Stranger Things – The Rightside Up Review

For a series that riffed a whole heck of a lot on 80s films, Stranger Things, in the end, opted to mirror a more recent film in its actual ending – offering a host of mini-endings a la The Return of the King (which, of course, starred the dearly departed Bob – Sean Astin). And boy, was all that an incredibly long conclusion to an incredibly long episode that seemed to take ages to get us to all the points we knew it would hit.

When I wrote about the second installment of season five, I mentioned that a good finale doesn’t offer up a host of surprises for the audience. The track for where the story needs to go should already be in place and the narrative should run down it to reach the necessary conclusion. And on that metric, Stranger Things delivered. Vecna made his move, the worlds began to collide, and our heroes sprang into action to take him down, save the children, and stop the worlds from crashing into each other. It’s just, man, this didn’t need to take almost two hours to play out. We didn’t need a host of flashbacks to past seasons – especially when Joyce was hacking away on Vecna, when we were reminded of each and every character we lost and who they were important to. Sure, it was nice to know that Nancy didn’t forget Barb – although she definitely never saw her get pulled into the Upside Down, so not sure how she had that particular visual in her mind – or that Bob remains someone Joyce cares about. But come on. Even the fact that Vecna got two deaths was overkill – despite it being a reference to the rule of scary movies that the killer is never really dead until there’s a head shot.

As for the story itself, well, as with much of the season, there was a whole lot of telling and not showing. Some pretty cringe-worthy dialogue (that convo between Will and Mike on the tower was pretty rough from a writing and acting perspective). And some strangely untied threads. (I’m assuming Robin and Vicky broke up, since she helped them with their plan and then never appeared again? And where is Murray? Not that I particularly care, but he also just vanished into the ether while we learned about pretty much everyone else.) But the story ended the way it had to. Vecna and the Upside Down were vanquished. There was a terribly sad sacrifice.* The heroes won.

*I’m a firm believer in making firm decisions and sticking with them, so I hated that the Duffer Brothers made the choice to offer the possibility that Eleven may have slipped through the cracks and lived at the last minute. Not that I wanted her to die, but when you make a choice, stick with that choice. The audience experiences a huge emotional moment, watching their hero make a sacrifice that protects their loved ones, but costs them their life. We’re swept up in the moment, it breaks our hearts. And then, after we’ve accepted that as the truth, the rug gets pulled out from under us, cheapening that moment and creating a sting of betrayal. We just grieved for this loss. The characters grieved for this loss. And now it is undone. Yes, in this case they hedge it – it’s possible she lived, it’s possible she didn’t. You get to choose. It’s good Mike has a means to work through his grief, but even opening that option up cheapens her sacrifice. But Hopper’s speech to Mike sums it all up perfectly: Eleven made a choice. It was a choice for her and for everyone else. They would never be safe so long as she was around. It’s much braver to write that ending and stick with it than to waffle and say, “You know what? Maybe she did survive!” So, I’m opting to believe that it’s Mike’s way of processing his loss and that Eleven did, in fact, sacrifice herself to save everyone else.

Here’s the thing. I’m not necessarily disappointed with the finale. It wrapped up the story. There were some good performances (Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, and Nell Fisher were once again as solid as they come). It just didn’t do anything with finesse. It was overlong. The dialogue was shaggy as hell. There were far too many characters to service, despite the bloated run time. The subplot with the military ended up only being there as a means to prevent Eleven from surviving. The Mind Flayer turned out to be a necessary villain to fight at the last minute when it was clear killing Vecna was something that would only involve Eleven and we needed something for the rest of the characters to do – which was odd, since most people assumed the Mind Flayer was going to be a huge part of the final season and it just turned up at the last minute as a final boss with no real coherent explanation as to why (the hive mind theory…was pretty weak). But, you know what? Almost everyone got to live happily ever after, and that’s good, right?

When I started watching Stranger Things a whopping ten years ago, I was intrigued by its mix of 80s nostalgia and nerd culture. That final beat of season one, where Will coughs up the slug was a great mic drop. But the series ultimately became a case of diminishing returns as each season went by. There were some highlights in each – Max and Robin were great additions to the cast, the death of Bob was truly a heartbreaking moment – but the story and the mythology started to feel like they were spinning their wheels. No matter how far the heroes went, there was always another layer they needed to break through.* And once we hit the final season, the final confrontation with Vecna and the Mind Flayer just felt lame. And the attempt to try to get Henry to turn to the light at the last moment? Laughably bad writing and something that should have happened much earlier in the run. There were ways to streamline the story – there were so many planning discussions, so many of the same emotional beats over and over to hammer home points that the audience got the first time, the whole changing the structure of the Upside Down at the last minute choice added on a lot more time than was necessary – that weren’t taken.

*Yes, I know that each new season needed a new villain or quest. That’s how fantasy stories work. But as the seasons went on, it felt more and more like the mythology was getting away from the story – becoming unwieldy. Each new big bad needed to top the last, and then to have Vecna end up being so easily dispatched in the end? It was just so anti-climactic. This was the person responsible for so much pain over the five seasons. Who was so untouchable. And he was killed so easily? What a let down.

I’m not sure what the legacy of Strange Things will turn out to be. It will certainly be remembered for launching the careers of some exceptional actors. And for being a television phenomenon – after all, how many television shows spawn a Broadway play? But I suspect it’s not going to have staying power in the long run. The series started with a bang – and a really excellent first season – and then ebbed and flowed throughout the rest of its run. And while its final season was certainly competent – it didn’t fall apart like some other huge fantasy epics have – it didn’t offer up a taut, smart final chapter. The series staggered over the finish line, complete but long and exhausting. It’s hard to land a show as big as this one, though, and the Duffer Brothers managed to get it there. So, at least that’s something. But, in the end, Stranger Things didn’t live up to its promise. It was just fine.