Stranger Things season 5 review: Is the final battle for Hawkins worth the wait?

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A star rating of 4 out of 5.

This review is based on Stranger Things season 5 volume 1 (episodes 1-4).

The town of Hawkins is under military lockdown. Vecna hasn’t been seen for months, and authorities are searching for a young girl named Jane Hopper. With all this happening, a major confrontation is coming soon.

It’s been nine years since we first explored the eerie world of the Upside Down, and since then, Stranger Things has become a global phenomenon. The show is now one of Netflix’s most popular series, launching the careers of its young cast. Beyond that, it helped change how we watch TV, demonstrating the massive impact streaming has had on the television industry over the last ten years.

After a three-year wait, the fifth season is finally here, and fans are eager to see if it lives up to the hype. Simply put, it absolutely does.

The first episode of season 5 smartly focuses on catching us up with the main characters. Eighteen months have passed, and a lot has changed since we last saw them.

The core group of friends is reunited, and Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp, is experiencing unsettling symptoms again after a long period of calm. But this time, things feel different – Will now has some understanding of what he’s going through, having dealt with these invasions of his mind for years.

He’s now taking charge and seems to have what it takes to overcome the challenges he faces. A sneak peek of the new season, released by Netflix, suggests many people underestimated Will. It’s his moment to prove himself.

Season 5 will challenge Will Byers like never before, forcing him to confront his deepest fears and understand himself better. Noah Schnapp and the creators of the show have confirmed that Will’s sexuality will be explored this season, and the early episodes give him a well-deserved chance to take center stage – a refreshing change of pace from previous seasons where he often played a supporting role.

Even though Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is getting more powerful, she’s still struggling. She’s constantly pushing her abilities to the limit while being hunted by the military, and her adoptive father, Jim Hopper (David Harbour), is worried she’s going too far. Their different approaches create conflict, but fans of their close relationship can rest assured – they’ll face the coming apocalypse together.

The missing villain is finally revealed to have been busy all this time. As the heroes carefully search Hawkins for Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna, we learn he wasn’t just hiding – he was carefully planning something big, and that plan is now about to unfold.

Don’t expect constant, intense action right away. The story takes some time to build up, as the biggest events are being saved for the second volume and the final installment, which will be released on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. While things are definitely heading in that direction by the end of this first part, viewers will need to practice a little patience.

The show’s very long first episodes can sometimes feel a bit slow-paced. For example, the first episode is over an hour and fifteen minutes long, and not much actually happens in terms of moving the story forward, which some viewers might find frustrating.

Once the action really gets going, you won’t be able to look away. We can’t reveal anything about the fourth episode—it’s 84 minutes long—but trust us, it’s classic Stranger Things. The final scene is incredible and will make the wait for the next season feel agonizingly long.

Even with all the exciting events, Stranger Things remains strong because of its characters. The relationships between them are just as captivating as the show’s big conflicts. Despite having a large cast, the creators carefully develop each character, offering fresh interactions and combinations while also staying true to the established bonds we already love.

This season’s challenges really highlight the complex relationships between the characters. We see families struggling to connect, couples having trouble talking things through, and friends trying to understand each other’s inner lives – all of which makes their interactions even more compelling.

The show looks fantastic – as you’d expect, considering each episode cost around $50 to $60 million to make. The story is still well-told, though the Duffer brothers sometimes let episodes run a little too long. And the music remains a fantastic collection of ’80s hits that perfectly match the characters’ emotional arcs. As for whether Kate Bush will appear again, you’ll have to wait and see!

What really makes the show work, and will keep it relatable even as the action gets bigger and more impressive, are the strong connections between the characters.

It was a huge challenge for the Duffer Brothers to finish this massive show and give each character a fitting ending after nine years. Successfully wrapping up a story of this size is difficult, and many showrunners haven’t been able to do it well. Whether the Duffers will succeed remains to be seen.

Based on the first few episodes, this season has the potential to be truly unforgettable. It’s still early to say for certain, but as this show has proven over the years, anything is possible.

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2025-11-27 04:36