Review of 'Stranger Things' Season 5

I binged the first four episodes of the fifth season of Stranger Things up on Thanksgiving on Netflix -- Christmas and New Years Eve brought us the rest -- and these four were by far my favorite so far.

Here are my reasons (with no spoilers):

• The action is nearly non-stop. Although I've enjoyed the previous seasons, I thought all of them, in comparison to these final episodes, developed the story two slowly, and had too much talking. I suppose this might have been a necessary build-up to this final season, but the action and pace of development in 5.1-5.4 was often breathtaking.

• And these four episodes -- also billed as Season Five, Volume One -- also managed to fit in some standalone stories, which were captivating. My favorite was Max's, which brings in a touch of time travel, including a mention of Madeleine L'Engle's now classic A Wrinkle In Time.

• It makes sense that A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962, would be known by Max and anyone with a vibrant mind in the 1980s, when Stranger Things takes place. Having characters spouting popular culture from the 1980s has always been one of the charms of the series, and it was also good to hear Bond and Magnum mentioned again in this finale season. I miss them both (well, maybe James Bond a little more).

• Speaking of Max again, she also delivers my favorite line in this set of four episodes: "music has a way of finding you, even in the darkest places". True then, and so true in this world we're in today. (I say this as I'm beginning to binge the Beatles nine-episode Anthology. Review coming soon.)

• It was good to see Linda Hamilton is this first volume of the final season. There always has been a Terminator flavor to Stranger Things, and it becomes especially prevalent in this rousing conclusion.

• As a closing point -- and the closest I'll come to giving you spoiler -- the best action dramas, in science fiction and non-science fiction -- always feature ultimate heroes and villains of equal power. The first four episodes aka volume one of the fifth season of Stranger Things also did a great job of setting this up.

***

Here is what I especially liked about the next three episodes on Christmas (the final, ultimate episode coming the following week on New Year's Eve) (no spoilers ahead):

Someone says that Vecna and everything our brave crew is fighting is not science fiction but supernatural. Now, on the one hand, labels don't really matter. I said years ago, when my first novel, The Silk Code, was published, that it was science fiction/detective. After all, it features an NYPD forensic detective who discovers Neanderthals may still be among us. But some devotees of mysteries said it could not be a detective or mystery story, because it contained science fictional elements. I eventually got tired of trying to convince those readers the novel was a hybrid or co-genre, and said, it doesn't matter what genre it is, just read it.

But, actually labels are necessary. If I walk into a restaurant that says it offers Japanese cuisine, but it serves only lasagna, I might well be disappointed, even though I love Italian cuisine as much as Japanese. In other words, labels in cuisine and culture have value, because they help us make selections that reflect our tastes and moods. So I think it's helpful that Stranger Things -- or at least, this rendition of Stranger Things in what might well be a larger universe -- identifies itself as a story of the supernatural, even though it has some significant science fictional trimmings.

And, in fact, we get a glimpse of more of those trimmings in these concluding episodes. Talk of outer space, alternate universes and realities -- hey, that's right up my alley, I'm down with that.

***

So I just saw the Stranger Things series finale -- last night, on New Year's Eve, on Netflix. Here's a critique -- with spoilers.

The whole ending hinges on El no longer being available to her friends, who in effect are her family. She's either no longer alive -- though we didn't see her die -- or she has deliberately made herself unavailable. Everyone, except Mike, seems to accept that.

But why did El do that? Vecna's dead. Henry is therefore no longer significant. So what's the threat? What is El trying to protect her friends and family from? The U.S. military?

That vicious force, led by Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton), was already no match for the Hawkins contingent. So El left the people she had come to cherish because of that? I find that hard to believe. I think that El would have found another way.

Perhaps the Duffer brothers intend to make some sort of sequel in which Mike searches for El. He certainly makes clear to his friends that he doesn't think she's gone for good. The Duffer brothers have made clear that they're finished with the 1980s ambience, but they could show Mike and El in the 90s and beyond, or change their mind and revisit the 1980s after all.

The five seasons were a fun ride. As I've said, I thought this fifth and final season really shone. And the finale had its moments. But I can't say that I'm a fan of the way it ended. But also on the strengths of Stranger Things, I'll definitely take a look at anything else the Duffer brothers do.