It has been nearly a decade since we first watched a group of kids play Dungeons & Dragons in a basement in Hawkins, Indiana. Now, after a three-year hiatus, Netflix has released the first volume (episodes 1-4) of Stranger Things Season 5.
The stakes have never been higher, the budget never bigger, and the cast never older. Our team at TheBigBois binged the first half of this massive finale to see if the Duffer Brothers can stick the landing. The result is a season that feels undeniably epic in scale but is buckling under the weight of its own bloated mythology.
The Party Assembles
If there is one major victory in Volume 1, it is the treatment of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). After being sidelined for several seasons as a perpetual victim or a background character touching his neck, Will is finally given trustworthy agency. The show leans heavily into its D&D roots, casting him as the “Sorcerer” to Eleven’s “Paladin.” His connection to Vecna is no longer just a source of trauma but a tactical asset. Watching him step up as a central hero is the satisfying payoff we’ve been waiting for.
Additionally, David Harbour’s Hopper has returned to form. Gone is the drunken, bumbling caricature of Season 3; in his place is the competent, protective figure that anchored the show’s early years. When the action kicks in—including a visually spectacular “Home Alone-style” siege sequence—the show proves it still knows how to deliver blockbuster thrills.
Running Up That Hill… Again
However, for every step forward, the show takes two steps back into recycled drama. The most egregious offender is the resurrection of the Steve-Nancy-Jonathan love triangle. It feels like forced regression for all three characters, eating up valuable screen time with a conflict most fans thought was resolved years ago.
This repetition bleeds into other relationships as well. We see forced friction between Dustin and Steve that feels out of character and seems manufactured just to add tension where none was needed. With a cast this massive (upwards of 30 named characters), spending time on retreaded relationship drama rather than the impending apocalypse feels like a misallocation of resources.
The Hawkins Bloat
The sheer scale of Season 5 is both its blessing and its curse. The production value is movie-quality, but the narrative is bursting at the seams. Characters like Mike feel largely invisible, lost in the shuffle of “The Party.”
Furthermore, the threat level feels inconsistent. Despite the catastrophic events of the Season 4 finale, life in Hawkins seems oddly normal in pockets. The military presence is portrayed as cartoonishly inept, often breaking immersion. We are meant to believe the world is ending, but the urgency is frequently undercut by the show’s need to juggle too many subplots.
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 is a massive, expensive, and entertaining setup. It successfully pulls us back into the world we love, and seeing the core group together again taps into a powerful vein of nostalgia. However, it suffers from severe bloat and a reliance on “greatest hits” character beats rather than on bold new arcs. We are locked in for the finale, but we’re hoping Volume 2 trims the fat and focuses on the monsters.
| The Good | The Bad |
| Will Byers: Finally moves from victim to hero, embracing his connection to Vecna in a meaningful way. | The Love Triangle: The Steve/Nancy/Jonathan drama is back, and it is more tired and unnecessary than ever. |
| Hopper’s Redemption: He is competent, serious, and protective again, fixing the character assassination of Season 3. | Bloated Cast: With so many characters, key players like Mike feel invisible or stuck on autopilot. |
| Production Value: Cinematic visuals and special effects that justify the massive budget. | Forced Drama: Artificial conflict between characters (like Steve and Dustin) feels like padding. |
| D&D Parallels: The explicit use of D&D classes (Sorcerer, Paladin, Bard) to structure the team dynamic works well. | Military Incompetence: The government forces are portrayed as bafflingly stupid, lowering the stakes. |
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1: Volume 1 of the final season is a mixed bag of high-budget spectacle and frustrating storytelling choices. While it is satisfying to see Will Byers finally take center stage and the visuals are better than ever, the show is hampered by repetitive relationship drama and an unwieldy cast size. It sets the stage for an explosive finale, but it takes a meandering path to get there. – Asmodeus