'Stranger Things' Season 5 Finale Review: The Duffer Brothers' Endgame
- Shauna Bushe
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
By Shauna Bushe - January 5, 2026
TV - Premium TV
The final season of Stranger Things is a masterclass in narrative symmetry, a journey that begins with a missing boy and ends with the closure of a childhood that was stolen by the shadows. After a decade of waiting, the Duffer Brothers delivered a conclusion that not only honours the gravity of its own history but serves as a love letter to the bonds formed in the face of the impossible. While Vol. 1 set the stage by reuniting the Hawkins crew and revealing the depth of the military’s renewed interest in Eleven, it was the final sprint to the finish that truly redefined the show's legacy. Leaving the characters – and the audience – permanently changed, beautifully scarred, and unmistakably grown.
Happy Endings and New Beginnings
The beauty of the finale lay in how it handled its vast ensemble. Rather than giving everyone a generic "happy ending," the show leaned into the specific growth of each character group.
Watching the core four stand on the precipice of a world that no longer requires them to be soldiers was fulfilling: Dustin graduated, and lived out Eddies dream, Max and Lucas finally got their movie date, Will was able to live outside the shadows of his secret and Mike, became a real-life storyteller. Their endings didn’t linger on monsters, or grief, but the terrifying reality of moving on and leaving their childhood in the basement where it all began. What we see play out wasn’t their characters leaving Hawkins behind but themselves as actors, the pause and stillness of the basement scene feeling less scripted and more like a genuine goodbye.
As for the teens, Steve, Nancy, Robin and Jonathan’s ending together represents different versions of growing up in Hawkins; the dreamer, the protector, the outsider and the observer. By placing them side by side you realise they were characters that never started as a unit, not like the core four, yet became one through shared time, danger and loss. It’s a touching acknowledgment that reads: this is what remains when the noise fades, not romance, not rivalry, not plot mechanics, but connection. They have changed in ways the rest of the world won’t understand.
Joyce and Hopper’s shared ending lands like a low, steady heartbeat after chaos. Its power comes not from triumph, but from what it costs. Joyce carries the weight of having ended the world’s worst evil. Hopper carries the weight of loving someone he could not save. Together, they embody the full cost of the war: action and aftermath, ending and endurance. From the very beginning, Joyce was the one who believed when belief cost her everything. By being the one to end Vecna, she becomes the story’s quiet constant made pivotal. Hopper’s loss of Eleven stands in quiet contrast. His arc has never been about the final blow, but about learning how to live in the wreckage left behind. Losing Eleven does not make him a hero or a martyr; it makes him someone who stays standing when standing is the hardest thing left to do.
Symbolism and the Final Fight
The Stranger Things finale elevates the war for Hawkins into an emotional masterclass, reimagining the Upside Down as a literal map of the human psyche. By centring the battle in the "Mindscape," the show pits Vecna’s oppressive "Pain Tree" architecture – a rigid fortress built from stolen trauma – against the "navigational hacking" of Eleven’s resilient, sun-drenched memories. This internal warfare culminates in the reveal of the Mind Flayer as a mere shadow-extension of Henry Creel’s ego, dissolving the moment it has no mind left to give it form. Crucially, Will’s "Sorcerer" awakening serves as the ultimate payoff, as he leverages his lifelong tether to Vecna to transform from a passive victim into a powerful architect of his own agency. By cross-cutting between visceral physical combat and the surrealist psychic void, the finale proves that the true victory wasn't just defeating a monster, but the collective act of dismantling childhood trauma to finally step into the light.
The most satisfying element of the finale was the connective tissue to Season 1, Episode 1. The show returned to its roots – the basement, the Dungeons & Dragons table, and the simple concept of "The Party." By mirroring the opening scenes of the series, the finale underscored the theme of the "Endless Campaign." The monsters changed, and the stakes grew from a missing boy to the end of the world, but the solution remained the same: a group of friends who refused to leave anyone behind. The "True North" of the show was always the bond formed in Mike’s basement, and the finale honoured that by making the emotional stakes feel just as intimate as they did in 2016. None of which could’ve happened if El didn’t go away. The Duffer Brothers themselves explained there was no way Stranger Things could’ve ended any other way. Choosing a self-imposed exile finally granted her friends, the one thing her powers never could – the safety of a normal life.
El’s absence is felt in every quiet moment of the finale, yet her presence is seen in the safety of the town. She became the silent protector; the legend of the girl who fell so the rest could prevail. The weight of her calling Hopper "Dad" lingers over the final scenes, serving as the emotional anchor for the entire group’s survival. The significance of this sacrifice cannot be overstated. By disappearing, she severed the final link between our world and the darkness, but she also freed her friends from the constant threat of the government agencies that would have never stopped hunting her. It was the ultimate act of love – giving up her world so they could finally live in theirs without fear.
Final Thoughts: Closing the Book
In the end, Stranger Things leaves behind a legacy as permanent as a scar from the Upside Down. We didn’t just watch a story unfold; we watched a generation of children grow into adults before our eyes, their real-world development mirroring the show’s own evolution from a quaint supernatural mystery into a sprawling epic of cosmic horror. By meticulously curating a found family of outcasts, the Duffer Brothers transformed a nostalgic love letter to the 1980s into a definitive cultural touchstone. Through its neon-soaked aesthetics, pulse-pounding synth scores, and a soundtrack that resurrected the anthems of a bygone era, the show reminded us that music and memory are the ultimate weapons against the dark. As the final notes fade and the gate is permanently sealed, the void it leaves is a testament to its impact. Stranger Things ends not just as a television series, but as a collective memory – a reminder that while we eventually have to step out of the basement and into the light of adulthood, the "Party" we found along the way stays with us forever.
'Stranger Things' Season 5 is streaming now in its entirety on Netflix.
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