By Moneli Nazeri
Emotional investment, Stranger Things finally came to an end. The final episode premiered in theaters, creating an exciting, communal experience that felt like a celebration of everything the show had become. Fans dressed up, cheered, and cried together, and for a moment, it truly felt like the perfect send-off. However, once the excitement faded, many viewers, including myself, were left with the same lingering feeling that the ending wasn’t terrible, but was rushed. One of the biggest reasons the finale feels unsatisfying is the number of unanswered questions it leaves behind. Throughout the show’s five seasons, Stranger Things built a complex mythology that encouraged viewers to pay close attention to details. Because of that, fans expected the ending to tie up long-running mysteries. Instead, many were simply ignored. For example, who opened the door in season one when Will Byers first went missing? Why is the Upside Down frozen on the exact day Will disappeared? And why did Vecna need twelve children specifically? These questions weren’t minor details, they were core parts of the story that helped shape the entire series. Leaving them unanswered makes the finale feel incomplete. The confusion surrounding the ending only grew stronger because of what happened online after the finale aired. Since the final episode was released on New Year’s Eve, many fans believed there would be a surprise extra episode released exactly one week later, on Wednesday, January 7th. This idea spread rapidly across social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Reddit, fueled by what became known as the “conformity gate” theory. According to the theory, viewers believed they had been under Vecna’s spell the entire time, and the unresolved plot holes were intentional clues. The theory gained so much traction that Netflix reportedly crashed due to the number of people logging in, convinced there was more to come. When nothing was released, disappointment quickly turned into frustration. What made this worse was the realization that the theory wasn’t true, the plot holes weren’t part of a larger twist. The ending was simply written that way. This feeling was reinforced after the release of the new Stranger Things documentary, which revealed that the Duffer Brothers had Reddit and ChatGPT open while working and hadn’t even finished writing the final episode when filming had already begun. While it’s understandable that writing a massive finale is difficult, this revelation made it clear why the ending felt rushed and unpolished. Despite all of this criticism, I don’t believe Stranger Things ended with its worst season. In fact, many parts of the final season were strong. The acting was emotional, the visuals were impressive, and the theater experience made the finale feel special. I also don’t think the ending itself was horrible. I liked it, I just didn’t love it. The conclusion felt safe and predictable, rather than shocking or bold. Many fans were also frustrated by the open-ended nature of the ending, especially when it comes to Eleven. Leaving it up to the audience to decide whether she survived may work for some stories, but after five seasons, many viewers wanted clarity instead of interpretation. Ultimately, the Stranger Things finale wasn’t a failure but a missed opportunity. By rushing the ending and leaving major questions unanswered, the show didn’t fully honor the detailed world it spent years building. Fans didn’t need perfection, but they did deserve closure.