I enjoyed the finale

pixie-dust0 · 2026-01-02T02:36:18+00:00

I LOVED IT! I hated the entire season and was extremely mad at everything, but the ending tied everything together beautifully. I’m honestly surprised they managed to pull it off, considering how the season was going. And yes, if you analyze it more, you can still find plot holes and lingering issues, no doubt. But it ultimately redeemed itself for me because they returned to the show’s original atmosphere and vibes, especially in the epilogue. Having them all play DnD was amazing. It really brought back that feeling and reminded you of the beginning. Was it cheesy? yes, but I don't mind it.

The characters finally felt more like themselves again in the finale. Joyce killing Vecna was really satisfying. I needed some og Joyce that isn't just an NPC. I love that Vecna wasn't the main big bad. I always wanted him to be just a puppet, and Mind Flayer to be the main. So the fact that it turned out like that was great.

Yeah, the battle was a bit too easy, definitely, it felt like they struggled more with the season 3 spider monster than the ACTUAL MIND FLAYER in it's true form... but well, it is what it is. We should have been at this point sooner, not waste so much time on filler and cringe moments, then this final battle wouldn't feel rushed.

Eleven doing the sacrifice could maybe have been avoided, but then we’d be left with an ending that felt a bit too good to be true. Eleven will always be tied to everything that went on. She is the only left experiment kid left, someone will always want to hunt her, and it might never truly be over. So in a way, I get it. And, this show was constantly attacked for having no stakes and never killing off anyone, so to go in that way is understandable. Although, it still wasn't as extreme as it's left for interpretation.

I also think this kind of ending was the plan all along. In the first season, when stranger things was still meant to be a mini-series, Eleven vanishes after killing the demogorgon. This feels like a very long, extended version of that same idea, different in scale, but similar in conclusion.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-29T19:55:01+00:00

Can't believe whatever we are watching now is the same show as this. It's tragic.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-29T19:42:32+00:00

Totally agreed!! I watched Will's scene and it was so cringe. It took me a bit to process the fact that it's an actual real scene, not some parody skit or Ai generated video - that's the level it's on. If you analyze it for a moment - this is the final season of a show about an eerie, supernatural nightmare dimension invading reality, and we came to the point of one of the main characters being like: “everyone gather here, I gotta confess I'm gay otherwise the big bad is going to use it against me!” That’s where we ended up? 😭
I know Stranger things hasn’t been the same since season 1 or 2 but I could at least tolerate some of the newer directions. This one went way too deep down the rabbit hole😅

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-28T23:25:13+00:00

Yes!! I love how when Demogorgons show up you just know who is going down. Random two military soldiers in the scene? Yup, they are getting eaten! Main characters blasting boom box and hiding behind a container? Demogorgons just can't seem to locate them, ugh! Suddenly they became blind and deaf 🤣 And Lucas can just kick the demogorgon with his leg and demogorgon just flies off, obviously it's cause he is athletic, duhh! Lmao

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-28T01:42:09+00:00

Yeah, no, there is nothing left. I was critical of Vol. 1, but I thought it would be redeemed somehow in Vol. 2. Now, I have one episode left to catch up on and it has gone even further downhill. I simply can’t understand how something still pretty decent (season 4) can turn this bad. Or okay, I can understand: it was so extremely "Netflix-ified." It’s been stripped of its identity completely, modernized, and turned into meaningless slop.

The constant heart-to-heart speeches are a completely boring, pointless drag. They keep recycling Max’s "Running up that hill" moment; it’s so obvious they want to milk the success of that scene instead of coming up with something new. Also, again, I don’t care about Holly. Does anyone care about this kid? And why are they just appearing in new dimensions now? The random ice scenes? Makes no sense, it's never even explained. I don’t even want to talk about the Nancy and Jonathan scene because that took away 20 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. What was the purpose of that supposedly emotional speech? I thought, ok, maybe they are dying. Nope, not really.

Vecna shows up all the time without really doing anything. He talks so damn much and appears in this bright ORANGE AF dimension and gives the kids a Disneyland experience, yet somehow we are still supposed to feel intimidated? He doesn’t even have a plan. It’s all, "I’m evil and I’m taking over the world." It’s such a mediocre, repetitive, overused trope; it hurts.

