I Believe in the Duffer Brothers and 'Stranger Things'

by Aprille Hanson-Spivey

*This article contains spoilers about the series finale of "Stranger Things." 
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Photo: Netflix

Jamie Ending a nine-year, five-season sci-fi saga turned cultural phenomenon was a Herculean task, but the Duffer Brothers sparked belief in more ways than one for the “Stranger Things” finale.

While the series dragged out to absurdity thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, writers and actors' strikes and just timing, fans finally got their fitting end to beloved characters as this long Dungeons & Dragons-inspired campaign came to a close.

The phrase “I believe,” something The Party — Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) – says at the end of the finale which premiered Dec. 31, 2025, was the mantra for this season, written and directed by show founders Matt and Ross Duffer, and in the larger context, the series.

From the first episode, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) always believed that her son Will was alive and would be found. It kicked off a story of death, destruction and chaos that would culminate in a finale of hope.

The task was simple in concept — kill Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). But the path there was dangerous and unclear.

The Party, along with the other key players Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce and, oddly, Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman), have to breach the Upside Down through the military base opening, climb the radio tower and climb up into the Abyss before that world collides the Upside Down and eventually Hawkins.

To achieve this, El must go into the water tank one more time in Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down and telepathically find Vecna, bringing her sister Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), and it turns out Max (who had some residual powers thanks to her extended vacation in Vecna’s mind). The three do find him, and the Abyss screeches to a halt just before killing the whole crew waiting on the radio tower. The Duffer Brothers gave viewers the biggest scare when beloved Steve almost falls to his death, only for Jonathan to save his life.

Things, of course, go sideways when Vecna tricks Hopper into thinking he’s accidentally shot and killed El and prematurely pulls her from the tank. It’s a serious misstep that sets things in motion:

-Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) truly becomes Holly the Heroic by helping her 11 friends escape to the cave in Vecna’s mind.

-The military breaches Hawkins Lab, killing Kali, but sparing Hopper and Eleven thanks to Murray’s quick MacGyver skills by taking down a helicopter with a grenade.

-The rest of the crew has climbed up in the Abyss and discovered Godzilla, the spider-monster, the Mind Flayer.

-Vecna faces his biggest fear by going into the cave and relives the memory where this all started for him as a child.

Despite the reality that Vecna is what Henry Creel has become, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him in that cave. Will taps into the mind hive to see just how scared Henry is and tries to convince him to leave the Mind Flayer behind to help them. It’s a selfless moment for Will, especially knowing how much Vecna has tormented him for years. He sees that it was never really who he wanted to be.

But Henry stays Vecna. And he’ll die with that choice.  

In an epic battle, Eleven kills Vecna, and the friends help by debilitating the Mind Flayer. What was never on my bingo card for his finale was Joyce being the one to officially end Vecna. While he’s already been impaled, he lifts his head as if he’s going to come back from this somehow. Joyce calmly grabs her ax, looks at him, and says, “You fucked with the wrong family,” before chopping at his neck as his head eventually tumbles off.

During this gruesome moment, flashbacks of all the people they’ve cared about who have died by Vecna via the Mind Flayer play for us to see in the minds of those watching. It’s a bloody, but poignant moment of good defeating evil, a catharsis for every character and viewer.

While it feels over, it’s just not that simple. Eleven is the soul of “Stranger Things,” and her life as a prized military weapon isn’t something she can just walk away from. Kali put it in her mind that they must stay in the Upside Down as the world is destroyed, to make sure the military can never weaponize anyone again, via their blood. Though Kali dies before, it’s a choice Eleven decides to make in the end.

As the group travels out of the Upside Down, they’re promptly captured by the military. El taps into Mike’s mind, telling him she has to stay behind. It’s the only way to stop the cycle.

And while we see El disappear as the Upside Down disintegrates, it’s still not that simple.

The end of the episode flashes forward 18 months, the day of The Party’s graduation. We see each of them moving on with their lives in different ways: Steve is a coach, Robin and Jonathan are in college, Nancy drops out to work at a newspaper and Hopper proposes to Joyce. I guess we’re all just suspending belief here that the military let all of them go, especially Hopper, who just goes back to being the police chief after murdering several members of the military. 

Dustin, the valedictorian, gives the ultimate salute to their fallen friend, Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), in his epic graduation speech that has all the vibes of a John Hughes movie. It’s bizarre to see them living everyday lives, but it’s also such a gift.

The series ended just as it began — with a game of D&D in Mike’s basement. The Party visited their childhood one last time, playing a game of fictional monsters after conquering the real ones. It’s here that we learn Mike, the Dungeon Master and storyteller, has a theory about the love of his life, El, as the “mage.” The military’s frequencies had disrupted her powers and debilitated her. But not the last time they saw her, meaning, Kali, before she died, assisted her with illusionary powers to help Eleven disappear instead of die in the Upside Down.

Mike weaves the tale of where he thinks each of his friends will end up. The most touching story is how El is alive in a remote area, staring at the most beautiful waterfalls. Giving the characters (and fans) a viable theory that El is alive was a beautiful sendoff for the group, as each of The Party says, “I believe.” I agree with The Party — Eleven is alive somewhere, but I would have loved to see a little more of a wink that it’s true. But that’s where faith comes in. 

The friends leave the basement and their childhood behind as Holly and her friends try their hand at D&D.

I believe the Duffer Brothers did it. They created a twisted, heartbreaking and hopeful tale full of uniqueness, nostalgia and nerd culture that cannot be replicated. While it was not the best episode of the series, the finale closed the chapter well on an iconic show. The Duffer Brothers are genius storytellers — the ultimate Dungeon Masters.