A Never-Ending Story Comes to an End

By Isabella Clement

The time has finally come for one of the most popular and top rated TV shows of this generation to come to an end. After almost ten years of the show’s running time, the series has released the first four episodes of the fifth and final season of the show this past November. As always, the writers did not disappoint with the episodes that were released.

Diving back into the storyline that we ended with in season four, the fifth season takes place still in Hawkins; the only difference is that now there is a heavily armed military base in the middle – and no one can leave the town due to the impacted area from the opening of the Upside Down. We find out that Max is still technically in her coma, Dustin is mourning Eddie Munson’s death still, Mike and Eleven still are keeping their relationship strong again, and Will is trying to become comfortable within his skin.

I felt as though the characters had the characteristics of what they had in Season one, a sense of boyish humor and conversations at times even when things got stressful – obviously since they’re a lot older now, but you can see hints of their past selves in this season. Especially Mike, there were a lot of complaints about his character for how he had acted in the past seasons. But, fans seem to really love the turnaround the writers had with his character, and regained Mike’s leadership abilities one last time.

Personally, even with his attitude and his faults at times, and growing up with the show, Mike has always been a personal favorite of mine. Will come in as a close second. And a tie between Max and Robin comes in third. They seem to be my favorites as in though I see myself in them, and can relate to them at times with events that are similar to the ones these characters endured – maybe not EXACTLY like them, but a watered down version.

There are also so many rumors that are growing within the storyline – but also a lot of budding and working through relationships. For example Jonathan and Steve once again pining for the attention of Nancy, Robin developing a fling with her crush from season four, Lucas dealing with Max being in a coma; and of course, last but not least, the long-standing rival of the “ships” called “Mileven” (Mike and Eleven) and “Byler” (Mike and Will). Its interesting to see the theories come up with the byler supporters, and seeing the comparisons and proof they hold that something will happen between Mike and Will– while the classic mileven fans believe that the writers probably will stick to the storyline of Mike and Eleven being together. I for one, don’t mind if either one of these relationships work out, but I do like to indulge in the theories that people make.

One last thing to mention is that Will now has powers just like Eleven and Vecna, which is a huge plot twist I hope they continue to develop with and don’t let it die out immediately. Since Will has been such an important part of the show, I believe they will continue to build off of his story and character development and turn it into something beautiful and worth watching.

All good things must unfortunately come to an end – but in this case, it’ll end on December 31st, 2025. As the show progresses to an unfortunate end, it truly has been a blessing to grow up with this TV shows and its characters.