Netflix<\/a>\u2019s original programming since it debuted in 2016. Its patented blend of comic coming-of-age story with complex supernatural thriller was an instant hit, and, to its credit, the streaming giant has resisted the temptation to rush the show through a multi-season arc. Instead, we have arrived at this \u2013 the first half of the final clutch of episodes \u2013 with a well-constructed world, established characters and a recognisable threat. \u201cWe don\u2019t stop until we\u2019re goddam sure that wrinkled, noseless, rotting bastard is dead and gone,\u201d Mike (Finn Wolfhard) tells his Dungeons & Dragons-obsessed crew. And that tone prevails. Even while their friends and family are in mortal peril, the central kids crack wise, treating this existential threat with a quippy irreverence that stops the show from going up its own gaping wormhole. That familiar tone \u2013 brisk, upbeat, fun \u2013 is maintained throughout these concluding episodes.<\/p>\nSo all that continues to work well, as does Stranger Things\u2019s superb production design (which demonstrates that not every Netflix show needs to look terrible) and its commitment to a fun needle drop by the likes of Diana Ross, The Chordettes and Tiffany. But this final series is also the victim of what I call Marvelisation: a feeling that the drama needs to be set against an interminable fight between humans and extraterrestrials. \u201cThere\u2019s a fine line between bravery and stupidity,\u201d Hopper warns his adoptive daughter.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a fine line between tension and protraction. The episodes in this first tranche range from 57 minutes to 86 minutes (the fourth season\u2019s finale was an eye-drying 139), which necessitates an awful lot of almost killing the demogorgons, almost escaping the clutches of Vecna, almost saving humanity. Delayed gratification is how writers build a compulsive narrative, but Stranger Things could do with a little more gratification, a little less delay.<\/p>\n
![\"Winona](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/StrangerThings_S5_0018.jpeg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 (Courtesy of Netflix \u00a9 2025)<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the problem of the Upside Down. Stranger Things\u2019s closest aesthetic antecedent is probably Stephen King\u2019s IT, a bildungsroman set in another American town beset by subterranean evils. At its start, Stranger Things understood that the allure of the story was watching these children having formative adventures that only occasionally dipped into outright fantasy. Yet now, the show overwhelmingly plays out in or around the Upside Down, and the stakes are never lower than critical. It is like IT, if 90 per cent of the novel involved Pennywise baring his teeth and chasing the children. It lacks the contrast \u2013 the light and the shade \u2013 that in earlier seasons really brought out the emotional heart of the show. <\/p>\n
That heart is still those kids \u2013 now gangly almost-adults \u00ad\u2013 who have grown up on the sets built by the show\u2019s fraternal creators, the Duffer brothers. One or two have developed into slightly awkward screen presences, but for the most part, that early casting was good. Winona Ryder and David Harbour, too, give committed, full-throated performances \u2013 \u201cSometimes people need someone to believe in them,\u201d Ryder\u2019s Joyce croaks, with doe-eyed sincerity, \u201cand then they can do amazing things\u201d \u2013 while Joe Keery and Hawke (as Steve and Robin, respectively) steal most of their scenes. It\u2019s a good assembly, and even when the plot starts to drag or becomes hard to follow, there\u2019s enough charisma that, like Kate Bush warbling through a cassette player, it can drag you back into the room.<\/p>\n
![\"Millie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI274651068.jpeg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Millie Bobby Brown as Robin in \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 season five (Netflix)<\/p>\n
We will have to wait until the new year to see how Stranger Things concludes, and whether it can stick that particular landing. But the Duffer brothers have created something, in the beleaguered town of Hawkins and its luckless citizenry, that is admirably immersive. The danger now is that the desire to give it a spectacular send-off will undermine those charming, emotional moments where Stranger Things delved into one of the great cinematic subjects: finding your place in the world as you exit childhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-162483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}