This is the controversial ending of Stranger Things and the fate of Eleven.

The story of Hawkins has now come to an end on Netflix.After nearly a decade as an emblem of the platform, the fifth season of Stranger Things The journey of Eleven, Mike, and company comes to an end. with a final episode that felt more like a feature film than a simple series episode. The broadcast of The world of law, premiered at 2:00 a.m. on January 1st, Spanish peninsular time, The service even collapsed for a few moments., a clear sign of the level of expectation that existed in Spain and throughout the world, fueled by the Stranger Things final trailer.

This finale, lasting just over two hours, condenses virtues and flaws of a fiction that has marked an era for streamingA great battle against Vecna ​​and the Mind Flayer, a emotional climax surrounding Eleven's sacrifice, a long and nostalgia-filled epilogue and a good collection of questionable decisions that have sparked debate among critics and viewers. What For some, it's a dignified and emotional ending., For others, it falls short in terms of risk and has too many belated explanations..

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A final chapter that leaves many controversies.

The discussion about the latest episode of Stranger Things is getting intense.Specialized podcasts, television review websites, and opinion columns have dissected that final visit to the Upside Down shot by shot. Everything is analyzed: from whether the duel with Vecna ​​and the Mind Flayer lived up to expectations, to whether Eleven's farewell—or her possible survival—fits with the series' 80s spirit. Even the ratings on sites like IMDb have become a barometer of the show's reception: the The final episode scores around 7,9, far from the suspense that other high-profile television finales carry.

Anyone who wants to review the ending in detail, of course, He will have to face a mountain of spoilersCritics and analysts have been reviewing the best and worst of the finale, from the scenes that resonated deeply to those decisions that, for many, They leave a bittersweet feelingThere is praise for the farewell tone, the return to the more recognizable Hawkins, and the emotional weight of Eleven's sacrifice; but also Complaints about the excess of subplots, the weaknesses in the mythology of the Upside Down, and a final season that many consider to be longer than necessary..

If you also grew up with the Hawkins gang, The finale is now available on Netflix for leisurely viewing, and if needed, you can pause for discussion at each key scene.Because few recent cancellations have generated so much discussion about what it really means to say goodbye to a series that has defined the way we watch television for almost ten years.

A grand final battle against Vecna ​​and the Mind Flayer

The world of law picks up where the penultimate chapter left off.The group launches Operation Magic Bean: taking advantage of the approaching Abyss to reach, via a gigantic radio antenna in Hawkins, the entrance to Vecna's castle in that hostile dimension. Meanwhile, Dr. Kay's army attempts to close in on Eleven, who once again submerges herself in a laboratory tank to enter her enemy's mental void.

In parallel, Henry Creel / Vecna ​​continues his ritual with the captured childrenwhich he uses to embody the Mind Flayer's ultimate form and bring the Abyss closer to Earth. The series unfolds on two fronts: on one hand, the physical action in the Abyss, with Hopper, Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and the rest advancing toward it. organic castle that is, In fact, the arachnid incarnation of the Mind FlayerOn the other hand, the psychic struggle inside Vecna's mindwhere Eleven, Max, Kali and the children she has under her control try to thwart her plans from within.

The episode plays with classic suspense: The Abyss crashes into the radio tower; Steve is about to fall into the void. and is saved at the last second by Jonathan; the army storms the lab with their particular “kryptonite” to nullify Eleven and Kali’s powers; and Henry delves into his most traumatic memory, the one in which He kills a scientist to keep a mysterious briefcase containing a stone connected to the Mind Flayer.That rock, which functions almost like a cursed ring, serves as an explanation for its origin, although For many critics, it's an uninspired twist for a villain who had been years in the making..

Will, a key figure since the first season, is once again central to this phaseHe manages to enter Henry's mind and remind him that he too was a victim of the Mind Flayer, that his evil did not come from nowhere, and that he could change sides. Neighbor, however, He refuses to redeem himself and acknowledges that he had the option to resist but chose not to.It is one of the attempts to give moral depth to the antagonist, which, according to several analyses, falls short.

A sacrifice in the Upside Down and a trail of casualties

The army's offensive adds another layer of tension to an already fraught episodeDr. Kay's troops storm the Upside Down laboratory, capture Kali, and try to locate Eleven at any cost. During the confrontation, Hopper even accidentally fires at the capsule where she is submerged, mentally manipulated by Vecna ​​to hinder the plan. Murray's intervention, blowing up a helicopter with a grenade, allows the group to regain some ground, but The situation ends with Kali's death at the hands of the colonel and with Eleven executing the soldier. forcing him to shoot himself.

