The Best Moments From The Stranger Things Finale
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Does anyone else feel like they lost a dear friend? It hurts to even write this, but Stranger Things has come to an end. The show that dominated pop culture for nearly a decade and taught the world about friendship, love, and acceptance has finished its final campaign. The two-hour finale of Stranger Things Five was an emotional, thrilling, heart-stopping (yes, I’m still mad at the Duffer Brothers for pulling that trick on us), and bittersweet closing chapter that perfectly wrapped up the journeys of each party member. It’s time to take a break from the mourning and celebrate the legacy of Stranger Things.Let’s break down our favorite moments from the finale. Spoiler warning!
Holly the Heroic and Delightful Derek Take a Stand
Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly) and Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher),were among the kids Vecna kidnapped this season. Holly’s journey through Henry Creel’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) sick mind with Max (Sadie Sink) helped Holly discover her true bravery. Once the kids were without Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), and Max to lead the way, Holly took charge in full Wheeler fashion and got her friends to the cave Henry fears most.
While Derek betrayed Holly in Volume Two by not taking her side against Vecna, the delightful kiddo redeemed himself by saving Holly from Henry’s clutches, and of course, he delivered his iconic profane line that will go down in history.
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Fans Finally Got the Enzo’s Date
The nearly hour-long epilogue shows what became of the surviving party members, including Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour). Finally making good on the season three plot point, the Duffer Brothers wrote Joyce and Hop’s final scene to be their long-awaited date at Enzo’s, where Hopper asks Joyce to marry him, and she says yes. The two also made plans to move to Montauk for a job Hopper was offered. Hardcore fans might remember that Montauk was the original setting and title for Stranger Things.
Although Hopper lost Eleven, it’s great to see he isn’t letting depression consume him as he did when he lost his first daughter, Sara. Joyce also gets her wish of her children being safe, settling down, and leaving Hawkins behind.
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Eddie Gets His Wish
Season four introduced fans to Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), who stole fans’ hearts before his untimely death. No one was more affected by the rebel’s death than Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), who goes through season five haunted by the memory of his friend.
Although Eddie didn’t get to walk the graduation stage himself, Dustin made sure to honor Eddie’s original plan. Dustin gives his valedictorian speech and proclaims that the infamous Hellfire Club lives on! He then snatches his diploma from the uptight principal, flips him off, and runs off the stage. This is exactly what Eddie dreamed of doing at his graduation, and Dustin made sure that wish came true, raising some hell at Hawkins High one last time.
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Hopper’s Speech
Leave it to James Hopper to make fans sob uncontrollably season after season. Hopper is famous for his uplifting speeches. I still can’t listen to his season three letter he wrote El without shedding a tear…or tears. When Hopper learns El plans to end her life after the final battle, her adopted dad delivers a rousing, emotional speech telling El there’s a future past the Upside Down. Not only did it reach Eleven, but it reached her jaded sister, Kali, who finally has a change of heart that changes the game.
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Henry’s Backstory and Answers About the Mind Flayer
Throughout the final season, fans have speculated why Henry Creel is so terrified to enter a cave that Max stumbles upon while running away from him in his memories. The finale reveals that this cave is where a young Henry found and murdered a scientist who shot at him. Henry had wandered off from his Boy Scouts troop, and his life was forever changed.
Older Henry watches this traumatic memory and relives the moment he opened the briefcase the scientist had been desperately protecting. Inside was a stone that harnessed the Mind Flayer’s source, which consumes Henry.
Through the hive mind, Will (Noah Schnapp) witnesses Henry relive this memory and realizes Henry was the first victim of the Mind Flayer and has been influenced by it ever since. As Will tries to appeal to Henry’s humanity, the villain reveals he’s beyond saving, and doubles down on his mission to destroy Earth.
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Movie Friday? Movie Friday.
Season four ended with Max and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) making plans to see a movie that upcoming Friday, only for Max to be killed by Vecna. Although Eleven was able to revive Max, she lived life stuck in Vecna’s twisted mind for the next two years.
As Mike tells the story of what happened to each core member of the party in the epilogue, it’s revealed that Lucas and Max finally go on their movie date and live out their lives happily together.
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Nancy Vs. the Mind Flayer
Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), the icon that you are! The oldest Wheeler sibling was out for blood this season. With the fate of her sister, Holly Wheeler, on the line, Nancy didn’t hesitate to volunteer herself as bait to distract the Mind Flayer. At the same time, the party tried to save the kids. Nancy put fear aside and fought for the ones she loves, which nearly killed her. Luckily, Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) showed up with an assist to buy her some more time.
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Jonathan Saves the Day, Twice!
Who else felt their heart stop when Steve slipped? For a decade, fans have been praying to the Netflix gods that Steve “The Hair” Harrington (Joe Keery) would make it out alive. The Duffer Brothers decided to give fans one last scare for the fan favorite. Fans screamed as Harrington fell off the radio tower, and the screen cut to black. Luckily, Jonathan saved Steve at the last possible moment and squashed their macho feud once and for all.
The older Byers brother also saved his ex-girlfriend, Nancy Wheeler, from the Mind Flayer in an epic scene with a flamethrower. Thank goodness for Jonathan Byers!
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Joyce Byers Kills Vecna
After Eleven and Will’s epic team-up to disarm and impale Vecna, the party realizes he’s still clinging on to life. Without hesitation, Joyce takes her axe, a callback to season one, delivers the first f-bomb of the entire series, and beheads Vecna.
With each swing of the axe, the camera cuts to the party members and jumps between the axe striking and the pain Vecna’s caused them all over the seasons. Nancy remembers losing Barb (Shannon Purser), Lucas remembers Max dying in his arms, Eleven remembers the lab massacre, and the final blow is delivered as Will remembers crying into Joyce’s arms in season two as he screams, “I just want this to be over”. In the end, Joyce ended this for all the kids, and Hawkins, which makes perfect sense for the story and her character.
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Eleven’s Sacrifice
After defeating Vecna, all seemed well for the party. However, as the military closes in on the group in Hawkins, Mike realizes Eleven isn’t with them anymore. He looks at the gate to the Upside Down and sees El standing at it. Fighting off soldiers, Mike reaches Eleven in the void, where Eleven explains that the only way to end this was for her to die. Mike begs Eleven to stay, a heartbreaking callback to season one’s finale. El tells Mike to thank everyone for being her friend, the two share one last kiss, and El kicks Mike out of the void. The party watches as El lets the exploding Upside Down consume her, and the screen cuts to black. The entire scene emulates the end of season one, where Eleven sacrifices herself to close the gate. However, there won’t be a resurrection this time. Or so we think…
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I Believe.
The final scene of the series calls back to the first time we met the core four. Lucas, Max, Will, and Dustin conspire to call upon the Mage to help them win the campaign Mike created, while bittersweet nostalgia shines through the screen. As the party celebrates their win, Mike tells the story of what happened to the Mage, which represents Eleven. He reveals his theory that Eleven survived the night the Upside Down blew up.
Mike explains that Dr. Kay’s (Linda Hamilton) sensory machines, which weakened El’s powers, were on when Eleven died. However, El was able to send Mike to the void to speak to her one last time. How could El have done that if she had no powers? Mike proposes the theory that Kali’s final act before dying was to cast an illusion of Eleven at the gate, and that the real El escaped into the Hawkins tunnels. Dr. Kay and her henchmen watched El die, which would mean Eleven wouldn’t be hunted anymore.
As Mike tells this story, Eleven is seen hiking a mountain where she finds the waterfalls she and Mike daydreamed about. Max asks Mike how they can be certain this theory is correct, to which Mike confirms they can’t be sure. However, Mike tells the party he believes El got away. All the party members deliver their final lines, which are all “I believe,” as they fight away tears. Each character then places their Dungeons and Dragons binder on the shelf and ascends the stairs of the Wheelers’ basement. A perfect ending to a perfect story.
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Stranger Things Five is now streaming on Netflix. Let us know what your favorite part of the Stranger Things finale was on our Instagram @reeltalkandreviews!
