TW Reviews Stranger Things S05E08 The Finale Spoilers

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright Netflix and Owen Quinn

So, here we are. The moment that everyone was waiting for. The end of Stranger Things, at least in this incarnation. Who is going to die? Will it be a worthy end to it all?

Well, up front, nobody died from the main cast. Only Kali, Vecna and the Mind Flayer bit the dust. I was a bit pissed as there were so many near death misses including Steve and Dustin but on reflection, it ended exactly the way it should. Some would argue that for such a victory, there must be some sort of sacrifice. Well, I think Elle being a pariah forever is sacrifice enough. Captain Kirk lost his son and the Enterprise to save Spock and the universe from the Genesis Wave but loss like that in Stranger Things would take away from the climax.

As I write this, I am reading people saying Stranger Things got lost in sci-fi, criticism of the rushed ending and various other things. If I think about it, there have been questionable moments and sometimes, things dragged out a little bit or repeated in multiple scenes. But I have to say this to everyone including myself, if you’re that good and can do a better job, get off your arses and do it yourselves. All writers know how hard it is to put a story together that makes sense, engages and satisfies the audience. I am going to say I started watching this with those negative criticisms echoing in my head. And I have to say, it hit the ground running and the two hours flew in. And yes, I too wondered what was going to happen in the final hour given Vecna and co were defeated at almost an hour in.

I am so glad that everyone, bar poor Kali, survived. After everything, it is nice to see these kids grow up and defeat a monster that has terrorised them for years. It demonstrated the theme of the bonds we share as friends, family and people that become family. Together we can defeat the demons in our collective lives and come out the other side, changed but keeping who we are intact. This is brilliantly shown in Dustin’s graduation speech where he rips off his gown, calls out his school and proudly wears his Hellfire club T-shirt. That what identifies our guys right there.

We have to mention Jamie Campbell Bower’s performance as Vecna. He is the epitome of evil and we have falsely been led to beleive that he is a misunderstood villain. When he pursues the kids into the mine where he sees himself as a kid get shot in the hand by a man with a suitcase, we finally get the real villain. Will has tapped into Henry’s mind and tells him he can come back to them and help destroy the Mind Flayer. Jamie is impeccable here as he cries. We see how as he fears this memory. The suitcase held a link to the Mind Flayer that dissolves and is absorbed into young Henry with the instruction to come find him. And just as you think, Vecna will turn back to the good side again, he reveals that he chose to join with the Mind Flayer. He is truly the villain we all know. No Darth Vader turn around here.

There is so much I like here. The Mind Flayer being hidden in plain sight all this time, Vecna manipulating Hopper into thinking he has shot Elle while in the tank. Steve almost plunging to his death. Elle bringing Max into the hive to help track Vecna down when we think it is Vecna attacking Max. Derek again shouting, “Suck my fat one!” Murray blowing up the helicopter and Mister Clarke’s fan boy reaction at bering involved in saving the world. There isn’t a poor performance here at all. It’s joyful, exciting and thrilling.

It’s fitting Joyce was the one to finally finish Vecna off with the immortal line “You fucked with the wrong family!” Her performance from day one as the seemingly hysterical single mother whom no one believed to the kick ass rescuer heading to Russia to save Hopper to making sure Vecna’s head was severed from his body. She has been award winning all this time.

And that is the heart of Stranger Things. This family, both in blood and circumstance, has beaten the monster that has hurt them all as we see in flashbacks as Joyce decapitates Vecna. We get the flashback of Eddie but no reappearance as speculated. Defeating Vecna is for all those they have lost along the way as well as those standing there to witness his death. This was a mother’s love and a mother’s love ending Vecna is fitting. They did it through love and friendship, learned about themselves because of it, Will and Nancy being the prime examples. But there is no cheering or laughing as his head falls to the floor. There are tears, bad memories and a sigh of relief. That’s the most human reaction of them all.

But Dr Kay is not gone and she captures them all minutes before the bomb detonates to bring down the Upside Down so the worlds are separate again. But the explosion happens and they see Elle standing there who is apparently killed.

The time jump to 18 months later was the right thing to do. From graduation, to the rebuilding of Hawkins to moving on from grief is all beautifully done.

Just as Star Trek: The Next Generation ended on a poker game so we end on one last game of Dungeons and Dragons. In this game, we get to see how each of their futures play out as told by the game. As for Elle, she truly made the ultimate sacrifice. In an earlier epeisode, Mike tells her that once the game is over, the hero can never return to thier home. They end up in a land far away with three waterfalls because that’s the way it goes. Kali and Elle pulled one final illusion to ensure Dr Kay would think the experiments were over. With no Elle, and no Henry blood to create other Henrys with, it all ends.

Or does it?

Elle is the Mage and she and Kali sprung one last spell of invisibility to make it look like she died. But if this is true allegedly because her tale can never be told, then Elle has given up her love, her Dad and everyone she loves in order to make a new life far away. This scene of Elle walking up a hill to see the three waterfalls was filnmed in New Zealand where these really exist. The ambiguity of her death is touching because no matter what, no one will ever know if Elle is alive or not. She must sit and think of all those she left behind and live another life free of fear. Sometimes the most painful solutions are the only ones that can bring life back to normality; a life filled with so much love that the bonds last forever. They exist in one wrinkle in time. That sacrifice will leave you staring up at the moon and hoping that maybe, just maybe, that those we have lost are looking back.

So, Stranger Things did break my heart. This ending is worse than death because with death you have closure. But the upside is, just like the bonds we share are just like the story of the Mage; only we know how powerful that love is.

Great job, Duffer brothers. You nailed it.

One last thing. The end credits to David Bowie’s Heroes with the animation of the entire series and its most iconic moments is gorgeous. Til next time.