Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5

El always claimed that ‘friends don’t lie’, but our former friends the Duffer brothers certainly did. Matt and Ross Duffer finally released the long awaited fifth season of their Stranger Things saga, however the outcome only consisted of disappointment, plotholes, and most importantly a widespread case of psychosis. Causing the fandom to cope with such a poorly-written ending by convincing themselves of a non-existent ninth episode must be a depressing point in their career. As chapter eight ended, the cast we watched grow up crumbled under the consequences of feeble writing. Ruining any hope of a substantial ending only gave the Duffers a harsh reality check; ChatGPT is not a good scriptwriting source. 

Volume One opened with Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) chilling interaction with Will (Noah Schnapp), but this compelling scene did not advocate for the next two episodes. The story soon slowed under the weight of too many new characters, pushing main figures like El (Millie Bobby Brown) into the background. However, episode four shocked us as it delivered the show’s best writing and cinematography, revealing Will’s powers and connection to Vecna – a satisfying full-circle moment. Representing Will’s queer identity through the discovery of his powers was beautifully written, especially with the montage of Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Will. 

Volume Two confirmed doubts by ruining a beautiful metaphor for acceptance. Will’s queer journey took a drastic turn when fans had to sit through his coming out scene, which lasted longer than the final battle. Dialogue and writing lost their way when the ‘or me’ scene came along questioning how the Duffers managed to turn such a bewitching story of acceptance into a regretful watch for fans, becoming even worse as the quote ‘Friends? No. Best friends!’ left Mike’s lips. Since the Duffers heavily implied Will’s queer identity through the montage of him and Mike, this scene was completely unnecessary and puts into perspective how much they lost interest in their own show. 

Volume Two also introduced the never-ending plot armour, specifically Jancy’s ending. Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) unmarriage had an agreed hatred amongst fans; they should have died in that room. Most fans believe that the scene would have flourished if the couple agreed not to marry instead of breaking up, which viewers had no idea actually happened due to the downward slope that the writing took. The Duffers have stated in many interviews that they had no intention of killing main characters, yet managed to almost kill Hopper (David Harbour) three times throughout the show, and later on almost kill Steve in the finale. They also confirmed five deaths and a dark Christmas, yet we were met with three close calls and a lighting issue. 

As the finale was released on New Year’s Day, hope was completely lost. It revealed countless plotholes, especially during the final battle with the Mindflayer. To begin, the entire show gave us the impression that ‘he likes it cold’, but he was housed up in a desert without a single demogorgon or demobat to defend him. Furthermore, everybody survived the immensely powerful creature they had been trying to defeat for five seasons in under ten minutes. Inferior writing does not even begin to describe the mess that this battle was, mostly for the cast who spent ten years of their lives working towards this frightfully bad ending. 

Just to add fuel to the flames, the Duffers then decided to actually kill off El, who did not deserve the ending she got. Her sacrifice was vaguely hinted at in this season, but the execution felt rushed and reduced all powerful El to just Mike’s girlfriend. Season four implied that Mileven was crumbling, causing the purple rain scene to feel forced and successfully highlighted the minimal chemistry that Finn and Millie have. This scene would have encapsulated the feeling of loss so effortlessly if it was El and Hopper; the impact of him having to say goodbye to another daughter would have been undeniably crushing as opposed to watching the world’s most unromantic kiss. 

Ending the show with the graduation had no logic behind it; how did Hawkins go back to normal so quickly? Even after weeks of the show ending the questions never stop, for instance how did Max graduate and gain her eyesight back? Where did Vickie go? Why Will? Although they provided brilliant writing in previous seasons, time told us that their skill was temporary and our disappointment is permanently engraved into this catastrophic finale. The only credit that should be given is to the soundtrack; Purple Rain, Landslide, and Heroes are all masterpieces wasted on a rushed ending with no ounce of knowledge on their own show. The Duffer brothers were capable of greatness, but instead let Stranger Things die the same way their creativity did.

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