Katie Trottier Contributor

SPOILERS AHEAD

On a snowy day in 2016, after a (probably) terrible day of middle school, my sister introduced me to Netflix’s Stranger Things. After just one watch, I instantly fell in love with the show, and I religiously followed each subsequent season as they were released. Then, there was a massive pause. Three entire years between seasons three and four created a gap; the budget had grown, and so had the actors. What had been hesitantly marketed as ‘Winona Ryder’s Show’ had turned into a showcase of the world’s most famous child actors and multi-million-dollar episodes. Undeniably, the show had changed. Gone were the days of relying on emotion, storytelling, and character to lead the way. In their place was high-budget CGI and a plethora of plotlines all near-impossible to keep up with. What I loved so dearly about the earlier seasons were the characters and their reactions to discovering their supernatural world, an aspect sidelined for the overwhelming amount of new characters and convoluted battle-plan explanations using quirky props and raunchy jokes. 

As for season five, I feel qualified to give a well-rounded take as a total nerd who has devoted years to loving the show. In three words: it was okay! I found ‘Volume One’ genuinely spectacular; it reminded me why I had fallen in love with Stranger Things all those years ago. It re-centred the crucial friendships and brought everything right back around to the overarching theme of love conquering all evil. Then ‘Volume Two’ dropped, and it all went downhill from there. The impressive runtimes quickly began to feel too short to wrap up all the plotlines, and, disappointingly, so many of them just quietly petered out. Why was Will not affected by Joyce chopping Vecna’s head off, when it was explicitly emphasized that Will’s connection resulted in him feeling matching pain? Why did five seasons of build-up get resolved in five minutes? 

Moreover, the relationships! After watching, I learned that, apparently, Jonathan and Nancy’s conversation in the melting-slime-room was meant to be a break-up. It gave the impression that the writers were so concerned about ensuring the finale’s success, that they didn’t address anything head-on to avoid criticism. I was fully convinced that Mike and Eleven were broken up for the entire season due to their meagre interactions, which made their kiss in the finale feel entirely undeserved and underwhelming. Equally as confusing was Will repeatedly seeking advice on pursuing his love for Mike just to have them not get together. This wholeheartedly cruel writing was further reinforced by Mike being referred to as Will’s “Tammy,” as if his decade-long love and adoration were comparable to Robin’s hallway crush. It felt as if both ‘Mileven’ and ‘Byler’ were intentionally left vague for the whole season to string along fans of both ships, only for both to get disappointing endings. 

I’m hesitant to be too critical about this show because it has such a special place in my heart, but the ending felt lacklustre after its impressive buildup. Clearly, many viewers felt similarly, sparking an online fan-theory called ‘Conformity Gate’ which speculated that the original ending was a fake-out, and there was a secret ninth episode that would resolve the plot holes and completely rewrite the ending. Netflix even crashed on the alleged release time of the theorized episode; if that doesn’t say everything about the ending, I don’t know what does! Taking a decade to fully air opened the show up to a lot of criticism, and I do think it would be looked back upon more fondly if it had ended years ago. I still love Stranger Things and probably always will, for nostalgia alone if nothing else. I don’t think I’ll ever hear songs like Limahl’s “Never Ending Story” or “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush again without a thrill of the past tingling down my spine — which is cool, because so many generations can now be nostalgic for the same things. So, do I regret sacrificing hours of my time to watch Stranger Things during peak UofT finals week in November? No. Do I wish I were happier with how my favourite show ended? Yes! But maybe, Stranger Things was just my Tammy.