Since its release on July 15, 2016, Stranger Things has taken the world by storm, creating a global phenomenon. Kids have grown up watching these characters fight interdimensional demons and monsters, and have loved every second of it, not only because the show is action-packed and entertaining, but also because it truly embodies what it feels like to grow up. 

The first installment of the final season of Stranger Things came out on November 26, 2025, taking the world by storm. The release of the first four episodes sparked a renewed interest among fans, following the cliffhanger finale of Season 4. 

The first few episodes introduce watchers to Hawkins again and jump straight into the characters’ (The Party) war effort against Vecna. With everyone back together, fans were ecstatic to see new team-ups and old duos return. The finale episode of the first installment ends with Will Byers unlocking his powers as a sorcerer, being able to tap into Vecna’s to help the team’s effort to find Holly Wheeler after being kidnapped. 

This first installment is rated the best out of S5 and is filled with amazing needle drops. 80’s classics like “Upside Down”, by Diana Ross, “I Think We’re Alone Now”, by Tiffany, “Mr. Sandman”, by the Chordettes, and “Fernando” by ABBA were trending on TikTok and Apple Music after Volume 1 came out. 

Volume 1 is also currently rated the best of Season 5 to date, with scores of 7.8/10, 8.3/10, 8.5/10, and 9.3/10 for the first four episodes, respectively. As a long-time fan, I agree that Season 5 Volume 1 was great. The use of music and the feeling of urgency as the favorite characters raced into the Upside Down to save Holly was an incredible watch. 

However, the last season of the hit show took a fall in ratings after the release of Volume 2 on Christmas Day, 2025. 

Though I enjoyed the progression of the story, especially in Episode 6, where Max is released from “Camazots”, the second volume was lacking in certain areas. Many argue that Nancy and Jonathan parting ways was an unnecessary decision made by the writers, continuing to further the discussion about massive (relation)ship wars on the show, which I felt took away from the main purpose of the show. Though I do enjoy seeing the various relationship dynamics play out, I feel that the fandom’s obsession with the relationships in the show took away from the overall growth of the show and plot. 

However, I do have to say that after the Duffer brothers said in an interview with AP News that, “…[it will be a] dark Christmas and kind of an emotional New Year’s Eve”, fans were expecting main character deaths, which Volume 2 did not deliver. I feel that this was a missed opportunity to grow the plot of the story and develop the main kid’s group characters further. By killing off Nancy and Jonathon in “Hawkins Lab”, or even Steve Harrington, one of my favorite characters, it would have left a huge impact on audiences, not only driving publicity for the upcoming finale, but further interest in the complexity of Will, Dustin, Mike, El, Lucas, and Max’s characters.

In response to this, Matt Duffer says, “ It’s just not what we want to do, and it’s not, to me, what the show is about,”, his brother Ross Duffer continues by saying, “And so, whatever the noise or bloodlust, at the end of the day, you have to go, ‘No, we need to be true to what Stranger Things is and always was from season 1 on.’”

With that being said, I do feel like that even without the major character deaths and lack of intense suspense, the plot thickened by finally explaining that the Upside Down was not another dimension, but a bridge to the “Abyss”, where Vecna hides. In addition, the fan favorite duo, Steve and Dustin, eventually make up after an intense fight in an emotional moment in the Upside Down Hawkins Lab, which is my personal second favorite scene in Volume 2. 

Fans also criticized the Duffer brothers and the show’s writers about Episode 7 of Season 5, especially about Will’s coming-out scene. The acting in this scene was great and incredibly important and empowering, not only for this character but for viewers who relate to Will’s story, yet fans criticized the writers for making Will come out to essentially what was the entire cast. I felt it was a heartfelt moment, and the love in that scene demonstrated what the show is really supposed to be about: friendship and love. This leaft Volume 2 with rankings of 7.9/10, 7.9/10, and 5.6/10, significantly lower than its previous counterpart.

The show officially came to an end on December 31st, 2025, right before the New Year, and ever since, the media has been split on the ending, whether good or bad. As a result, the runners of the show, Matt and Ross Duffer, have received both praise and criticism online from fans worldwide. 

Watching as a fan, I felt that the ending of this show was full-circle and gave enough time for kids who really grew up with the show to take in its end. It could have been better, but the finale closed the show in an impactful way that will have viewers talking about it even a decade later, again, for better or worse. 

Eleven’s fate being up to the viewer, I believe, was a good move on the Duffer Brothers’ part, and I feel that everyone got a true ending. Steve, being a baseball coach, Nancy being a journalist, Robin going to college, and Jonathan being an NYU film student makes perfect sense in accordance with their characters and leave the teen group in a heartfelt way. Similarly, the Party is left with endings that satisfy their character arcs as well: Dustin going to school to be a scientist, Will moving away for college, Lucas and Max reuniting and living a life together, and Mike becoming a writer. 

The closing scene and music really make the finale an emotional one, though. The use of “Purple Rain” by Prince for Eleven’s sacrifice, “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac for the Epilogue, and the original David Bowie, “Heroes” causes fans to feel a sense of loss along with the characters on the show. In fact, streams of all the songs from the 80s used in Stranger Things have gone up significantly. “Purple Rain”, for instance, received a 608% spike in streams globally because of the finale. The final scene of Mike closing the basement door to let Holly and her new friends, a new era of the Party play DND gives the show an emotional full circle moment that reminds the characters of their growth and the viewers. 

Like me, there are many people who were satisfied with the ending of Stranger Things, but there are some who were incredibly dissatisfied and disappointed by the ending. This has led to the creation of a conspiracy theory on TikTok about little details on the show that stuck out in the finale or throughout Volume 2, which intend to prove that the series is not over, and that a secret ninth episode of Stranger Things is on the way. This theory, called “Conformity Gate,” has been discouraged by cast members non-stop since its creation after the finale and prediction that a secret episode would be released on January 12th, instead of the Stranger Things S5 Filming documentary. 

The most recent denied claims of a secret 9th episode come from Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, and Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair. 

Joe Keery, says, “No, the show is all done and dusted, and what a ride it was,” he then goes on to say in a joking matter “Let it go!” 

Caleb McLaughlin gave a similar answer when asked about the so-called “secret ending” recently. “At first, I thought the ‘Conformity Gate’ theory was dumb. I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, ‘Oh, we want more Stranger Things’, but I was like, ‘Guys, it’s over. It’s been ten years,” McLaughlin says.

This left the finale of the global hit phenomenon, Stranger Things with an IMDB rating of 7.9/10. Whether you were a “Conformity Gate” hypotheziser or not, one thing is for sure: fans across the world are going to miss Stranger Things. For older kids, this is one of our first signs that our childhood is coming to an end, and after those kids put their binders away, it might feel scary for teens to change and grow up, too, but to quote Jim Hopper himself, “Keep on growing up, kid”. 

UPDATE: There have been rumors on Instagram about a new Stranger Things movie that is being released after the animated show, Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85. This has not yet been confirmed nor denied by the showrunners, Netflix, or the original cast.