“Stranger Things”, a top 10 most popular Netflix show, has released its final season. The show’s first season was released in the summer of 2016, taking 10 years to come to a conclusion. The show is centered around a group of friends in the 80s who deal with mysterious occurrences in their town due to a secret government project. Fans, both new and old, had mixed feelings about the wrap up of the show.
“I started watching “Stranger Things“ in 2022 after season four came out,” sophomore Luke Purcell said. “[After watching season five] there were definitely some parts that were really cool, but I think Volume Two and the finale left a lot to be desired.”
With the release of season four in 2022, many fans were pleased with the darker themes presented through a new villain, Vecna, but with season five taking three years to release, it had big shoes to fill.
“I was really underwhelmed and really disappointed by it,” senior Bayleigh Michael said. “I like to think critically about the stuff I watch, and I just thought Vecna was such a cool, scary guy in season
four, and he was not [in season five].”
The first four seasons were filled with character deaths ranging from smaller characters like Barb Holland and Chrissy Cunningham to fan favorites like Billy Hargrove and Eddie Munson. Many fans were expecting this for season five, especially for the show’s finale.
“I was hoping for some more characters to get killed off,” Purcell said. “I know that’s not something you usually root for, but it just makes the stakes feel a lot higher. So when everybody kind of lived, it was like all those fake deaths were kind of crazy.”
While “Stranger Things” is more popular with teens and young adults, there is a certain appeal to adults that grew up during the time the show takes place.
“I love that the show is set in the 80s,” Math teacher Elizabeth Ott said “It’s one of the reasons I am rewatching the show.”
The finale was released in theaters on New Year’s Eve and was 2 hours and 5 minutes long. According to Variety, over 1.1 million tickets were sold, generating over $25 million dollars. Fans are sad with the completion of the show, but many were satisfied with the way things ended.
“I think [the writers] ended things off pretty good,” Purcell said. “[The fans] had that whole theory about a secret episode coming out that was kind of crazy, but I think they ended all the characters stories off pretty well.”
