‘Stranger Things’ Review: Finale Plays It Safe and Sound — with a Few Stinging Exceptions

The Duffer brothers' ending goes light on surprises and heavy on sentiment as the blockbuster coming-of-age story bids a sound enough farewell — for now.

[Editor’s note: The following review contains spoilers for the “Stranger Things” finale — Season 5, Episode 8, “The Rightside Up” — including the ending.]

“We’re not afraid of you,” a white-eyed yet clear-sighted Will (Noah Schnapp) says during the “Stranger Things” finale’s climactic battle. Formally, he’s addressing Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the little boy who grew up to be the big monster that brought so much fear and pain to the families of Hawkins, Indiana. But Will may as well be speaking on behalf of any character in a coming-of-age story. That’s their goal, after all: to leave the relatively comfortable confines of childhood and embrace their uncertain, oft-terrifying future as adults. They’re not afraid to grow up. Not anymore.

For all the talk around who would die and what was really going on with the Upside Down, growing up was always Matt and Ross Duffer’s ultimate endgame. From the start, “Stranger Things” was a coming-of-age story. Even the adult leads, like Hopper (David Harbour), were struggling with some form of arrested development. They all needed to learn how to leave the past behind, while holding on to what mattered.

So as the finale plays out beat by predictable beat — preparing for the decisive showdown (climb those ladders, kids!), suffering an unexpected, seemingly insurmountable setback (Hopper really should’ve known better than to fall for Vecna’s tricks), then rallying to trounce the villain (with teamwork!) before returning home for a quick peek at where everyone ends up (Coach Steve!) — the familiarity doesn’t turn stifling. That doesn’t make it surprising — far from it — and the frustrations don’t stop with getting exactly what’s expected. But there’s fulfillment to be found in a story resolving as it should, even if that means it lacks the edge to be remembered in the days, weeks, and years to come.

Let’s start with what doesn’t work. Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) being the only major death isn’t a problem (although I’m sure it will be for viewers with a stronger bloodlust), but her arc in Season 5 is still an unforced error. To be honest, I didn’t even remember who Kali was when she reappeared at the end of Episode 4 (“Sorcerer”), and even those who did likely weren’t excited to see her. Then she’s saddled with the noxious task of trying to convince Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to kill herself for the greater good, only to reverse course at the last second and save her?

It didn’t have to go down like this. Why bring back a character inextricably tied to a shunned plot line, only to kill her off? Were her powers so unique another character couldn’t have helped Eleven fake her own death? Was Kali so reviled that she had to be revived, slapped with a torturous backstory to fill in the gaps since she left, and then shot by a loathsome soldier? It’s just not a good look, and worse yet, it’s emotionally hollow (unless you count anger over a little brown girl being sacrificed in order to save a little white girl).

Elsewhere, the finale lost its footing when Vecna meets his ultimate end. After toying with the idea that Henry was just the Mind Flayer’s victim all along — poisoned by a mysterious rock he found after killing the scientist as a boy — Vecna rejects Will’s pleas to switch sides and then promptly gets his ass kicked. This half-hearted nod to a tragic origin story feels like it’s only included to make people who forked over hundreds of dollars to see the Broadway show feel better about their choices, but it’s not where Episode 8 goes wonky.

“Stranger Things” isn’t averse to the F-word. Per the Reddit forums, Will said it back in Season 3, and various other characters have dropped a muted or bleeped “fuck” or two. But Joyce (Winona Ryder) walking up to Vecna’s crucified body and quipping, “You fucked with the wrong family” still feels forced — and that’s before she proceeds to hack away at his thick, vine-y neck until his head thumps to the ground.

I get it. Vecna’s death needed to be indisputable, especially when Eleven’s death was merely a fake-out. But my god, man. That was just gruesome. Joyce may as well have curb-stomped Vecna, Derek Vinyard-style — it would’ve had the same appalling effect and lasted half as long. Without the quick cuts to all the past anguish Vecna caused everyone unlucky enough to observe Joyce’s butchery, I would’ve assumed they were disgusted by her over-the-top attack. But hey, maybe that’s just me — again, I’m not watching “Stranger Things” with Drowning Pool cued up, waiting for the bodies to start dropping.

If anything, I was waiting for the coda. Knowing (or assuming to know) “Stranger Things” wouldn’t end in a bloodbath, what happens after the boss battle becomes the most compelling question. How much closure would each character get? What’s in their immediate future, and would the series jump ahead to tell us, say, just how many kids Steve has, or whether Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink) get married? Thankfully, “Stranger Things” abstained from getting too granular in its epilogue — sometimes it’s better to imagine whether Jonathan’s (Charlie Heaton) film dreams pan out (“The Consumer” sounds terrible, but most student films do), or if Rockin’ Robin (Maya Hawke) has a future in radio. (For her sake, I hope she avoided media studies at Smith College.)

The highlight, though, is Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and his valedictorian speech. Invoking lost childhoods to an in-world audience who just suffered through a giant “earthquake” and an ensuing military occupation as well as an at-home audience who just suffered through COVID and… an ensuing military occupation lent Dustin’s speech just enough extra heft to overlook the intentionally imperfect analogy. “Stranger Things” is not part of the resistance, I’m sorry, we already discussed this, but that doesn’t make what he says any less effective. (“When you get to know people who are different than you, you begin to learn more about yourself” is a good line.) And his general demeanor (aka Matarazzo’s performance) struck the right chord between youthful rebellion and full-grown assertiveness. (It wasn’t much of a “Belushi thing,” but I could believe John Hughes would’ve liked it well enough.) Dustin deserves his happy ending, and his closing speech certainly landed more on the side of “chaotic good” than bad.

From there, the older kids get all weepy on the roof of the radio station, and just when you think the flash-forwards are over, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) wraps up their last D&D game with a few more — including the big reveal about Eleven, who does NOT die, and instead finds a magical village overlooking two waterfalls to live out the rest of her days in peaceful solitude…

OK, not really. No way. As much as I appreciated the “Stranger Things” finale’s attempt to provide closure without going overboard, the only reasonable way to read Eleven’s fate is a tease. Who does she know there? What does she do for work? How long until the sound of roaring waterfalls loses its white-noise allure? As for Mike, sure, he could just “accept” her choice, as Hopper suggests, and leave Eleven alone for the rest of his life… or he could go find her, which I assume he’ll have to do when the Mind Flayer returns in whatever sequel Netflix cooks up in five years or so. Heck, if Mike told Hopper his theory, you know the sad dad would be on the next flight to Iceland! He only gave that advice because he thought Eleven was as dead as his real daughter!

No, despite literally ending on Mike closing the door to his basement, the Duffer brothers leave the door wide open for future installments. That’s a bit frustrating, but it’s yet another aspect of the ending that aligned with expectations. “Stranger Things” was never a perfect show; it was a limited series, undone by its own popularity. In order to survive, the Duffers soon resolved their nostalgia-fest had to be bigger than it was bold. Bigger worlds, bigger battles, bigger emotions. That didn’t always work out (see: Season 4 and most of Season 5), but it works well enough for an ending that encourages everyone to accept saying goodbye to the things they once loved.

When Mike sees Holly (Nell Fisher) take over his D&D table, his instinctual protectiveness, even jealousy, soon fades to pride. He’s happy his little sister and her friends can enjoy the same game he did with Dustin, Will, Max, and Lucas. Rather than jump back in and start another quest, he’s ready to let them have their turn. He’s ready to move on.

“Stranger Things” took its time getting there, but eventually, it had the courage to grow up.

Grade: C+

“Stranger Things” is available on Netflix.