The final season of the 10-year Netflix series Stranger Things was released throughout the end of 2025, and with it came a mix of satisfied and disappointed fans. Some reviews on Rotten Tomatoes say that the most recent season was “pretty easily the worst season of the show”, and call it “joyless” and “uninspired”, while others think the season “brought the show to a strong and exciting close”. Personally, I don’t think there was much else they could have done to make every fan happy about the ending of a decade long show. I found the ending mostly satisfying, but having been a fan for about 4 years I probably would have enjoyed any ending given.
The fifth season gave main characters like Will a chance to shine, introduced new and important characters such as Holly and Derek, and brought back old characters like Kali. I believe Stranger Things was a show in which the plot was mostly centered around growing the viewer’s love for the characters, so I thought tying in existing characters with the new generation of kids made for a lovely end to the series.
However, many fans, including me, were left confused and frustrated about the many plot holes following the 2-hour finale. Fans wondered: How did Henry and Joyce not recognize each other if they went to high school together? How is the Upside Down suddenly so safe, and why does the hive mind seem disconnected? Where are everyone’s parents? Although it is a bit unnecessary to wonder about hinted plot lines, I too thought that some context could be added in the fifth and sixth episodes of the season, and I would have liked to see more explanation about the military’s sudden settlement in the Upside Down.
The finale of season 5 aired on December 31st, and just days after fans, extremely dissatisfied with the ending, began to theorize about a secret ninth episode. “Conformity gate”; the fan theory, explained that the last season was a fabricated version of what really happened, and that the viewers were meant to be under Vecna’s trance. Proof for this theory consisted of loose ends within the finale such as changing colors on props, “Melvald’s” not really being a milkshake shop at the time Will mentioned it, and students and the Hawkins High graduation sitting with Vecna’s posture. Fans thought the secret ninth episode would be released on January 7th, but it was not. A missed opportunity by the directors in my opinion, but the theory was certainly a long shot and very hard to pull off.
Overall, I accepted the ending of Stranger Things and I was happy with it. Plot holes aside, I think the series was ready to be over and got a pretty good ending for the amount of plot that had to be tied up. The 10-year show came to a strong close, and I’m sad to see it go. It was one of Netflix’s greatest hits.
