**THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Netflix has officially ended one of its most popular T.V. series, Stranger Things. On November 26th, 2025, the first four episodes aired, followed by three on Christmas Day, with the finale releasing on New Year’s Eve. The anticipation was high with many people around the globe awaiting possible tragedies in the final season. Despite the hype, most people are not too fond of the way it ended, including junior Phoenix Williams.
“I don’t think season 5 was better than the rest because it wasn’t as eerie compared to the previous seasons,” said Williams. “There were also a few times where information didn’t match up with previous information. The neglect of details led to people making complex theories to cope with the writing, and now people think another episode is coming out.”
What Williams is referring to is the fan theory ‘Conformity Gate’. Fans around the globe came together and formed this theory that would explain all the blank spots and confusing information. Fans thought that there would be a secret episode releasing January 7th, 2026, that would be the ‘real’ ending to the season. That isn’t the only thing that made the show unsatisfying.
“There should’ve been more significant character deaths,” said Williams. “They should’ve closed some of the plot holes, like how [main character] Will isn’t affected when [villian] Vecna is killed but feels hurt when [Vecna’s monsters] are.”
The buildup of what this season was going to be had everyone’s expectations very high, but many, including Williams, weren’t very happy with it. The finale, on the other hand, had very mixed reactions, such as the ‘death’ of a fan favorite character, Eleven, and the absence of a lot of character deaths that were rumored to take place. Other than that, some were much more satisfied with the way the show ended, like junior Samantha Robertson, a Stranger Things fan since 2019.
“Personally, I think the finale ended perfectly,” said Robertson. “I thought it was perfect how they graduated at the end because it wasn’t just us growing up, but them too.”
Robertson is referring to the last hour of episode eight, “The Rightside Up,” where the main characters Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas, and Max were seen graduating from the beloved Hawkins High School. After that, they all sat around the round table reflecting on each of their different Dungeons & Dragons characters’ pasts & seeing ahead to the future, making the moment even more emotional. Some other episodes also played into making season five feel like the rest.
“The vanishing of Holly Wheeler was my favorite episode because it felt a little more like the first season when Will went missing,” said junior Micah Graves. “It also leaned into the horror aspect that I thought was missing throughout the season.”
Along with that, Graves also enjoyed a scene from episode six “Escape from Camazotz” where characters Max & Holly escape from villain Vecna’s mind while characters Lucas, Robin & Vickie escape his creatures, the demodogs, in Hawkins because it felt similar to season two’s episode eight “The Mind Flayer” and the moments from season one in Hawkins Lab.
“I liked the hospital scene where they were running from the demodogs,” said Graves. “That scene also felt a lot like the first season in the lab and even the second season with [side-character] Bob.”
Despite the plot holes and the ‘rushed’ feeling this season seemed to bring, fans like Roberston also enjoyed most of the new episodes.
“I loved every detail about each episode and overall the whole vibe,” said Robertson. “I loved getting to know more about the upside down and how there was another dimension.”
Stranger Things had everyone’s feelings all over the place. With a ‘disappointing’ ending, it’s clear most are having a hard time moving on from the nearly decade-long series. Prince’s “Purple Rain” will never be the same for fans again.
