Netflix released the last season of Stranger Things in three different volumes last year including the final episode that came out on December 31, 2025. The widely popular show launched July 15, 2016 and has grown a huge fanbase since then. Loyal fans of the show have expressed mostly positive feelings about the series up until now. There are many mixed opinions and controversies about the finale of the show.
Some enjoyed the finale of season five because of the nostalgia created by the allusions to previous episodes especially from season one. The ending definitely hit home for the upcoming senior class. As kids who grew up alongside the characters of the show, it was very emotional to see the time that has passed and the growth of not only the characters, but the viewers too. “I’ve been watching the show since it came out when I was about nine years old. Watching this chapter close was sad, but what made me tear up was watching them say goodbye to their friends and walk across the stage knowing that is about to be me,” said Senior Lauren Kamin.
However, some felt that the ending was incredibly unsatisfying. Throughout the release of the two volumes and finale, many had formulated elaborate theories about the ending. Some argue that these complex predictions that went viral on social media were even better than the ending. One of the major theories online was called “conformity gate.” Many people on social media claimed that the final season of Stranger Things wasn’t real; it was Vecna controlling the minds of the viewers. Theorists supported their claim with many inconsistencies throughout season five. People believed that just as Vecna controlled the minds of the children, he also controlled our minds and certain things didn’t line up in season five because it was Vecna’s memory rather than reality. “I honestly thought that the theories online were much more interesting than the actual ending,” said junior Gabby Poline.
Other theories included “divorce gate.” Many have suggested that the reason as to why the ending of Stranger Things was so terrible was because Leigh Janiak divorced Ross Duffer and did not continue to work on the show. Leigh Janiak is a talented American film director, known for directing horror films such as Honeymoon and the Fear Street trilogy. It is known that Leigh Janiak helped direct some of Stranger Things, but some think that she acted as a ghost writer and directed the entire show herself until she divorced Ross Duffer in 2024 right as they were wrapping up filming for the last season.
However, the reality of the awkward ending was that the Duffer Brothers did not write a complete script for the last episode before filming it. Netflix released a Stranger Things documentary called “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5” which showed the behind the scenes of creating this incredibly popular series and showed some of the writing process for the finale that was clearly not planned very well. The Duffer Brothers filmed an episode that was the length of a movie with very limited time and no official script. The directors had the idea of Eleven’s ending and quickly pieced the rest of the episode together which is why fans felt that the ending was so rushed and didn’t close every storyline it needed to. The lack of time and preparation also probably explains the inconsistencies within the last season, debunking the conformity gate.
Some enjoyed the finale of season five because of the nostalgia created by the allusions to previous episodes especially from season one. The ending definitely hit home for the upcoming senior class. As kids who grew up alongside the characters of the show, it was very emotional to see the time that has passed and the growth of not only the characters, but the viewers too. “I’ve been watching the show since it came out when I was about nine years old. Watching this chapter close was sad, but what made me tear up was watching them say goodbye to their friends and walk across the stage knowing that is about to be me,” said Senior Lauren Kamin.
However, some felt that the ending was incredibly unsatisfying. Throughout the release of the two volumes and finale, many had formulated elaborate theories about the ending. Some argue that these complex predictions that went viral on social media were even better than the ending. One of the major theories online was called “conformity gate.” Many people on social media claimed that the final season of Stranger Things wasn’t real; it was Vecna controlling the minds of the viewers. Theorists supported their claim with many inconsistencies throughout season five. People believed that just as Vecna controlled the minds of the children, he also controlled our minds and certain things didn’t line up in season five because it was Vecna’s memory rather than reality. “I honestly thought that the theories online were much more interesting than the actual ending,” said junior Gabby Poline.
Other theories included “divorce gate.” Many have suggested that the reason as to why the ending of Stranger Things was so terrible was because Leigh Janiak divorced Ross Duffer and did not continue to work on the show. Leigh Janiak is a talented American film director, known for directing horror films such as Honeymoon and the Fear Street trilogy. It is known that Leigh Janiak helped direct some of Stranger Things, but some think that she acted as a ghost writer and directed the entire show herself until she divorced Ross Duffer in 2024 right as they were wrapping up filming for the last season.
However, the reality of the awkward ending was that the Duffer Brothers did not write a complete script for the last episode before filming it. Netflix released a Stranger Things documentary called “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5” which showed the behind the scenes of creating this incredibly popular series and showed some of the writing process for the finale that was clearly not planned very well. The Duffer Brothers filmed an episode that was the length of a movie with very limited time and no official script. The directors had the idea of Eleven’s ending and quickly pieced the rest of the episode together which is why fans felt that the ending was so rushed and didn’t close every storyline it needed to. The lack of time and preparation also probably explains the inconsistencies within the last season, debunking the conformity gate.