“Don’t you see, I could have resisted it. But I chose to join it.” — Henry Creel
Warning: Major spoilers ahead…
The poor decisions made by the writing team in Stranger Things Vol. 2 were a direct indication of what to expect from the finale. Yet, being optimistic, I was hopeful that things would connect and that the characters (and especially the writers) would make better choices. Sadly, all was in vain.
The Terrible Choices That Ruined the Finale
Vecna’s Underwhelming Defeat
Top of the list, of course: How can you show Vecna or the Mind Flayer lose the battle so easily? Please spare me the fan logic suggesting they were “weakened” by the time the final fight started. Are you telling me the writers couldn’t think of a way to make the final boss fight stand out because they needed 45 minutes of unnecessary prologue to give “closure” to the characters? In Nancy’s words: ‘That’s Bullshit.’
The ‘Too-Safe’ Death Fake-Outs
Vol. 2 had already set the ‘too-safe’ standard, so it did not surprise me to see Steve’s death tease ending up as just that… a tease. Yet if not him, someone from the main cast should have gone. Even the one character they do end (Eleven) is handled in a way to leave an open ending, just to make every fan create more theories out of it. Again, total cop-out.
Henry’s Hollow Arc
I was personally fine with Henry choosing to stay evil, unlike the clues given in Vol. 2 about a possible change of heart. What I hated was how they didn’t even care to give Henry a few scenes from that past. We needed the scene leading to the rock moment, or even unrelated scenes from his childhood, to suggest why he would choose to stay evil. It removes the shock element when Adult Henry says “The Mind Flayer never had control, I always chose it,” but Henry was the one character who actually required proper closure.
The Vanishing Demogorgons
Where did the Demogorgons disappear to? Assuming the theory that the Mind Flayer used the Demos to form its own shape (like it did using humans in S3), why not show that transformation happening on-screen? It felt like lazy writing, not a creative choice.
The Off-Screen Disaster
Speaking of on-screen, countless major events happen off-screen in the finale. Suzie is nowhere to be found (so we have to assume a breakup?). Vickie has no scene in the prologue (assume she had a breakup too?). Not to forget the Nancy-Jonathan breakup scene that was executed so poorly. I am not even questioning why they had to break up… that is my own POV… but at least don’t confuse the audience unnecessarily. Maybe Season 5 shouldn’t have happened. We could have assumed and imagined a far more engaging season off-screen than what we actually got.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot more that doesn’t work, but the above are the flaws that immediately come to mind. And no, I didn’t care to see their newly released documentary ‘One Last Adventure: Making of Season 5.’ Who in their right mind would watch the making of a season that was enjoyable only until Vol. 1?
There were a few positive bits from the finale… but more on that in a future post.
