Stranger Things concluded its five-season run last night with “The Right Side Up,” a bloated, politically preachy finale that wrapped up storylines without delivering emotional payoff. The episode clocked in at over two hours, though seven to ten minutes of that is extended credits, and spent its runtime on forced character moments and ham-fisted messaging that felt out of place in a show set in 1980s Indiana.
The series peaked at the end of season one and never recovered. The finale confirms what fans have suspected since season three: the Duffer Brothers didn’t have a plan, and they’ve been coasting on nostalgia and budget increases while the writing deteriorated.
