“Stranger Things” is, by far, one of the best Netflix Original shows out there.

Unfortunately, this famous show took a sharp decline in the latter half of season 3 for multiple reasons. The overuse of plot armour, combined with a pinch of bad storytelling, really made the show fall off. However, this is nothing compared to the show’s horrendous final season.

One of my biggest complaints while watching the finale was that the acting was just as lazy as the storytelling. Not to mention, it felt extremely underwhelming for a show that has been in the running for 10 years now. Like the finale of David Benioff’s “Game of Thrones,” many questions were left unanswered.

Questions like: Where did the military go after the final fight with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower)? Where were the demogorgons during the final fight? What happened to Delightful Derek’s (Jake Connelly) parents after getting drugged?

Spoiler Warning 

At the end of season 4, the main protagonists thought they defeated Vecna. As they were celebrating their victory in a field, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) noticed a myriad of ruptures in the ground. The ruptures were emitting smoke and lightning that resembled The Upside Down; because of this ending, it was reasonable to assume that The Upside Down was plotting some sort of all-out-attack on Hawkins, Indiana. However, the first episode of season 5 lessened the “invasion” into just a small earthquake that barely anyone noticed. 

Season 5 also played heavily on the tropes of certain characters. For instance, Hopper (David Harbour) has always defended Eleven, but the new season “evolved” Hopper’s selflessness into just plain stupidity. For this reason, Hopper’s decisions went from a minor inconvenience to a constant annoyance throughout the show. The same thing happened with Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), as the new season converted her from a rebellious teenager to an all-out wild card. 

One last critique I had for the final season of “Stranger Things” was that the ending just felt extremely rushed. Even the Duffer Brothers themselves said that the last episode wasn’t even fully written while it was being filmed.  

Overall, the final season was a major flop. Sure, it had cool elements such as the final fight with Vecna and the Mind Flayer, but the poor writing made scenes like these feel underwhelming and corny. The Mind Flayer was a giant alien-looking spider who orchestrated the main character’s suffering from the start, and we just expected a group of kids—with no real fighting experience—to defeat it in six minutes?

I would give the final season a 5/10 due to my disappointment towards the weak acting, poor screenwriting, overdramatic scenes, comically overused plot armor and incredibly corny dialogue.