There’s a lot satisfying about Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2. Unfortunately, it happens alongside a lot of table setting and running in place.

Part of what’s to blame lies with how (Netflix? The Duffer Brothers?) elected to divide up this last season. Splitting the season into three parts, with a single-episode finale, forces Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 into a weird space of both biding time and arranging everything for the grand finale. The Duffers and their writing team have largely elected to keep plotlines dangling until the bitter end. In an alternate world—a streaming Upside Down if you will—the series might’ve maintained or even gained momentum by tying up several subplots. That world is not this one. Instead, the creative team introduces more elements and pulls in more characters as the series careens towards completion.

The result is a sloppy set of three episodes that nonetheless demonstrates a talent for delivering rewarding emotional moments. So, yes, one must endure more “one set of characters stumbling upon another” moments than can possibly be necessary. But to tune out is to miss a shockingly mature dissolution of a relationship or a long-awaited return.

Netflix’s policy on this final season has been to greatly reduce venues it is giving screeners. That, combined with giving critics only a few days between Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2’s release and the season/series conclusion on New Year’s, leaves little room for spoiler-free criticism. As a result, I’m writing with the assumption that you’ve either already watched these episodes or don’t mind deeper details. I won’t go beat-by-beat, but this is your warning. If you want everything to land as a surprise, jump ship now. No hard feelings—we’ll reconnect in 2026.

Ok, brass tacks. In the Upside Down, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer)—through reckless gunplay—and Dustin (New London, CT’s own Gaten Matarazzo) —through the power of reading— discover a realm on the other side of the Upside Down. Until now the assumption was that the Upside Down was a kind of alternate dimension dwelling just beneath Hawkins. It turns out that it is actually more of a bridge. A wormhole, to be accurate. It connects our dimension with The Abyss. Not much is revealed about the Abyss besides that it is bad news and looks kind of like a wasteland. Oh, and if you pierce it, it spews out a bunch of reality-eating grey caulk-looking gunk.

Elsewhere, El (Millie Bobby Brown), Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), and Hopper (David Harbour) search for the Abyss group, including Steve (Joe Keery). All the while, Kali not so subtly suggests she and El should make a suicide pact for when this is all said and done. Given her repeated sledgehammer approach and total lack of consideration for ANY other solution, I’m guessing Kali cannot be trusted. But we shall see.

In the “real” world, the revelation of Will’s (Noah Schnapp) ability to enter Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) mind splits the team into two tracks. Track one involves attempts to Frankenstein the Demogorgon awake so Will can re-access the hive mind and possibly control Vecna. Track two sends Erica (Priah Ferguson) and Murray (Brett Gelman) over to science teacher Mr. Clarke’s (Randy Havens) to recruit him to build another Upside Down tracker thing.

(Sidenote: the running but only occasionally deployed joke that Mr. Clarke is the number one lover man in Hawkins’ postal district is very good stuff.)

When track one has unexpected consequences, the team needs to scramble. Robin (Maya Hawke) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) have to make a run to the hospital to save Max (Sadie Sink) from Demodogs. That draws poor, sweet Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) into the battle for Hawkins and finally explains why Robin can’t keep a date.

See what I mean about a lot of running around, dragging more characters into it, and opening up brand new plotlines?

And yet, Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 can still draw in the audience even as the action feels both muddy and chaotic. Max’s return, Will’s coming out, young Henry’s (Maksime Blatt) first act of violence, Jonathan and Nancy’s breakup, Dustin and Steve’s reconciliation, and Holly’s (Nell Fisher) assault at the hands of her classmates land well. The ones intended to hurt absolutely bruise. Those meant to pluck heartstrings play that harp. The lighthearted beats refresh. Even Vickie’s mistaken effort at an intervention for Robin has a sweetness to it that keeps her from being a joke. The only emotional bum notes are Mike’s (Finn Wolfhard) brief reunion with his mother Karen (Cara Buono) after she adds to her badass bonafides, and the weird lack of anyone even mentioning Boomer-est dad ever, Ted’s (Joe Chrest) recovery or lack thereof.

One underappreciated element of Stranger Things over the years is how it captures the threats of the 80s. As writer Kathryn Brightbill put it on Bluesky, the Duffers have cast 1980s America as the real monster. It frequently pairs the era’s dark side—homophobia, rapacious consumerism, a government actively antagonistic to vast swathes of the population—with the proverbial best people of the era. That’s why Will’s coming out is touching, not heartbreaking. But even as we get a redemption arc like Steve’s, the threats remain. Even in this messy installment, the creators don’t lose control of that focus. Merging it with the show’s gift for emotional moments goes a long way toward overcoming its undeniable stumbles.

Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 is currently dodging that hole in the Netflix flesh wall.

Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 Trailer: