Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington as the hero.  Natalia Dyer’s Nancy Wheeler getting to be cool.  Gaten Matarazzo’s Dustin Henderson getting to be the friend to everyone.  What do you want for Christmas in the final chapter of Stranger Things?  Maybe it’s giving Maya Hawke’s Robin Buckley her own story.  None of those things happened yet, but there’s still time.  Whatever it is, it’s almost here.  On Christmas Day.

Season 1 introduced us to the kids and the town, Steven Spielberg and Stephen King-style.  Season 2 gave us Sean Astin as what would become the most beloved character (and Radio Shack worker) of the show, Bob Newby.  Season 3 featured the best of the locations: a flashback to the 1980s suburbs with Starcourt Mall.  And Season 4 finally developed a worthy antagonist: One, revealed to be Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower.  But the hero of last season would be a surprise, accused murderer Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson, helping to elevate the season to the best of the bunch.  The first part of Season 5 had a lot going on, but we didn’t get enough to see where it’s all heading.

Cue the synth on the theme song, grab the chestnuts and holly berries.  Here’s the trailer for the penultimate Netflix batch of episodes for Stranger Things 5:

 

It’s hard to believe we’ve known the kids on Stranger Things for a decade now.  The first four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 on Netflix began November 26, 2025–see our review here.  The next three episodes arrive on Christmas Day, and the finale arrives on New Year’s Eve.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg