Netflix Stranger Things Season 5: Hawkins’ endgame is a must-watch

After nearly a decade of supernatural thrills, dimensional portals and nostalgic 1980s glory, the Hawkins gang returns for their grand finale, and yes, it still packs a punch. With a jaw-dropping budget of $480 million (yes, you read that right, even more than any Avengers movie), the Duffer Brothers have essentially transformed this final season into a series of supersized, movie-like episodes, each mounted with the scale of a theatrical release. And despite all that spectacle, the show hasn’t forgotten its heart.

The first four episodes plunge us back into Hawkins under military quarantine, where the government has sealed off the town following the Vecna-induced catastrophe that tore a massive rift through its centre. As the disappearance anniversary of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) looms, the familiar dread settles back in like an unwelcome guest. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) finds herself forced back into hiding as the military intensifies its hunt for her, while the rest of the gang scrambles to prepare for showdown.

The action kicks off when Holly Wheeler mysteriously vanishes, leading Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) to theorise that her “imaginary friend” Mr Whatsit, inspired by fantasy novel ‘A Wrinkle in Time’, might have been terrifyingly real all along. Meanwhile, Eleven follows a Demogorgon through a gate into the Upside Down and reunites with Jim Hopper (David Harbour), embarking on a desperate search for Holly until they encounter a giant wall surrounding Hawkins’ edge.

Elsewhere, Lucas (Caleb) devotedly tends to a comatose Max (Sadie Sink), hoping against hope she will wake up, while Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Steve (Joe Keery) find themselves awkwardly competing for Nancy’s attention when they cross paths with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). The plot thickens when Hopper and Eleven infiltrate a military base intending to kill Vecna and make a shocking discovery about the true nature of the military’s prisoner.

The performances here hit differently because everyone involved knows this is the last dance. Noah finally gets the material he deserved for years, with Will’s storyline weaving his queerness into his psychic connection to Vecna in ways that feel authentic. The Duffer Brothers explicitly designed this season to bring everything full circle back to Will, whose disappearance started this entire saga. Brown transforms Eleven from a traumatised child-soldier into a confident warrior. Harbour and Ryder commit fully to their roles.

The Duffer Brothers are swinging for the fences with their direction and it shows in every frame. The Upside Down has evolved from eerie mystery into a hellscape filled with grotesque set pieces and monstrous armies. The production scale is unprecedented for TV, with crowd-heavy action sequences and VFX that blur the line between TV and cinema. While unlimited resources expand the scope, it sometimes diminish the depth. The mythology has become dense, occasionally relying on borrowed plot elements, with reference points shifting from ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ to ‘A Wrinkle in Time’. Yet when the Duffers nail those character-driven moments, the emotions cut cleanly through all the extra plot.

Season 5 delivers grand entertainment that rewards a decade of investment. The season is more geographically focused than its predecessor, resulting in tighter runtimes without Season 4’s bloat. This proves a show can age and still hold onto its soul. Fans are already calling it “brain-rewiring” television, with social media erupting over the first four episodes released in Volume 1. With Volume 2 dropping on Christmas and the finale on New Year’s Eve, this sprawling, sometimes messy, often thrilling journey is about to reach its destination, and Hawkins has never felt more alive, even as it teeters on the edge of oblivion.