And then it was over. No more new seasons to look forward to nor the depressing Tiktok 

edits on our For You pages about the newest episode. History was made, and “Stranger Things,” the greatest show in history, was wrapped. Yet, the ending was not anything like what we had expected. Moreover, it was extremely controversial—causing backlash on creators of the iconic show, the famed Duffer Brothers.

In my opinion, the ending was wholesome, emotional and lighthearted. But I fear that those words should have no correlation with the five season series we had been crazed over since 2016. It almost felt like the producers undermined what had just occurred ten minutes before, just so they could put a cap on the show and call it a day. I did not hate the ending, as that is a very strong word and harsh on the show that watched me grow up. However, I was utterly disappointed with the lack of shock, excitement and - as odd as this sounds -  lack of violence. We have been trained to expect the worst situations from this show, yet were left confused as to why we ended it with a bright colored graduation and not a fight-to-the-death scene.

Prior to the finale’s release, The Duffer Brothers shared that there would be multiple deaths of the main characters in the last volume of the season. The conspiracies had taken over my social media, and I began to go crazy. I literally cried watching a scene with Steve and Dustin because I thought Steve was going to die, when in reality, there was no direct evidence for this, just theories that brainwashed me to believe what I saw in the media. Although some main characters, like Kali and Vecna, were confirmed dead, we were left gaslighting ourselves into thinking there was more to come. 

On that note, let's talk about Eleven. Is she actually dead? Is she frolicking with the three waterfalls as Mike had described? Is the theory about Kali making an illusion of El in her final moments true? We will never know. The brothers left us with so many unsolved mysteries and questions that we had to answer in our spinning minds. 

A documentary on the show “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5” premiered two weeks later, and many claimed this doc to be controversial and almost destructive to the already questionable ending. We learned in this documentary that the script was not yet finalized before the filming began, creating a stressful and, as we could all tell, rushed process. It also highlighted the beauty of creation incorporated into the final season. There were many new set designs, characters, and even monsters. We must give credit to the Duffer Brothers on that. 

It is known however, that the Duffer Brothers are in the process of filming Stranger Things spin-offs. While details are very vague, we hope that these new shows will give us insight into a proper ending. In addition to that, the new animated show, “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85” is coming to Netflix in April of this year. This cartoon is based off of the show we all love so dearly, yet most likely to be more kid-friendly. 

Finally, the play, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” has been on Broadway since 2023. Although I have not seen it, I have heard it is a prequel to the world of Hawkins. Focusing on Henry Creel’s backstory and including the parents of many main characters, it is supposed to be very logical to the plot built off the past ten years. There is supposed to be a stage recording published to Netflix coming in the near future as well, making it more accessible to watch, rather than going all the way to New York. 

In the meantime, we must continue to spin our imaginations and base our opinions off of our own ideas. While as a lifelong fan, I do wish that the ending was more dramatic, but it is important to consider how long this show went on for, and to know that eventually the plot had to die down. 

The ending may make us crazy, but like Mike Wheeler said in season two, “If we’re both going crazy, then we’ll go crazy together.”