“Stranger Things”, which has been a household favorite for years, finally came to a conclusion on New Year’s Day. The viewers of the show had specific expectations and desires for the show’s ending. Some audience members loved the ending, while others wished it were completely different.
An article in The Guardian offers insights into what the show did well and what it did poorly. It spread out the characters in different locations evenly, each character got a moment in the spotlight, the final battle was extremely well done, and the audience was reminded of the importance of the children throughout the seasons.
On the other hand, for the entire duration of Season Five, many plot holes had piled on top of each other, and some, if not most, were left unfilled. Many people thought that the acting was poor, and the expectations for the season were not fulfilled. If one were to scroll on TikTok on New Year’s Eve, the algorithm would be filled with videos listing all the plot holes that needed to be repaired in the finale.
Sophomore Alfie Adams has been an avid watcher of the Stranger Things series since season one, meaning he started watching when he was six years old! He thought some things were done well, while others could have been improved.
“I liked the final boss fight, but I didn’t like the ending because it didn’t feel real, and I don’t like how they sort of killed El, but really she just doesn’t get to be in the group anymore,” said Alfie.
As Stranger Things has many audience members, it’s important to cater to the wants and needs of the people watching. Alfie happened to be one of the people dissatisfied with the ending.
“I was not happy with the ending. They didn’t fill any of the plot holes and, I mean, I feel like they should have done a longer fight scene, but they should have killed someone else and not killed El,” said Alfie.
One of the main aspects of the final episode was that after the fight with the infamous Mind Flayer, Eleven was planning on taking her own life. But her sister, Callie, who has the ability to make people see things that aren’t there, made the illusion of Eleven dying. Eleven knew that if anyone knew she would be alive, they would hunt her down to use her as a weapon, something she’s been experiencing her whole life.
“I think they complicated the whole season too much. It didn’t need to be dragged on; they should have finished it quicker. What I think they could have done better is kill someone else. Eleven is one of most if not the most important characters in the show,” said Alfie.
Although Alfie had different expectations for how the show was going to go, he loved some aspects of it, such as the final battle.
“I liked the chart of the upside-down, which was showing the wormhole that they figured out was the upside-down. I also loved the final battle scene. It was really cool to see them kill what they had been trying to track down for ten years,” said Alfie.
Sophomore Mariana Dushas has been watching Stranger Things since fourth grade, and she has a similar viewpoint to Alfie.
“I thought the last season was really built up, but there was no climax. It was very anticlimactic. It also felt like they were trying to satisfy the audience by making no one die. I feel like someone should’ve died. I would’ve made the show deeper,” said Mariana.
Although Mariana didn’t like some aspects of the show, some things stuck out to her as engaging and impressive in the final season.
“I thought the CGI was really good. Like the actual filming of the movie was great,” said Mariana.
Senior Ethan Tseng is a co-leader of the filmmaking club and is passionate about movies and shows. He liked the show but has more insights into the set, CGI, and filming of the show.
“It seemed like it was in a green screen, very noticeably on a green screen. It wasn’t that well done, in my opinion,” said Ethan.
Ethan is also interested in building sets and has seen various shows and movies with unique sets.
“I thought it was an interesting set piece. With the finale, I thought the concept for the design of this set was really unique, and it gave a good atmosphere,” said Ethan.
Although Ethan has never acted or researched the cost of a show like Stranger Things, he ventures that the show is extremely costly.
“It’s usually because they have to pay the actors a lot that it costs a lot. I would say probably it costs in the 100s of millions, but it would more so go towards marketing and actors’ salaries than the actual production,” said Ethan.
Although some people disliked the finale of Stranger Things, others loved it. Even among those who say they hated the finale, Stranger Things remains a household favorite and is well-loved.