The final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things takes a minute to find its feet, but manages to get running.
Four years have passed in Hawkins, Indiana since we first met the bike-riding band of plucky kids we’d follow through all manner of ‘80s flavoured horror hijinks, and nine years have passed in the real world since Stranger Things debuted on Netflix back in 2016. That could be why the bloom is a little off the rose; the show isn’t quite the cultural phenomenon it was in its heyday. There’s a whiff of the obligatory about the whole thing; it’s not going out with a whimper, but it’s also not going out with as big a bang as we might like.
That feeling isn’t helped be the shaky couple of episodes that open Season 5, which reiterate at length two of the series biggest flaws: an overreliance on clunky, expository dialogue, and a reverence for the ephemera of the‘80s that’s both strident and a few degrees off true. The former is a little forgivable – we need a bit of a catch-up given that the fourth season wrapped in July 2022, and there’s been a lot going on in the interim. As for the latter, well, those Duffer brothers, they’re young, man. All I’ll say is I’ve been a D&D dork for over 30 years, and even I’ve never talked about Dungeons & Dragons as much as these kids.
When we catch up with the Stranger Things crew, things have changed in Hawkins following the events of Season 4, with the military now occupying the town and a great rent in the ground now sealed over and heavily patrolled. The notion that Something Ain’t Right in the little town is now unarguable; that rent, of course, led to the Upside Down, the awful mirror dimension from which all the horrors of the series flow. That includes the main villain of the piece, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), who we’ve learned has been pulling the strings behind the scenes since the beginning. We’re building up to the final battle against Vecna here, and while much of this initial string of four episodes is devoted to table-setting, we do get enough thrills and chills to keep us entertained.
It takes a minute, though, to set that table as we catch up with everyone. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) is now born again hard, grieving over the death of his mate and mentor, Eddie (Joseph Quinn). Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Steve (Joe Keery) are still squabbling over Nancy (Natalie Dyer), a theme which has surely run out its string by now. Will (Noah Schapp) is still wrestling with his sexuality and his spooky connection to the Upside Down. Kate Bush fan Max (Sadie Sink) is still in a coma. And Hopper (David Harbour) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) are largely siloed off, training for the upcoming mission.
It’s ironic that two of Stranger Things’ signature characters are now two of its biggest liabilities, especially when operating in tandem, but that’s where we are. Brown and Harbour’s scenes are a slog, largely because their characters have run out of new things to say to each other. We’re completely familiar with Eleven and Hopper’s dynamic and the ways they rub against each other, and every interaction they have here feels like an echo of one we’ve seen before.
Luckily, we have some fresh characters to pick up the slack, with Nell Fisher’s bubbly, Rainbow Brite-lookin’ Holly and Jake Connelly’s wonderfully nerdy, abrasive Derek two of a passel of younger Hawkinsians who are targeted by Vecna in some horrible new scheme. They’re both great – Derek in particular is an amazing creation, a foul-mouthed wonder who looks like he just walked out of a Far Side cartoon.
At its best, this season is up there with anything Stranger Things has offered so far, but its best is unarguable packed into the third and fourth episodes. Still, it’s hard to complain too loud when we’re watching a Demogorgon get well and truly Home Aloned. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but whether the landing will be smooth is still very much up for debate.
Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 is streaming on Netflix from November 27.
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