After ten years of watching the cast of Stranger Things grow as the show progressed, on New Year’s Eve, the cultural phenomenon came to a heartbreaking end. The core cast members started the show between the ages of 11 and 13, and five seasons later, they closed out the show in their early 20s. While the actors’ ages outgrew their roles, some became too old to portray a teenager. Lucas Sinclair’s younger sister, Erica, was supposed to be 13 when in reality, her actor, Priah Ferguson, was 19. Considering the filmmakers and makeup artists did a fantastic job removing some of the maturity, but it was still prevalent in most scenes.
Many fans of the show have differing perspectives on the finale, so here are some of the different views.
It is safe to say that they grew up with this show, but so many fans grew up alongside them. As class of 2026 seniors, watching the graduation scene in the epilogue was especially bittersweet. At times it was hard to see the skip of timeline in the epilogue, brushing over the end of their high school career in order to just save time. There were over two hours of cut time to the final season, making scenes unfulfilling from the original expectations of a finale to an extremely popular show.
One particularly suspenseful and good scene was towards the beginning of the episode when Eleven was in the mind of 001. During this scene, 001 entered Hopper’s mind, who was monitoring the tank she was in, and convinced him that he killed Eleven. This scene, and the thriller shots it entailed, was amazing from start to finish, and it even sparked discourse if this should have been Eleven’s final scene.
Plot holes made certain scenes choppy and rushed, as the scene of the Mind Flayer was – the terrain was deserted and dry. A contrast to the “cold” Will Byers had said it dwelled in. Despite the inaccuracy, the scene was empowering regardless, especially when Nancy Wheeler stepped up for the team to be “bait.” It was confusing at times to see characters watered down by an overwhelmingly dense script, such as Mike losing his quintessential role throughout prior seasons. He was made out to be a goofy side character rather than a rough and complex teenager.
The final battle with Vecna was also amazing at times. It was great to see the buildup, and in theater viewings, fans cheered to celebrate the original crew taking down the final monster. Some fans complain it was too easy or that it had too low stakes, but it was nice to see the full group fighting alongside each other, taking down the monster who took their childhood from them.
The ending was left open, leaving room for interpretation – especially with Eleven. I think an open-ended finale was less efficient, since this season was meant to bring finality rather than the prior seasons, where cliffhangers were appropriate. They gave Max and Lucas a proper ending, Dustin a chance to be himself, but Mike and Will were less promising. Will was seen at a bar with another man, presumably finally accepting himself. Despite having a ‘happy’ ending, it felt more mocking. The entire show held undertones of the connection between Will and Mike, platonic or otherwise. Brushing over that denied the queer storyline and ended up frustrating many fans, myself included. Mike never got closure, left to writing stories, and left fans a far-fetched tale of Eleven’s fake death. I was grateful for three of six members getting a happy ending, and while I know “happily-ever-after” isn’t always possible, it was disappointing to see.
The physical ending was when the original party, plus Max, put their adventure books back on the shelf for what seems like the last time. Then, as Mike walked up the stairs, he was quickly pushed aside by his sister and the younger kids this season introduced. This specific scene felt fulfilling, as if the cycle was continuing for these new kids’ adventures. It will be interesting to see if they ever do anything with these new kids or this younger generation. Potentially, this ending was left as a place for spin-offs to start.
While the ending wasn’t the best, it surely wasn’t the worst. After such a long series of ups and downs, it is refreshing to end out 2025 on a high note by kissing our favorites goodbye.
