"Stranger Things has finally come to an end and left us with some big complicated feels about how it all went down. Both of us (Jennifer and Beth) are bona fide fans who have seen prior seasons multiple times, and we had remarkably similar reactions to the fifth season, especially the series finale. So we decided to co-write a review, discussing everything we liked about it as well as kvetching about the things we definitely didn't like-a shared " airing of grievances.""
"(WARNING: Many, many spoilers below in the interest of a thorough analysis.) Season 4 ended with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) opening the fourth gate that allowed the Upside Down to leak into Hawkins. We got an 18-month time jump for S5, Vol. 1, but in a way, we came full circle, since those events coincided with the third anniversary of Will's (Noah Schnapp) original disappearance in S1."
"Hawkins was now under military occupation, and Vecna was targeting a new group of young children in his human form under the pseudonym "Mr. Whatsit" (a nod to A Wrinkle in Time). He kidnapped Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) and took her body to another dimension (the Abyss), while her consciousness was trapped in Vecna's mind. There she found an ally in Max (Sadie Sink), still in a coma in Hawkins, but also trapped in Vecna's mind, hiding in one of his old memories."
The series concludes with an 18-month jump after Vecna opened a gate, linking back to Will's original disappearance anniversary. Hawkins is under military occupation while Vecna, disguised as "Mr. Whatsit," targets children and abducts Holly Wheeler, sending her body to the Abyss and trapping her consciousness. Max remains in a coma while hiding inside Vecna's memories. Dustin struggles with grief over Eddie Munson, causing a rift with Steve. The core group prepares supplies and assists Eleven and Hopper in tracking Vecna in the Upside Down, and they encounter Kali/Eight held in a military laboratory.
Read at Ars Technica
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]