This past New Year’s Eve, people all across the world tuned in to watch the last episode of season five of “Stranger Things” on Netflix. It is one of the most-watched shows in America right now, with around 105.7 million views of season five. “Stranger Things” holds the record for the most-watched Netflix show ever.
While season five performed well, it inspired a multitude of criticisms among viewers. Many fans thought the season, specifically the finale, left several key plot points unaddressed. Also, what was supposed to be the most climactic, exciting, poignant part of the entire show was somewhat underwhelming and did not take up as much time as was expected.
While season five had a multitude of critics,t it also had many supporters. Some said volumes one and two of season five lacked depth, had too many plot holes or were just uninteresting. Others, however, liked it. While there is no denying the amount of plot holes present, volumes one and two were captivating and thrilling. I was engaged the entire time, fully immersed in the story, the action and the emotion of the characters. Every episode left me wanting to keep watching, and I anticipated each new episode.
Every fan of “Stranger Things” excitedly awaited the final episode, and some were extremely disappointed. Others found the ending sweet and sentimental. Even if the finale was not quite as climactic as we anticipated, it still gave a show that lots of fans grew up watching a happy, full-circle ending.
Fan theories were everywhere, leading up to each volume and the finale. Everything down to the smallest details were analyzed and used to predict the ending of the show by people who shared their theories online.
While the ending of the show seemed like it was supposed to wrap everything up, some felt it was implied that there was more to come. One fan theory that gained traction was that there would be a ninth episode of season 5 coming out on January 7. That did not happen. Lots of fans were convinced that it was true because of a significant amount of apparent “evidence.” People analyzed hidden details, moments in the show and videos posted on social media by the official “Stranger Things” accounts. The basis of this fan theory was that the Duffer Brothers, the creators of the show, had purposely put inconsistencies into the show and made an anticlimactic ending so they could release this secret ninth episode, and there would be a huge plot twist. This would be the real finale. Of course, this was just a theory, and it never came to be true.
All of the theories surrounding the finale that suggested there was more to come ended up being just a way to cope with how the ending lacked that something special. Maybe it was the way that the characters’ final battle seemed almost too easy. All in all, the last episode of “Stranger Things” was good, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. The ending was left up to interpretation; was that the last we’ll ever see from the show or is the story not over yet? The ending shot, the Wheelers’ closed basement door, could be seen as an indicator of one or the other.
