After waiting for three years, one of the most popular Netflix series launched its final season over Thanksgiving break. The the creators of the show, the Duffer Brothers, decided to release this season in a slightly different manner from past seasons, by breaking it up into three volumes. The first volume, containing four episodes, was released on November 26. Volume 2 is set to release on Christmas Day, with three new episodes. The last episode finale is expected to last around two hours and is scheduled to release on New Year’s Eve. Having these episodes revealed at different spaced-out times allows viewers to come up with their own theories and thoughts before the next volume comes out.
“Personally, it’s been my favorite season so far because of how much more intense it is compared to the other seasons,” sophomore Wren Booker said. “It’s a lot more action-packed, and it didn’t really have any type of buildup. It just jumped right into it.”
The new season shines the spotlight on two new characters this season. One of whom is Holly Wheeler, the younger sister of Mike. She has been featured throughout the seasons in several small scenes; however, this season, she is one of the main characters. The other new character is Derek, one of Holly’s classmates in school, who originally was spotted in trailers making fans skeptical, but after the show aired the feedback on the character was overall positive.
“Derek is just flipping hilarious. That little actor is just owning that part so well. I love that they brought in Holly more. She’s a huge part of the story this year, and I didn’t expect that. Adding more characters has added depth to the story,” faculty member Chris Allen said.
While the show added new actors, the original cast from season 1 in 2016 are still the main features. These actors have grown up on the show, starting the filming process at around 11-13 years old, and ending in their 20s.
“The actors look a lot older since they’re 25, and their character is supposed to be around 17,” freshman Evy Molnar said.
The leading villain from season 4, Vecna, has carried over into this season, even after the characters assumed they defeated him. Vecna’s overall appearance is a little different from the last season, adding to the show’s frightening nature even more.
“I think he’s more strange because he has thorns growing out of his shoulders, and his arm reaches out longer than it used to be. I think it’s kind of scarier,” said sophomore Brier Lanier.
For the final season, the Duffer Brothers decided to release the episodes at different times rather than all at once. These volumes are released in three parts spread out between Thanksgiving and the New Year.
“It gives you time to enjoy it and really experience it instead of releasing it all at once or at a random time in the year since it’s during holiday break,” said Booker.
Some viewers, like Booker, enjoy how the volumes are released on specific holidays because it adds to the excitement. However, others have different opinions specifically regarding Christmas Day.
“I wish they would wait until the day after Christmas or like midnight on Christmas because everybody’s doing stuff on Christmas Day. If they had released it the day after Christmas or midnight on Christmas, that would have been preferable to me,” said Allen.
The final episode of season five is set to premiere on New Year’s Eve. However, Stranger Things is breaking Netflix history by releasing it in theaters. Netflix usually does not show their films on the big screen, keeping them only on their streaming platform. This allows the show’s long-awaited finale to give its viewers a different, exciting experience.
Since only the first volume has been released, and the next one is still some time away, this allows viewers to dive into the series and find more clues or hints into how things could play out. Chris Allen shares his theory for how he thinks Vecna is going to be defeated.
“When they were playing the Dungeons and Dragons game to beat Vecna, one person rolled an 11, and it wasn’t enough to beat Vecna, meaning Eleven the character wasn’t enough to beat Vecna,” Allen said. “The next person rolled a 20, which beat Vecna. Eleven’s sister is Eight. Will just took on Vecna’s powers, and Vecna is one. 11 plus one plus eight equals 20. So it’s going to take 11, 8, and one together to beat Vecna.”
Many other theories and suggestions have been swamping the internet and social media pages, leading to more connections throughout the “Stranger Things” community and expectations for the rest of the season.
“Someone’s going to die, and I think it’s going to be Will or Eleven. People were saying that Will is kind of like Harry Potter, and Vecna is like Voldemort. So I think Will or Eleven is going to die,” Molnar said. “If Steve dies, I’m going to be so sad.”