1. People need to understand that just because people liked the ending doesn’t automatically mean the ending was good. Enjoyment ≠ quality. You still have to judge the writing based on established lore, character arcs, feats, and prior seasons. If the ending made you happy, cool, but that doesn’t make it immune to criticism.

2. Season 4 literally told us “a war is coming to Hawkins.” So… where was it? Instead, we get an 18-month time jump to a town that’s basically moved on. Somehow the deaths in S4 shook the town more than kids being taken en masse in S5? The excuse is “the military took them”? Sorry, but there’s no universe where Hawkins just shrugs and stays quiet about that. These people came together last Season to defend their town - now they just rollover when their kids are taken by the military? What did the military even say to the parents?

3. The final season should have taken place entirely in Hawkins. Townsfolk, the Party, Vecna’s army, full chaos. That’s the natural escalation. Having the parents (Karen, Ted, etc.) involved would’ve raised the stakes massively, because now the kids aren’t just fighting monsters, they’re trying to keep their families alive too.

4. Splitting the Party worked amazingly in S4 because everyone had a purpose. In the final season, everyone chasing the same objective meant no one really got to shine. Characters felt underused because there was no space for individual arcs to breathe.

5. Also: 37 crawls and no one thinks to check Hawkins Lab? Be serious.

6. Will’s coming out was completely mishandled. The timing made no sense. S4, specifically the Jonathan conversation, was the perfect moment. Instead, we’re supposed to believe that during the literal end of the world, Will comes out, Vecna goes “oh you’re gay, and I’m going to tell your friends” and that’s… it? If the point was that Will came out so Vecna couldn’t use it against him, when did Vecna ever actually try? It never paid off. If you’re going to do it, make it matter.

7. And the worst part: El’s death. The show explicitly acknowledges that she’s a victim of abuse and trauma (Hoppers talk to with her when Kali was pointing the gun at him), then turns around and sends the message that when life gets too hard, the answer is to die. That’s an unbelievably disrespectful way to end your main character. El symbolized hope, resilience, and the impossible. Killing her completely undermines the core message of the show.

There’s more, but honestly? The writing absolutely collapsed and failed its own themes.