Netflix has taken a unique approach to releasing the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. Four episodes premiered on Netflix on November 26 and were followed by three more on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
The finale arrives on the streaming platform\u2014and in theaters\u2014today, December 31, but will The Duffer Brothers stick the landing? The latest three episodes were fairly uneventful and drew criticisms from fans. However, one scene that many people on social media zeroed in on was the moment that Will came out as gay\u00a0to his friends, family, and a handful of strangers.<\/p>\n
The scene has been deemed “woke” and mocked for what some have deemed a heavy-handed, perhaps even forced, approach to\u00a0exploring Will’s sexuality.<\/p>\n
Whether it’s review bombing or a general feeling of dissatisfaction with Stranger Things’ final season, the show’s score on the audience-generated Popcornmeter has plummeted from the 70s to 56% (a stark contrast to Season 1’s 96%, Season 2’s 90%, Season 3’s 86%, and Season 4’s 89%).<\/p>\n
“The Bridge,” which featured Will’s big moment, is now the lowest-rated Stranger Things episode ever on IMDb with a dire 5.4\/10. However, there is evidence of possible review bombing, as the episode has attracted nearly 100,000 reviews, compared to the 50,000 or so ratings that every other Season 5 episode has received.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elon Musk has been riling people up on X, and there is a lot of toxicity on the platform aimed at the series, including homophobic abuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond it potentially being targeted for highlighting a gay character, Stranger Things Season 5 has several issues. Those range\u00a0from a meandering story to a lot of filler and some pretty poor performances from its leads. Millie Bobby Brown has also come under fire, so review bombing or not, the show isn’t resonating with many fans.<\/p>\n
During a recent interview, Will actor Noah\u00a0Schnapp claimed that Will’s coming out scene took over 24 hours to shoot. “Oh my God, it was endless. It was like a 12-hour day of just that monologue,” he said. “And we weren\u2019t even done after the 12-hour day. We came back a week later to reshoot certain parts of the scene for another 12 hours.”<\/p>\n
“It was like, ‘Oh my God, how many more times can I do this scene?’\u00a0But it was also nice because it allowed me to try so many different things. I never felt stuck to anything,” he continued.\u00a0“I got advice from Maya [Hawke] on how to prepare for it, because there were so many lines, more lines than I\u2019d ever had before.”<\/p>\n
Check out a trailer for tonight’s Stranger Things series finale in the player below.<\/p>\n
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one last trailer. pic.twitter.com\/folBQmZTrJ<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\u2014 s\u0183u\u1d09\u0265\u0287 \u0279\u01dd\u0183u\u0250\u0279\u0287s (@Stranger_Things) December 30, 2025<\/a>
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