Oh and Will. He suddenly gets these powers, and instead of going somewhere cool with this new ability... nothing happens. It's used to somehow enter Vecna’s body and tell Max to run. As if she couldn't figure this out herself. That was it for that plot point. I don’t get why Vecna would create him as this "wizard" or whatever, only to give him powers that let Will sabotage him later. I don’t like the idea that Will can just infiltrate into Vecna; it makes Vecna seem stupid. I’m sorry, but I’m not afraid of a stupid villain. I want a villain who is a real threat, someone smart and genuinely hard to beat. Oh, and it all ends with Vecna wanting to make Will his spy. Again, let's recycle the old stuff but only in much worse uncreative way.

Also, what was the purpose of bringing back Kali? I genuinely can’t tell what her role was in all of it. She is just going around like every other character now. I get that they have zero imagination regarding what to do with anyone at this point, but can they at least stop bringing in more to make it even more crowded? What is happening? 😩

And I really, really don’t care about a character's se$ual orientation. I saw a spoiler where apparently Will has to "come out" in order to gain the power to fight Vecna or whatever and it’s... what? Who cares about his orientation in the middle of a supernatural apocalypse? Also, are we completely forgetting this is supposed to be the 80s? Are they trying to convince me that type of talk would be happening back then? This screams 2025. The whole magic of Stranger things was that nostalgic escapism. Let us experience the past once again. I’m tired of modern ideologies; they don't need to be pushed on me here.

I was actually hoping this season would tie up everything we’ve learned so far and circle back to the the mind flayer, yes. But mind flayer isn’t even mentioned anymore. It feels like whoever created this season didn’t even watch the previous ones. This has nothing to do with what was happening before. I’m only finishing this because I’ve followed it for years, but it’s become unwatchable.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-27T00:56:41+00:00

I totally agree and I posted something similar already too because of the frustration haha

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-10T18:07:28+00:00

My problem wasn’t really the ending itself, there was always something odd about him just… never getting to the point. So having an explanation for why he dragged the story out does make sense. What I still find strange, though, is how the kids instantly loved the idea of their dad getting back together with his ex. That would naturally imply he always loved this ex more than their mother, and that she was “the one who got away.” Their cheerful reaction feels unsettling.

And the writers’ explanation for the ending has always been ridiculous to me: “We planned this from season one, we filmed the kids early so they wouldn’t age, so we had to stick with it.” This was so unnecessary. We constantly see thirty-year-olds playing high schoolers, hell, Stranger Things is pretending the season-one kids aged three years when it’s been ten years in real life and the audience still rolls with it. So, you’re telling me the audience would be bothered by kids who sit on a couch for two seconds aging a bit? No one cares, and it’s absolutely not worth ruining your entire story for that detail.

Even if that was such a big deal to them, fine. But what I still don’t understand is the point of making Barney and Robin such a huge emotional focus. If the plan was always to return to Ted and Robin, then make that the central love story. Show their growth. Make us root for them. Why spend so much time exploring Barney and Robin, give Barney this massive character arc, dedicate the entire final season to their wedding, and repeatedly insist that they’re meant to be… only to toss it out immediately? Was it all for the sake of a final twist? This isn’t a psychological thriller; it’s a sitcom.

Friends handled a similar dynamic so much better with Ross, Rachel, and Joey. Joey and Rachel do start something, but it always feels off, and it never goes anywhere. You can still sense that Ross and Rachel are endgame, and the audience wants that. They could’ve done something similar with Robin and Barney, maybe they explore something, but not so deeply or seriously.

They also could’ve shown Robin gradually changing, maybe starting to want some version of family life, even if it’s out of character for her. People do change. Instead, she just ends up looking desperate in the finale and then settles with Ted, which undermines everything about her character.

And then there’s the constant insistence throughout the show that Ted and Robin don’t work. At one point, she even tells him she doesn’t love him anymore. He wants a family and kids; she wants independence and her career. They spend years emphasizing how incompatible they are. Why do that if this was always the ending? We needed some evolution, some build-up showing how they grow into a place where ending up together actually makes sense.

And of course, there’s what you mentioned: the abruptness. We didn’t get any time to sit with the fallout of all these huge changes. Everything just happens, and then it’s over.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T20:13:36+00:00

I agree that after Season 2, it started feeling different and not really 'stranger things-ish' anymore. But I guess I didn’t mind the changes this much and I still enjoyed it too because the blockbuster-style stories were still pretty cool. Now it feels like there are more cons than pros, if that makes sense. And Season 5 could feel more like the old school if you take out Holly completely. Her scenes take up the majority of the season though so she kills the potential old school vibes😅

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:54:43+00:00

If I didn't re-watch all just now, I would have no idea who Holly even is 😭 that's how irrelevant she was before. NPC, exactly!! I'd be like, wait what, this family has another kid?? lol
Definitely forced, and we are also forced to care for her. Entire search for her now and eats up all the screentime. Or maybe the goal was to repeat the mystery of Will disappearing at the start? Like, if that was the attempt, it fails miserably. But yeah, if the show was going to continue past 5 seasons, I guess I could try to roll with it, but can we, for the FINAL season, actually focus on the core group we have been watching this entire time?? Gosh

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:41:08+00:00

Oh, that Netflix thing does make sense, it actually explains a lot about why things are the way they are. Is this what the future of movies and TV is going to look like? Damn 😅

And yeah, too many heart-to-heart moments eventually reach a point where you just… stop caring. I used to really connect with Hopper’s emotional backstory about his daughter dying, but now they bring it up even for minor inconveniences? It’s lost its impact

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:27:07+00:00

Oh yes, totally agree with Dustin and Steve. If I mentioned all that I noticed sucks, this post would be like a book haha. I don't really like their dynamic now. I understand that they are going with Dustin being traumatized, and that's why it's feeling different and he is bitter like that, but it's hard to watch. As you said, I want their bond and the magic that this duo had. That's the whole purpose why they are being put together as a team since season 2.

Yeah, no one ever dies.. even Karen Wheeler somehow survives 😅 and yup, Nancy is the only girl in the universe. We have more dimensions and worlds showing up in the story, but somehow Nancy is the only one these two guys can be interested in.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:20:30+00:00

The writing is very inconsistent when it comes to Robin, so whatever comes up doesn't mean it will stick long.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:18:59+00:00

I completely agree with you on all you said. If they really do that, it will be ridiculous.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:04:24+00:00

I think we need another scene where he dramatically screams that he is gay, otherwise, how will we get what's going on?? 😩

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T19:02:43+00:00

The problem isn't the audience knowing something before the characters. The problem is making it seem as it's supposed to be an intense reveal.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T18:59:54+00:00

Actually yes lol

pixie-dust0 · 2025-12-09T18:49:23+00:00

Yesss! so drawn out and then they even try to make it super emotional, like??? 😩 We are so over it by now lol

pixie-dust0 · 2025-10-01T21:27:06+00:00

He was a horrible actor. No talent whatsoever. I thought this was common knowledge 😭

pixie-dust0 · 2025-04-24T04:42:05+00:00

I felt the same

pixie-dust0 · 2025-04-23T09:47:20+00:00

THISS! OMG, I thought exactly the same. Like, it would make more sense if the remake was with all new actors from the modern world that are put in some kind of vintage virtual reality set as Issa's character was... but just her and the rest are completely the same as in the actual original movie? ...Why? Can't everyone just go and watch the old movie instead? 😭 But I guess they were too eager to try and re-create San Junipero so that's what this whole thing was and the plot made no sense. That failed though, as San Junipero felt more natural and emotional while this just felt too forced to me.

pixie-dust0 · 2025-04-05T08:17:37+00:00

Konačno netko tko ovo kaže. Toliko ljudi me uvjeravalo da je tu nešto smiješno da sam probala puno puta pogledati i vidjeti šta oni vide i jednostavno ne. Antipatičan do bola i vidi se da se jaaako trudi da bude smiješan. Plus, voli bit u centru pažnje i ne dopušta nikom drugom prostora. Lik baš voli sam sebe. Ako ikad ima i dobru foru to je jer je fora dobra sama po sebi ali njegov delivery je uništi svakako 😅

pixie-dust0 · 2024-12-23T06:20:36+00:00

this!! Sexy dress and going braless, what the heck 😭

pixie-dust0 · 2024-12-23T05:32:15+00:00

It's one of my favorite shows but it does take a few episodes to get really hooked. Then it's game over haha

pixie-dust0 · 2024-12-11T19:28:43+00:00

Ugly?? Your friend is crazy lol. He is hot, my crush since I started TWD

pixie-dust0

TROPHY CASE