WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The opening of Stranger Things is something rather unexpected. The military contained the rifts between the Upside Down and the real world very quickly after the events of Season 4. We once again meet the characters that we know and love with a couple new additions. 

To start: the good. 

I absolutely loved seeing the characters change in ways that we didn’t expect. Hopper is still protective as ever over El – despite her protests – but knows deep down that he can’t protect El forever, as we saw in the final scene. Seeing Hopper ready to destroy the military installment in the Upside Down at the expense of his life shows that he is willing to do anything to protect El. 

Furthermore, we’ve seen a peek into Vecna’s newest plan in which he takes Holly and 11 other kids into The Upside Down. Seeing Holly as more than a kid-ish background character was refreshing, and seeing the sibling development between Mike and Holly was incredibly heartwarming. 

In technical terms, the visuals were simply astounding. While no one likes waiting a long time for a new movie or TV show to come out, when directors and producers put in the time and the work to make something great, it pays off. In the age of rushed visual effects and cheap, churned out stories in movies, seeing Stranger Things look this good was a breath of fresh air. 

While the good completely outnumbers the bad, I have to see both sides. 

I understand that Dustin is broken after Eddie’s death, but turning straight up violent just doesn’t seem like Dustin in the slightest. While I will never defend the Hawkins Basketball team bullies, Dustin raging against them simply doesn’t sit well with me. 

In addition to Dustin being violent to the basketball team, there is one last thing I would like to point out about this new Dustin: His friendship with Steve. 

Steve and Dustin have been an iconic duo since season two, and to see this relationship strained hurts beyond comprehension. The playful bantering between the two has turned just plain rude and I hope that this changes soon. 

One more gripe I have with the newest season is the introduction of Derek. This character is the embodiment of an annoying, 1980s, spoiled rich kid. I pray to god that this character either has a drastic character arc, or doesn’t have much screen time for the rest of the season. 

Finally, the unexpected.

While I absolutely get it after seeing it, the military quarantining the entirety of Hawkins in a massive gate doesn’t seem like the best course of action. In addition to covering the rifts with the “giant metal band-aid” it seems like the military could have done a better job altogether of keeping Hawkins safe. 

But all of this pales in comparison to the finale of the season. 

Many theories surrounded Will’s role in the final season — that he would sacrifice himself or become a spy for Vecna like he did in season two — but absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the last episode. I will not explicitly say what happened as there are people who have not seen, but the future is very uncertain for Will Byers. 

Nevertheless, from all the reviews you see, Stranger Things is back and bigger than ever. The release of the next episodes will be on Christmas Day followed by December 31st and we will be impatiently waiting to see what the Duffer Brothers have in store for us next.