Stranger Things Season 5 was the long-awaited series finale that had many people excited to see its conclusion. A total of over 250 million views were reported across Netflix channels for the Stranger Things 5 release date video.
Season 4 of Stranger Things received over 1.3 billion hours on Netflix while its earlier seasons received very high critic scores with it often getting ranked over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In other words, Stranger Things had built extremely high expectations across the globe for its fifth and final season.
“I thought it was mediocre. They tried to rush it. There were a lot of loose threads like the last fight scene,” shared English teacher Mr. Alejandro Aguirre.
The series wrap-up left most fans saying it was meh or a not so great ending in general. The majority of ratings gave it three stars. Its rating on Letterboxd, an app used to rate movies and shows, was an overall 3.1 stars.
This indicates mixed reviews rather than overwhelmingly positive responses that earlier seasons have received in the past.
”It possibly was not that bad because people had so much time to make up crazy theories that those plot lines sounded better than what the writers actually wrote,” said junior Juan Hoyos.
Objectively, 3.1 out of five stars is not terrible for a rating but many see it as unsatisfying.
This season was the lowest rated season with episode 7 of season 5 being the lowest rated episode in the entire series as viewers gave it an overall 5.6 out of 10 on IMDb. Many fans felt that it infused rushed storytelling with the finale episode feeling very safe and predictable.
“It was truly average. I predicted half of what was going to happen. It was lackluster in every regard. There were things that they could have done but didn’t do that would have made it a million times better,” said junior Mariana Ferguson.
Many people blamed this poor writing on the Duffer brothers, the writers of the show, starting production on Stranger Things 5 without a finished script for the final episode.
However, the Duffer Brothers stated that they had the general idea and final scene planned for a long time.
“Overall, I liked it, but the ending was okay. It would have been better if the final fight scene was longer, and it would have been better if more people died so it could be more emotional,” said junior Natalia Marin.
After the release of One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, a documentary showcasing an inside look at the production of the finale, many people started suspecting the writers of using AI in the scripts because of a ChatGPT tab visible next to the script-writing tab.
Across multiple platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, fans have stated that it lacked emotional impact and that it was a very safe ending overall.
“I wish there were more deaths, but also Eleven should not have died, and I will never forgive the Duffer Brothers for that,” shared the sister of an ILS student, Carina Iamunno.
The audience also noticed poor editing quality, such as in Max’s “Running Up That Hill” scene.
The lower quality may have been due to a switch to a new lighting technician and Netflix pushing for HDR10+ releases in 2025, possibly causing a low-contrast look that did not fit the supernatural horror tone.
“I think that it was okay at first glance, but then I started noticing all the flaws being pointed out on social media, and I began to think that the finale was terrible,” said junior Stefan Beiberach.
