SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the series finale of “Stranger Things,” now streaming on Netflix.
“Stranger Things” is coming to an end.
The horror-fantasy sensation, which began as a modest ’80s pastiche in 2016 and quickly became a Netflix juggernaut, ended with a blockbuster series finale written and directed by series creators The Duffer Brothers. Below, check out a preview of what happened in the latest episode.
Eleven escaped alive!
It looked like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) had sacrificed herself when the bomb went off, destroying the Upside Down and effectively closing the bridge for evil to appear. She even had one last kiss with Mike (Finn Wolfhard) right before, and all her friends and loved ones cried. But surprise! Her sister Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) actually cast one final spell to create a fake Eleven. look at as if she was dead. Ultimately, and in Mike’s estimation, Eleven is safe and sound on a nice hike, far from anyone looking to draw her blood.
Vecna and Mind Flayer appear to be dead.
While Eleven and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) fight inside the massive Mind Flayer, the rest of Hawkins’ crew shoots and fights the large beast. Once Will (Noah Schnapp) jumps into Vecna’s mind to help her, Vecna and the Mind Flayer – who Henry believes are one and the same – take too many hits and are eliminated. Joyce (Winona Ryder) delivers the final fatal blows to Vecna with an axe, decapitating the monster. Bonus: little children are saved too!
Kali is killed.
Lieutenant Robert Akers (Alex Breaux) fired just before Murray (Brett Gelman) caused a distraction by blowing up the helicopter, allowing Eleven to kill all the soldiers, before taking control of Akers’ mind and making him shoot himself in the head.
Henry Creel’s traumatic memory in the cave is revealed.
It turns out that after killing the mystery man, Henry (also Jamie Campbell Bower) watched his younger self open the briefcase as a piece inside jumped into his hand. It turns out the Mind Flayer didn’t want him to remember that he used Henry as a vessel to get him to Hawkins – just like Will was a vessel for Henry. Henry disputes this, however, claiming that he and the Mind Flayer are one and the same.
18 months after Vecna, things in Hawkins are mostly back to normal.
The catastrophic events may have been swept under the rug like an earthquake, but there is at least a memorial! We catch up with our crew after a time jump on high school graduation day. Max (Sadie Sink) skateboards and makes out with Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin). Hopper (David Harbour) takes on the responsibilities of stepfather to Joyce and her children, but takes time to comfort Mike, who is still grieving for El. Plus, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) is valedictorian and, of course, his speech is all about “Dungeons and Dragons.”
Steve (Joe Keery) is now a sex ed teacher and high school baseball coach – and Derek (Jake Connell) is a catcher on the team. Elsewhere, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) has left Emerson for a job as a journalist, Robin (Maya Hawke) is studying at Smith, and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) is working on a film at NYU film school.
After graduation day, Hopper proposes to Joyce and suggests they move to Montauk, where he received a new job offer, and they could make a fresh start. Meanwhile, Mike, Max, Dustin, Lucas and Will skip an invitation to a graduation party in order to play a D&D campaign whose bittersweet ending mirrors their own futures: Will heads to the big city and starts dating; Max and Lucas stay together; Dustin goes to college but still hangs out with Steve; and Mike becomes an author.
The last scene shows Mike watching Holly (Nell Fisher), Derek and their friends start their own D&D campaign.
Mike apologizes for not saying something sooner about Will coming out.
It was nice to see Mike comforting Will at the top of the episode. Nothing will come between these two buds!
Steve and Jonathan are a pleasure.
Steve and Jonathan leave the past behind them, and both agree that neither is the right man for Nancy.
Holly finally had her heroic moment by leading the kids to the cave.
Holly felt so guilty for not helping her mother, Karen (Cara Buono), and for not being brave at other times, but she made up for it in this episode.
Unlike most blockbusters today, there is no middle or post-credits scene.
Things are quiet in Hawkins…for now!
