Stranger Things Plot Holes Don't Matter, Hear Us Out

Now that the season finale of Stranger Things has aired, fans think they’ve discovered a litany of mistakes and plot holes in the show’s fifth and final season… but, is it really as big of a deal as some corners of the internet are making it out to be?

We’re hopefully leaving a lot of things behind in 2025, but one thing that’s certain, following its season finale on New Year’s Eve, is that we’ll never get another episode of Stranger Things ever again.

Well, Netflix might do a spin-off. Or they might reboot it in ten years. But that’s besides the point, because (for now) we finally have a conclusion to the story that the Duffer Brothers started almost ten whole years ago.

So, how was the final season of Stranger Things received overall? It was either good or kind of mid, depending on who you ask.

As of writing, Season 5 is currently sitting at an 83% critcs score and an 56% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, if you take a look at that score on December 11, before the final half of the season aired, things look a bit different: an 84% critics score, versus an 83% audience score.

A small drop on the critics' side, but a pretty hefty drop on the audience side. This more than implies that the finale didn’t quite resonate with general audiences, but what exactly about the finale led to such a hefty fall from grace?

Well, based on several recent Tweets following the final episode, it seems that fans are taking issue with some perceived plot holes.

Official teaser poster for the final season of Stranger Things, Netflix

This is your first and final warning that we’re about to get into spoiler territory here. Although if you clicked on this article expecting not to get spoiled, that might be on you at this point.

One popular plot hole from user @wheelerswatch asks why there wasn’t a single demogorgon in the abyss during the final confrontation.

Another popular thread from user @elmikewill lists no less than 15 distinct plot holes, like, for instance, how Max suddenly made such a miraculous recovery in such a short space of time, or why plot-relevant characters like Argyle were excluded from the story's conclusion.

Now, here’s the issue with all of these gripes: they’re not actually plot holes– they’re just nitpicks.

For the record, that’s perfectly fine. If you think something should have been explained in more detail, or you think perhaps the finale could have just been better in a more general sense, there’s nothing wrong with that.

If you think the acting was bad, or a few of the lines felt cheesy, or some of the CGI looked wonky, that’s a fair criticism.

But exaggerating gripes and transforming them into plot holes does somewhat weaken your criticism, because thousands of people online seem to think this means the finale was Game of Thrones Season 8 levels of bad.

Personally, I think the final season of Stranger Things was alright. A six out of ten, perhaps. Stronger in the first half, definitely, but not so weak in the final half that it completely discredits how solid the previous season of the show have been.

It’s fine to hate it. It’s fine to love it. It’s fine to think it was mid. But we should justify our critiques of media properly, otherwise… what’s the point of offering your opinion on it in the first place?