If it were possible for a TV show to be a blockbuster, this series would definitely fit the bill. It is by far one of the most-watched programs online and one of the most-watched in the whole world. It started in 2016 and has been on the air for nearly a decade. Yet, in the chronology of the show, only four years have passed. Unfortunately, since the series centers on a group of children, the time it has taken to produce the show has meant that those children who were between the ages of 11-14 when the production began are now in their early to mid 20's. In lieu of recasting, one simply has to suspend one's disbelief and accept the age disparity. The young characters have always been independent and have always felt like they were older than they were. Now, the aesthetic of their bodies matches that idea. There is a theme here that involves the young cast breaking away from parents or their parents accepting that these youngsters are growing up, if not adult to some degree.
This fifth and final season picks up a year after the fourth season ended, which is a significant amount of time. It's allowed for the narrative to settle from the height of the fourth season. Other than Season 1, Season 4 was by far the best that this show, created by the Duffer Brothers, has ever offered. That fourth season was essentially the origin story of the show's principal, supernatural villain. The reveal of who the villain is and how they came to be was pretty incredible. Expectations are that topping the height of Season 4 will be extremely difficult. The Duffer Brothers set a high bar. Yet, the essence of the show still remains. The Duffer Brothers have created a homage to the 1980's, mainly pulling from the adaptations of works by Stephen King and comparable films from Steven Spielberg. Of course, various works, particular horror films from the 1980's were fair game for the Duffers to reference. If anything, the fourth season was very much an homage to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and its sequels with the villain, very much looking like the serial killer from that now 1984 classic.
The series has become less of a horror show and more of a science-fiction, action adventure. Much in the way that James Cameron took horror films like Alien (1979) or even his own The Terminator (1984) and turned them into action blockbusters. That is basically what the Duffers have done here. It's probably not coincidental that one of the actors from The Terminator and its sequel are present in this season. It's not necessarily about the scares, although the Duffers can every now and then create some. Now, it's more about kicking butt and taking names. Shoot outs and explosions are more the norm this season than anything else. The long episodes were a complaint last season but the pacing is very good and the action keeps one entertained from episode to episode.
If one hasn't been keeping up with the story line, basically a super-powered man named Vecna who looks and feels like a demon emerges from a netherworld called the "Upside Down." He wants to kidnap and possess children. Why he wants to do so has yet to be fully explained. We saw his tragic backstory last season and that he was basically trapped in that netherworld. His goal was to escape and wreak havoc on the real-world, which he essentially accomplished, but the military, as well as our protagonists have managed to keep Vecna at bay, but he's starting up again with kidnapping and possessing children. It's up to the protagonists to stop him, however they can, despite the odds being stacked against them.
If A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of the major inspirations for Season 4, this year, the major inspiration would have to be Poltergeist (1982), which wasn't directed by Spielberg but it was written and produced by Spielberg. That spooky, 1982 flick was about a little, blonde-haired girl who gets kidnapped by supernatural beings, spirits from the netherworld. One of the iconic scenes in that 1982 film was the little girl being attacked in her bedroom and literally having a demonic portal that was trying to suck her into the netherworld. Needless to say, the Duffer Brothers re-create that iconic moment in this season. In fact, if one remembers Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986), the villain in that film was a malevolent preacher named Kane. The Duffers style their villain, that of Vecna, to be very reminiscent of Kane when he's not looking like an even more disfigured and burnt Freddy Kreuger.
The cast is very large. There's probably the better part of 20 people to track over the course of this narrative. It would take a long time to go through all of them. There seems to be a focus though on four. A father and his surrogate daughter, as well as a mother and her actual son. David Harbour (Thunderbolts* and Hellboy) stars as Jim Hopper, the police chief of Hawkins, Indiana, the site of government experiments. Those experiments have been on humans, particularly children. Hopper has adopted one of those children who was referred to as "Eleven," played by Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes and Godzilla: King of the Monsters). Their relationship is mainly about Hopper being a very overprotective dad, trying to protect her at all cost and not allowing her to do things, despite the fact that the experiments on her have given her superhero-like powers.
Wynona Ryder (Little Women and Beetlejuice) co-stars as Joyce Byers, the single mother who is probably the most involved parent of all the children's parents. The reason is because way back in the first season, her son was the first child to be kidnapped and held hostage by Vecna. As a result, Vecna ended up doing things to her son, Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp (The Peanuts Movie and Bridge of Spies). Because Joyce wasn't the most attentive mother, she didn't even notice her son was kidnapped at first. She would often leave her eldest son to look after Will, but she feels guilty over not being there when her son was taken or even noticing that he was gone for as long as she did. Like Hopper, it causes her to be overprotective as well, not wanting her son to do anything that could even be remotely dangerous. However, Will is growing up and this season is about her accepting him coming into his own.
Like a James Cameron flick, there is a lot of action here. There's so much more gun firing and things blowing up, as well as so many people getting killed. Sometimes, it's cartoon-ish violence wielded by Vecna's monsters in not-so-impressive, CGI animation. However, there are moments when the Duffers will indulge in some gore and create bloody messes on screen, the compelling kind. The show is building to an epic showdown, a big battle, bigger than anything we've seen this far. Yes, this is a show steeped in the 80's but I gather that the showdown at the end will be on the level of Avengers: Endgame (2019). It'll be a wild ride till then.
Finally, if people were impressed with the use of "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush in the fourth season, they should be equally impressed with the use of "Upside Down" by Diana Ross. It's an obvious use of the song, given that the show spends a large majority of its time in the netherworld, known as the Upside Down. I'm not even sure if this is even the first time the track has been used on the show, but it's certainly featured prominently in this fifth season, and I enjoyed it.
Rated TV-14.
Running Time: 1 hr. / 8 eps.
Available on Netflix.