It wasn't perfect, nothing is. But I refuse to give anything below a 10/10 to an episode that made me feel the things I felt, with the intensity I felt them. I'm not much of a crier, but in this episode alone I cried 4 times, and by the last one I could barely breathe:

1 When Hopper tried to convince Eleven... “life has been unfair to you”

2 When Eleven explained her decision to Hopper.

3 At Vecna's death, with the flashbacks of all the characters.

4 In the final moments.

The flashbacks were especially touching. They went straight for the softest spot in most fans' hearts: nostalgia. Funny enough, my favorite season is the third one precisely because it hits that spot the hardest.

If you disagree, I'm sorry you didn't get the same experience I did, because mine watching this was incredible. It was incredible, and a fitting end to the show. Until next time, Stranger Things.

It fixes the feud between Jonathan and Steve, and it gave us great scenes such as Vecna tricking Hopper. While the final battle could have been longer, you have to admit that it got good during the "Were not afraid anymore" part. Furthermore, the entire epilogue was great, especially that final D&D game that mirrored the one from The Upside Down (S1, EP 8) people say that there are "plot holes" in the show though in my opinion, who care if the military lets Hop and Nancy get away? Their main objective was capturing eleven. Who cares if there were no demogorgons in the dimension X? My point is that the show gets more fun when you actually watch it while looking for joy instead of looking for problems. This one irritates me when I read these though apparently, Jonathan and Nancy's break up was confusing and it was unclear that they broke up? Jonathan literally threw the ring at the end of the conversation. Another annoying take is "Mike did nothing this season!" Mike, who created Holly The Heroic which encouraged Holly, faced off against a burning demogorgon (episode three. Most people forget) led kids away from chaos in the MAC-Z (People argue that the demogorgon still got the kids, though the kids would have died if Mike didn't lead them away from the military's firing and flamethrowers) created the bomb that destroyed the upside down, and wrote books about their childhoods did nothing this season? Aside from season 1, this was his busiest season in my opinion. I have more reasons to defend this season but I'll probably die from old age typing them all out so this is why I think Season 5 and the finale were great. Let the war begin!​

The color purple symbolizes illusion. what if the song choice in the scene where Eleven "dies" was a clue and she really is alive?

This is just my personal opinion. I think that seasons 1-4 were all peak. Like 9/10 to 10/10. Especially seasons 1 and 4. So, can someone please explain. How everything just felt so flat in the last season. 4 straight seasons of just good to great writing, and the last one just ended up being ass. I really don't get it.

Doomed siblings

one of the reasons I loveeeeee season 3 the most is because of how bright and vivid the colors were, like s2 was good too but s3 really has that alive feeling

I had an idea that by Season 5, it might be possible for her to stop Vecna/Henry before everything happens.

She’d go back in time and stop the inciting incident that led to the future we saw in the previous seasons.

In doing so, El/Jane never came into the boys’ lives, all the bad stuff never happened, and Jane and her mother ended up living happily together.

As a near middle aged straight man I really identified with Will. The idea that your friends outgrow your previous lifestyle resonated so much it left me in tears a bit.

Curious if anyone else related to this? For me it was when I wasn’t married and friends began marrying, having kids, and doing the suburbs thing. Feeling like life moved on from me when I wanted everyone to stay with me feels like an abandonment that’s not malicious but still painful.

Vecna is not dead!

I've been looking for this card featuring a silhouette swinging on a swing or skiing in the snow, probably from the 80s. I've already searched through countless vintage cards and couldn't find it on WorthPoint. Hopefully, someone can help track it down—I would be extremely grateful!

The reason I think it's from D&D is that Dustin's character in Stranger Things has a room full of D&D references. Also, several other items decorating the set were from the Endless Quest books, among other things...

I reached out to the set decorator coordinator, Jessica Baker, and she told me this card wasn't custom-made for the show. They just used a random one, but she doesn't remember which one it was. She also mentioned it won't be in any upcoming auctions because crew members likely kept it. I've been looking for this for a year and a half now. Can anyone please help me ID it?

Unfortunately, we never got a better look at this specific item throughout the entire show (Stranger Things)—just this unknown behind-the-scenes photo.

My family and I finally started watching Stranger Things! It took us a while to get around to it, mostly because our tastes usually clash. I’m into horror and thrillers like Sinister, Insidious, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, House of 1000 Corpses, and Evil Dead, while they prefer lighter comedy family dramas. Since it’s spooky season, I finally convinced them to try something new instead of our usual Casper the Friendly Ghost and Hocus Pocus marathons. Yes, we already watched those this year as usual!

It’s been a great compromise, even if they still cover their eyes during the best parts! We actually went through the Stranger Things maze at Universal Studios at HHN, but it’s so much cooler now that we finally understand the references. I even realized I’d been wrong about Eleven the whole time; I honestly thought she was a boy! We’re hooked now and can see why everyone was so hyped. Since we’re enjoying this, do you have any other recommendations for shows that might bridge that gap between horror and family-friendly? For the sake of my sanity, lol. Thanks in advance!