Stranger Things will come to an end when the season five finale airs on Netflix on January 1st, but some fans say they're 'worried' the last episode will be lacklustre
09:34, 28 Dec 2025Updated 09:35, 28 Dec 2025
Stranger Things is now just one episode away from coming to an end, and fans are waiting with bated breath to see how the epic saga wraps up. The Netflix sci-fi series is currently airing its fifth and final season, and while you can sink your teeth into seven of the eight episodes right now, the finale is set to premiere at 1am on New Year's Day (January 1st).
The final season has already been full of plot twists and lore drops that have left fans gobsmacked, with the evil Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) disclosing more of his plans, Will (Noah Schnapp) realising he has superpowers of his own, and the group finally being reunited as Max (Sadie Sink) wakes up from her coma.
But some Stranger Things fans on social media have said they have concerns that the final episode will be lacklustre when it airs in just a few days, because there's been something missing from all seven of the episodes so far.
The Stranger Things Memes account on X revealed on Saturday (December 27th) that, despite season five being the final ever season, one character has had more screen time than all of the main characters - meaning their storyline has taken higher priority over letting audiences see more of the characters they've come to love over the past nine years.
Their post read: "Holly Wheeler had more screen time than the main characters in Season 5."
Holly (Nell Fisher) is the younger sister of Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and in the opening episode of season five, she was kidnapped by a Demogorgon and taken to Vecna.
The majority of the season has been about Mike, Nancy, and their friends trying to bring Holly home and defeat Vecna once and for all, but while they were coming up with plans for how to find Vecna in the Upside Down, audiences got to see Holly fight her way through Vecna's memories alongside Max in an attempt to break free.
Now that there's only one episode left, some fans have said they're unsure how the show will tie up all the loose ends and bring the story to a close without it feeling lacklustre or rushed.
They have also expressed their disappointment at the final series introducing a new character and focusing on her more than the cast they've come to love, as although Holly is part of the Wheeler family, she had not been a central character in any of the seasons before this one.
Replying to the X post, one person said: "Strange time to unwrap an entire new character arc with one episode left ..."
Another added: "No offence to Holly, but this is the worst decision Duffers have ever made."
A third posted: "They're not pulling this together in two hours."
Some fans also theorised that the show creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, could be focusing on Holly in order to set her up for a spin-off show in the future. However, this has not been confirmed by the Duffer Brothers.
Stranger Things is available now on Netflix and the final episode will premiere at 1am on January 1st.