When Netflix announced a unique release schedule for the final season of “Stranger Things” that sees the final season of the juggernaut hit split into three releases on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it felt like a brash pronouncement of their pop culture dominance. There are few shows that could get away with competing with the holidays, but few shows have been as prominent as the creation of the Duffer brothers, even if arguably too much of the conversation has pivoted to the age of the stars over the plotting of the show. Will the decision pay off? Probably. By the time the second volume of the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” drops after sunset on Christmas Day, most people are ready for something non-holiday, and the real fans of the show, especially those who overlooked all the flaws of the first volume last month, are more excited to see how this story ends than to see what Santa brought them this year.
The second volume of the fifth season is a tricky one to review because we don’t really know if they’ll stick the landing and the set-up is already out of the way. If this is the middle chapter of a quasi-trilogy, it’s effective enough, saving most of the big stuff for the series finale but pushing things in the right direction. The writing still suffers from that all-too-common Netflix problem of over-explaining everything as characters talk about what they’re thinking and planning in a manner that’s designed to make it watchable while you fold laundry or put away your new Christmas gifts or just push through too much eggnog. And, once again, the volume starts a little choppy—the first episodes of the first and second volume may be my least favorite in the entire run of the show—as the writers too slowly build momentum and anticipation of what’s to come instead of just dropping us into the good stuff.
Of course, they get there, and that’s what people will remember more than the fact that they took too long to do so. Several beloved characters get big moments in these three episodes, and the actors largely nail them. Noah Schnapp’s Will is obviously the main focus of this end run, and it’s disappointing that they kind of step back from the big ending of the first volume to weaken him again, but Schnapp gets a big scene in the final episode that’s undeniably moving and well-done. Even better are Maya Hawke and Sadie Sink, who have pretty firmly cemented themselves as the best performers on the show, although flowers for Joe Keery as well. And the choice to make Nell Fisher’s Holly Wheeler such a major player in the end run of a show that already felt overcrowded paid off. She’s very good in these episodes. (A brief note: Even more of the narrative in these episodes riffs off the action of Broadway’s Stranger Things: The First Shadow. If you want to know how, click here.)
As for the plot, a bit too much of these episodes take place in abstract places like the Upside Down and the mind/memories of Henry Creel, giving everything too little weight by spending so much time outside of the real world. And while the characters over-explain everything they need to do, the answers often seem to boil down to “just cuz.” At one point, a character says, “How did you know that would work?” The answer: “I didn’t.” That about sums up most of the action, and it would have been stronger if the Duffers had really emphasized the idea that these are just kids fumbling their way to heroism instead of just doing so halfway in a manner that makes it feel like the writing itself lacks confidence.
Much of the criticism of the first volume of the final season centered the pastiche nostalgia of the show, but this season actually feels the least vulnerable to this critique of hollow outside influence given how aggressively past ones riffed directly off beloved properties from “It” to “Aliens.” While there are nods to “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and other Cameron properties (although, man, Linda Hamilton is wasted through at least the first 7/8ths of the season), the penultimate volume of “Stranger Things” almost feels nostalgic for itself. The characters reference events from previous seasons as they hurtle to a climax on the anniversary of Will’s first abduction. To enjoy the first seasons of “Stranger Things,” it helped to have grown up with the ‘80s pop culture that the Duffers adored. To really enjoy the end, you have to have grown up with Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Eleven. The truth is that the elongated production of this show makes that likely for a lot of viewers, who now see these people like family. What’s better than family on Christmas?
Second volume screened for review. Now on Netflix.
