Final seasons are always difficult, especially for shows as large and beloved as Stranger Things. After investing years of your life into a show, you want to see the writers stick the landing and deliver a final season that brings closure to the storylines and character arcs. It’s a daunting task, and many shows have failed to strike the perfect balance in their final seasons, leaving fans disappointed and angry.
The best example of this is the final season of Game of Thrones. While the final season had some incredibly strong and amazing developments, as a whole, the writers made several questionable decisions that resulted in the audience turning on the show and calling it one of the worst seasons of the show, but also one of the worst endings for a show in TV history.
Thankfully, Stranger Things is on course to avoid a fate similar to Game of Thrones.
The first four episodes of the season brilliantly move the story along in a way that feels natural and purposeful, building toward a conflict with Vecna. We can see a clear direction ahead with the final episodes, as the overall arc of the final season is defeating Vecna and putting an end to his reign of terror.
Although there are some small pacing issues in various episodes, overall, the first four episodes of the season do a great job of bringing audiences back into the world of Hawkins and crafting the final season arc. Stranger Things has always excelled at weaving together separate storylines before bringing them together for a massive payoff. That’s the case again in season 5 with the final episode of volume 1 essentially breaking the story up into four unique groupings, who will ultimately come together in the episodes still to come.
What I love best about this season is that we’re getting to see a mix of familiar pairings and dynamics, as well as new partnerships we haven’t really seen before, or at least not in a meaningful way in some time. There are a lot of fun pairings in the season which give fans a chance to see characters interacting in ways we haven't gotten to see them interact before. However, the highlight of these new dynamics is without a doubt the relationship we get to explore between Will and Robin.
These are two characters who have historically not interacted with one another much, but season 5 has crafted a moving storyline that is a true highlight of the season. Seeing Robin and Will finally share scenes that matter has been one of my favorite parts of Stranger Things. Watching Robin open up about her own journey and empower Will to embrace who he is, is exactly the kind of empowering LGBTQ+ storytelling the show needed.
And yes, I know the Duffer Brothers had promised that this would be Will’s season, but even with those promises, I entered the season unsure and worried about how they would execute his storyline. I now feel guilty for ever doubting them.
Stranger Things season 5 has been Will’s best season yet and Noah Schnapp is delivering a phenomenal performance, one that I’m certain will only continue to get stronger as the season progresses. It might have taken them five seasons, but Will is finally taking command of his own story and I am absolutely here for every minute of this journey!
While Schnapp has been the standout of the season, the show has not forgotten our other favorite characters. Nearly everyone gets meaningful development, which only heightens the anxiety of possibly losing any of them as we head into the final stretch.
I don’t quite know where the final four episodes of the series will take us, but I am ready to see how our characters’ stories end. What I do know is that, heading into the final episodes of Stranger Things, I’m more confident than ever that the Duffer Brothers will stick the landing and give audiences one of the greatest series finales television has ever seen.