'Stranger Things' Is a Masterclass in Storytelling for Television

The Duffer Brothers understand the meaning of payoff. The twins Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Stranger Things, understand the importance of delivering on a promise. In 2019, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss shit the bed so bad with one of the worst final seasons in television history that a show that dominated the cultural conversation went away with a whimper instead of a bang. Benioff and Weiss ignored plotlines and character arcs that were laid out in the books and earlier seasons, resulting in an ending so bad that there are talks of HBO making spinoff sequels just to redeem it.

Similarly, the otherwise genius Rian Johnson, who created the brilliant Knives Out! mysteries, discarded or subverted expectations to story seeds planted by J.J. Abrams in The Force Awakens with Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Johnson’s film is arguably the most technically and cinematically superior Star Wars film in the franchise, but it also remains the most divisive. Johnson introduced incredible new ideas, but did so by abandoning the stories laid out in the previous film. In 2015, The Force Awakens ended with Rey holding Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber in her outstretched hand, leaving audiences with a sense of excitement and anticipation that would be met two years later with Luke tossing the lightsaber over the side of a cliff.

The Duffer Brothers aren’t tossing any lightsabers off cliffs. That is to say, they’re completely aware of all the story seeds they’ve planted from the very first season and delivering a payoff audiences deserve but rarely get. The fifth season is divided into three parts, with four episodes already out and three episodes dropping on Christmas Day. The series finale airs on December 31, New Year’s Eve, promising fireworks in the Upside Down just as fireworks go off right outside everyone’s windows. Netflix has been giving its premier shows, such as Bridgerton and Wednesday, multi-part releases, but this is their most dramatic release schedule yet. 

Maybe it isn’t fair to compare Game of Thrones, a dark fantasy featuring incestuous families, gratuitous sex and nudity, and unbelievable violence, to a horror fantasy that at its heart is really about kids. Maybe Game of Thrones was always destined to disappoint. After all, it’s based on an unfinished series of books that looks more and more likely to never reach a satisfying conclusion. Unlike Game of Thrones, Stranger Things has a beginning and a definite end. Unlike the Star Wars sequels and their flip-flopping direction, the Duffer Brothers knew exactly where they wanted the story to go. From the prequel play Stranger Things: First Shadow to the various licensed novels, from the show’s very first episode to the wildly epic final scene of the fourth episode of Season 5, Stranger Things never lost sight of the end goal. Even its weakest season, the one that finds Eleven (Millie Bonnie Bongiovi aka Millie Bobby Brown) traveling to Chicago and getting a punk makeover, suddenly makes sense in Season 5. For viewers who endured that meandering storyline, there’s an unexpected payoff.

As much as Stranger Things is seeing story arcs to their completion, there’s still the element of surprise. The last episode of part 1, titled “Sorcerer,” ends on a satisfying adrenaline rush that sets up part 2 and leaves viewers on a high that should carry them for the next four weeks. It’s not quite Gandalf coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn, looking to the East, but it’s pretty damn close. If the Duffer Brothers pull it off, Stranger Things season 5 will go down as a television masterpiece.

This is Netflix’s Avengers: Endgame, and instead of superheroes, we have a bunch of high school kids and their family and friends who’ve gone through pretty literal hell and back. Steven Spielberg would be so proud. The Duffers took inspiration from ‘80s films where kids went on wild adventures from E.T. to The Goonies. In fact, Eleven’s season 5 outfit is almost a direct replica of Josh Brolin’s outfit as Brandon Walsh in The Goonies. Five seasons in, our Dungeons & Dragons-playing group of nerds aren’t pushovers anymore. They’ve saved the world a couple of times, just like the Avengers, and they’re ready to take on the show’s ultimate baddie, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), who got a massive design upgrade that hews closer to the Dungeons & Dragons villain he’s named after.

Stranger Things doesn’t lose its way or get overcrowded, even with an ever-growing ensemble. All the characters' motivations and arcs are clear, and all their relationships and dynamics grow and change. For example, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and Dustin Henderson’s (Gaten Matarazzo) big and little brother dynamic was always one of the show’s anchors, but this season puts it to the test as Dustin acts out his grief over the death of his friend and mentor Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). It’s almost a certainty these two will repair their relationship and end up being closer and stronger before the season ends because this is basically a Spielberg children’s adventure. But it’s the journey that matters, and The Duffer Brothers know how to run one hell of a campaign.

Plus, here’s the real secret to why Stranger Things is one of the best and most satisfying shows on television today: everyone gets to be a hero. The Duffer Brothers are basically running a D&D adventure, and in that game, everyone gets a chance to shine. Even the lush Wheeler matriarch, Karen (Cara Buono), gets her turn in the spotlight with the most unexpected yet appropriate weapon. The show even transforms a school bully from absolute zero to a lovable hero because that’s essentially what the show is all about — redemption. No other show has focused on giving its characters the opportunity to do good and be great like Stranger Things. Steve, turning from a jerk jock to big brother willing to sacrifice himself for his friends, set the tone for Stranger Things and gave it its winning formula.

And yes, people will die, but they will die heroes. Except, that is, for Barb (Shannon Purser), the show’s saddest, most meaningless death. But the Duffer Brothers are nothing if not sensitive and astute, immediately rectifying their error by paying proper tribute to the character in Season 2. This is partly why the Duffer Brothers are such masters of their craft — they are fully aware of what their characters mean to fans of the show and treat their stories with care and respect. In Season 2, Bob Newby (Sean Astin) died to give Joyce (Winona Ryder) and the gang time to escape; Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) was a villain for much of Season 3, but eventually sacrifices himself to protect Eleven and the kids; and of course in Season 4 there’s Eddie, who stands up to monsters after delivering an epic Master of Puppets guitar solo. Is it formulaic? Sure, maybe a little. Is it always heartbreaking? Every. Single. Time.

The Duffer Brothers and the cast have been cryptic about this season’s deaths, but they’ve promised the most gruesome ones. If Vecna impaling a soldier’s head with his newfangled extending claws is any indication, the rest of the season promises to be a gore-filled affair. Stranger Things has cranked up the intensity to 11, and as epic as the ending of part 1 is, it’s just the quiet before the storm. Vecna is up to some truly world-ending villainy, but the kids from Hawkins are ready with a few surprises of their own. Benioff and Weiss, who are also behind Netflix’s underwhelming Three Body Problem, which should’ve ended its season with the fifth episode but instead kept puttering on to a disappointing and uninteresting finish for three more episodes, had better be watching Stranger Things. Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two about how to tell stories for television. Because, wow, just wow. Stranger Things Season 5 is how you make a final season.

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