‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Finale Gets Shawn Levy’s Perfect Score
Shawn Levy is praising the final episode of Stranger Things like never before. In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, he called the series finale a “masterpiece” and said it was deeply emotional.
“Having watched the final version of the final episode of the final season of Stranger Things, it is a masterpiece. The Duffers have stuck that landing. So 10 out of 10 perfect. And I know it sounds like I’m kind of promoting my own show, but this is really said with just deference and tremendous respect to Matt and Ross, who wrote and directed that finale episode. And it is so deeply satisfying and moving. I have to say, it wrecked me,” Levy said.
Levy explained that he and the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, have always talked about the importance of “sticking the landing.” Ending a story strongly, he said, can make up for small mistakes along the way.
“Something the Duffers have always talked about with me is the lingo that you just used — ‘sticking the landing.’ It’s something they’ve been talking about for 10 years regarding every episode since Season 1, every season finale, and now the series finale,” he added.
He emphasized that a strong ending leaves a lasting impression, even if parts of a story are flawed.
“A lot of sins are forgotten and forgiven if you can stick the landing. I won’t name the movies where this applies, where the middle is saggy and flawed, but boy, if they stick the landing, that’s what you take with you. It was always a non-negotiable mandate — a self-given mandate — to stick the landing,” Levy said.
Levy also reflected on how rare it is for a TV series finale to get a movie theater screening.
“They’re proud of their work, and they goddamn should be. That episode — like, when was a series finale in movie theaters? What a singular, beautiful, rare thing that is. It’s because this series, and that episode in particular, really earned that right. And I think it deserves it,” he said.
Stranger Things Season 5, the final season of the science fiction horror series, will be released on Netflix in three parts. Two volumes will drop on November 26 and December 25, and the season finale will air on December 31. The season has eight episodes and is produced by the Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, and Dan Cohen.
The main cast returns, including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Cara Buono, and Jamie Campbell Bower. Amybeth McNulty, who appeared as a guest last season, has been promoted to the main cast. Newcomers include Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, Alex Breaux, and Linda Hamilton.
Every battle has led to this 💥 the Stranger Things 5 teaser is HERE! pic.twitter.com/dSYwnfgsER
— sƃuᴉɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs (@Stranger_Things) July 16, 2025
The story is set in the fall of 1987, a year after the events of season 4. The group must find and defeat Vecna after the Rifts open in Hawkins. Their mission becomes more complicated when the military arrives and starts hunting Eleven. As the anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance approaches, the friends face one last dangerous threat.
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