Stranger Things is easily one of the most important TV shows of the last decade. Netflix had other hits before, but Stranger Things really solidified the era of peak streaming, with the assumption that a successful streamer needs constant original releases. According to one study, Stranger Things has brought in over $1 billion of streaming revenue for Netflix since 2020 – and that was before Season 5’s release. The pressure on that final season was intense, with many fearing we’d get another Game of Thrones.
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In case you were asleep in 2019, that reference is because Game of Thrones‘ ending has become emblematic for a culturally-significant TV series that fails to stick the landing. And yet, somehow, Stranger Things has avoided that curse; the finale was far from perfect, but the overall reaction has been positive. That’s because the Duffer brothers understood one key lesson that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss missed with Thrones.
Let’s Face It, Stranger Things Season 5’s Plot Was Bonkers
Let’s start with a bit of honesty here; Stranger Things Season 5’s plot was absolutely bonkers. Attentive viewers have spotted so many plot holes in the Stranger Things finale, making a lie of the Duffer brothers’ claim that all our questions would be answered. Some of these are more amusing than anything else (what happened to Delightful Derek’s family?), but others are huge. Both versions of Eleven’s fate make no sense when you stop and think about them; it doesn’t matter whether you choose to believe she lives or not, it doesn’t quite add up.
Stranger Things Season 5’s story works right up until the moment you stop to think about it. As soon as you do, so many things start to fall apart; where were the Demogorgons in the Abyss, what was the Mind Flayer going to do when it got to Earth given it was so easy to kill, and how did Vecna’s memory-world include events he couldn’t have seen? Major themes were dropped, with death feeling inconsequential – a surprising decision that made the “plot armor” complaints all the more notable. Hopper and Nancy both gun down soldiers without remorse or later punishment.
And yet, for all these problems are very real, they simply don’t matter. Looking at IMDb, episode 8 has a pleasing rating of 7.9 out of 10 (with 116,000 reviews and counting). There’s a lot of online chatter about plot holes and the like, but none of these have really counted too much against the show. There’s a good reason for this, one that redeems Stranger Things Season 5 despite all the criticisms.
Stranger Things Understands the Emotions are What Sell the Story
The Duffer brothers understood a secret that online chatter often forgets; emotions trumps logic anytime. Stranger Things Season 5 works because it feels right, because everything feels satisfying and almost every character gets the send-off they deserve. Dustin honors Eddie in the best possible way by fulfilling his hero’s dream of snatching a diploma and flipping it to the man, Will becomes a writer, Max and Lucas get a happily ever after, Steve becomes a father figure forever… It’s safe (the most common word used in reviews), but it’s so very satisfying.
The only off note is Eleven’s story, which has divided viewers just as it divided the writer’s room; Kali and Hopper’s perspectives read like the writers arguing it out on-screen. There’s a sense in which the show ducked the problem by presenting two alternate endings, the one that we saw and the one that we didn’t, and that decision is naturally a divisive one. But it’s not fatal, and it doesn’t undermine the emotional power of that extended epilogue scene. Most viewers are able to look beyond this, choosing the version of Eleven’s ending they prefer, and discounting the other one.
This is why Stranger Things‘ ending works where Game of Thrones didn’t. Benioff and Weiss’ finale just didn’t work on a character level (not least for poor Daenerys, whose conclusion felt almost like a character assassination). The Duffer brothers avoided that, making the finale feel like a love-letter to the characters they’ve been writing for over a decade, giving almost everyone the kind of dream sendoff audiences were hoping for. The logic problems and plot holes simply don’t matter, because the emotion is there, and emotion trumps everything else.
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