Stranger Things has been one of the most successful shows for Netflix as well as one of the favorites for many thousands around the country and millions around the world. I caught the public conscience like no show in a while. As a child of the 80s, it was like no series I had seen before. It was literally right up my alley. I couldn’t believe how much it was right what I was looking for personally as a film and television/streaming show fan. It had everything I loved about movies and the decade of the 80s combined into one show. It was fantastic in every possible way. The Duffer Brothers created one of my favorite shows I’ve ever watched, and season 5 is the end. I’m sure they are going to go bigger than ever, and this season will be the most cinematic of any of the past seasons. I’m so excited to watch the first four episodes.

Season five of Stranger Things picks up after season four. The death of Eddie (Joseph Quinn) and Max (Sadie Sink) being in a coma is hanging over the heads of the group of intrepid heroes. They are all combined as one group working together to scour the upside down for Vecna using scouting missions. Mainly using a radio show run by Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Robin (Miya Hawke) and various forms of communication, they lead Hopper down on these missions. Everything seems to be going smoothly when something unexpected happens. The mission goes south.That’s when the whole crew starts to mobilize. They all go into motion to save one of their own. Like past seasons, though the story is much deeper and more complex than anyone could possibly imagine. That’s the case with the Duffer Brothers. They do the most unexpected. That’s what season five is all about.

Season five of Stranger Things has got multiple story angles going on at the same time. As in past seasons, the main group of characters are split into separate smaller groups. Each of these groups has their own mission. Part of the charm and enjoyment of this series is when the main stars all break off and go with some of the others to achieve some kind of goal that will help the overall group collectively. Each season, different characters team up with others, and it’s cool to see some different ones team up with others they haven’t worked with in past seasons. As always, though, the Duffer Brothers don’t leave anybody out, and they make room for newer characters as well. They don’t forget anything. Fans of the series should remember that. They have created a deeply layered and complex show, but they do not plan on leaving and rock unturned. That’s why I love this show.

Two of my favorite characters in the entire show are Hopper and Eleven. They have had an up and down relationship through the course of the series. Both have had their moments to shine. This season, though, they get to team up on a mission together. Both David Harbour Millie Bobbie Brown have embraced these characters. In a way, that has made them better actors for having played them all of these seasons. They are both terrific in this season. Their characters get to know each other more, and they discover what they should be doing while on their inadvertent mission they end up on together. With more episodes to go, what they discover, I’m sure , will be revealed in more depth regarding how it fits into the story.

Another character who has had an up and down series is that of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). He was kidnapped and brought into the upside down in season one but has not had much going on with his character since. He’s basically been controlled in various ways by Vecna or Henry (Jamie Campbell Bowers), whichever most choose to describe him as. This season, his character has a bigger arc thus far. He wants to prove to his mother, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), that he can be more helpful to the overall group than she thinks he can be. He goes against her wishes and tries to help the group by going on a mission of his own with Robin. This proves fruitful in the plan to figure out what Vecna’s plans are. He ends up getting into a larger confrontation than he thought he would. This gave him more courage than ever before. This is another character that has had a full circle moment within the course of the series. This shows nothing goes by the wayside with the Duffer Brothers.

One of the things that has been established in the sow is the upside down. It started out with this scary place that bad things happened in, but now it’s like a normal place that characters set up bases in, and experiments are down there. Now there is a huge wall that wasn’t there before. This wall is fascinating in a multitude of ways. It separates certain characters from a place they are trying to go, but it also represents a divide that was created to protect the latest plan that Vecna has to take over the world. The upside down is a weird place, and as the seasons have progressed, more and more has been discovered about it. Even the demigorgons are scarier as the seasons progress, and they are definitely on the prowl this season. The visual style of the upside down is pretty cool, though. This has been a place that has given me the creeps, but it’s also a place with characters going at will now. It’s almost like it’s a throwaway thing. Okay, let’s go investigate the upside down or have various missions there. I guess that comes with the territory of a show like this progressing and building upon itself. It’s fine, I guess. 

What Stranger Things has shown film aficionados and television/streaming show fans is that there are people who can create something new and exciting with a beginning and an ending. This season is the beginning of that ending. It starts like a lot of the previous seasons have started. This time around, the astonishment has been set, and that is where things are going from this point. The kid gloves are off, and things are getting real this season. There are genuine stakes at hand, not that there wasn’t before, but they are real this time around considering what could potentially happen to the world. The character development that has progressed in this season. I learned more about where these characters are going. The Duffer Brothers haven’t sat back and let things sit still. They have moved the ending that seemed so far away a lot closer. This is the direction I wanted to see things go in thus far. Christmas and New Years can’t come soon enough for me because I want to see what happens next. These four episodes have just wet my appetite once again for this show that I love so much. 

Stranger Things Episodes 1-4 Reviewed And Are Streaming On Netflix Nov 26th

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen