The Stranger Things Finale Ended with a Bittersweet Sign of Hope
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While I wasn’t a huge fan of the second volume of Stranger Things, I’m glad to say that the Duffer Brothers were saving the best for last. The final episode was filled with a lot of action, loss, and tears. I did not expect one specific character to die, and it was a huge shock for me, and wow, I definitely did underestimate the Duffer Brothers on this one.
It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to watch this episode in theaters. I heard that people really did enjoy the theater experience, and I’m happy that theaters are giving people a chance to enjoy stuff like this in theaters. It truly gives me hope that theaters won’t be going away anytime soon!
I had binged the finale super late on New Years Eve, because I was afraid that I was going to find out about who died in the final episode.
And I’m so glad that I did, because I would have been so mad if I had seen any kind of spoiler!
We begin with our characters traveling to the Upside Down, getting ready to face off against Vecna.
Credit to https://www.entertainmentdaily.com/tv/stranger-things-season-5-finale-uk-netflix-release-explained/
Eleven, Hopper, and Murray, and another ally that was also experimented on in the laps, named Kali, all travel to a location of the Upside Down to save 12 children that Vecna was going to use for his plan of domination of the world. Eleven and Kali team up with Max, to go and save the children from Vecna’s mind. They succeed, and the crew all run to the safe zone within Vecna’s mind, a cave that he is afraid to enter.
Their plans are interrupted when he decides to manipulate Hopper, forcing him to break out Eleven from her trance to foil the plan of saving the children. Despite losing the help of Max, Kali, and Eleven, one of the children named Holly, takes action to save the kids from Vecna. Eleven, Murry, Kali, and Hopper then fight against a group of soldiers, and unfortunately end up losing Kali during the fight.
Eleven then makes her move to go help her friends in Vecna’s domain, to take him down once and for all.
The rest of the group is left to fight off the Mind Flayer, where Vecna and the children are residing.
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I had a gut feeling that Vecna’s ‘home’ was kind of creature, and shit, I was not expecting that sudden transformation. Vecna becomes so desperate to win, that he turns his home into the Mind Flayer. The group is left to fend for themselves, fighting against this beast as Will and Eleven join in on the fight. Will has a psychic conversation during the fight, learning a dark truth from Vecna.
Henry, his real name, had become a monster, when he had discovered a piece of the Mind Flayer in a suitcase, after he had killed a random man in self-defense, when he was just a child.
The Mind Flayer entered his body, turning Henry inside a monster, leading down the path of becoming Vecna. Will begs Henry to fight back, to not give in to the monster, but Henry refuses. He embraces his evil self, and continues to fight Eleven and the group.
I’m so glad the Duffer Brothers did not go down the stupid route of villains becoming ‘good.’ This was my biggest concern for the finale, but I was so relieved when Henry refused to become good, and stayed evil.
The battle sequence with the Mind Flayer was so freaking awesome too. It was like watching a video game, and I’m sure that was what the writers were going for.
Will and Eleven succeed in defeating Vecna, and the group is able to save the children. Joyce gets to be the one to kill Vecna, using an axe to chop off his head, as the group remembers all of the people they had lost to this monster. It was so satisfying to watch, and I can’t believe I didn’t realize the number of people that Vecna had killed. He 100% deserved what was coming to him, and damn, that actor killed it, playing Vecna/Henry!
The heroes set up their bomb to blow up the Upside Down, and they drive away, all of them happy that they won the final fight. Just when you think that the heroes have won, we get a heartbreaking twist.
Eleven dies to save everyone.
Credit to https://www.slashfilm.com/2065657/stranger-things-series-finale-eleven-ending-explained-showrunners/
Unfortunately, the rest of the soldiers were waiting for Eleven and her allies to return from the Upside Down. The group is ambushed, but they can’t find Eleven. Then they see her standing in the Upside Down entrance. Mike panics, and attempts to run toward her. Eleven uses her psychic powers to share one final goodbye with Mike, and then she lets him go. Mike and the rest of the allies scream in horror as Eleven blows up along with the bomb in the Upside Down, ending the cycle of the government experiments.
I was not expecting her to die. It genuinely caught me off guard. I didn’t expect the Duffer Brothers to have the balls to kill off the main character, and damn, did it hurt.
We get a time jump, everyone is happy, and are trying to move on from their heavy loss.
18 months later, we get so happy endings for many of the main characters.
Dustin honors his friend Eddie at graduation, doing exactly what Eddie wanted to do: flipping off the principal as he snatches away his diploma in front of everyone who is cheering and clapping for him.
Lucas and Max stay together, the two of them in pure bliss.
Hopper proposes to Joyce, and the two of them dance in the restaurant, smiling.
Will finds a boyfriend, and is happy to embrace his true self.
Steve becomes a couch for children, and is also a teacher.
Nancy drops out of college to write for a company.
Robin continues her radio gig.
Jonathan is determined to write a movie, trying to make it in the movie business.
And poor Mike, is the only one who is struggling to move on. During a game of Dungeon and Dragons with his friends, Max, Will, Lucas, and Dustin, he tells a story to them. It’s his own version of what he think happened with Eleven, and he believes that Kali used her powers to create an illusion of her, so that the government would think she was dead. She is now living in a town all on her own, finding her own happiness.
The five of them cry over this, and they all go upstairs for dinner, not forgetting to put away their game. Mike is the last one to leave, and he smiles as Holly and her new friends get ready to play their own DnD game. Mike smiles, with tears in his eyes, and he leaves, closing the door behind him.
That ending felt so perfect. I know that Eleven’s death is supposed to be up to the audience, but I truly believe she did die. In order for the government to leave her loved ones alone, she had to die. Kali, Vecna, and Eleven were the only ones left, and they all died, ending the experiments for good.
I think that ending sequence we saw with Eleven was her Heaven, and Mike will eventually join her. Even though he lost the love of his life, his memory of her will never be forgotten, and he will one day reunite with her, in their version of paradise.
What did you think of the finale?
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