After nine years, the Netflix original series “Stranger Things”  is releasing their fifth and final season to wrap up the story of Hawkins and “The Upside Down.” For years, fans have been excited to watch how their favorite characters stories’ will come to an end. Because of this, many fans are at risk of being let down because of the high expectations being placed on the final season. 

In the last season of “Stranger Things”, Hawkins was evacuated after the city was split into four by the Upside Down. Max was saved by Eleven and now sits in a comatose state after being attacked by Vecna, and Hopper and Joyce reunited and returned to Hawkins. Vecna was supposedly defeated, but from the trailers, viewers know he is making a reappearance in season five as the main antagonist. 

The budget of the show was $50 to $60 million per episode, making it one of the most expensive TV shows ever made. After more than three years of waiting with the last season releasing in May 2022, the quality is clearly going to be better than the past four, but there will be impossibly high expectations.

The show is doomed to disappoint people because they are likely going to follow the same patterns in their plot as they have the past four seasons. The main recurring pattern is they bring in a new character, make the audience feel attached to said character, then kill them. There are four new characters in this season and it’s a near guarantee one of them will die, and predictability is never good.

In short, the show is doomed to disappoint some people. Though I am excited for the new season to release and to see the conclusion of the nine-year plot, my hopes aren’t extremely high knowing they do repeat patterns every season, and a $60 million budget can’t fix a bad plot.