This post contains major spoilers for Stranger Things’ series finale; yes, it’s our spoiler-FILLED review of Stranger Things 5: The Finale. No going back through this wormhole once you read them….
What do you most want from a series finale with a show like Stranger Things? A satisfying conclusion to the plot? Genuine surprises? Stakes that matter? Exciting spectacle? Emotional character payoffs literally years in the making? A happy ending that feels earned? No matter which of those you care about most, the Duffer Brothers absolutely delivered with their show’s last episode. “The Rightside Up” got a whole lot right. This final chapter ended this party’s campaign with a deeply satisfying farewell that honors everything the series has been building toward. But like the rest of Stranger Things 5, a few somewhat bewildering decisions and occasionally uneven pacing kept Stranger Things’ series finale from achieving true all-time greatness—though it came remarkably close.
Multiple Epilogues That Work Individually
I genuinely love a good series finale epilogue. When executed well, it’s an incredibly effective and moving way to say goodbye to your characters in a manner that makes your audience feel like they got complete closure. That matters tremendously after a long emotional investment in a show spanning nearly a decade. I’m admittedly less enthused when we receive four or five of these epilogues, which is what it felt like during the final extended 45 minutes of the series. In a vacuum, every single scene that took place 18 months later was good or even excellent on its own merits. When placed together consecutively, though, it occasionally felt a touch tedious—though never enough to diminish the emotional impact.
This slight pacing issue became more noticeable as it became increasingly clear that everything about this episode was very straightforward in its execution. Because despite being a sci-fi series full of alternate dimensions, terrifying monsters, and reality-bending powers, there were very few genuine surprises in how Stranger Things’ story ultimately played out in its series finale. For fans who love these characters and simply wanted to see them get proper send-offs, this straightforward approach works beautifully. The lack of shocking twists means the episode can focus entirely on emotional payoff.
The Henry Creel Revelation
Even the “big surprise” of this episode was anything but for those who’ve been following the franchise closely. The truth about Henry Creel and his association with the Mind Flayer was already established canon for many viewers. The fact that the Duffer Brothers thought it was a good idea to have their primary villain’s important origin story be revealed in a stage play that very few viewers ever saw will forever be one of the most baffling decisions in TV history. Why do that? For those fortunate souls who managed to avoid ever learning about Henry’s worst memory in the cave, good for you—you got to experience that revelation as intended. Unfortunately, many of us learned this information after Stranger Things 5: Volumes 1 and 2. It significantly diminished the impact of that moment in the series finale.
The show tried admirably to have its Vecna cake and eat it too. It didn’t completely transform its great villain into a sympathetic figure despite his genuinely sad origins. Sure, Henry was a vulnerable child the Mind Flayer deliberately preyed upon. But he ultimately chose to join it and embrace darkness. That maintains his villainy while adding complexity, which is good! It’s certainly better than reducing Vecna to nothing more than a mindless pawn. It’s still considerably less interesting or frightening than the terrifying monster we first met in season four. There was also disappointingly little payoff to Henry’s obsession with time and clocks. And one of the few questions the show will never answer is what exactly the new world he had planned was going to look like—what was his endgame vision?
For an episode that ran two-plus hours, I would have liked even more Vecna, though what we got was absolutely incredible.
Minor Missteps Don’t Diminish the Achievement
The substantial amount of time dedicated to the military subplot, the show’s least compelling storyline (yes, even less interesting than the Kali episode from Season 2), was also somewhat tedious and occasionally frustrating. It at least paid off meaningfully with Eleven’s “sacrifice,” which did make perfect sense when Dr. Kay was planning on essentially scouring the shire. But that emotional moment would have worked even without General Akers’ attack providing the specific catalyst.
But while those represent the biggest reasons the series finale, and also Stranger Things 5 as a whole, didn’t quite reach absolute perfection, the reasons why it was still very good—even excellent in many moments—are far more important and worth celebrating. As it consistently did all season, the show delivered magnificently on its characters’ arcs and emotional journeys. Notably, every single scene with Hopper and Eleven was an absolute A+. As was her heartbreaking farewell with Mike. Almost every character that mattered got a genuine moment to shine in a way that felt authentic and earned rather than forced.
Characters Finally Get Their Due
And it was really fantastic that after three seasons of underutilization, Stranger Things finally remembered why Mike used to be such a vital part of this story from the very beginning. Finn Wolfhard has barely had substantial material to work with for three seasons, but he absolutely carried the last emotional 15 minutes with a performance that reminded us why we fell in love with these characters in 2016. I just wish we had gotten significantly more of that before the final episode!
For an episode that ran well over two hours, I also would have genuinely appreciated even more Vecna getting his due. (That would have also meant less epilogue material, even though, again, I basically loved every individual epilogue scene on its own). But the Vecna we did get in the Stranger Things series finale was absolutely incredible, as Jamie Campbell Bower somehow delivered his best performance yet in a role he’s already excelled at. He was outstanding in both of his seasons, but in Stranger Things 5: The Finale? Truly award-caliber stuff that deserves serious recognition. He had me feeling genuinely bad for young Henry Creel even as I desperately wanted the party to destroy Vecna once and for all.
The Power of Friendship Saves the Day
The fact that it took the full Party working together to accomplish exactly that was also incredibly fulfilling and thematically perfect. Stranger Things has always been a show about friendship at its absolute core, about kids banding together against impossible odds. The fact that in the end, friendship not only mattered but also literally saved the day was beautiful and emotionally resonant. As was Mike’s final story to Eleven, which feels less like an actual unsolved mystery and more like an “Eleven is definitely alive somewhere” situation when you carefully look at the facts and clues. But that’s not really the point. The point is that she got her big heroic sacrifice moment, and we get to walk away from the series thinking Jane finally found the same peace she provided Hawkins and the world. It’s an ending that works on multiple levels.
