Stranger Things finale divides critics

The highly-anticipated last episode of Stranger Things has dropped on Netflix - and it has definitely received a mixed bag of reviews.

Sci-fi series Stranger Things, created by The Duffer Brothers, first hit our screens in 2016 and has gone on to air five successful seasons over the last decade.

The latest was divided into three instalments (volume one, volume two and the series finale) between November 2025 and December 2025/January 2026.

Episodes one to four were released on November 26, followed by episodes five to seven on Christmas Day, followed by the series finale on January 31 in the US, and January 1 2026 in the UK. 

'When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl,' the streamer's synopsis reads. 

Fans of the epic horror hit have been desperate to know if Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and the rest of the gang have been able to finally take down Vecna.

The two-hour long episode has answered that question, as well as a few others... but like most popular TV shows, the finale episode has left fans and critics with a range of opinions about the ending.

Many critics have taken online to share what they think. 

Let's take a look at what they've said... 

The Telegraph's Ed Power headline states: 'This big, weepy send-off justifies the hype.'

He writes: 'Having lost its touch once or twice during this final run, the last-ever might so easily have been another underwhelming conclusion to a beloved series.

'But ultimately it delivers a sucker punch of emotion, as all proper goodbyes should.

'At the end of a decade of terrible television finales, here is a farewell that actually justifies the hype.'

The Independent's Nick Hilton writes: 'Wormholes, parallel worlds, hive minds, dimensions, portals and rifts. 

'Don’t let all this pseudoscientific guff distract from the fact that is, in the end, a show about growing up in a boring town in the middle of nowhere. Matt and Ross Duffer – inspired by The Goonies and ET - have created a coming-of-age saga for the present day. 

'It might have lost its way in a maze of sci-fi bunkum, but it will still influence a generation of viewers in much the same way that, a couple of decades ago, the works of Steven Spielberg inspired two young brothers.'

Games Radar's Alex Zalben writes: 'The Rightside Up” may or may not fall on the right side of history – only time will tell on that front, and there will be gripes and analysis and recriminations, and questions about what actually happened to Eleven. 

'But the finale also left us with the best of Hawkins, even if it started with some of the worst. 

'It’s not a perfect 20, to use D&D parlance, but when Dustin gives big ups to “Chaotic Good” in his graduation speech, it really brings what worked about this show home…

'Particularly with this final episode, it was indeed very chaotic. But sometimes, particularly towards the end?

'It was also very, very good. destiny, in a plotline cribbed right from Return of the Jedi.'

Meanwhile Cinema Express writer Jayabhuvaneshwari B's headline states: 'A bittersweet goodbye that rolls a safe final dice.'

Nerdist's Michael Walsh writes: 'In the end, was it a little too easy to kill Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and the Upside Down itself in Stranger Things' final episode? Maybe.

'But that didn’t stop it from being fun. Nor did any of the episode’s obvious issues stop it from being good. Because while Stranger Things' series finale wasn’t perfect, it worked because it paid off both its plot and its character arcs. It delivered the kind of emotion the series always excelled at. 

'And it did so while providing spectacle, excitement, horror, and even comedy. Most importantly, it did the one thing I want most from any series goodbye: it offered closure. 

'And in the end, it’s okay if a farewell isn’t great so long as its still a good bye.'

Washington Post's Lili Loofbourow writes: 'If the latter matters to you, the finale was probably a letdown. I’d long assumed the Duffer Brothers were making the show’s cosmology up as they went along, and that was part of the fun: Dungeons & Dragons has lots of that. 

'And sure, it lowers the series’ collective stakes, but the proliferation of theories and tropes is part of the fun. 

'No one expects different campaigns to merge into one mega-story that makes perfect sense. 

'Why should the Freddy Krueger season be shoehorned into the botanical underwater horror that initially characterized the Upside Down?'

She adds: 'It leveraged our nostalgia, not just for the ’80s, but for every one of the nine years we’ve been watching as it deployed montages and flashbacks and mega-weapons like “Heroes” and “Purple Rain” and “Landslide.” 

'Dustin and Steve hugging? Tears! Mrs. Wheeler’s scars. Even Nancy’s new hair.

'And, of course, Mike’s tragic effort to help everyone feel a little better by telling a really good story.

'Of course the show ends with Holly and Derek starting their first D&D campaign.

'It’s exactly the right move for that moment. 

'Like Eleven, “Stranger Things” can still pack a punch — even if it isn’t hitting on all cylinders. 

Empire's Leila Latif writes: 'Ultimately, the promises the audience were sold — that this would feel truly final and complete — were not overstated.

'And though the core group grew into an ensemble of wildly disparate dramatic abilities, they largely cohere when it counts at the epilogue. 

'This could have all been bolder, could have tried to be revealing rather than only cathartic, but to all intents and purposes we can still safely say that a disaster in Hawkins, Indiana, was averted.'

The Standard's Vicky Jessop writes: 'Um… well, I have news. The meat of the action is actually wrapped up after an hour. 

'And to be fair, the Duffers throw the kitchen sink at it: there are explosions, massive spider-monsters, the gang coming together to save the day and an epic final showdown between El and Vecna, even if it’s over so quickly that I half-expected him to pop back up at some point for a properly hardcore third act.

'It’s a finale that shows off the best and worst instincts of this megashow. What there isn’t, really, is a sense that the gang are in any danger. 

'The puzzle pieces never quite click, or maybe they click too smoothly: each obstacle is smoothly overcome within seconds; solutions are found to impossible puzzles with ease; the deadly apocalypse we were promised never even gets close to materialising.' 

STRANGER THINGS: THE FINALE: WHAT ARE THE CRITICS SAYING? 

The Telegraph

'It might so easily have been another underwhelming conclusion to a beloved series, but across two hours it wore its feelings on its sleeves.' 

Rating:

[four stars] 

Independent 

'It might have lost its way in a maze of sci-fi bunkum, but it will still influence a generation of viewers in much the same way that, a couple of decades ago, the works of Steven Spielberg inspired two young brothers.'

Rating:

 [three stars]

Games Radar

''Particularly with this final episode, it was indeed very chaotic. But sometimes, particularly towards the end?' 

Rating:

[four and a half stars]  

Nerdist

'And in the end, it’s okay if a farewell isn’t great so long as its still a good bye.' 

Rating:

[four stars] 

Empire

'This could have all been bolder, could have tried to be revealing rather than only cathartic, but to all intents and purposes we can still safely say that a disaster in Hawkins, Indiana, was averted.'

Rating:

[three stars]

The Standard

'The meat of the action is actually wrapped up after an hour. And to be fair, the Duffers throw the kitchen sink at it: there are explosions, massive spider-monsters, the gang coming together to save the day and an epic final showdown between El and Vecna.' 

Rating:

[three stars]