How ‘Stranger Things’ Self-Sabotaged in Its Final Hour

“Stranger Things” is over, and, after ten years of investment, many fans have walked away asking the same question: What on earth was that?

After a decade of supernatural terror, emotional stakes, and character-driven suspense, audiences were effectively told that the key to defeating an interdimensional monster was with a woke identity arc, which felt completely disconnected from the world the show painstakingly built.

And while this controversial coming out scene was far from the only issue critics had with the show’s ending, the ratings proved that audiences overwhelmingly felt this episode betrayed the storytelling, tone, and logic that once made Stranger Things a cultural phenomenon.