Season 5 of “Stranger Things” flips the series upside down

Netflix’s “Stranger Things” has undeniably been one of the most culturally impactful shows to come out in the past ten years. Since its initial season’s release in 2016, the show has widely shaped pop culture, even going so far as to cause a resurgence in some aspects of 80s art, style, and music, when the show is set. And this year, the decade-long story is coming to an end.

Volume 1 of the fifth season of “Stranger Things” was released on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. It was highly anticipated for many reasons, but importantly, season four had ended on a cliffhanger, leaving fans to frantically speculate during the three years between seasons. Interestingly, though, season five didn’t pick up right from the cliffhanger, but instead started with an 18-month timeskip. 

This timeskip was divisive among fans, mostly because of the cliffhanger, but there are arguments in favor of it. Freshman Eliza Blount thinks that it was still handled well and worked in the context of the show. “It made sense. It would be difficult to show the transition into the new [world] they were living in. So it makes sense that they jumped right in instead of having to set everything up again,” he explains.

Robin, as a character, was prominently featured in Volume 1, from her radio show to her relationship with another character. Her radio scenes in particular highlighted another important aspect of the show: the music. Junior Maddie Plaia offers her thoughts on the careful selection of the music featured in this final season. “They played “Upside Down” by Diana Ross. It's really funny that they've definitely been sitting on that song for ten years, then used it for the conclusion,” she says. “Obviously, the song is so perfect for the nature of the show. It was such a moment.”

But alongside her musical flair, Robin also developed a bond with another main character in the show: Will Byers. The two shared quite a few scenes, culminating in an epic twist for Will’s character arc and the season as a whole. The fourth and final episode of Volume 1, in fact, is one of the most highly-rated in the entire series, and for good reason. Plaia describes her live reaction while watching the final scene. 

“So I'm sitting there with my sister. All of a sudden, you see the demogorgon freeze in the air, and I jump up, then it cuts to the next one, the next one, and I jump off the bed. I'm probably waking up everyone in my house. Then they show Will with his powers, and my sister and I are shrieking at the top of our lungs. I was gagged.”

Blount also adds that the scene, alongside Will’s continuity and development as a character throughout the show, was a step up from seasons past. “I loved Robin's speech when Will was getting his powers and how his memories were shown as a film… It seemed very cohesive to me. It all fit together well. I feel like previous seasons have been a little bit more jumbled. [This season] flowed better,” he says. 

Volume 1 was packed absolutely full with satisfying moments, from classic songs like “Upside Down” played in combination with stellar editing and cinematography to immensely relieving character introductions like Max’s. Plaia says that it’s some of the best throughout the series. “This season is really huge. I don't think that the Duffer Brothers and actors in the show were exaggerating how grand this season's gonna be… It’s shaping up to be such a great and epic conclusion for one of the biggest streaming shows of all time,” she explains.

Volume 2 of “Stranger Things” releases today, Dec. 25, on Netflix at 8 p.m. Make sure to check it out!