While that is happening, In the Abyss, the full version of the Mind Flayer is finally revealed.A gigantic, arachnid-like monster that had previously only been seen as a shadow. The protagonists grapple with a battle that, visually, recalls the mall fight from the third season, but on a much larger scale: flamethrowers instead of fireworks, Molotov cocktails instead of fireworks, and two characters with telekinetic powers instead of just one.

The decisive moment arrives when Eleven plunges into the Mind Flayer itself to face Vecna ​​head-onWith Will's mental support, he manages to tip the scales, while from outside the gang traps the creature in a ring of fire. Joyce, practically absent for much of the season, saves the coup de grâce: She is the one who finishes off the villain, beheading him in a scene that seeks to settle old scores with the monster that destroyed his family.

Vecna ​​and the Mind Flayer defeated, Hopper activates the detonation of the core that holds the Upside Down together.These are the final minutes before that dimension disintegrates, with When Doves Cry y Purple Rain Prince's music sets the tone for intimate tragedy and grand spectacle. Just when it seems the group is about to return without further consequences, a An army ambush at the portal's exit forces Eleven to make a radical decision.

Hunted by the military and aware that her mere existence would always be a potential weapon in the hands of the government, Eleven decides to stay in the Upside Down and disappear with itThrough a mental projection, she says goodbye to Mike, asking him to convey her gratitude to the others for teaching her what it means to have friends, and entrusting him with the task of understanding, someday, why she has chosen this path. The scene is accompanied by a montage of memories between them and Prince's music, underscored by a phrase that has gone viral on social media: “I'll always be with you. I love you.” When the countdown ends, The Upside Down explodes and Eleven disappears… at least in the eyes of her friends..

A long final stretch between grief and the end of childhood

When the action plots seem to have reached a conclusion, There's still almost another hour of footage leftThat's where much of the criticism, and also much of the praise, is concentrated. For some viewers, it's an excessive epilogue that unnecessarily drags out the farewell; others argue that, in a series that has always revolved around the transition from childhood to adolescence, it made sense to dedicate time to showing what became of each character.

Eighteen months after the explosion of the Upside Down, Hawkins recovers from what is officially considered a major earthquakeThe town pays tribute to the dead, including Eddie, whom Dustin remembers by wearing a Hellfire Club t-shirt during his graduation speech. The scene serves to underscore one of the ideas that the episode repeats time and again: chaos can destroy, but it can also unite and transform, and the gang has grown precisely in that shared disorder.

The older characters have also gone their separate ways. Steve has become a high school baseball coach, Nancy works as a journalist, Jonathan is trying to make a name for himself as a filmmaker in New York, and Robin is studying at a university in Massachusetts.They share one last conversation on the rooftop of the local radio station, promising to meet at least once a month to keep their friendship alive through distance. It's a conclusion that reinforces the feeling that the teenagers from the first season have definitively crossed over into adulthood.

For Hopper and Joyce, the ending takes the form of a second chanceHe receives a job offer in Montauk—a nod to the project's original title and the conspiracy theory that inspired the series—but, most importantly, he finally gets to sit down to dinner with Joyce at Enzo's. During their conversation, Hopper talks about grieving for his daughter Sara and how the loss of Eleven forces him to confront those ghosts again, this time without hiding behind his sheriff's uniform or his rage. The episode presents their relationship as one of the few bright spots that remain amidst so much destruction.

In the youngest block of the gang, Graduation marks the symbolic end of childhoodDustin delivers a speech that attempts to vindicate chaos's power to break down social barriers—though many critics point out that the series had never delved deeply enough into this theme—and Lucas and Max emerge as a solid couple after having literally survived the hell of the Upside Down. Will finally appears as a character who can live his sexuality openly, while Mike remains trapped in a grief he can't quite process.

The final touch, as many suspected, comes with a final game of Dungeons & Dragons in the Wheeler basementThe series comes full circle, returning to where it began: a table, character sheets, dice, and a group of friends imagining adventures. After saying goodbye to their fantasy alter egos, the group asks Mike to narrate each of their futures, offering glimpses into possible life paths: Will openly living his life, Dustin as a diligent college student, Lucas and Max together, and Mike himself becoming a writer of stories.

In that context, Mike shares his theory about Eleven's true fate with the rest of the group.Remember that, upon crossing back to Hawkins through the portal, she couldn't use her powers because the military antennas were blocking her abilities. From there, the possibility arises that, with Kali's help, she projected an illusion of herself on the other side of the wall to make everyone believe she had died while escaping to the Law World. It's a hypothesis that no one confirms, but it serves as an emotional release for both the characters and the viewers.

Is Eleven alive? The calculated ambiguity of the Duffer brothers

The question that has been asked most often since the premiere of the finale is simple to ask and difficult to answer.Has Eleven really died? The final scene in Hawkins and Matt and Ross Duffer's subsequent statements to media outlets such as Variety y The Hollywood Reporter They make it clear that the ambiguity is deliberate. The creators explain that they never considered a version of the ending in which Eleven physically reappeared in the basement to play another game; for them, the ending was about showing that the "magic" leaves Hawkins so that its protagonists can grow up.

At the same time, The Duffer brothers have refused to definitively confirm or deny Mike's theory.They've mentioned that even within the creative team there are different interpretations, including Millie Bobby Brown's, and that revealing the "truth" would weaken the ending. The series, they argue, wants the audience to decide what to believe, just as the characters choose to cling to the idea that Eleven is still alive somewhere, perhaps far from laboratories, portals, and government agencies.

This type of ending, which leaves room for the viewer to complete the story, It's not new in recent televisionSome analyses compare it to the outcome of The Leftoverswhere a possible story was also presented that each person could accept or reject, depending on their need for comfort. In the case of Stranger ThingsThe most widespread interpretation is that Mike's theory functions more as a grieving tool than as a real clue about Eleven's whereabouts: imagining that she is still out there allows them to move on without getting caught up in the tragedy.

What the Duffer brothers have made clear is another key issue: There are no plans to continue the story of the Hawkins gangThe closing credits and Mike's gesture of shutting the basement door symbolize, according to them, that this stage is complete. Anything that comes next in the form of spin-offs, animated series, or derivative projects will not pick up the main storyline or reopen the Upside Down as we know it, although the franchise's universe will remain very much present on Netflix.

Mixed reception: virtues, stumbles and the weight of expectations

Once the initial shock of the premiere had passed, The final assessments have settled between moderate enthusiasm and restrained disappointment.On IMDb, The world of law It hovers around a 7,9 with tens of thousands of votes, placing it below the series' best episodes but far from a disaster. Only a few episodes out of the entire production, like The Lost Sister o The bridge, are rated worse.

In the field of professional criticism, one idea is repeated: The ending is more exciting than convincing in terms of internal coherence.Many critics point out that the final season has dragged on longer than necessary, with its division into three batches of episodes and lengthy segments dedicated to explaining the Upside Down, the Abyss, and the origin of the Mind Flayer, which sometimes slow the narrative pace. The very revelation of the stone that grants Henry Creel his power is one of the most debated points, as it's considered a convenient way out of a mythology that was never as meticulously planned as it was made out to be.

It is also emphasized that The series has accumulated characters and missions to the point of diluting the dramatic focus.Some wonder why characters like Joyce or Dr. Kay become so underdeveloped in the final act, or why certain plot threads—like Henry's teenage past in Hawkins, coinciding with Joyce and Hopper—are hinted at only to have no real impact. Other criticisms point to the army's lack of real threat, despite occupying a significant amount of screen time, and the feeling that certain conflicts are resolved with a somewhat contrived ease.

In response to those criticisms, There is a consensus that, when the series unabashedly embraces spectacle and emotion, it continues to work like a charm.The final battle against Vecna ​​and the Mind Flayer, the scene of Eleven's sacrifice, and the epilogue focused on the transition to adulthood are often mentioned among the strengths of the finale. The use of songs like Purple Rain o Heroes It reinforces a nostalgic component that, although some consider it close to emotional blackmail, has been a hallmark of the show since the first season.

Another aspect that divides the audience is the absence of major deaths among the classic protagonistsIn an era marked by the impact of endings like that of Game of ThronesMany assumed that the closure of Stranger Things It would have involved a more significant death toll. Since that wasn't the case—beyond Kali and Eleven's uncertain fate—some viewers feel the series has been too conservative. Those who defend the ending, on the other hand, point out that the spirit of the '80s has always leaned more towards lighthearted epilogues than carnage.

On social media and in Spanish and European media, The debate is still very much alive.Some appreciate that, despite its missteps, the production opted for a heartwarming conclusion focused on the characters' growth, while others criticize certain inconsistencies and the excessive length. What seems undeniable is that few recent finales have generated such detailed analyses, such elaborate theories, and such heated discussions among different generations of viewers.

With the Wheeler basement door closing and Holly and her friends taking the place of the original gang at the game table, Stranger Things bids farewell as one of the key phenomena of the streaming eraIt may have lost some of its freshness in the final stretch and not all of its mysteries are solved, but its last episode manages to capture, for the last time, that mix of youthful adventure, fantasy horror and melancholy that made it an unmissable event for millions of homes in Spain, Europe and the rest of the world.

Alberto Navarro

I am a technology enthusiast who has turned his "geek" interests into a profession. I have spent more than 10 years of my life using cutting-edge technology and tinkering with all kinds of programs out of pure curiosity. Now I have specialized in computer technology and video games. This is because for more than 5 years I have been writing for various websites on technology and video games, creating articles that seek to give you the information you need in a language that is understandable to everyone.

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