while leaving enough what if?

Re Russian Demogorgons.

Really this is a season 4 question, but I assumed season 5 would explain it. How did the Demogorgons get to Russia? How did Hopper get to Russia? Did the Russian portal open into Hawkins?

I need Dustin to explain.

When they made season one they still thought they might do an anthology series, not necessarily more with the same characters. That's why el had a similar ending in season one and five, that’s what was always planned for that character.

I liked many things, but man did they fumble the ball in so many ways this season.

For example, explaining important backstory in a Broadway stage play accessible to only like .1% of your viewing audience. Not only this, but then making that backstory inconsistent with established lore. Hawkins was, according to Hopper, a boring town where nothing happened. But now there were those supernatural murders years ago. I guess he just forgot.

I have many more criticisms for the season, but I'll limit this to the finale here on out. The main thing is, just be consistent.

One gripe is where were the other creatures in the Abyss? The Mind Flayer is supposed to be a hive mind, but there were no demogorgons, demodogs, bats, or other alien creatures. It just seemed like the MF was hanging out on this planet by itself.

Another is, why isn't everyone under surveillance after they lost El? Are we supposed to believe the military just let everyone go and isn't looking for any sign that she could be alive? They e done that in previous seasons, hell that was the point of using the radio station to deliver coded messages. Now they gave up? Ok.

A minor one: I'd have thought that with facing death Mrs Wheeler would finally either work on or leave her failing marriage, but there didn't seem to be any character growth after all.

That said, I liked that they killed El and that her sacrifice had meaning. It felt earned. I really hope they don't undo that. The talk with Mike and Hopper was great.

Re Nancy Wheeler.

During the epilogue I believe all of these young adults have moved on. I believe Johnathan is an awkward filmmaker. I believe Steve coaches children. I believe Robin is just vibin in life. But I don't believe Nancy.

Nancy started this series as the "preppy" girl and ended it as Ripley/Rambo. Leaving college made sense. She obviously wanted to be a reporter, so jumping right into reporting makes sense. But even as she says she's happy about it... She isn't. And maybe that's part of her story. Maybe her story isn't over.

I think we needed something more of Nancy. Maybe we see her trying school and trying reporting, but she doesn't really feel at ease until discussing monsters with her friends, who seemingly have moved on.

Re Kali/Eight/Eleven's magic power sister.

I thought it was a bold choice to bring back Kali as part of this season. It was one of the big cliffhanger moments of season 5 volume 1. But... I don't think it worked.

If you work backwards from the ending, it makes sense why you have Kali. She has illusion powers so Eleven's fake out "I believe" ending can work. I like that ending. But what did Kali do during the series?

Well she convinces El the only way to end the cycle of monsters and torture is for them to die. And if you work backwards from that, that's why Hopper has his "the only solution is to die" moment earlier in the series. It's a parallel.

So Kali has a key purpose... But what does SHE actually do? They have another super powered person and she just wanders around until she dies.

I know she was a bit of a nihilist at that point on her life, but even as they're putting together the final plan, she doesn't have a part in that plan. Her death just doesn't matter.

Re Will.

So the obvious point of discussion, Will coming out. I've seen a lot of hate online about this. I'm assuming the issue is that we didn't need a coming out scene in the middle of the world coming to an end story. Which I understand.

That being said I think it was a great scene, well told and well acted. We've had hints about it for at least a season or two, so it showing up in the finale made sense. Plus for Will's character it was a great way to show his continued growth.

I do think it would have been great to have Will be a super sorcerer as part of the finale. I really think Vecna should have had Demogorgons and Demodogs attacking the party, only for Will to take them over. It would have made the fight cooler. It would have made the fight more believable. And it would have really shown how much stronger Will had become.

Second, I think they should have done something more with Will and Mike's relationship. Previously Mike said, "It's not my fault you don't like girls", which I really thought meant that he already knew and took their argument too far. Add to that Will basically confessing how much he loves Mike, but understanding that Mike will never love him the same way, but also Mike was completely oblivious. I'm glad they got a little extra heart to heart moment, but it probably could have been told a bit better to have it feel more realistic. I'm glad that Will came out and everyone's reaction was supportive, that's how it should be, but it just could have used a little more to feel more realistic.

I kinda liked the ending, but unfortunately I was thoroughly bored through most of the season. There are just too many characters, the pace constantly stops to fit in a heart-to-heart that doesn't affect the overall plot at all, and they are all immune to death and any other kind of lasting consequences. So many times I found myself rolling my eyes as the characters stop to have a chat about their feelings in the face of impending doom, but it always turns out great anyway, so I guess they know better than me. I wanted to like it because I really liked season 4, but this felt like a huge step down. There are so many plot holes and inconsistencies, which may not break the show, but it's weird how it seems like the writers haven't watched their own show sometimes. It's not the worst thing ever though, there are some good moments here and there, and I'm happy it got an at least decent ending.