With Stranger Things rapidly becoming one of Netflix’s biggest global hits—inspiring a screenplay, immersive experiences, and potentially an upcoming animated adaptation—finding a way to draw the series to a close was always going to be challenging. Unsurprisingly, its final episodes incited incredibly mixed reactions, with some left in awe and others claiming it was so miswritten that there must have been another classified episode yet to be released. For clarity, the season consists of Vecna, in order to become more powerful than ever, kidnapping 12 children, including Holly Wheeler.
Crucial to this plot is the effective revelation that the Upside Down is not actually a parallel universe, but a tunnel through to “the Abyss” which Vecna determines to combine with Hawkins—a major realisation which landed incredibly well. To defeat Vecna, the gang travel into the Abyss and succeed, with virtually all the characters surviving to their graduation. Unsurprisingly, a final episode was not the case, and “ConformityGate believers were left in tumult.
Audiences will never know if Eleven is alive and in refuge, if she is truly lost or if Vecna is still alive and constructing narratives in Mike’s mind. Instead, they are forced to come to grips with the reality that Chapter Eight’s inconsistencies were not subtle hints for the most determined viewers. These gaping plot holes were, as Netflix’s following documentary revealed, not purposeful but from lack of thought.
A non-exhaustive list must include the disappearances of principal and secondary characters such as Robin’s girlfriend Vickie, then Murray and Suzie in the finale. The lack of ramifications for the gang’s war crimes—specifically the sidelining of Dr Kay—and the reinstating of Hopper back into the police force (despite having been dead for several years) feels similarly unbelievable. Alongside this, the absence of Vecna’s minions (demogorgons, demo-dogs or bats) in the Abyss appears as an oversight adjacent to Nancy’s ability to outrun a 700-foot spider.
They are forced to come to grips with the reality that Chapter Eight’s inconsistencies were not subtle hints
Alongside these criticisms, popular discourse notes Milly Bobby Brown’s—the show’s youth star—unfortunately timed filler injections which, ultimately, result in an emotionally dulled and visually aged Eleven. Despite this, the Duffers’ soundtrack rallies to sustain this finale, with Prince’s “Purple Rain” accompanying El and Mike’s heartbreaking goodbye and somewhat compensates for El’s lack of emotional presence in the majority of the episodes. Besides the technical flaws, the series did manage to evoke sweet nostalgia and heartache, with Dustin’s valedictorian speech leaving viewers reminiscing of fan-favourite Eddie Munson.
Hand in hand, a cleverly constructed final scene between the main gang uses a similar effect to echo the beginning of this long journey—D&D in the Wheeler basement—and remind audiences of how far these kids have come. While the artistry of an ambiguous ending did not resonate for all viewers, Stranger Things’ final episodes do manage to revive the heart of its earlier seasons.