By Mrs. McHugh

HHS Librarian & The Hawk advisor

Spoilers Ahead!

An estimated 3.7 million households viewed the series finale of Stranger Things within a week of its New Year’s Eve release. Another million people watched it in movie theaters, an epic event for a television show. As the conclusion of the Netflix series becomes one of the streaming service’s hottest creations, one thing is clear: the only thing more popular than watching it is debating it.

Within minutes of the finale’s end, social media lit up with reviews and rehashes from TV critics and fans alike. Some praised the episode for bringing the team back together for the final battle, choosing awesome music in key moments, and ending with the next generation of players around the Dungeons & Dragons table. Others, though, expressed disappointment with what they felt were plot holes and lazy writing in a show they had spent a decade of their life watching. It felt like a betrayal to fans already upset with the three-year wait between seasons four and five, and the drawn-out release of the series’ final eight episodes. Some viewers went so far as to speculate that the finale was really a mind trick by the villain, Vecna, and a hidden episode with a more satisfying ending would be released (there was not). The Duffer Brothers, who created the show, gave countless interviews trying to explain their choices, and Netflix released a two-hour “making of” documentary in an effort to appease fans (it did not).

Since its 2016 premiere, I’ve loved the science fiction adventure show about a group of friends who discover a girl with special powers. Steeped in 1980s nostalgia, the show brought alive memories of my adolescence, and I felt the mythology was complex but not convoluted. Watching the cast grow up reminded me of the years I spent following the transformation of Harry Potter and friends from Sorcerer’s Stone to Deathly Hallows, something rare and special in entertainment.

After watching the finale, I was content with the ending. I was emotionally invested throughout the two hours, gasping – and then cheering – when Steve fell and was rescued, tearing up during Hopper’s heart to hearts with El, laughing at Murray and Robin’s one-liners, and ugly crying when Mike and El were forced to say goodbye. I liked the long epilogue which revealed that the characters we loved would be okay. I didn’t even mind the ambiguity around El’s fate; I was happy to believe. But as I started hearing the criticism, I felt some of it was valid. Where the demodogs when the gang fought Vecna in the abyss? Why was Vecna/Henry Creel’s backstory shortchanged for a play most fans wouldn’t have the chance to see? How did the gang get away with killing all those soldiers? And what was the deal with the terrible wig worn by Nancy in the epilogue?

I’ve watched several shows where a disappointing ending threatened to sour me on the whole series – Lost, the original Dexter (although the latest incarnation was a bit redemptive). But I don’t count Stranger Things among them. Maybe the creators were rushed, or got lazy, or tried to milk the series for too long. Maybe they could have made better choices for the final episodes. But TV for me is entertainment and escape, and despite any flaws, the Stranger Things finale provided that. It is a series I’ve rewatched several times in anticipation of new seasons, and can envision returning to in the future.

Even at Hanover High School, debate about the show raged for weeks after the finale. You couldn’t mention it and not get a passionate earful about what worked and what didn’t. Some longtime fans from our school community share their reactions below.

Mr. Henderson, HHS English teacher (who dressed up as Eddie Munson last Halloween): “The ending was exactly what it needed to be. It was one that honored the ’80s nostalgia that it so carefully created, while also giving a compelling story. In the end, it was one that did something rare in a phone-in-hand watching environment: it made the viewer think. Do you believe? Do you not? There’s no simple answer, spelled out for viewers over and over. What’ll we remember? I think we’ll remember a few things. Friends don’t lie. Hellfire lives. Keep running up that hill. And, I don’t think we’re done with the world of Hawkins. Call it a suspicion that it could be . . . a never-ending story.”

Gianna Steber, freshman: “Before I watched the finale, I’d heard some of the criticisms and started feeling negatively about it. But then I loved it. I thought it was a very good ending that replayed what happened at the beginning and started a new chapter with Mike’s sister and her friends. I believe the rumor that the finale script wasn’t finished and the writers used AI, but It didn’t bother me.”

Jameson Bryan, senior: “I thought it was kind of disappointing. The kids spent years fighting Vecna and they killed him in like 10 minutes; that was a major letdown. Everyone was nervous about a big death, like Steve, but then the only one who died was Kali and that wasn’t much of a shock. I think Mike and El’s relationship was undeveloped; there could’ve been a better ending for them. The epilogue was too long; they could have made that 20 minutes and made the fight scene longer. I liked how, at the end, the show had a full-circle moment and ended with Holly and her friends as the little kids playing D&D. Despite these complaints, I thought season 5 was good overall and I still think the show was great. It was just one bad episode out of like 40.”

Mr. Wade, HHS music teacher: “I think with a show that big, that’s gone on for so long, it’s hard to close in a way that’s satisfying for everybody. But I personally enjoyed it. I loved Will’s storyline, and how the show came full circle by starting and ending in the basement.”

Whether you liked the Stranger Things finale or not, there’s no ignoring that it was a phenomenon not often repeated: a pop culture event that brought millions of people together in anticipation and left most of them talking about it afterward. Fans can argue endlessly about whether the finale was good, but the fact that so many people cared is one undeniable measure of its success.