A couple weeks ago, the last and final season of Stranger Things was released on Netflix, and that concluded the series after nine years. Since the show has been around for a long time, people have different opinions and personal feelings about the story and characters. Even for teens and young adults, it can be hard to see a beloved childhood series come to an end.
To start, the story starts when the mysterious disappearance of young Will Byers unearths a secret government experiment, a portal to a dark alternate dimension called the Upside Down, and a powerful psychokinetic girl named Eleven. Junior Isabelle Russell talks about what she likes about the show, “My favorite character is Dustin, but throughout the first four seasons, I liked Steve’s character development. I think that throughout the series, he had the best one. I would probably change all the deaths. I would probably rewrite Benny’s death. The part that made me cry the most was Benny’s death.”Death is not a great thing to watch, especially if it’s anyone’s favorite character. Though, it could be much needed when it’s the villain or antagonist in the story.
In season 5, the plot centers around the final battle against Vecna and the Upside Down, with the heroes in Fall 1987 trying to close the rifts and defeat Vecna, who’s empowered by the Mind Flayer, leading to a climactic showdown where Will Byers’ newfound connection to the hive mind becomes crucial, and the team faces a militarized quarantine of Hawkins and new threats, culminating in a climactic, multi-pronged final stand for the fate of their world. Junior Alice Kelly explains what she thinks of the new season, “I really, really enjoyed the fight scene in season five, the final battle between the group of five and Vecna, because there was a lot of plot twists I wasn’t expecting, such as the mind player in actual form, not just shadow form. And then I enjoyed that everybody survived it as well, which was really nice, because it wasn’t sad. Another part I loved at the end of the fight scene is when Joyce is chopping Vecna’s head off with an axe. All of the characters get flashbacks of people they love, either dying or disappearing because of Vecna , and they’re all really happy that he’s dying , because they finally get their revenge for what happened to all of their friends. My favorite character is Steve Harrington because he had the most character development from season one.”Wow, so it seems that a lot has happened in season five, but it resulted in Vecna finally being defeated. Watching a character develop from their old personality to a new one can be very rewarding, especially if it’s someone’s favorite character.
Overall, Stranger Things is an emotional but exciting series to watch. I’ve personally never watched the series, but based on what my friends have told me, it’s definitely a must watch. I’ve also come to terms that when someone starts talking about the series, you are in for a whirlwind of secrets and other pieces of information people may not know about.
