'Stranger Things' Season 5 Vol. 2 Review: The End of the Upside Down and the Beginning of the Truth
- Dec 30, 2025
- 4 min read
By Shauna Bushe - December 30, 2025
TV - Premium TV
MINOR NARRATIVE SPOILERS
As the final chapter of the Hawkins saga draws to a close, Stranger Things 5: Volume 2 (2025) is no longer pretending nothing happened. The ground has split, the sky is alive, monsters are real and the end is breathing down every one’s neck. Stranger Things feels less like a TV show and more like a reckoning, transforming from a nostalgic supernatural mystery into a high-stakes cosmic war. While Volume 1 focused on the immediate fallout of the rifts opening, Volume 2 shifts the lens toward the endgame: the survival of the end.
Volume 2 picks up with Hawkins fractured both physically and emotionally. Vecna’s influence lingers, even when he is not visible, and the characters realize that defeating him is not just about power, but about confronting everything he feeds on: guilt, fear, and unresolved pain. Whilst the military continue to box Hawkins in, the core group learn Vecna’s plan: he isn’t trying to conquer earth, he is trying to rewrite it. There are fewer detours and more collisions, with plans failing, strained alliances, and the line between survival and sacrifice growing dangerously thin. The plot moves with urgency, but it also pauses long enough to let moments land, especially those tied to identity, love, and chosen family.
Characters and the Weight of the Past
Vol 2 significantly changes its atmosphere from and intense adventure to an emotionally intelligent turning point. Each episode is heavier than the last, not because of the escalated storytelling, but because of the emotional threads snapping into focus. To defeat the monster, first, the group need to resolve the fractures that have existed between them for years. The middle episodes slow the pace down, and deliberately. Creating space for these long, overdue conversations and reunions. The chapters feel intimate, even claustrophobic, as if the characters are running out of space to hide from themselves.
Nancy and Jonathan’s break-up is quiet and delicate, no explosive argument, instead it’s a moment of shared realizations handled with careful maturity, and a recognition that they’re not the same as they once were. At the same time, Dustin and Steve’s conflict reaches a breaking point, instead of arriving as an apology they reach an understanding. It’s a heart-breaking reconciliation between our fan favourite duo. Towards the end of Vol 2, Will has his coming out monologue. Its tender, honest and long overdue. His identity has always felt isolated, indifferent, unrequited and wearing his heart on his sleeve he decided to take that control back. It was a powerful, emotional speech that undoubtedly felt like a weight off actor Noah Schnapp’s shoulders.
During the smaller scenes, Eleven faces her connection to Henry and struggles to separate herself from the monster. Joyce loosens the reigns on Will, letting him embrace his true identity, influencing Hopper to do the same with Eleven. Lucas is driven by a sense of refusal to give up on Max, his faith making him one of the strongest characters this season. And as for Max, her presence is felt even when she’s not active in every scene, she is the emotional echo that shapes how everyone moves forward.
Heading for the End
Narratively, Vol 2 tightens its focus on Mythology. And explains how the mythology isn’t such a myth anymore, when it is visibly breaking the barrier between space and reality. Answers are given, characters are shifted, and the Upside Down is no longer a mystery box but a mirror, reflecting the magnitudes of curiosity, creation and the consequences that created space for it in the first place. The finale confrontations are not structured as a single climactic battle, instead they unfold significantly and simultaneously, serving purpose to each character. Victory is fragmented, and loss seems inevitable, the show can’t resist the temptation to keep its audience in a constant state of despair.
Season 5 of Stranger Things feels less like a victory lap and more like a long, meaningful goodbye that understands the weight of its own history. So far, the season trades constant spectacle for emotional gravity, allowing its characters to carry scars rather than simply outrun danger. The story leans into reflection, asking what remains after years of fighting the impossible, and it finds its strength in quieter moments where fear, love, and loyalty intersect. Instead of chasing shock value, the season trusts its audience to sit with uncertainty and consequence, making the journey feel mature, deliberate, and deeply human. As the end approaches, Stranger Things doesn’t just aim to conclude a story, it aims to leave an impression that lingers long after Hawkins fades from view.
Stranger Things 5 Vol 1 & 2 are now streaming on Netflix, with the finale coming New Years Day. See you in the Upside Down.
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