{"id":3424,"date":"2025-12-28T13:25:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=3424"},"modified":"2025-12-28T13:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:25:59","slug":"netflix-fans-terrified-long-running-series-set-to-wrap-up-with-underwhelming-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=3424","title":{"rendered":"Netflix fans terrified long-running series set to wrap up with \u2018underwhelming\u2019 finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Stranger Things<\/a>\u00a0fans are waiting with bated breath to see how the beloved series will finally end.<\/p>\n

In 2016 the sci-fi drama burst onto our screens. Created by the Duffer brothers, the show was set in the 1980s and followed the residents of the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, after a young girl with psychokinetic abilities opened a gateway between Earth and a hostile alternate dimension known as the Upside Down.<\/p>\n

It was an instant success, quickly becoming one of the streaming services most-watched shows ever, going on to\u00a0continue to break records across its subsequent four seasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since its release, the cast of the show has included\u00a0Millie Bobby Brown<\/a>,\u00a0Noah Schnapp<\/a>,\u00a0Gaten Matarazzo<\/a>, Finn Wolfhard,\u00a0Sadie Sink<\/a>, Winona Ryder and\u00a0David Harbour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last month, after a two-year wait, the first episodes of the fifth and final season were finally released \u2013\u00a0with Metro\u2019s review calling them a \u2018masterpiece\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Get personalised updates on all things Netflix<\/h2>\n
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Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro\u2019s TV Newsletter.<\/p>\n

Sign up to our newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and then select your show in the link we\u2019ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Boxing Day another three episodes dropped<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 with the epic two-hour finale set to be released on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

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\"STRANGER<\/div>\n
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However, after watching the most recent episodes, even passionate fans of the series are questioning whether the creators are going to \u2018stick the ending\u2019.<\/p>\n

The second volume consists of three more episodes: Chapters Five to Seven, titled Shock Jock, Escape from Camazotz and The Bridge.<\/p>\n

Kicking off after Will Byers (Schnapp) used his newly found superpowers to kill three Demogorgons, the gang then had to come to terms with the fact that\u00a0Vecna had managed to kidnap the 12 children they\u2019d been trying to protect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Along the way a mind-blowing twist that turns the entire show on its head is dropped, while several characters also come incredibly close to meeting their end.<\/p>\n

However, critics and viewers alike have admitted the second batch of episodes have been somewhat underwhelming.<\/p>\n

\u2018The first volume blew my mind, and I gave it an easy five stars. Volume two doesn\u2019t quite hit the same mark, as gripping as I still found the three new episodes. As long as the grand finale hits home, I can forgive a slight dip in the middle,\u2019 Metro\u2019s review read.<\/p>\n

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Much of this season has focused on Holly Wheeler and Max Mayfield(Picture: Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Volume two might not have reached the same level of magnificence that volume one did in my eyes, and the plot twist has the potential to split the fandom right now the middle, but I am optimistically staying firm in my belief that the two-hour episode coming on New Year\u2019s Day will be one of the best TV finales of all time. I just hope I\u2019m right.\u2019<\/p>\n

Echoing the same sentiment, The Guardian\u2019s review said: \u2018As things stand, the finale has a mountain of admin to battle through. Vecna needs to be defeated. Children need to be rescued. The world needs to be saved. The evil scientists \u2013 who started all this, remember \u2013 need to be stopped. And then, when all that is done, it somehow needs to find believable and distinct emotional denouements for (if I\u2019ve counted correctly) 17 characters.<\/p>\n

\u2018There is so much work to do in such a short space of time it\u2019s unfathomable how the Duffers can wrap a satisfying bow around such a sprawling mass. Then again, stranger things have happened. Let\u2019s talk again next week.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile The Standard added: \u2018No doubt the finale will be worth it. But with so many loose ends to tie up, characters who simply refuse to die, and a plot that\u2019s rapidly staggering under the weight of its own convoluted logic, the road to the summit has never felt so long, or slow.\u2019<\/p>\n

After tuning in, many viewers have also expressed concerns with how so many threads will be wrapped up in the finale.<\/p>\n

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\"STRANGER<\/div>
Some viewers are convinced El could be killed off (Picture: Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Me watching that Stranger Things volume 2 ending, very underwhelming,\u2019 user HYBRld posted on X.<\/p>\n

\u2018This season of Stranger Things is straight up not good. No stakes to anything because no main character is ever gonna die, Minshewmania shared.<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel like my biggest thing with Stranger Things 5 is that the expectations were huge and there were so many questions needing answers\u2026we were given answers to some things and then a lot of filler.. feels like the ending is going to be disappointing compared to what it could be,\u2019 Caleb wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018Volume 2 flopped so hard that I\u2019m not even sad about Stranger Things ending in 4 days and I\u2019ve been a die-hard fan since I was 14,\u2019 H3LLFIRELIVES added.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the series finale, the Duffer brothers addressed fan speculation that a string of main characters could be on the chopping block \u2013 especially after the number of deaths in previous seasons.<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, man\u2026I don\u2019t know what I would say to them,\u2019 Ross Duffer told\u00a0Today.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"STRANGER<\/div>
The final battle with Vecna is just days away(Picture: Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I mean, obviously, it\u2019s (an) emotional ending to the show for a variety of factors. But I don\u2019t want to say too much.\u2019<\/p>\n

So far at the end of Vol.2 \u2013 no main character has been sacrificed, leading many to think a bloodbath in the final battle with Vecna could be ahead.<\/p>\n

\u2018I want people to brace themselves as they go into the finale,\u2019 Ross explained. But I can promise you it\u2019s not a Red Wedding situation, like from Game of Thrones. We\u2019re not gonna wipe out eight of our characters.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Matt Duffer added they were \u2018not doing anything for shock value\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018You have ideas of how they\u2019re gonna react, but you never know,\u2019 Matt said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes you put out a season, and what you think is gonna resonate with the fans does in fact resonate. And then there\u2019s elements that surprise you \u2013 things you think are going to really connect with them, don\u2019t. And then other things you weren\u2019t expecting were going to connect with them, really do.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is both a terrifying and really fun part of the process, which is actually putting something out that we put three and a half years into, but we\u2019re really proud of the season. I think the actors are really proud of the season. So hopefully, the fact that us, our writers and the actors are confident in it, we\u2019ll see.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Stranger Things\u00a0fans are waiting with bated breath to see how the beloved series will finally end. In 2016 the sci-fi drama burst onto our screens. Created by the Duffer brothers, the show was set in the 1980s and followed the residents of the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, after a young girl with psychokinetic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t