In 2016, Netflix released what would become one of the most well-known shows in the world: Stranger Things. Audiences everywhere tuned in with enjoyment to watch an interesting sci-fi mystery that kept people engaged with both the plot and characters.
In 2025, the final season of Stranger Things was released, and audiences once again tuned in. This time, however, the most memorable parts of the season were not the heartwarming moments, or suspenseful action scenes, they were the cringeworthy writing and questionable acting performances.
Stranger Things season 5 features our main cast of characters fighting against the evil Vecna, similar to the actors, who were fighting to get through the abysmal dialogue assigned to them. Most interactions in this final season seemed so blatantly forced it is almost impossible to remember a time these characters had any chemistry. Plot points that should have had a heavy impact fall short of this by miles due to a lack of urgency in the writing, or half-hearted line deliveries that leave the viewer as uninterested.
Not to say there were zero good moments. For example, Steve and Dustin’s fight had the right amount of buildup for it to have an actual payoff when they made up. Nancy and Jonathan’s breakup also holds up as a memorable scene. However, viewers trying to find moments of good writing in this season might as well be skimming a page of Where’s Waldo, because these scenes are completely hidden between soap opera-esque segments that do nothing for the plot.
In fact, despite being the longest season yet, so much of Season 5 feels like filler. It would not be accurate to label Will’s coming-out scene as necessary character development. In reality, the Duffer Brothers remembered they had to come up with a conclusion to his subplot, so they threw together a semi-cohesive moment and called it a day.
They do this once again when they remember the existence of Eleven’s sister, and realize that it would be narratively unsafe to have her never be mentioned again, so haphazardly slapping her into the final few episodes should suffice. In truth, if all of the Stranger Things fans in the world were gathered into one room, and asked what Eleven’s sister’s name is, there would be crickets.
The most tiring thing about this season is the Duffer brothers’ inability to take a step out of their comfort zone, and kill off one of the main cast. The season spends its entire runtime building up to the most intense battle of the entire show, but the stakes never feel that high because the writers have shown time and time again that they will avoid killing their characters at all costs. Even Hopper’s big sacrifice at the end of season 3 was watered down when he got resurrected by the writers to serve no real purpose to the plot other than playing the ‘father’ role.
Being the genius, unpredictable writers they are, the Duffer brothers pull this stunt once more with Eleven seemingly dying, only to be hinted at being alive and well by Mike in his final speech.
The show ends with the extremely cast graduating, and playing one last game of Dungeons and Dragons in a scene that surprisingly feels gratifying for what it is. All and all, Season 5 will be remembered as one of the biggest flops in the history of the show.
