Game selection
Kena
Enterianment CB
TV Shows Movies Image
Fifa stadium
Fortnite Llama WP
LOL 320
Codes bg image
Smartphonemobile
Videos WP
Cod 320
Rocket League
Apex 320
DALL E 2024 09 17 17 03 06 A vibrant collage image that showcases various art styles from different video games all colliding together in a dynamic composition Include element
Logo copy
News 320 jinx
More EarlyGame
Esports arena

Polls
Razer blackhsark v2 review im test

Giveaways
Rocket league videos

Videos
Valorant Tournament

Events
English

Stranger Things Season 5 Is Awful, and Here Are 10 Reasons Why

1-10

Entertainment - December 29th 2025, 15:00 GMT+1
Max and holly stranger things 5 cropped processed by imagy

1. The show keeps pressing pause for ten-minute heart-to-hearts while the world is literally ending

When the clock is supposedly ticking, Stranger Things Season 5 keeps yanking the emergency brake for these luxurious, ten-minute feelings salons—right there in the middle of “we’re about to die” situations. It’s not that Will’s coming-out moment shouldn’t have space (it absolutely should), it’s that the season keeps staging emotional milestones like they’re happening in a calm, well-lit waiting room while the Upside Down politely holds. Add in scenes like Max and Holly getting extended talks before the portal situation resolves (again), and the tension stops feeling like tension and starts feeling like the show forgot it wrote a deadline. Instead of urgency, you get the odd sensation that Hawkins is running on movie-time, where minutes stretch into eternity whenever someone needs closure. | © Netflix

Jonathan and Nancy breaking up cropped processed by imagy

2. Some dialogue is so confusing it feels like you’re watching a deleted scene that got accidentally put back in

A few scenes don’t play as “complex emotions,” they play as “did we lose a page of the script?”—especially the Jonathan/Nancy breakup-but-not-a-breakup moment that has people arguing about what was even decided. The intention might be messy realism, but Stranger Things Season 5 sometimes writes these conversations like they’re trying to be poetic and evasive at the same time, which turns simple emotional beats into riddles. Characters talk in circles, say half-truths, then pivot to subtext-as-text, and you’re left doing mental gymnastics to figure out whether you’re meant to feel devastated, relieved, or just mildly annoyed. Confusion can be powerful when it’s deliberate; here it just reads like the scene couldn’t commit. | © Netflix

Stranger things 5 Millie Bobby Brown cropped processed by imagy 1

3. The acting takes are brutal this season, and Eleven’s biggest moments don’t always land

Let’s be blunt without being weird about it: the acting discourse around Stranger Things Season 5 has gotten loud, and some of it points straight at Eleven’s performance feeling oddly blank in scenes that should crackle. The issue isn’t “quiet acting” (quiet can destroy you in the best way); it’s that certain emotional spikes read as “line… pause… stare,” like the intensity is stuck behind glass. And yes, people online have been loud about Millie Bobby Brown’s face work, but the bigger on-screen problem is simpler: the emotion doesn’t always travel. Add clunky exposition and tonal whiplash, and the result can feel like you’re watching a character react to a different cut of the episode. | © Netflix

Stranger things season 5 explaining gag cropped processed by imagy

4. The “explaining with objects” gag gets used so often it starts feeling like a substitute for storytelling

The “let me explain the apocalypse using household objects” bit used to be cute—now Stranger Things Season 5 leans on it like it’s a security blanket. There’s a point where “visual clarity” turns into “stop everything so we can do a classroom demo,” and the season hits that point repeatedly, sometimes more than once in the same episode. Instead of letting the story click through action and consequence, the show keeps circling back to diagrams, props, and slow-motion explanations that make the pacing sag. It also undercuts tension, because nothing says “terror” like a character taking their sweet time arranging items to represent cosmic horror. Eventually it stops being a funny Hawkins quirk and becomes a writing crutch you can see from space. | © Netflix

Stranger things 5 robin cropped processed by imagy

5. Robin gets rewritten into an over-expository corrector, and it flattens what used to make her fun

Early Robin was sharp, sarcastic, and effortlessly cool in a way that still felt human—like she could roast you and then immediately save your life. In Stranger Things Season 5, the writing sometimes turns her into an “um, actually” machine: interrupting, correcting, over-clarifying, and narrating what the scene is already showing you. It’s not that she can’t be anxious or talkative; it’s that the season keeps using her like a walking footnote, patching plot logic by shoving explanations into her mouth. When a character becomes the delivery system for exposition, their humor starts feeling forced, and their charm gets replaced by volume. You don’t miss Robin-the-person—you miss the writers letting her be one. | © Netflix

