Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5.Whenever a TV series ends, it can divide audiences around the world, and that hasn’t changed as the final episode of Stranger Things dropped.

Across social media, the finale of Netflix’s sci-fi series has greatly divided the audience, with many comparing it to the greatest disappointment in a television series, Game of Thrones. Stranger Things ended on December 31 after nearly a decade of build-up, so, of course, the finale had a lot of eyes watching, but not everyone thought it was the best send-off for their favorite characters.

Game of Thrones was a very successful fantasy series, and many of its episodes are some of the highest-rated on many platforms, but its last season, and in particular its final episode, were ridiculed online for destroying such a promising franchise. Stranger Things also has highly rated episodes and has become a global phenomenon. It’s no surprise people aren’t happy with the final episode, but TV series can’t always please everyone in the audience.

Image via Netflix

In an interview with Time magazine, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard stated, “everyone was worried” that the final episode would divide the audience, similar to HBO’s Game of Thrones and its rocky finale. “I think everyone was pretty worried, honestly. The way that Game of Thrones got torn to shreds in that final season, we’re all walking into this going, ‘We hope to not have that kind of thing happen.’ But then we read the scripts. We knew that it was something special,” stated Wolfhard.

Creators Matt and Ross Duffer also rebuffed any comparisons to Game of Thrones leading up to the final few episodes of season 5. With many fans worried about the heroes of Hawkins, Matt ensured everyone that, “I love Game of Thrones, but it’s just a very different type of show than that. There’s not going to be a Red Wedding situation.”

Despite the apparent dislike for the final episode, a lot of people enjoyed it as it concluded many fan-favorite character stories satisfyingly, but Stranger Things and its characters do remain open for spin-offs, and Matt and Ross Duffer have made it no secret they don’t plan to fully end the franchise right away.

All seasons of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix.

Release Date

2016 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer

Directors

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock