by Victoria Camarda
Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 was released on November 26, 2025, and it’s just the beginning of the big three-part finale of the popular show on Netflix. The horror series is written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer and was first released in 2016. The show has slowly gained more and more popularity over the years and the most viewed season is season 4.
The show is set in Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980’s and follows a group of young boys and how they come into contact with some sort of supernatural entities and government mishaps. It’s filled with comedy, suspense, and tugs and your emotions. The show has captured the hearts of many and viewers are sad that this critically acclaimed series is coming to an end. With season 5 slowly being released, many fans are worried if the final bow will live up to the high expectations.
I’ve been a Stranger Things fan since the first season came out when I was 12. Being able to watch a show and grow up “with” the characters has been such an enthralling experience. Being a die-hard fan of the show comes with strong opinions of the season’s progress. So far, Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 has had the lowest reviews of all the seasons and I completely disagree.
When starting the final season, I was worried that the Duffer brothers would lose the original plot or add unnecessary themes to push the show a long (we see this with many television shows). I was disappointed in the previous season and didn’t have high hopes for season 5, but I was proven wrong.
My absolute favorite season will always be season 1 due to the nostalgia that comes along while watching it. It has the creepy undertone that any great sci- fi media should always have, throughout the new season releases that same nostalgia slowly started to leave the show, but with season 5, I think we are finally getting that aspect back.
The Duffer brothers are truly visionaries; season 5 includes flashbacks that tie all the different themes and plot points together. They’ve brought back old characters, old story lines, and really focus on who the series started with. I think many viewers are jumping to conclusions and not giving the season a chance yet. There are still 4 more hour-long episodes to be released and a lot to be covered. A well-written closing takes time and I think viewers need to trust the Duffer brothers because they’ve yet to disappoint us with this show. I think the finale of Stranger Things 5 will pull through and not disappoint.
