Stranger Things took the world by storm in 2016, and it’s been captivating viewers for years. Fans have gotten pretty used to long waits between seasons, though the wait for season five, the final season, has been pretty brutal. Now that the end is finally in sight, fans are gearing up, re-watching the series, and overall getting prepped to see what the finale throws at us. Each season has successfully found new ways to raise the stakes and shock viewers, and there’s no doubt that what comes out at the end of this year will follow suit. That said, for every high moment in Stranger Things, there are just as many that leave us scratching our heads. These details keep the world from feeling as logical and cohesive as we’d like.
Stranger Things follows a group of kids living in Hawkins, Indiana, who quickly found themselves in over their heads when one friend went missing, and a new one was made. This was the beginning of an epic adventure involving the Upside Down and the monsters men can create. As much as we love this show, we have to admit that some details still don’t make sense. The fifth season is scheduled to begin airing in November 2025, with the final episode dropping on New Year’s Eve.
1) What Happened to Chester?
This may sound like a small quibble, but seriously, what happened to Chester? For those who don’t remember, Chester is the cute white dog belonging to the Byer family, and he was last seen way back in Season 1. If he were around, surely he would have moved with the family, putting his cute face in at least one scene, right?
It may not be the biggest mystery around, but this dropped thread is annoying. Did the family not care, given the concerns around Will and his health? You’d think that Will would be hyper-fixating on his dog once he returned, as a coping mechanism if nothing else. Given what happened to a different pet in Season 2, maybe it’s for the best that Chester didn’t stick around. Still, the presence of a grave leaves fans worried that this is precisely what happened to Chester. Maybe we should be grateful it wasn’t shown on screen.
2) No Hazmat Suits In Later Seasons
If there’s one thing Will’s experience in the Upside Down told viewers, it’s that this area is incredibly toxic. Will’s time there left a permanent mark on his character, which is a running theme for the rest of the series. Even when Will was being rescued, it was by people wearing Hazmat suits. However, several characters went into the Upside Down without protection, even in season one. Yes, their exposure was limited, but not in all instances.
For example, Nancy fell into the Upside Down in Season 1, and then she returned there again in Season 4. Nancy, Dustin, Eddie, Robin, and Steve were all stuck in the Upside Down for a fair bit of time, without any protective gear. Yet they showed no obvious signs of illness or negative effects. Perhaps the final season is waiting to hit viewers with a big reveal about this, but it feels unlikely. Most likely, this is one of those movie magic moments, where the scenes looked better without masks and other concerns getting in the way.
3) Eleven’s Language Regression
Eleven is an incredibly smart girl, and there’s no denying that. Before Season 1 had even officially kicked off, she was already working on an escape plan from one of the most secure facilities in the area. Despite this, her introduction at the beginning of Stranger Things is as a young child who can barely speak. It gave viewers the impression that this was more than trauma, as it seemed like Eleven sincerely hadn’t been allowed to talk much. She even struggled to speak full sentences.
Yet flashbacks throughout the series show a version of Eleven capable of having complete conversations with Dr. Brenner. Sure, she isn’t having incredibly complex scientific conversations, but she can hold her own. These flashbacks portray a child who can form a sentence, so the regression for season one is confusing at best.
4) Dr. Brenner’s Survival
Dr. Brenner is the mad mind behind everything that went wrong in Hawkins, starting from experimenting on children to opening the gate to the Upside Down. Everything can rest on his feet. So it made a karmic level of sense that he wouldn’t survive the conclusion of the first season. He saw the results of what he created, or so we were led to believe. The series quickly proved that assumption wrong, showing that Dr. Brenner somehow survived the Demogorgon attack.
Honestly, it’s hard to believe that one injured and unarmed man could survive the Demogorgon. While it’s plausible that Dr. Brenner knew more about the Demogorgons than most, and thus maybe knew some magical way to survive, he never dropped hints about this. Nor did he explain his survival at any point. His survival added to later parts of the story, but it also made him look more like an unkillable supervillain than a human with a twisted mind. In other words, perhaps the creative team gave Dr. Brenner a little more credit than he deserved here.
5) The Fake Body/Death Announcement About Will
There are so many questions about Will and the fake body from Season 1. For starters, it seems like the fake body didn’t fool anybody, as Joyce knew right away that it wasn’t her son. Therefore, the lab clearly intended to falsify the autopsy in some way, because there’s no way it would have passed a closer look. That in itself is close enough to plausible that we could let it slide, had that been all. Naturally, the discovery of Will’s “body” was announced to the town, so when the real Will was found, he got the nickname of “Zombie Boy.”
Horrible names aside, did nobody wonder about that body? At best, it means somebody intentionally faked a boy’s death. At worst, it implies there’s an unidentified dead kid, one who was presumably never reported missing. Does that seriously not concern anybody in this town?
This leads us to the final question: How did the town react to Will’s return? We know that some of the kids bullied Will, but what did the adults think? Were they relieved, confused, or mad? This part of the story isn’t really explored, and that makes it feel somewhat unrealistic. Will’s story would be huge, even in a major town. In a small town, it would be talked about everywhere, and the kids would not be able to avoid it.
6) Why They Keep Killing Off Amazing Supporting Characters
Stranger Things has this amazing ability to introduce new characters each season and make the fans fall in love with them. Unfortunately, those we love the most usually wind up dead, especially if they weren’t among the original cast. The list of deaths begins with Barbara Season 1 and continues with Bob Season 2, though his death occurred near the end, giving him more screen time than poor Barb. Alexei and Billy died in Season 3, and the much-loved character, Eddie Munson, died at the end of Season 4.
To put it another way, there’s a bit of an established pattern in Stranger Things deaths. While the main characters can experience traumatic and permanent injuries, they may not necessarily die. Thus far, they’ve only made it look like major characters die, such as the time with Hopper. This gives fans hope that Max will survive, though her death would certainly break the pattern.
7) Why Dustin Thought a Demo-Dog Would Be a Good Pet
Dustin proved himself to be one of the most loyal friends in his group, standing by the rest even when it looked like things were about to fracture. He’s also not dumb, which is why it was so confusing that Dustin decided to adopt Dart, aka Demo-Dog, during the events of Season 2. While he may not have been able to immediately identify the strange slug creature for what it was, his limited exposure to the Upside Down should have told him that this thing was dangerous.
Unfortunately, Dustin doubles down on Dart, even after the group discovers its connection to the Upside Down. For some reason, this loyal friend refuses to listen to Will when he’s told this thing is dangerous. This directly results in one of the worst animal deaths on screen in quite some time, reminding users why sites like Does the Dog Die? exist.
On a related note, what happened to Dart’s body? The last time we saw it, Dustin made Steve store it in the fridge to keep as evidence. Yet we never see it again. Was it cleaned up as part of the deal, or did Joyce have yet another nasty surprise in store for her?
Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.
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