It also helped tremendously that the big spectacular showdown with the Mind Flayer/Vecna combination looked absolutely fantastic in Stranger Things’ series finale. A few sequences earlier in this final season looked unfortunately like they were filmed on soundstages with a subpar green screen budget that showed. Maybe that’s because all the money and resources went to the massive Mind Flayer monster effects? (Whose young son once attacked Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé on Geonosis—if you know, you know.) I’m not remotely upset about this resource allocation! I don’t think the Mind Flayer was ever quite as interesting or compelling as the Duffers believed it to be. But that horrifying, epic action sequence was fantastic from start to finish. It felt like a payoff absolutely worthy of a series finale after nine years of investment.
A Finale That Delivers What Matters Most
In the end, was it perhaps a little too easy to permanently kill Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and the Upside Down itself in Stranger Things’ final episode? Maybe, if we’re being completely honest. But that didn’t stop it from being tremendously fun to watch. Nor did any of the episode’s obvious issues stop it from being genuinely good television. Because while Stranger Things’ series finale wasn’t absolutely perfect in execution, it worked beautifully because it paid off both its complex plot and its character arcs with care and consideration. It delivered exactly the kind of emotion the series always excelled at generating. And it accomplished all of this while providing genuine spectacle, edge-of-your-seat excitement, horror that feels earned, and even well-placed comedy that never undercuts the drama.
Most importantly for fans, it did the one thing I want most from any series goodbye: it offered real closure. Characters got endings that felt right. Relationships were honored. Sacrifices mattered. The threat was vanquished. And Hawkins was finally, genuinely safe. We got to see what happened after, to know that these characters we’ve loved for years will be okay. That’s invaluable.
The Emotional Core That Always Mattered
What ultimately makes this finale succeed is that it never loses sight of what made Stranger Things special in the first place. This was never really about the Upside Down or the Mind Flayer or even Vecna—those were always just the vehicles for telling stories about friendship, growing up, facing your fears, and finding family in unexpected places. The series finale understands this completely.
Watching the Party work together one final time, seeing how far they’ve all come since that first campaign in Mike’s basement, and witnessing them literally save the world through the power of their connection—that’s what this show has always been about. The Duffer Brothers never lost sight of that core truth, even when the mythology threatened to overwhelm the personal stories.
The emotional beats hit consistently throughout. Whether it’s Hopper and Eleven’s father-daughter relationship reaching its beautiful conclusion, Mike and Eleven’s romance getting the farewell it deserved, or even smaller moments like Dustin and Steve’s friendship or Joyce finally getting peace, every relationship that mattered gets its moment. For a show with such a large ensemble, that’s a remarkable achievement.
Technical Excellence in Service of Story
The production values remain consistently impressive throughout. The visual effects work, particularly during the final confrontation, demonstrates how far the show has come technically while never losing the practical, grounded feel that made the early seasons so effective. The score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein delivers one final time, hitting all the right emotional notes while calling back to themes we’ve heard throughout the series.
The direction keeps the massive runtime moving, even during those extended epilogue sequences. While the pacing isn’t perfect, it’s impressive how well the episode balances its various storylines and character moments while building toward and then delivering on its climactic battle. The cinematography captures both the intimate character beats and the massive spectacle with equal skill.
A Farewell That Honors the Journey
In the end, it’s absolutely okay if a farewell isn’t perfect in every way so long as it’s still a genuinely good goodbye—and Stranger Things delivers that in spades. This finale honors the journey these characters and this audience have been on together. It provides answers where they matter, leaves just enough ambiguity where appropriate, and most importantly, it makes you feel like the time you invested in this story was worthwhile.
For fans who’ve been with this show since 2016, who’ve waited years between seasons, who’ve theorized and speculated and fallen in love with these characters—this finale is for you. It’s a love letter to everyone who believed in the power of friendship, who rooted for the underdogs, who understood that sometimes the most important battles are the ones we fight for the people we love.
The Duffer Brothers set out to create a show that captured the spirit of ’80s adventure films while telling a story that was uniquely their own. Nine years later, they’ve accomplished exactly that, and they’ve given their story an ending that feels both inevitable and earned. Stranger Things began with a group of kids looking for their missing friend in a small Indiana town. It ends with those same kids—now young adults—saving the entire world. That journey has been spectacular, frightening, emotional, and ultimately deeply satisfying.
The Verdict
Stranger Things’ series finale is a triumph where it matters most. While not without minor flaws in pacing and a few missed opportunities for surprise, “The Rightside Up” delivers exactly what fans need: closure, emotional payoff, spectacular action, and a genuine sense that this story has been told completely. Jamie Campbell Bower gives a career-defining performance, the young cast reminds us why we fell in love with them in the first place, and the Duffer Brothers prove they knew exactly where this story was going from the beginning.
The extended epilogue material, while occasionally feeling long, ultimately serves the crucial purpose of showing us that our heroes don’t just survive—they thrive. They get to be okay. After everything they’ve been through, after all the trauma and loss and terror, they get to move forward with their lives. That’s a gift to an audience that’s been through the wringer alongside them.
Is this the greatest series finale of all time? Perhaps not. But it’s a damn good one that honors its characters, respects its audience, and delivers an emotional gut-punch that lingers long after the credits roll. For a show that’s meant so much to so many people, that’s exactly what it needed to be.
Thank you, Duffer Brothers, for this incredible journey. Thank you to this phenomenal cast for bringing these characters to life so vividly. And thank you to Stranger Things for reminding us that sometimes, the most powerful force in the universe is a group of friends who refuse to give up on each other.
