‘Stranger Things’: Grand Series Finale Closes the Pop Culture Phenomenon With Gargantuan Action and Heavy Hearts

Alci Rengifo

Few television series reach the level of a genuine pop cultural event like Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” When the second part of “Stranger Things 5” premiered on Christmas, the streamer crashed the moment ravenous fans rushed to watch. Now the series finale, “The Rightside Up,” is delivered on New Year’s Eve, both through the streamer and theaters across the country, as a 2 hour and 8 minute spectacle that fittingly closes an adventure fans have been following for nine years. As a curtain call, this one certainly delivers. A series of this scale carries the pressure of past disappointments. So many famous titles have built loyal followings only to deliver a half-formed last chapter, as happened infamously with HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Creators Ross and Matt Duffer avoid any terrible potholes on the road to concluding their nostalgic magnum opus. 

Picking up right where the first half of “Stranger Things 5” left off, our heroes are now marching through the Upside Down on their way to a final showdown with Vecna. The gang’s all here including Joyce (Winona Ryder), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Robin (Maya Hawke), Murray (Brett Gelman), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve (Joe Keery), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer). Their goal is to rescue the children Vecna has captured in order to merge worlds and carry out his plan of total conquest. Vecna begins to bring the dimension of the Abyss into collision with the Upside Down. The process is stopped in time by Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), still being watched over by Jim (David Harbour) as they try to take down Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower), the Vecna human avatar keeping the children imprisoned in a sunny suburban illusion. In that world, Holly (Nell Fisher) and Max (Sadie Sink) are trying to help escape Henry. Ah, and the pesky military is still on their trail. As the final showdown looms, more will be revealed about Henry’s own origins but our heroes will also need to make important, heartbreaking decisions.

For a lot of its running time, “The Rightside Up” is defined by action. Like the ‘80s movies this show emulates, at this point we are in the equivalent of a third act, where confrontations and revelations take place. A lot happens, all done with great visual flare, as when Eleven is lowered into a water tank in diver gear so she can then enter the Abyss. Classic thriller close calls are a must, like when Vecna gets into Jim’s mind and tries to manipulate him through sheer guilt and fear. When Holly leads Vecna’s trapped children towards safety, of course at one point she must turn back to get Derek (Jake Connelly), the lovably rowdy kid who can throw a finger at Henry. So much happens that it’s impressive how the writing can still make space to resolve the more personal details in character relationships. While walking towards destiny amid the eerie landscape of the Abyss, Steve and Jonathan have a thoughtful conversation about why neither guy was right for Nancy. Like the better Steven Spielberg or JJ Abrams romps, the Duffer brothers make such conversations feel plausible. Will (Noah Schnapp) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) have an endearing talk about staying strong as friends after Will came out at the end of the last batch of episodes. The writing here has some welcome maturity, never treating these young characters as so young as to be clueless.

Another impressive feature is that while the show can feel a bit overextended, the action is rarely done without purpose or a good dramatic twist. Max, Eleven and Kali aka Eight (Linnea Berthelsen) make their way through Vecna’s memories, including going to 1959, the year when he acquired his powers. Fans of the series will know this is also when the Broadway spinoff “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is set. They lead the captured children to a cave where a young Vecna was first infected by the Mind Flayer particles following his killing of a Russian scientist. It’s a rather potent scene, as we see the price Vecna has paid for not listening to the Russian, who warned him to stay away from the Mind Flayer. In another scene, when soldiers barge in on Jim, Eleven and Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), a confrontation ensues and Kali is killed. While the writing can play it safe sometimes when it comes to ensuring favorite characters rarely die, this death is pulled off in a way that doesn’t feel like a gimmick.

After nine years, “Stranger Things” knows it owes the fan base and they receive two entire endings. There is the necessary showdown with Vecna, done inside the Mind Flayer, which turns out to have been Vecna’s lair in the Abyss all along. Joyce, so underused for most of the finale, gets her big moment here when she gets to be the one who axes the villain to death. In a sense it is fitting that the mother at the center of this whole saga gets to deliver the final death blow. It does not stop there because then there is a gloriously bittersweet twist when Eleven decides she must sacrifice herself inside the Upside Down when it is destroyed, in order to be truly free and escape Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton). Dr. Kay is also rather underused, virtually disappearing from the story except for when her brief appearance is required by the story. No matter, what is important is the wrenching goodbye between Eleven and Will, done with the kind of gusto you would get in a decent Abrams thriller. Prince’s “Purple Rain” frames the scene wonderfully, continuing the show’s tradition of great needle drops. 

The world may be saved, but 18 months later we catch up with the gang for a nearly hour-long update on their fates. Yet, this is essential considering it is a chance for “Stranger Things” to show its more grounded, human side away from the big special effects. The fictional town of Hawkins is once again a sun-kissed small town. It is graduation season and Dustin gets to be valedictorian, taking off the gown onstage and preaching rebellion and “Dungeons & Dragons.” Somehow, after battling other dimensions and monsters, everyone settles into the late ‘80s idea of the American dream. Max and Lucas are together and making out. Jim proposes to Joyce at an elegant dinner, also suggesting they move to Montauk where a job offer awaits. Steve is a baseball coach who also teaches sex-ed. Jonathan is studying film at NYU. Robin is at college as well while Nancy has dropped out to pursue journalism (what a different world). The series finds its most fitting ending in a moving scene where Mike, Max, Dustin, Lucas and Will skip a graduation party for some D&D. The game turns into a heartfelt meditation on their futures, with Mike narrating their lives like a novel, including a speculation on Eleven’s fate that will no doubt have fans start speculating on the future of the franchise. Holly then enters with her friends, including Derek, to take over the game, like a generation continuing the story. “Stranger Things” is itself a clear heir to a particular brand of popcorn storytelling, even making artists from 40 years ago chart-toppers once more by introducing them to new generations. Few TV endings are ever perfect, but this one found the right notes to say goodbye, for now.

“Stranger Things 5” finale begins streaming Dec. 31 at 8 pm ET on Netflix.