What was deemed the most highly anticipated show of 2025 has completely flopped in the public eye. Fans rave about the Duffer brothers’ superior writing in Stranger Things throughout the past four seasons, so everyone was expecting the show’s continuation to be a groundbreaking new chapter that would perfectly tie together the ending of a widely recognized masterpiece. The reality was an underwhelming, rushed storyline that left fans theorizing “Conformity Gate,” a secret episode that exposed the true ending of the show. Let me repeat that, the writing was so deplorable that fans collectively pulled a Joyce Byers to theorize that the main villain, Vecna, created the illusion of all the characters’ conclusions that we saw in the final hour of the last episode.
Personally, I completely agree. The ending felt so ingenuine and incomplete. I remember finishing the finale, turning to my friend and saying, “I’m underwhelmed.” We both reported not feeling a single strong emotion the entire time, except for when the Duffer Brothers pump-faked Steve Harrington’s death. While I can’t say that season five completely ruined the show for me, I can definitely affirm that I will not be rewatching anytime soon, and I will choose to pretend that the characters killed Vecna at the end of season four.
But why do I and so many fans feel so strongly? Why is the entire massive fanbase in an uproar about Conformity Gate? Well, the season started out promising. The ending to volume one provided the anticipated, shocking plot twist that left supporters reeling. The community lost its mind as they realized that Will Byers had finally caught a break after an extremely traumatic and strange past. But, after everyone shockingly survived volume one, the fanbase questioned who was going to claim the six confirmed deaths promised by the Duffer Brothers, fearful of the “Dark Christmas” the writers warned us about for the release date of volume two. Spoiler alert: nobody died. While there were some groundbreaking discoveries, nothing about it felt particularly “dark.” It seemed like the Duffer Brothers were lying—or at least heavily exaggerating—to the press to excite the public, only to later let them down. And this isn’t the only example of that. Multiple cast members, as well as the Duffers themselves, said one word to describe the season was “traitor.” Throughout the entire season, there was no character that even came close to betraying the party. At the Jimmy Fallon show, when asked to display the plot/fate of certain characters through Funko Pops, the brothers knocked Steve Harrington’s Funko off the table to hint at his outcome. Long story short: Steve survived. Finally, as previously mentioned, warned everyone of a “Dark Christmas” despite no particularly “dark” scenes occurring in volume two, and there was only one, maybe two, significant deaths instead of the promised six.
Another issue that fans have with the ending is the numerous plot holes. So many story lines and characters were left unaddressed. Is the Turnbow family still tied up in that barn? What happened to Suzie Bingham? To Vickie Dunne? Did Eleven truly die? Where were the demogorgons in the finale? Where were the demobats the entire season? Why in early seasons did characters struggle to breathe the air in the Upside Down, and now have no problem with it? The list goes on and on with plotlines that the Duffers forgot to cover despite promising they would.
The final issue I want to touch on is both the absurd plot armor as well as Eleven’s “death.” I personally think the choice to expose that she may have survived was fatuous. Kali was dead for hours, shot through the chest, and had no way of knowing that Eleven needed her to cast an illusion, as well as no way of communicating with her due to the radio waves blocking their powers. Not to mention Kali’s obvious desire for both of them to die to end the cycle, which probably means she would have been unwilling to help, the addition of Eleven’s possible survival just adds numerous plot holes to the story without adding anything necessary. If this impossible scenario were to exist, there are still issues. Eleven is alone in a place where she is completely alone, and most likely cannot speak the language. This leads into my next point, the insane plot armor and unwillingness to kill off any of the original characters. This may be a hot take, but nobody dying lowered the stakes tremendously and made it seem unrealistic. The battle between the main characters and Vecna in season four felt way more momentous than the season five battle. In reality, Vecna could have easily killed at least one of them immediately, but the Duffers’ unwillingness to kill any of the main characters led to an illogical end.
Though I was disappointed overall, there were redeeming moments in the finale. The ending with the survivors (basically everyone) playing D&D, Dustin fulfilling Eddie’s graduation wish and Holly and her friends continuing the original characters’ legacy by playing D&D sweetened an otherwise sour conclusion.
Overall, the finale to such a popular show came to an insanely disappointing end, in the eyes of me and most other fans. Let this be a message to other show makers in the public eye: do your ending justice, or you stand to jeopardize all the attention you have gained.
