Things That Went Wrong With Stranger Things

No one can deny just how big Stranger Things is. Looking back to the first two seasons, it’s easy to see how the Netflix series became so popular. It had that campy, Stephen King horror book vibe from the 1980s, and became so big that it even inspired a whole game pack for The Sims 4 with Strangerville. Since then, the series has become a massive phenomenon, with some of the actors reaching new heights in their careers.

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With season 5, the story is finally coming to an end. It has taken a long time for the series to get here, with the first season premiering almost ten years ago. Because of this, there are expected dips in quality and delays that have thrown some wrenches into the show’s gears, and that’s what we’ll go over here. The goal isn’t to bash a series that’s undoubtedly popular for a good reason, but to compare the later seasons to the extremely popular first ones. It may not be a one-to-one comparison, but there are a few things worth shining a flashlight on.

This list was written before Stranger Things season 5, part 2.

The Subtle Sense Of Mystery Is Gone

The Big Bad Is Out Of The Bag

In the first two seasons, there was a strong sense of mystery as odd things were happening around Hawkins. Wild theories were floating about, and this was overall excellent for the health of the show and the plot, because ultimately, horror is all about mystery and fear of the unknown. Having too much information about how something works and how it looks takes away from the experience.

Now, in season 5, the tonal shift is clear. We all know about the Upside Down, and about Vecna, and though unanswered questions still persist, it doesn’t quite have that campy, mysterious vibe anymore. The series has leaned toward the action horror route, which arguably is inevitable given how the story has progressed and how loose ends need to be tied, but it does make it a bit less charming compared to the first two seasons.

Strange Writing In Later Seasons

The Dialogue Feels Awkward At Times

In recent years, there has been some talk about the quality of writing in some Netflix shows. The word “second screen” writing has been tossed around, and an article by Will Tavlin mentions how writing for some Netflix shows has been tweaked to work in a way where viewers can scroll on their phones or do other things while listening to dialogue alone. This has led to a lot of writing where characters sort of narrate what they plan on doing next, in a way that’s so far removed from normal conversations that it comes across as artificial.

While there’s no confirmation whether that’s the case for Stranger Things‘ script, some of the dialogue in later seasons feels a bit shallow and forced. Scenes lean into a formula: two characters are talking while doing something else, to show character development later. Alternatively, characters announcing their actions, delivering corny lines, or cracking oddly juvenile jokes like in season 5’s “I like Dick” moment, are also happening more often the further we go into the series.

Actors Being Too Old For Their Roles

An Awkward Reality

The reality of running a near-decade-long show that starts off with child actors is that those actors will inevitably grow up. With the first season released in the summer of 2016, while the show covers a roughly three-to-four-year timeframe, it’s pretty amusing to look at the later seasons and see just how much all of the characters have grown and changed.

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It’s especially evident in season 5, where it’s difficult to take some of their performance seriously, while also trying to remember how young these characters are supposed to be. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done about this, other than avoiding immense delays, but as we’ll see later, the show was delayed for a very good reason.

Multiple Delays

From A Pandemic To Writer Strikes

Stranger Things has experienced its fair share of delays over its near-decade run. Between seasons 2 and 3, there’s a roughly two-year gap, as there were plans to deliver something on a bigger scale with season 3. After the first two seasons, many of the main actors were also in high demand for other projects, which may have contributed to scheduling delays.

But those two are not the biggest hurdles the show faced. Two big events affected the production of the show: the pandemic around 2020 and, later, the SAG-AFTRA strikes. Stranger Things wasn’t the only one affected by these two, either, as multiple shows and movies were put on the back burner following COVID regulations. Back in 2020, for over half of the year, production for the fourth season was halted due to the pandemic alone.

The strikes in 2023 against unfair writer contracts were a major lesson for streaming companies, and their effects were definitely felt throughout numerous shows and movies. It was due to this that it took so long for the fifth season of the series to be delivered. The more time passes, the more the initial hype for a show tends to cool down, preserving mainly its most loyal supporters. For myself, it was also harder to remember specific story details after so many years since season 1.

Inconsistent Character Development

Too Many Out-Of-Character Moments And Rushed Arcs

Not only have character appearances changed a lot since the show started, but some of the characters and their personalities have gone through seasonal arcs, only to then revert back to their old ways. While this isn’t exactly unrealistic, since humans revert back to their old ways all the time, it does feel frustrating watching characters like Hopper and Eleven go back to almost square one after all the progress they made in previous seasons, as they bicker during their Upside Down sequence in season 5.

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On the other hand, watching Robin and Will become fast friends in a matter of days does feel a bit forced. From a character arc perspective, it’s understandable why these two needed to become close and have meaningful conversations about identity, but they were done too hastily and crammed into an incredibly short time frame. There are also characters that still have so much development left for them, but with such few episodes left, it’s hard to see how stories like Nancy’s, Steve’s, or even Jonathan’s will be finalized in a satisfying way.

An Ever-Expanding Cast

The Pressure To Deliver For All Characters Is Mounting

Speaking of some existing characters not getting enough focus, season 5 follows along with a few of the previous seasons in the sense that it puts the spotlight on a new character. We’ve seen this before with the introduction of Max, Billy, Steve, and Robin, and although these characters are fantastic, the cast is getting so large that it puts into question whether some of the original characters will have completed arcs by the end.

One of the most recent cases includes Holly, previously a minor side character, now a major character. On one hand, it’s an interesting dynamic, and makes matters even more personal for Mike and Nancy, but at the same time, a lot could have been accomplished without directly involving a “new” character. Now, we’re also focused on Holly’s own plot, of her finding her courage as inspired by Mike, and it takes away from the time spent on developing other relationships and character arcs.

Tonal And Visual Switch Between Season 2 And Season 3

Things Don’t Look Nearly As Strange As They Used To

The early season of Stranger Things boasted a signature, almost indie, old-school horror movie vibe. It was charming, it was nostalgic, it was retro. Now, things have skyrocketed. Everything is laced in CGI, and there seems to be an almost vibrant filter on each scene that gives it a more typical Hollywood blockbuster vibe.

The use of CGI was particularly hilarious in season 5’s introduction scene, where we see Will’s aged-down face. Needless to say, the show didn’t have to lean so far into these CGI shots outside of the Upside Down, but even the scenes happening in the real world look too pristine to have that crunchy retro vibe that most first fell in love with in the early seasons. It’s hard to say where the shift happened exactly, but between season 2 and season 3 alone, the color scheme looks wildly different.

Nancy, Steve, Dustin, Robin, Max, and Lucas in Stranger Things

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Things That Went Wrong With Stranger Things

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