After almost a decade of keeping viewers on their toes for new episodes, the season finale of Stranger Things aired on Dec. 31, 2025. The show last released a new season in 2022, so this finale was very overdue.
One fan who started watching the show in 2020, Nicole McEnroe ’28, was very excited for the new season, but was soon disappointed.
“I expected a lot more to happen in the finale and was let down,” McEnroe said. “All of the conspiracy theories online made me think it was going to be a more exciting ending.”
Although the finale was not as well-received as what people on social media thought it would be, there were still some touching moments that stood out in the end.
“I think a sad moment was when Johnathan and Nancy were stuck in the melting room and were confessing things to one another,” McEnroe said. “I feel like it was also a really unexpected scene to be put in.”
Even though this was the finale and the Duffer Brothers shared that this was the end, there was talk on the internet about them making another episode or even a season.
“The Duffer Brothers should definitely make another episode,” McEnroe said. “When I’ve talked to other people, they have said they were disappointed as well so I think coming out with a better ending would be good.”
Agreeing with McEnroe, Hayden Drouillard ’27, who has also been a fan of the show for years, believed that the show should be continued and was not happy with the ending.
“At first I was very sad about it, because I wanted a bigger battle scene [in the finale],” Drouillard said. “I think there were a lot of plot holes and writing errors within the final season.”
Drouillard went on to discuss character building throughout the season, inconsistencies with the Demogorgon’s powers and a lack of explanations for why the characters acted as they did combined to tank the final episode from being great.
“There should have been a reason for why [the Mind Flayer and Vecna] were doing what they did,” Drouillard said. “I was very underwhelmed and disappointed with this ending.”
Contradicting this is Conor Smith ’26, who believes the ending was done phenomenally. Smith has also watched the show for several years and was pleased with how the final season turned out.
“I really love what the writers did with the ending of the season,” Smith said. “I thought it was a great lead-up and there weren’t any unnecessary deaths.”
Smith also went on to praise how the actors played their roles perfectly, along with steady pacing throughout season five and the finale.
“It was a great way to end the show, there was so much emotion,” Smith said. “I am happy with how it turned out.”
