'Stranger Things' Season 5 Review
- Josh Davis
- Dec 31
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 31
Season Five.
Aired On: Netflix.
Release Date: 12/31/25.
Genre: Drama. Fantasy. Horror. SciFi.
The Verdict: A Must-See
“As if this goddamned place wasn’t heady enough,” one character says in Episode Four of the fifth season of Netflix’s culminating juggernaut Stranger Things.
It’s no longer cool to like — or even admit you still watch — Stranger Things. The first season was almost universally adored, but many fans drifted after Season Two’s infamous “The Lost Sister” detour, or later lost patience as production delays stretched the gaps between seasons. Today, the running joke is that the supposed teenagers are played by actors old enough to collect social security.
But Season Four brought the show roaring back, exploding the canvas with movie-length episodes and an even bigger, bolder, stranger world.
Season Five picks up roughly a year after Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the series’ latest Big Bad, tore a hole through realities and left Hawkins in shambles. Now the town is flooded with a U.S. military presence, in both the real world and the Upside Down.
Vecna may be dormant after Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) took him out in the prior season finale, but signs point to his inevitable return, setting the stage for a final, all-or-nothing showdown between a ragtag band of heroes and an evil bent on turning our world into a bleak, unending hellscape.
It’s every Stephen King kids-vs-monsters story, every Amblin adventure, and a heavy dose of Star Wars mysticism — all rolled into one cassette mixtape of influences, for better and for worse. And for fans who’ve stuck it out, Season Five delivers the messy, wondrous, over-stuffed charm that has always defined the show.
If you’ve made it this far, the series rewards you for staying. Suspend disbelief. Lean into the monsters, the madcap escape plans, the melodrama, the superpowers, and the earnestness. It still works more often than it doesn’t.
The entire core cast returns, and nearly everyone gets something fun, funny, or unexpectedly meaningful to do. Hopper (David Harbour) and Eleven train for the final fight like a father-daughter Luke Skywalker and Yoda — an emotional throughline that transcends whatever tabloid noise swirled between seasons. Eleven’s growing power comes with a subtle new iconography (is that Wonder Woman peeking through her wardrobe — or Rocky?), while Hopper’s grizzled determination leans even further into full John McClane energy.
Robin (Maya Hawke) and Will (Noah Schnapp) share some of the season’s most grounded, human moments, and both actors feel genuinely leveled-up. Speaking of which, Will finally gets his X-Men moment midway through the season — and later leads one of the more moving moments of the series.
Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) continue to grapple with grief and adulthood in ways that feel right for characters who have literally grown up on camera.
Joyce (Winona Ryder) is in full mama-bear mode, and Steve (Joe Keery) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) behave exactly as two early-twentysomething guys in love with the same girl — Natalia Dyer’s Nancy — absolutely would. The apocalypse is happening all around them, but that’s par for the course here. Viewers who’ve accepted four seasons of otherworldly monsters stopped only by a small girl who can levitate, invade memories and tear holes in reality shouldn’t blink at a little more narrative stretch.
Young Holly Wheeler (in a roll taken over by Nell Fisher from Evil Dead Rise) — gets more to do this season and adds a dash of A Wrinkle in Time and Alice in Wonderland whimsy to a show already packed to bursting with pop-culture references. A new character played by Terminator veteran Linda Hamilton, a deliberate nod to another corner of ’80s lore, brings exactly the right ominous gravitas in a supporting role.
All of this leads into a whopper of a series finale that’s more than two hours long, with a final showdown between good and evil to save the world — or watch it be devoured by otherworldly forces.
For this reviewer — who grew up in the 80s steeped in LucasFilm and Amblin, indie rock and Stephen King, riding bikes and pretending to battle with the forces of darkness — this show is basically catnip. It scratches so many itches, and it’s been so much fun watching the cast — and the budgets — grow and develop.
Credit series creators The Duffer Brothers for distilling so much goodness into one original IP built on dozens of other all-time greats.
But the best magic trick of all? It actually sticks the landing. By the finale, so many dangling threads are tied up in neat and satisfying bows. So many emotional beats are landed with the glorious impact of a Phil Collins drum fill.
It’s all so glorious and fist-pumping and absolutely gutting to watch, like an opera based on Dungeons and Dragons simultaneously hitting a high note and rolling a D20. The last hour is some of the best and most heartbreaking television all year. And it’s one of the best series finales in recent memory.
Come back to Hawkins one last time. Root for the good guys. Brace for heartbreak. And savor the spectacle that rewards viewers with one last adventure into the unknown.
For those who stuck it out, the cast are like old friends. And the finale is like a warm hug from the Duffer Brothers to fans. Pop some popcorn, open a Coke, let yourself be 12 years old again, and just enjoy the ride.
Where to Watch:
