42 episodes and nearly 50 hours, the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, wraps up with a fifth season. It has been almost four years since season 4 has aired and nearly a full decade since the first season, which has created a lot of buzz around this final season.
Brinley Cook ‘28 says, “I’m excited to see what all goes down with El and the rest of the group”.
This season takes place in the fall of 1987 and has been reported to be an 18-month time jump from the previous season. The viewer will watch the group’s journey in Hawkins, Indiana, and will resume where the viewer left off at the shocking events where there were four openings into the Upside Down, going across the town of Hawkins. The residents of Hawkins are left in fear as the quiet town is now being held in a military quarantine as these two dimensions merge. In this season, as seen in the teasers and trailers released by Netflix and The Duffer Brothers, Eleven and the rest of the characters seem to be trying to defeat Vecna, with Eleven’s powers being notably stronger and more powerful.
The Duffer Brothers have stated that this season will have emotional and narrative stakes, as well as having themes of friendship, bravery, and loss. As seen in the trailer, the group of Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max, Eleven, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce, and Hopper will return to Hawkins lab and to the Upside Down to fight the “main” villain, Vecna, who is played by Jaime Campbell.
With growing hype around the new season, TikTok, YouTube, and many other forms of social media have gone crazy with season five predictions. Ashika Papishetty ‘28 predicts, “I think that a character is going to die and it is probably going to be Will, and that the ending will be bittersweet by bringing closure to the show”. As the anticipation for the new season builds, fans all around the world have been preparing for the emotional finale. The Duffer Brothers have previously promised that this season will be the most intense and bittersweet season to date, ending the storyline.
Whether any of the characters’ fates line up with fan predictions or the story takes unexpected turns, fans have braced for an exciting and unforgettable end to this series.
