A series finale epilogue, when done well, is a work of art. It affords one a satisfying and moving way to send goodbye to the characters and to a setup we have invested so much in, giving a sense of closure to viewers that brings on both smiles and sniffles as you bid adieu one final time. However, the effect is quite the opposite when four or five epilogues are stacked together in a way that shows that the writers’ room eventually ran out of ideas and decided that neatly tying up the character arcs with a ribbon was the best way to say goodbye.

But that is not how we say “au revoir” to Stranger Things. Not after almost 10 years comprising five seasons and 42 episodes. If there is one show that deserved more than that, it is Stranger Things. What we get instead is a satisfying send-off in some ways — “Take that Vecna! Take that Mind Flayer” — but one that makes for a largely underwhelming finale.

All these epilogues — Dustin’s badassery, Hopper and Joyce putting a ring on it, Steve, Jonathan, Nancy and Robin bonding like they haven’t before, and the five pals (Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas and Max — minus Eleven) meeting up in Mike’s basement once more for a game of Dungeons & Dragons (before handing over the mantle to Holly and Gen Next) — will possibly make a fan who stopped watching Stranger Things at the end of Season One happy; not someone who has been with the Hawkins gang through hell and back over the last five seasons.

Episode 8 of Season 5 Vol 2 — which alone indicates how far the Netflix series has come — starts off right at the point where Episode 7 ended. Titled “The Rightside Up” and playing out a little over two hours, the episode witnesses the gang taking the fight straight to Vecna’s multiple camps, piercing the Upside Down in a do-or-die situation that mandates dividing themselves into teams — Eleven teams up with Kali and Max inside Vecna’s mind, while Hopper and Murray prepare explosives that could wipe out the Upside Down completely. Elsewhere, the rest of the group races through the Abyss to rescue the children kidnapped by Vecna, that also includes Holly.

“The Rightside Up” has a few sparks — including Eleven and the gang vanquishing both Vecna and Mind Flayer in a scintillating sequence in the Abyss, followed by Eleven’s disappearance (or not) at the MAC-Z gate, in a bid to sacrifice herself. However, despite Joyce’s hackathon — which proves to be cathartic in more ways than one, and not only for the characters in the series — it is a rather predictable finale for a show that has picked our brains and teased our minds over the last decade.

What the final episode does well, however, is cut back on the lengthy exposition and often unnecessary emotional moments that weighed down this season, especially in its penultimate episode. There is a moment between Will and Mike — while they are climbing the Upside Down radio tower to enter the Abyss (for God’s sake!) — but for what it is worth, the heart-to-heart exchange between the two about Will’s coming-out moment feels earned.

In the run-up to Episode 8, the show’s creators, The Duffer Brothers, had revealed that it would all end up playing like a D&D episode, with all the characters using their specific skill sets to set up the ultimate battle. While we see that playing out to a large extent, what is intriguing is how the last few moments — specifically through Mike — draw on a theory from the game that Eleven may still be out there.

It is a hypothesis that shows Eleven escape with the help of her sister Kali (the only casualty of this episode... Steve lives!), who uses her powers to play one last mind trick on everyone before she dies inside the Upside Down. She makes everyone think El is standing inside the gate, when in reality she has escaped into the tunnels and got away. The screen then cuts to El on a hike somewhere in a mountain range as Mike says he believes their “mage” stumbled upon a small, faraway town to hide in.

It is a theory that we all want to believe — the friends say they do. Eleven can’t go out so tamely. Though, sadly, Stranger Things does.
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