I can’t believe it’s over.
Stranger Things has ended.
Our journey with Stranger Things has come to an end with its Season 5, Episode 8. And I’m going to miss these characters so much.
In this Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 8 review, I want to talk about why this finale feels like an emotional goodbye, one that focuses more on acceptance and moving on than spectacle.
The episode felt like a movie, with everything from the climax to the epilogue packed into one.
In my opinion, this is a very fitting ending for Stranger Things.
We ultimately want a difficult ending because that’s what makes life meaningful. But somewhere deep down, even if it’s a false belief, we want to believe that what we saw isn’t true. And that somewhere far away, they are still living their happy ending.
No one can be completely certain about the ending, about what’s true and what isn’t. But you believe. You can believe that everything turned out for the best.
It was a very befitting ending, and I loved it.
The final episode of Season 5 opens in the Upside Down one last time, with Vecna preparing to destroy the world and the gang making their final stand.
And for sure, I’m going to miss Stranger Things a lot. And the heaviest part of the show, after defeating Vecna, was figuring out how to move on, how to move forward in their lives.
We’ve all been through so much that some people are still struggling with PTSD. Some will just keep making up stories. Some excelled academically. Some found the love of their lives, while others don’t even know what they’ll do next in life, but they’re still ready to move forward. Because that’s what real growth is.
The best part of the entire episode was the gang fighting the Mind Flayer, and also exploring Henry’s past, that moment where Jamie Campbell Bower gave a masterclass in acting when he’s reliving his memories.
Bro, I started feeling bad for the guy, thinking he was wronged. But then, what Joyce did to him in the end, he deserved it. He did so many terrible things. And I’m glad there wasn’t a redemption arc for him; otherwise, the story would have gone downhill.
I like that they gave Nacny the space to show how strong and independent she is, and that she has every right to explore her life, that she didn’t get stuck in a life of being a mother and having children. She’s choosing herself first.
Steve has also grown. He loves kids, and that’s eventually what he’s doing.
Some became writers, some are pursuing directing. And the Upside Down world was finally ended properly, leaving no room for speculation about what could or couldn’t happen.
Because now, whatever could have happened, that world is gone, along with its problems.
Now, if I were to look at one thing from a slightly negative perspective, the one thing they fumbled towards the end was the military plot.
It got very messy towards the end, because ultimately, it feels like it doesn’t even matter anymore. If we try to understand it logically, it seems like Hawkins’ gang interfered with the official work of their country’s military.
And technically, for committing such acts against their own military, they should have all been thrown in jail with terrorism charges. But yes, they gave them a little leeway, where they could have handled the military angle in a slightly better way. But that will remain one of the biggest weaknesses of the Stranger Things world, because the government’s involvement ultimately amounted to nothing.
Now, towards the end, some kind of exploration could have been given. And they did try to give a little bit of one.
For example, we hear from Hopper that he was offered a job in Montauk. The government, seeing Hopper’s competence – that one man single-handedly took down the government facility in Hawkins – decided it was better to hire him for their Montauk project than to put him in jail.
But this isn’t such a big issue that it completely ruins the entire episode.
Now, the future of Stranger Things could entirely be that if it continues, the story will move forward with Hopper and Joyce, from a different name, and as a different show.
And as this Montuak project problem grows, if there are more seasons in the future, the old cast might gradually return. But that’s a matter for the future. And that’s the story of a completely new show.
Overall, this entire episode and Season 5 were greatly fulfilling. I wouldn’t consider it a masterclass or a masterpiece, but it was a great cultural event for all of us.
Like the Endgame movie, you don’t call many things a masterpiece. Because of nostalgia and being deeply personally invested, you might call it a masterpiece, but on a technical level, you can’t just say that and move on. Experience-wise, you’d say, “Bro, this was a cultural event that no other movie can recreate.”
That was the end of Stranger Things.
It was perfection on an emotional level because the attachment is very old and intense, and it’s a core memory for all of us; it will never go away.
But at the same time, I also acknowledge its shortcomings, that some things were left unresolved. For example, episodes five, six, and seven felt flat, and the proposal scene didn’t land, even though all the characters got their journeys in the end. Still, there’s a slight feeling of something missing, and that’s fine; you never get everything in life.
And in the end, as the show suggests, acceptance is all you’re left with: that you have to move on with your life and live it happily. And that breaks your heart into a million pieces.
Yes, as a proper pop culture fan for so many years, it was a very big cultural event for all of us that we all witnessed the end of Stranger Things.
And whatever befitting end we got, remembering it, believing in it, we will keep it alive in our lives. We will keep it alive in our inspiration, in our art, in our nostalgia, in our criticisms, because it was genuinely one of a kind experience that you only see once every ten or twenty years.
And I’m glad that I grew up watching Stranger Things. And it kills me that we won’t be talking about Stranger Things anymore or writing content about it. But I will try my best, whether I succeed or not, to keep it alive in other good things as I move on and grow.
Overall, I really liked it. And I will remember its ending forever, and I would also like to know your opinions on how you felt about it. Please do share your opinions, and I will try to write another blog.
