Stranger Things season five was released into three volumes, the first coming out on November 26, the second on Christmas, and the final episode on New Years Eve.
Volume one took fans by storm, capturing them into the final adventure of the Hawkins residents, and taking them through the Upside Down one last time.
Season five takes place in Hawkins, Indiana in November of 1987. Part of the season takes place on November 6, making it a full circle to the date that Will Byers went missing in the very first episode.
This season goes through the Hawkins town after Vecna destroyed the town in season four, and the military has set strict limits on the citizens which makes it hard for Eleven and the rest of the group to figure out a way to defeat Vecna once and for all.
Volume two and three are more set in the Upside Down, and the group has to figure out a way to defeat Vecna, and fast. Vecna’s big plan to merge the Upside Down with the real world has become known to the group, and they have to plan how to stop him.
Volumes two and three are filled with a lot of interesting information that explains stuff from previous seasons, but there’s still some gaps for sure.
This season is filled with a lot of jokes, but less romance than the previous seasons. Certain couples really didn’t have a lot of scenes together, and some just weren’t brought up at all.
For instance, Dustin and his girlfriend Suzie, who was seen in seasons three and four, was not even mentioned this season. So fans are left with the open ended question, if they are still together.
This season is definitely different than any other season in Stranger Things, in a bad way and a good way.
In a positive way, this season has given the group more to explore and has given them different challenges to overcome than the last, which give it some more excitement. These new adventures the groups go on brings some more action to the season as well.
However, while this season is action packed, it is considerably weaker and more boring than the previous seasons. The plot is more different and kind of hard to follow along with.
It also seems as though the writers, the Duffer Brothers, gave some of the main characters, such as Eleven, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas a downfall. It seems as though the main characters that we see in the rest of the show, Eleven, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas were almost replaced by Vecna’s new target, the little kids.
These new kids, play a major role in season five. Two of the main kids, Holly Wheeler, played by the talented Nell Fisher, and Derek Turnbow, played by Jake Connelly did a great job portraying their characters. There are 12 kids that the season focuses on, that reveal Vecna’s plan on merging the two worlds together.
Not that this completely ruins the show at all, but it definitely takes away the feeling that fans had previously, with the main characters seemingly getting hardly any screen time at all.
Most of the characters weren’t given any jaw-dropping lines either. This kind of made the acting this season dull, but there are some actors who really shined most this season.
Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna, gave chilling performances this season. For sure some of the best acting seen in season five. Bower had more of a role this season than the last, and his character worked amazingly well with his acting.
Another shockingly amazing performance was Noah Schnapp who portrays Will Byers, who was definitely more of a main character this season. Schnapp had many scenes with Bower, and the two worked together perfectly.
The way they acted off of each other enhanced the plot and really created an absolutely emotional, and jaw dropping performance.
Besides the big change this season, there are definitely aspects of the show that fans can appreciate. Such as the amazing sound track incorporated into the action filled scenes, featuring songs “Upside Down” by Diana Ross, “Purple Rain” by Prince, “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany, and many more.
These songs perfectly capture the vibes and aesthetic of the season, and really add a great touch to the scenes. Stranger Things has always been known for its 80s soundtrack that gives fans a familiar feeling of nostalgia, but this season’s soundtrack is one of the best.
Boring episodes and major plot holes
Compared to volume one, volume two seems to lack interesting content that, in previous seasons, would have fans on the edge of their seats. This season, specifically volume two, has really disappointed fans a lot. The creators, the Duffer Brothers, really hyped up season five, saying it would be the biggest and best season yet. However, this is not really the case at all.
One of the biggest annoyances fans have found is the increasing amount of plot holes. There have been a lot of mistakes this season it seems, that fans have been picking up on.
For example, in season four, fans were introduced to another monster lurking in the Upside Down, the Demobats. These bats made a big impact in the Upside Down in the fourth season, but were nowhere to be found in the fifth. This is just one of the minor mistakes fans have noticed that have led them to wonder.
The Duffer Brothers originally stated that this season “The stakes are higher than ever” and that a lot more would be on the table this final season. They also stated that there would be major deaths this season ,which were not true at all.
They seemed to overhype this season considerably, which led to a big amount of controversy among fans. Especially after waiting three years for the final season to come out, it was pretty underwhelming.
It seemed as though the Duffer Brothers were scared to kill off any big characters, and have given every single character a lot of “plot armor.” The Duffer Brothers also said this season would have “The most violent death”, but there was no violent death this season.
Another big problem with this season is that for anyone who has not seen the Stranger Things play, The First Shadow, would be extremely confused in scenes that explained Henry’s backstory. Which makes it hard for many fans to watch it, since it’s never really explained fully unless they have seen the play.
There were so many plot holes that fans have started to wonder if some scenes have been cut out of Netflix, because there’s so much confusion with a lot of scenes.
There was a considerable amount of backlash that ignited in ‘The Bridge.” Will Byers, came out as gay to the entire group, which fans thought was unnecessary. His coming out was not unnecessary, but fans thought it was weird to have him come out to people he’s never even spoken to, like Murray, or Steve.
This emotional scene felt like it should’ve been to a smaller group, with people more close to him. This scene was also very lengthy, which was really unnecessary as well. This is now rated the lowest episode of Stranger Things on IMDb, with a score of 5.4 out of 10.
The Conformity Gate
Due to the lack of plot and detail in season 5, fans have accumulated that there is a secret 9th episode coming out on January 7. Fans believe that the finale that was released in theaters, was just a fake finale.
Fans have come to this conclusion based off of things that happened in the epilogue, and little details that could mean what happened in the finale, isn’t actually real. Stranger Things fans are calling this the Conformity Gate.
Based off of what the Duffer Brothers said about a specific character in the ending, saying that they want the fans to interpret what happens, has led fans to believe these theories even more.
Basically fans just think the finale of season 5 was a fakeout, and that there will be the true finale coming on January 7. The reason fans have gathered the whole January 7 date is because the number 7 has been thrown around a lot lately.
January 7 is also Orthodox Christmas Day, and since the Duffer Brothers said that it would be a dark Christmas, fans just assumed because volume two would be dark. It really wasn’t though, which has led them to think they said that about the real ending.
There is no confirmation that this theory is true, but fans have gathered the Easter eggs and other little details that have led them to believe in the Conformity Gate.
Releasing a documentary on the final season
Stranger Things announced that Netflix will be releasing a documentary titled One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5. This documentary will take fans through the making of the final season and goes through the last day of filming.
This documentary will drop on January 12, and it will be a final installment of this decade-long series created by the Duffer Brothers.
Overall, this season was definitely overhyped but it is still worth it to watch. While there were a lot of plot holes and unnecessary scenes, this season still gave a lot of information that explained earlier seasons.
The plot is still interesting, and is still worth watching, but it does tend to get boring in some parts.
