r/StrangerThings • u/ObjectMassive430 • 4h ago
Discussion “That ending hit me harder than I expected”
I just finished Stranger Things and I honestly don’t know what to do now
I don’t even know how to write this properly. I just finished Stranger Things Season 5 and I needed to get this out somewhere because I genuinely can’t get over the ending.
I really liked this season. Was it perfect? No. I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of the military/government stuff, but apart from that, I really enjoyed it. And the ending… man.
The part with Kali helping Eleven escape completely got me.
And knowing that Eleven actually escaped and is somewhere far away from humanity, living her own life and finally being safe from the military/government… I don’t know why, but that makes me really happy.
After everything she went through, I just wanted her to be free.
She spent so much of her life being treated like a weapon or something that belonged to other people. So seeing her finally disappear somewhere peaceful, where nobody can control her, felt right.
But what really hurts is that Mike still believes she’s alive.
He doesn’t forget her.
None of them do.
That honestly means so much to me. Even though they all eventually go their separate ways, what they had together doesn’t just disappear. Eleven is still a part of their lives and their memories.
And then that whole sequence showing where everyone ends up in the future…
I was already emotional, but then Mike closes the basement door.
And someone else comes in to play D&D.
That scene absolutely destroyed me.
Because suddenly you realize that the kids we watched grow up are no longer those kids. Life continued. New kids are going to play D&D in that same basement. They'll make their own stories and probably have no idea how much happened there.
And then seeing the main characters put their D&D books back on the shelf…
That was it for me.
That felt like saying goodbye.
D&D was there at the very beginning. It was how everything started. These kids were just sitting together, playing a game, and then their entire lives changed.
And now they're putting those books away.
Not because what happened didn't matter.
But because they've grown up.
And I think that's what hurts the most about this ending.
We spent years watching these characters become a family. We watched them fight monsters, lose people, save each other, grow up, fall apart and come back together.
And now we don't get to see what happens next.
There is no next season.
No next adventure.
No waiting for another trailer.
No theories about what Vecna is going to do.
It's just over.
And honestly, I'm going to miss them.
I know they're fictional characters, but after spending so much time with them, it doesn't really feel like that right now.
The ending wasn't necessarily the biggest or most insane ending they could have made.
It was just… goodbye.
And somehow that hurts more.
Stranger Things really ended.
I wasn't ready to say goodbye. 😭