While the world celebrates the new year, most Stranger Things fans are bracing for the grand finale of a show we’ve loved for a decade. Or at least, we were before the creators royally screwed the pooch with Season 5.
It’s a classic case of “too big for its britches” syndrome, the final-season curse that has previously plagued super-sonic successes like HIMYM and GoT. Whether it was the three-year production gap or a desperate attempt at fan service, this is not what we expected from the final outing of what is arguably the most popular show at the moment.
The Storyline
It’s all over the place. If you want the audience to care about a character that the majority of the season hinges on, maybe make them a bigger part of the show from the beginning? I’m looking at you, Holly Wheeler. No shade to the actress, who did a phenomenal job, but I couldn’t have been less interested in her storyline. It took away screentime from our main cast, who had next to nothing to do this season.
I don’t want to spend the final season following a previously obscure character. I’d rather be with the characters I’ve loved for four seasons.
Then there’s the lore. Things like the cave and Henry Creel in a play with Joyce Byers are thrown in with zero relevance to the plot. The mysterious briefcase that traumatised Henry to the extent that he couldn’t enter the cave. Why introduce brand-new concepts exclusive to Season 5 without explaining them?
The sequences are anticlimactic; the tension builds to a crescendo and then falls flat. The most redundant of them being the grand reveal of the season, the Abyss/ Dimension X/ The Exotic Matter being the end of the world. When Vecna killed all those teenagers in season 4 to split open Hawkins, was that not the end of the world? What’s the point of adding another world on top of the Upside which we have always thought of as another world.
Zero Stakes, Zero Urgency
The military being utterly inconsequential. Think back to season 1. Brenner and the government going after Eleven had a much more menacing presence. Hell, even the high school football team going after Eddy in season 4 was a bigger threat than the military in season 5. Why are they even there?
Nothing feels urgent. The gang has all the time in the world to roam Hawkins and the Upside Down, hatching half-baked plans upon half-baked plans that amount to nothing.
With every ‘end of the world, high-stakes storyline’, there is an undercurrent of urgency running throughout. We’re on the edge of our seats as our characters fight against all odds.
With Stranger Things season 5, our gang has all the time in the world. Max sees her window of escape, which she has searched for two years and missed once before. Let’s stop and have a lengthy heart-to-heart. Nancy and Jonathan are moments away from melting alive. Meh! Time for another lengthy heart-to-heart. Worlds are literally colliding? Let’s gather our entire cast and have yet ANOTHER super long round-table heart-to-heart.
To further dull the stakes, there have been no deaths in the whole season. Now, I get being attached to the characters (if they hurt Steve and Dustin, we riot), but the lack of casualties in the run-up to the finale significantly kills the tension.
The plot armour is impenetrable this season. If El can’t save everyone with her powers, let’s give Will the same powers. No Will? No problem! Mrs Wheeler (who was an inch from dying not a day ago) is suddenly a Demogdog killing badass.
In the absence of superhumans, the danger conveniently resolves itself in the scene where Nancy and Jonathan are stuck in a room filling with white goo. Speaking of Nancy, she now has rifle wielding abilities that rival those of trained military officers? Make it make sense.
The Characters
SO.MANY.CHARACTERS. Just way too many. The show went from being focused on a tight-knit group of the main cast to having a whole host of characters, with new ones joining the ultimate battle every other scene.
So many unnecessary subplots. The military, Holly and Max, Dustin, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan teaming up to find the wormhole, Hopper, El and 8 escaping the Upside Down, Will and his powers, El and Kali’s self-sacrificial plot and Dr Kay’s bizarre plan to create more super-powered children. With none of them materialising. Instead, we get a series of “plans” that never came to fruition.
The Acting
The less said about most of the cast’s acting, the better. For the most part, the cast looks bored or uninterested and delivers the weirdest, cringiest dialogues.
The only saving grace was the dynamic between Steve and Dustin. As always, my boys (Err..our boys) remain the best part of the season. Their fight and consequent reconciliation, absolute perfection.
The Verdict
The entire season feels like a giant filler episode, with the writers just trying to pad the run time with no payoff. Given the colossal disappointment that this season has been, I have little to no hope from the series’ last episode. As we await the finale in less than 12 hours, I hope to God I’m wrong.
Stay tuned for the review.
