The Stranger Things series finale is almost perfect — until one decision ruins it

This article contains major spoilers for “Stranger Things” season 5, episode 8 – “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”.

THE “Stranger Things” Season 5 Finale start strong. The preparation for the series until the inevitable final meeting with Vecna ​​(Jamie Campbell Bower) has enormous physical and emotional stakes, and a fun twist that brings the best monster from “Stranger Things” – the long sidelined Mind Flayer – back as a serious threat. There is a massive late game fight that takes place on multiple fronts. There’s death, sacrifice, tender goodbyes, and a thematically appropriate monologue about the state of Hawkins, Indiana, and the people who live there, courtesy of Robin’s (Maya Hawke) apparently last shift at the radio station. What more can you expect from a series finale?

Yeah, that’s exactly the problem. Because if you ask “Stranger Things,” the answer is: 40 more minutes of incredibly predictable character endings after the good stuff ends.

The problem with all this tension leading up to the final confrontation with the Vecna/Mind Flayer entity is that it only makes up a little more than half the episode. Once Robin’s big speech is over, we spend all the remaining time summarizing the characters’ stories in the simplest way possible. It’s great to see the characters we loved so much end the series in a good place, but in reality the vast majority of these 40 minutes could have been covered in montage form during Robin’s radio monologue. And to be frank, the already too long finale would have been all the better.

Naturally, the Duffer Brothers gambled that the audience would be so invested in their characters that as much as 40 minutes would be enough to cover their fates. It’s just that none of the endings we see are particularly surprising. On the contrary, the majority of them seem to settle for the simplest “happy ending” scenario for the character in question.

The big talker of the season, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), gets one last chance as valedictorian at the group’s graduation ceremony. Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink) continue their love story. Will (Noah Schnapp) is finally free to live happily as himself. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is heartbroken after losing Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), but continues his role as Dungeon Master and facilitates the writing with his storytelling talent. Eleven is heavily hinted that she survived her apparent heroic sacrifice and is last seen watching these three much-teased stunts. Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) are about to get married, while Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin are all pursuing their own happy endings.

Yet the most disappointing thing about the finale’s long cooldown isn’t all the obvious endings it depicts — it’s the many questions it doesn’t even bother to answer. Why did the Army and Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) simply pack up and leave without investigating El’s death and without any consequences for the protagonists? What happened to Murray (Brett Gelman) or Vickie (Amybeth McNulty)? All this and more remains unanswered or unanswered. When you spend the length of a normal TV episode just to tie up the loose ends, it’s frustrating to ignore the more interesting ones.

Season 5 of “Stranger Things” is streaming on Netflix.