My thoughts on the Stranger Things Finale
Spoilers below obviously!
Now that I’ve had a few days to process and sit with my emotions. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the finale. TLDR version: While I didn’t like every decision made, I am satisfied with the end and I overall enjoyed it!
I’ll get the negatives out of the way first.
The Eleven and Vecna fight was them just tossing each other around, which is how their fights always go to be fair, but it would have been interesting to see something different.
No Dr Owens, would have been nice knowing what happened to him, even if it was a throw away line by Hopper or something.
Dr.Kay and the military not facing consequences from our heroes and just up and vanishing- I mean they lost the Upside Down down and their opportunity to use El and Kali but it also feels like they got away pretty scot free? Granted our heroes didn’t face repercussions for literally killing military personnel, so there’s that too. Then they just disappear at the end? I guess their reason for being in Hawkins is gone, or maybe they came to some sort of agreement with our heroes to keep thier mouths shut, but just felt disjointed to not have some sort of given explanation.
Vickie disappearing in the epilogue. We get a line from Robin that might indicate they broke up, but it’s unclear. Honestly this one’s just a minor nitpick, but since we saw everyone else it would have been nice to see how her story ended.
I didn’t care for Kali’s storyline, I was actually excited they brought back Kali, was looking forward to her development as a character and growing to like her, but it ended up not being so. I am actually glad they didn’t end up making her a traitor or evil. If she truly did help save El so she could escape and live on that’s cool, but for the most part I still didn’t like the path they went down for her story.
Erica should have been in it more
Ok so I have really mixed feelings on El’s ending. I’ll start off by saying I choose to believe that she escaped and is alive somewhere. If I’m being honest, however I didn’t like either ending. If she died, it’s sad to think that was the only way she could find peace. On the other hand her living but having to be away from all of her friends and family also sucks…..
As I’ve had time to sort through my emotions and process everything, I am starting to lean more towards being ok with her living away from everyone as I understand she’s doing it to keep them safe. I also like the idea that now all her decisions and choices get to be entirely her own and she can discover more of who she is. That being said, I’m also going to headcanon that in the distant future after she’s had time to discover who she is away from it all, she is able to reunite with everyone, obviously away from Hawkins. Or at the very least Mike is able to find her and they settle down together. They send postcards to everyone else that use pseudo names and are written in code. The picture on front is always something like waffles, waterfalls, a door slightly cracked open, etc, so their loved ones know it’s them
That’s basically all I had for the bad stuff, which thankfully isn’t much. Now on to the good stuff!
I loved, loved, loved that Jonathan saved Steve. I knew there was no way they’d kill off Steve, especially not by having him fall off a radio tower. I was expecting Dustin or even Robin to save him, but was surprised and happy to see Jonathan rescue him! I loved that they also cleared the air between them over the whole Nancy thing and began a friendship. Considering Joe and Charlie are good friends/ Have a bromance in real life, it was fun to see their characters play this out a bit on screen
Derek yelling “Suck my fat one!” And flipping off Vecna.
Holly and Derek saving each other.
Holly truly becoming Holly the Heroic and leading the kids to safety. Also her landing a few hits on Henry was pretty awesome, a Wheeler through and through!
NOT redeeming Vecna, I was worried when Will started talking to him about joining them to defeat the Mind Flayer, but so happy when he refused and remained a villain.
While I didn’t care much for the El and Venca fight , I did enjoy the rest of the group fighting the Mindflayer. It was fun to see everyone shine and get to play a part. Nancy being a badass and being the bait. Mike, Robin, Jonathan and Joyce all getting to help fight. Will using his powers again. Steve and Dustin shouting For Eddie! Lucas coming in clutch like he always does when battling monsters and also saving Dustin! I was ok with the battle being relatively short.
Loved Joyce saying “You Fucked with the wrong family” and dealing the killing blow, enough said.
Love the use of Purple Rain.
I loved Dustin’s Valid Victorian speech. It really summed up them growing closer as a group nicely. I didn’t notice until it was pointed out that he did what Eddie wanted to do at graduation, and that makes me love the speech even more.
Joyce and Hopper finally going to Enzo’s and getting engaged. I have shipped Jopper since season one, so it makes me happy to see them finally together. Joyce’s reaction to getting proposed to was so cute. And their height difference during their dance was also really cute.
Although very brief I liked seeing Hopper act like a father figure to Will and Jonathan, Headcanon that he’s going to be an awesome stepdad!
Lucas and Max staying together and finally going on their movie date was also pretty cute.
I thought Steve becoming a baseball coach was fantastic and fun way for him to live out his “little nuggets” dream and yes him also being the Sex . Ed teacher was funny.
Jonathan going to NYU! Lovely call back to season 1.
Nancy becoming a reporter.
The older teens conversation on roof and promising to meet up once a month. I am convinced the actors were not acting, and these were their true emotions
The kids including Max playing DND one more time, and Max getting angry when the campaign doesn’t go well.
I did enjoy the little glimpse into the future we got for the kids. Dustin going to college and touring in the Winnebega with Steve, Lucas and Max staying strong and staying together, Will fully embracing who he is, Mike continuing to be the heart and writing everyone’s stories.
The passing of the torch to Holly and her friends playing DND
I teared up when everyone was putting their books on the shelf , and when the door closed. Once again this truly felt like the actors true reactions.
So overall I was happy with how it ended and where all our characters ended up. Anyway just wanted to share my thoughts, thanks if you took the time to read this.
Just wanted to add some positivity and love for the finale :)
