Stranger Things S05

It all comes down to this! The Netflix series, Stranger Things, ends with a big bang and lots of emotional moments with the last episode titled The Rightside Up. Co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer must wind down the story of Hawkins, Indiana, and its residents, who were terrorised by the Upside Down for the past five seasons. Now, they must vanquish the big villain and make it out alive. The result is a satisfying but expected ending that is sure to leave fans discussing it for years to come.

Exposition. Explanation. Emotion. Stranger Things Season 5 Vol 2 rests on these three Es. The other ‘E’ that worms its way into the three episodes of this volume — before the grand finale drops less than a week later — is ‘Exotic Matter’ and with it the realisation (courtesy Dustin Henderson) that everything we have thought of the Upside Down over the last decade is not really it. In reality, the evil parallel dimension that has been at the heart of Stranger Things is, well, not a parallel dimension at all. It is, in fact, a wormhole to an even worse dimension that Vecna is trying to “collapse”, with an eye on taking over the world.

The second part of Stranger Things opens after the exhilarating and devastating events of the last four episodes of Season 5. Noah Schnapp’s Will Byers has powers, and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has captured all 12 children to the Upside Down for his grand plan. What’s afoot? Co-created by the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, the final season of the Netflix show hurtles towards an epic showdown that promises casualties this time. Who will make it out alive at the end?

After three and a half years, Stranger Things is back, promising a return to the Upside Down and a conflict with Vecna, the big bad who has been controlling the alternate dimension underneath the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. Co-created by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things is an ode to the 1980s, with terrific references to its music, movies, and pop culture moments. But at its heart, the Netflix story is about friendship and the lengths they will go to save one another. With the first batch of episodes dropping on November 27, it’s time to check back in with the Hawkins gang.

Stranger Things is engaging TV. It is affecting TV. It is emotive TV. And nine years, four seasons and 34 episodes later, we know that Stranger Things is no longer simply TV. What more can be said about this Netflix phenomenon that first came into our lives in the summer of 2016, bringing in a potent mix of science-fiction, horror and mystery packaged in a coming-of-age drama that evoked unbridled ’80s nostalgia, that hasn’t been said before? As the seasons have rolled, the adventures of a rag-tag team of teens taking on forces mythical and supernatural have only grown bigger in scope, scale and storytelling. It has spurred a booming universe of merchandising, live experiences, a Broadway show, a fandom that has made it a pop culture landmark, resurrected interest in things as diverse as Dungeons & Dragons and Eggos, brought Kate Bush back to the top of the charts and rocket-launched the careers of the majority of its young actors. The launch of every season of Stranger Things has been an event, eliciting the kind of tingling-in-the-neck sensation — we know that could be a stretch, but hey, this is Stranger Things — that Will experiences every time he feels Vecna (or as we know by now, is Vecna).