Stranger things season 5 dustin and steve fight cropped processed by imagy

6. The vibe shift is so aggressive it’s like the writers put the friend group in a blender and hit “mean”

Banter is one thing; whatever happens between Dustin and Steve in Stranger Things Season 5 sometimes feels like someone mistook “found family” for “HR complaint.” Fans have noticed the ribbing gets sharper—less “affectionate little brother” and more “why are you trying to win this conversation like it’s a court case?” And sure, conflict is story fuel, but the season leans so hard into everyone snapping that it starts flattening the warmth the show built for years. The whiplash is real: one scene they’re a team, the next they’re scoring points off each other’s insecurities, and you’re stuck missing the old dynamic while the plot acts like nothing changed. They do circle back to sincerity later, but the detour is louder than the payoff. | © Netflix

Stranger things season 5 2 cropped processed by imagy

7. It doesn’t trust you to understand what you just watched—even if you understood it perfectly

There’s a specific kind of frustration that only Stranger Things Season 5 can deliver: a scene happens, you get it, and then a character turns to the camera (spiritually) and explains it again, slower, with extra steps, just in case you were checking your notifications. Critics have called out the show’s obsession with spelling everything out instead of letting moments breathe, and it’s hard to unsee once you notice it. The worst part is the tone it creates—like the writing assumes you’re not paying attention, so it keeps re-stating the plan, re-stating the stakes, re-stating the emotional point. The result isn’t clarity; it’s drag. Tension can’t build if the script keeps stopping to narrate the tension in bullet points. | © Netflix

Stranger things season 5 wheeler mom vs demogorgon cropped processed by imagy

8. Apparently firearms are decorative now, but a suburban mom with glass is a boss fight

The action logic in Stranger Things Season 5 occasionally runs on pure vibes, and nowhere is it louder than the “military can’t do much, but Karen Wheeler can” discourse. Viewers have been roasting the contrast: trained soldiers with serious weapons struggle, while Mrs. Wheeler lands meaningful damage with a broken bottle, which instantly turns the monster threat level into a meme. I get the intent—make the home invasion personal, make the mom heroic, give the audience a cheer moment—but the trade-off is brutal: it makes the Demogorgon feel selectively dangerous, like it’s reading the script and adjusting difficulty based on who needs a cool scene. Even some spoiler reviews praised the sequence while still side-eyeing the suspension of disbelief it demands. | © Netflix

Stranger things season 5 wheeler dad cropped processed by imagy

9. Their dad is nearly dead in the hospital, and the kids react like he’s late on a carpool pickup

This one isn’t a tiny nitpick; it’s an emotional pothole. In Stranger Things Season 5, Ted Wheeler finally gets dragged into real danger—nearly killed in a Demogorgon attack—and then the story weirdly shrugs when it comes to Mike and Nancy’s response. People online have argued the kids are prioritizing Holly (fair), but the show barely gives them a human beat that says, “Hey, our dad might die.” It doesn’t need a monologue or a violin swell; it needs something to bridge “family trauma” and “next mission checkpoint.” Instead, it plays like Ted is background furniture again—only now the furniture is in a coma, and the writing still can’t be bothered to look up. | © Netflix

Stranger things season 5 talking cropped processed by imagy

10. The word “theory” shows up so much you could turn it into a drinking game and immediately regret it

If you ever wanted Stranger Things Season 5 to sound like a group project where everyone keeps saying “so your theory is…?” congratulations, your wish has been granted. Fans have literally joked about making a drinking game out of how often characters toss around “theory,” “it doesn’t make sense,” and other looping investigation talk. It’s not that theorizing is bad—this is a show built on kids doing nerd-detective work—but repetition turns language into clutter. When every next step is framed as someone’s “theory,” it starts feeling like the season is allergic to decisiveness, even while it’s allegedly sprinting toward a finale. And yes, it’s often Dustin’s lane, but when the script leans on the same word as a crutch, it becomes a verbal tic you can hear coming. | © Netflix

1-10

If you’re here because you typed “Stranger Things Season 5 is awful” into a search bar like it owed you money… same. This isn’t a solemn think-piece with a monocle; it’s a lovingly dramatic rundown of what didn’t work, what almost worked, and what made me pause the episode just to stare at the ceiling for a minute.

And yes, before anyone warms up the “let people enjoy things” speech: people are enjoying it. Good for them. This is for the rest of us—the ones who expected a grand finale and got a messy pile of vibes, noise, and questionable choices. Below are 10 reasons Season 5 lands more “oops” than “wow,” written with equal parts affection and side-eye.

If you’re here because you typed “Stranger Things Season 5 is awful” into a search bar like it owed you money… same. This isn’t a solemn think-piece with a monocle; it’s a lovingly dramatic rundown of what didn’t work, what almost worked, and what made me pause the episode just to stare at the ceiling for a minute.

And yes, before anyone warms up the “let people enjoy things” speech: people are enjoying it. Good for them. This is for the rest of us—the ones who expected a grand finale and got a messy pile of vibes, noise, and questionable choices. Below are 10 reasons Season 5 lands more “oops” than “wow,” written with equal parts affection and side-eye.

Related News

More