The Netflix series becomes both exciting and frustrating

We’re in the home stretch of “Stranger Things,” and one thing is clear: Netflix’s megahit is spinning its wheels. To be fair, there are plenty of exciting moments to be had as the show draws closer to its big, grand finale. There are also a handful of emotional scenes that genuinely land, especially if you’ve grown fond of the large ensemble of characters who inhabit the cursed town of Hawkins. But it seems painfully obvious that Netflix’s top brass begged the “Stranger Things” masterminds, the Duffer Brothers, to drag things out as long as they could, and the Duffers agreed.

Watching the three overstuffed episodes that make up Volume 2 of Season 5, it feels like the showrunners probably could have condensed it all into one big, splashy movie that wraps it all up in a nice, neat package. Instead, we experience repetitive moments that ultimately lead to nothing and become very frustrating. Example: at a given moment, two characters (I’m not saying who, to avoid spoilers) leave the same place to go on a trip. After walking a little, they decide to turn around and return to the place from which they started, having accomplished nothing.

Later, another character begins a story that leads to a flashback, but then the narrative stops. far flashback to show us things happening in the current timeline, only to then cut back in the flashback. It’s clunky, clunky stuff and doesn’t make for very compelling television. I found the first half of season 5 quite exciting. The second half is a bit tedious, and we still have a long final episode to watch.

But “Stranger Things” continues to get by with the help of its very likeable characters, even if some have less to do than others. Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven may have been the face of this franchise for so long, but her character often feels adrift in these three episodes – although there is a setup for her to have a lot more to do in the finale, which wasn’t screened for critics.

Sadie Sink’s fan-favorite character Max has a big moment to shine somewhere in these three episodes, but it takes an interminable amount of time to get there. And Nell Fisher, who took on the role of suddenly important hollycontinues to be a great addition to the cast – this kid goes everywhere. Noah Schnapp’s Will Byers is also much more focused than ever, which ends up being a bit of a mixed bag, as Schnapp seems to struggle with the heavy emotional beats that Will is suddenly grappling with.

Volume 2 of Season 5 also continues to show us large, elaborate set pieces, leading to scenes where characters like Gaten Matarazzo’s lovable Dustin and Maya Hawke’s fast-talking Robin are forced to deliver extremely long bits of exposition. There has been a not-so-secret rumor that people who write shows on Netflix are frequently asked to have the characters overexplain every action so the public not really look the show, but rather letting it play in the background while they look at their phone, can follow the narrative. If you doubted the veracity of these rumors, these episodes are quite concrete confirmation. By the time the series was on what seemed like its tenth expository monologue, I was ready to give up.

The last time we left our heroes, at the end of book 1, the big bad Vecna ​​​​(Jamie Campbell Bower) had kidnapped the 12 children he wanted to use for his dark and evil plans, and Will unleashed his full potential by revealing he had powers similar to Eleven.. One might assume that Volume 2 would move things forward, but in truth, by the time the third episode of Volume 2 rolled to the end credits, it felt like we and the characters were more or less in the same place they started. Either the final episode is going to be overflowing with big, dramatic changes, or “Stranger Things” is about to wrap things up in a somewhat disappointing way.

And yet, the show still has its charms. Most of the characters remain lovable, and as I mentioned above, some of the dramatic and emotional scenes work really well. When Dustin and Steve (Joe Keery) finally reconcile after spending half of this final season bickering, it feels genuine and sweet. And while I think Schnapp’s performance is a bit lacking, one big dramatic moment that he shares with almost all of the cast really tugs at your heartstrings and might make you shed a tear or two. There’s also plenty of action, explosions, and car chases to keep things moving, even as the series continues to double down on itself.

I guess the takeaway is that if you’ve made it this far with “Stranger Things,” you’re going to stick around to see how it all ends. I have a few theories about how the Duffers and company plan to wrap things up, but I’m just going into the finale episode blind and hoping for the best. I’ve been a fan of this series since its beginning, but at this point I don’t think it’s unfair to say that it’s stuck well past its expiration date. Still, I support these crazy kids. I hope they pull this one off one last time.

/Film rating: 6 out of 10

“Stranger Things” season 5 volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix. The last episode will be released on December 31, 2025.