The Bittersweet Conclusion - My Thoughts on Stranger Things and the Final Season

I wasn't planning on watching 'Stranger Things' at all, although I'd heard about it a lot. All I knew was that the main characters were kids, and I thought it was some kind of kids' show. I figured I'd grown out of that stuff. But it turned out I hadn't.

stranger things reviewsI stumbled upon one of the episodes from the first season, and I just couldn't stop. Luckily, in 2026 the show had just wrapped up, so I didn't have to wait for more episodes. Those who've been watching since 2016 are seriously patient people.

The show 'Stranger Things' consists of 5 seasons, each with 8-9 episodes. Episodes range from 45 minutes to an hour long. Although the final episode was a whopping 2 hours long.

IMDB rating - 8.4

I specifically watched the whole show twice, to get a well-rounded impression, and now I'm sharing it with those who might be interested in reading someone else's opinion on 'Stranger Things'.

This review is going to be a bit long, so I'll leave a plan here:

Plot summaryCharactersMy thoughts on each seasonMy thoughts on the finaleOverall impressionConclusion1. What 'Stranger Things' is about - PLOT SUMMARY

Well, what the first season is about. Because, as usual, the creators of the show got really complicated later on.

Four boys - Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas - were playing board games late into the night. Then they all went home, but Will went missing on the way. His mom and brother, the local sheriff, and his friends all searched for him, and each of them encountered some inexplicable and strange events. And the trio of friends searching for Will stumbled upon a quiet girl who calls herself Eleven and can move objects with her mind.The setting is 80s America, and the atmosphere is spot on: the clothes, hairstyles, and lack of phones are all perfectly captured.

2. Characters

I was wrong to think that the kids are the main characters. I mean, in the show, there are main kid characters, but there aren't that many. The adult characters also have interesting storylines, and each one gets their own thing going on.

The kid heroes:

Dustin - the real brains behind the operation. He's the one who understands physics and electronics better than anyone else. Plus, he's the resident class clown. I've gotta say, he's still the same old Dustin by the end of the series, but he's definitely matured a lot on the inside.Lucas - the voice of reason in the group. He's the athlete, the one who's always down to earth, but his friends always manage to pull him back into the action. Lucas definitely looks like a man by the end of the series, especially compared to the other kids.

Will - the unlucky one. He's the small, scrawny kid who always seems to get into trouble. His mom is always looking out for him, and it's hard not to feel sorry for the kid. He's always crying in every episode of the last season, and by the end, he's starting to look like a young Harry Potter - not just in looks, but in his ability to tap into the villain's mind.

Mike - the loudmouth of the group. His voice is what always gets them out of trouble, and he's always down for an adventure. In the early seasons, I wasn't a fan of his because he would often freak out, and even in the later seasons, that trait still showed up from time to time. He's definitely got a special bond with Eleven.

Eleven - the girl who was raised in a lab as a science experiment. She escapes and meets the boys, and eventually, she finds a family and a home. She's got superpowers, which is why the government is always after her.

I've got to say, the little actress who plays Eleven blew me away with her acting talent. It broke my heart seeing the pain of loneliness in her eyes.Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where age is inversely proportional to acting talent. By the end of the series, the actress had stopped using her facial expressions altogether. Maybe it's because they were using too many fillers.Mike (that's a girl) shows up in the second season. She's a tough, feisty kid who doesn't need anyone, especially not her family.

Heroes as kids

Nancy - my sister Mike's older sister, who started out as the 'good girl' looking for adventure in her fifth season. This female version of T. Shalame left a bad impression even in the first season, when she indirectly caused the death of her friend. And when the girl grew up and became more feisty, it was hard to erase the negativity.Steve - Nancy's boyfriend, a guy who looks like a total slacker but is actually a caring and bold friend.

Jonathan - Mike's older brother, a weird and introverted guy. The tragic events bring them together with Nancy, resulting in a very strange love triangle.

Adult characters

Joyce - Mike and Jonathan's mom, who doesn't believe her son is dead and is one of the first to suspect that there's some kind of mysticism at play. Vera Rider is great in the role of a slightly unhinged mom.Hopper - the chief of police and the driving force behind the group of adventure seekers. He's not stupid, brave, and will go to any lengths to protect his loved ones. He takes Oddie under his wing and becomes a father figure to her. My favorite character, whom I genuinely feel bad for.

This is, of course, not a complete list of characters, but definitely the main ones that appear throughout all the seasons.

High schooler in the Upside DownThe actors did a great job, although most of them are unknown to me. Sometimes, I had questions about the casting choices. How can you cast grown men as high schoolers, especially when there's a contrast with more suitable-looking guys? But what's done is done.

3. My impressions by season

Season 1 is definitely the best. It's most like a grown-up thriller, not a teenage fantasy. The whole season has a creepy atmosphere, a dark tone. I naively thought that Will was kidnapped by some person and was searching for the culprit among the characters. Oh, how wrong I was.

