Growing Up in the Upside Down: A Final Farewell to 'Stranger Things'
By Alivia Stonier
On July 15th of 2016, Netflix users saw the release of what would become one of the biggest television shows for the platform in history, Stranger Things. A series that not only reinvented the formula of television through its eight-episode release per season but also created a story that captured people's hearts for a decade.
Created by Matt and Ross Duffer of The Duffer Brothers, the series follows a group of outcasts within their school lives, including Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo).
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Will, who is bullied heavily for his identity, has his life flipped upside down when, after a game of D&D at Mike's house, which filled their evenings, he suddenly goes missing without a trace. In the search for him, they come across a young girl named Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, and everything that they thought to be true about their small town of Hawkins, Indiana, slowly unravels.
Fast forward to a decade later, and the beloved series has finally come to a close after three consecutive installments released on Halloween, Christmas, and concluding on New Year's Eve.
With five years having been stretched between the fourth season and the fifth due to multiple scheduling delays, including the writing strikes, this left fans with growing expectations of what The Duffer Brothers would be able to come up with for the universe that they have built, especially as they have been known to encourage their fans to pay attention to the small details that are at play within the world-building.
Unfortunately, this left fans to theorize and speculate about moments in the show that were far more intricate than what had actually come to fruition on screen. With small moments, such as the color of a dial or the color of their graduation gowns, not aligning with what had originally been planned. As well as moments that are more significant to their Broadway play, being subtly referenced in the show without carrying much weight.
Despite these issues, the first volume was certainly the strongest; not only did it reveal that Will had powers in one of the strongest scenes of that reveal, but it also was able to bring his character arc of accepting his queer identity to the forefront after conversations with Robin, a Sapphic character who was introduced in season 3 and became a beloved cast member known for her wit and dynamic with her best friend Steve Harrington, who helps him come to terms with the truth of who he is.
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It's from there that his story arc goes from being handled with care to lacking intention. Will is forced to come out of the closet after Vecna, the lead antagonist, threatens to use this element of his identity against him. Despite this being a driving force, the coming-out scene feels weirdly out of place, as it includes characters that the protagonist even knows and also is barely addressed after the scene, with Will only having a short interaction with Mike about the issue.
Many fans were left confused with this decision, as there was a buildup of tension to do with Will's feelings for Mike, who is his best friend since childhood, with the show even having many parallels to other couples through the shots of the pair together.
Given that they did not make this relationship canon and stuck with Mike's relationship with Eleven, some of the characterization, including the lack of chemistry between Mike and Eleven this season, simply leaves things feeling flat.
Gone was the focus on the main pair from seasons one, three, and four, despite being placed in some of their most high-stakes situations. This left their party scene before Eleven decides to sacrifice herself, feeling very stiff, especially after the tension that their relationship faced in the previous season, with Mike not even proclaiming his love for her in their final moments.
Other relationships also fell away this season, including fan favorites Jonathan and Nancy, after they almost faced death and realized that their relationship had been surviving off a trauma bond.
While I am glad that many of these characters survived, this is one of those moments where a death truly would have made sense, and it is sometimes important for a writer to be able to sacrifice their darlings to truly capture the darkness that this town continues to face.
There is a lot of plot armor and convenience when it comes to both the survival and freedom of these characters, as the military also lets them go after using physical force and trying to stop their missions as well.
Outside of these conveniences, there are also other pieces of the puzzle that simply go unrecognized, including the fact that Vecna specifically needed twelve children, which completes the structure of a clock and is in line with the different sounds that signified his presence in previous seasons.
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This whole element is sidelined by the end, along with giving more of Vecna’s past that is alluded to throughout the last episodes. For a show that is known for its attention to detail and being able to tie everything together, this felt as though the season was rushed and didn't pull enough from the setups of the previous season and the stage play that is known to be important to the canon of this universe.
Ultimately, this is where I believe that the season somewhat went wrong; with so much ground to cover, including Holly, who was a very captivating choice for the viewer as we get to know the final Wheeler sibling better, it feels impossible to get to everything that viewers hoped for in a single season slot.
With that in mind, it is still significant that Eleven felt sidelined despite how much growth she has had to go through over the course of several seasons. It would have been nice to have some moments between her and Will, especially since it is known that Will is the only one who truly understands the shared trauma that they have in comparison to the other characters.
There are certainly moments that feel like they could have been tied up better with even an extra episode given to allow for more room for the characters to breathe a bit. It's undeniable that a final season of a show at this scale is a tall order and very difficult to live up to with so many elements going on.
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In spite of these issues, I believe that the finale did offer a very good ending for many of its characters, including Max and Lucas, as well as an incredible character arc for Dustin across the season. Regardless of the smaller details, the characters are left in a place that feels good for who they are going to go on to become outside of their lives that have been contained in the trauma of Hawkins.
It's here that the Duffers have truly offered a crux of hope; no matter who you are and what you have been through, there is a light at the end of the tunnel that can provide you with a life that feels good. Even if you have to carry those difficult experiences with the people who held them with you, there is joy to be found.
The Duffer Brothers have confirmed the ending for Jane, aka. Eleven is also left ambiguous for the viewer; it is unknown whether she truly died or Mike's theory that she was able to escape to a faraway place is true, carrying that same hope for Mike despite what the truth may or may not be.
For the first time on such a large scale, characters across a multitude of identities were being represented on this platform while combining sci-fi elements. Stranger Things acted as a safe space for many adolescents as they grew up with this show. The numbers have spoken for themselves on this growing impact, as it is the largest show on Netflix with over a billion streams, and was one of the rare releases where Netflix allowed a theatrical release of the finale.
There is more to come for the Stranger Things universe, even as the main cast says goodbye with an animated series to come, as well as a documentary of behind-the-scenes creating the season, and a special surprise coming for the tenth anniversary. Ultimately, the series has an undeniable cultural ripple across this generation, and this season is no exception to that impact.
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