Note: This story contains spoilers from “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 2.
“Stranger Things” marches toward its finale with the second batch of episodes for the fifth and final season. While “Stranger Things 5” Volume 2 certainly has its fans, it also drew a harsher response on social media than the highly popular series is used to seeing.
“Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 had its moments but that finale better stick the landing because a lot of this volume was …” said user @SammyJReacts.
Fans praised several of the show’s key performers, including Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin. In particular, a moment shared between the two performers after Sink’s Max Mayfield wakes up at the beginning of the series’ penultimate episode drew strong emotional reactions from viewers.
“Best couple on the show,” said @girlsindelusion on X.
Sink was also praised for her chemistry with Nell Fisher, who joined the show’s final season as Mike and Nancy Wheeler’s younger sister, Holly. Another duo that received praise was Gaten Matarazzo and Joe Kerry, whose characters Dustin and Steve got back on the same page with an emotional breakthrough after being divided for most of “Stranger Things 5.”
“I’M NEVER RECOVERING FROM THIS SCENE MY HEART BROKE FOR DUSTIN 😭” said @Davebarrerita on X.
While these performers got largely positive reactions, some of the show’s writing and pacing did not. Social media users criticized the massive cast of “Stranger Things 5,” pointing to scenes like Will’s emotional coming out as being too crowded for beats to fully land.
“Stranger Things really having scenes with FIFTEEN PEOPLE standing around,” said user @josh_snares on X.
Other fans criticized the amount of buildup and exposition in some of the show’s final episodes, with “Stranger Things 5” Volume 2 containing numerous lengthy scenes of characters coming up with plans and talking about them in a circle.
“most of stranger things season 5 is someone explaining a plan in a quippy manner and everyone calling it insane,” said user @DarkOfTheMovie on X.
You can check out more reactions for “Stranger Things 5” Volume 2 below.
new Stranger Things has some good moments but the vast majority of it is either a) characters having redundant heart to hearts, or b) characters explaining their “theory” or their “crazy plan that just might work”
— H. Coley (@artwithinpod) December 26, 2025
you’ll be watching stranger things thinking “damn this show is a lot dumber than i remember” then gaten matarazzo and joe keery will have a scene together and it’ll be the best piece of television youve ever witnessed
— izzy (@01NCUBUS) December 26, 2025
Stranger Things just has too many characters that they’re scared to kill off and it’s detracting from their best characters at times
— Sammy J Jonah Jameson (@SammyJReacts) December 26, 2025
most of stranger things season 5 is someone explaining a plan in a quippy manner and everyone calling it insane
— Alex Coleman (@DarkOfTheMovie) December 26, 2025
The issue with Stranger Things 5 is that the Duffers bit off more than they could chew. Character arcs and relationships are not being meaningfully developed anymore because the supernatural plot is so convoluted, leaving scenes between characters to be too short or rushed
— paige 🩻 | st5 spoilers (@elmikewill) December 26, 2025