My thoughts on the final seasonFor those who have already watched the entire series:

I noticed that the finale of the first season and the last one are quite similar. In fact, the creators could have ended the first season and it would have been almost a complete story, except for some plot lines. But the writers took a 180-degree turn and the series got a few more seasons.

Season 2 keeps the pace started by the first one. The dull visual style is still there, but the tension is palpable. The characters' personalities and situations are revealed better, new heroes and villains are introduced. And no, I wouldn't end the season with a light finale, but it was shot...Season 3. It's definitely the most vibrant and fun season, excluding the finale. It feels like a different team was behind its creation. The rhythm is set by the music, the colorful outfits, and the abundance of humorous moments. Although many don't like this season, I enjoyed it. It's in this season that the bad Russians appear.Keep in mind that the story takes place in the 80s, with the Cold War and all that. But the Soviet military in OSD are somehow cartoonish. Maybe that's how Americans see us: as stern Terminators.Season 4 was shot with a significant time gap from the previous one, and the child actors have grown up significantly. For me, this was the most boring season. Part of its action takes place on... Kamchatka in a Russian prison. The other characters are running around. The coolest part of this season is that we finally find out how Odi escaped the lab - the events of the first season.

Season 5 - the one that breaks your heart. The entire season feels like one giant episode, as time almost stands still, and the events unfold over just a few days. You can really feel that it's the finale, as the characters are constantly nostalgic and crying. Lots of tears.

4. My opinion on the finale of the OSD series

I get it, people are upset about the fate of some characters, saying it was unfair, messy, and all that. I was bummed too, but overall, the creators did a solid job justifying the need for that kind of ending.

a really weird endingAnd to be honest, they even gave us an alternative ending, like take it or leave it. For me, the ending is clear-cut, but I appreciated the nod to hope for something better.

I loved that the final battle wrapped up just as the last episode was ending, leaving us with about 40 minutes to say goodbye to the characters and celebrate some of them.

5. My overall impressions of the series

The first thing that stands out when watching is just how weirdly cast the main characters are. I mean, the kids and teenagers in the lead roles are all pretty unconventional-looking: a girl with a shaved head, a boy with no front teeth, and other unique individuals. It's like they were casting against beauty standards. But as you get deeper into the story, you start to focus on that and forget about their appearances.

I love the story! Many people call this family-friendly fantasy. But honestly, I wouldn't show these creepy creatures to my kids. Although, kids watch Harry Potter or Vampires, where monsters aren't much scarier, so why not?But it's not just about the monsters. Some moments are downright terrifying, like something straight out of Stephen King: like it's nothing special, but it gives you the chills. If I watched this as a kid, I'd have nightmares. Or I wouldn't sleep, waiting for the monster with a thousand teeth to come out of the ceiling, which no gun can take down.OSD is basically the same as those long fantasy series like 'The Vampire Diaries' or 'Teen Wolf' that I obsessed over as a teenager. There's always a small town where the epic battle between good and evil takes place.It's the same with OSD - there's the town of Hawkins, where the portal to another world opens, then the Russian military shows up, then the government declares a quarantine zone, and then the apocalypse happens. Luckily, there are the main characters who deal with all this.I wasn't a fan of how during action scenes, one person would fight the villain while others just stood around with their mouths open. On one hand, it makes sense that kids would just watch and not do much. On the other hand, these kids were always running around, so be prepared to defend yourself, not just wait for someone else to handle it.

As the series goes on, there are some weird plot twists. Like Odi's powers - sometimes she bleeds to death from just lifting a bottle, and sometimes she moves entire trucks. Or the way monsters die - sometimes they can't be taken down by a machine gun, and sometimes they die from a single bullet.

I have to mention the great soundtracks that set the right mood for watching. Even now, I'm writing this review to the song 'Running up that hill', which you can often hear starting from the 3rd season. OSD is one of those series where you can't ignore the sound effects.

The graphics and special effects are top-notch too: all those fantastical tricks and creatures look super natural, without any of that 'computer-ness' to them. Unfortunately, the picture's often pretty dark.I was blown away by how well the whole story came together by the end of the series - I mean, we've got human-horse government, experiments, parallel worlds, supervillains, and growing up all mixed together. And yet, after watching the whole thing from start to finish, I realized that this is actually one of the rare cases where the story is genuinely cohesive.

What I mean is that the finale of the last season wraps up the very same story that was started in the first season. That's a big plus, because so often you'll see a show start with one thing and end with something completely different - and sometimes even the cast changes from one season to the next.6. The Verdict

And that's it, folks - we've finally reached the end of this review. 'Stranger Things' is definitely not the kind of show you can just binge-watch over a weekend or have on in the background. It's got a dedicated fan base for a reason.

What I love about 'Stranger Things' is how seamlessly it blends a story about ordinary kids going to school, hanging out, falling in love, with a fantasy world full of monsters from the other side. Now that all the cards are on the table, I can see that this is more like a comic book series than a serious movie. But that's also what makes 'Stranger Things' so compelling - it's got this 'childlike' quality that's on the verge of being serious.In the end, we've got a really engaging story that's gone straight into my list of favorite long-form fantasy shows that you don't just watch - you live through.