Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 Review: The Long Goodbye From Hawkins - Lore, Loss & Shadow Of Vecna

Directors: Frank Darabont, Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers

Cast: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Sadie Sink, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo

Where to watch: Netflix

Rating: ***

Review

Volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 5 arrives with the peculiar burden of being neither a beginning nor an end. It is the long inhale before the final plunge; a stretch of storytelling that knows it must explain itself even as it strains to entertain. Spanning across three dense episodes, this penultimate act leans heavily on mythology, consequence, and emotional accounting. The narrative circles Hawkins like a restless ghost, aware that the clock is ticking but unsure whether to sprint or linger.

At the centre of this uneasy balance looms Vecna, no longer just a monster of veins and vengeance but a bleak thesis on control, memory and grievance. He functions less as a villain to be vanquished and more as a psychic infection that refuses to clear. The show’s willingness to finally articulate the rules of the Upside Down lends these episodes intellectual heft, even if the constant clarifications threaten to slow the pace. There are moments when the storytelling feels like a teacher pausing an exciting experiment to explain the syllabus, but when the plot clicks into gear, the old electricity returns. Hawkins once again feels like the centre of pop-cultural attention, if only in flashes.

Actors’ Performance

Performance remains the show’s strongest currency. Sadie Sink once again commands attention, bringing both ferocity and fragility to Max’s psychological ordeal. Her scenes ground the cosmic stakes in something recognisably human. Millie Bobby Brown plays Eleven with a calmer authority now, less explosive but more assured, as if the character finally understands the weight of her own legend.

Among the younger cast, Noah Schnapp shoulders an emotionally demanding arc with restraint, while the older ensemble continues to oscillate between sincerity and self-aware humour. Gaten Matarazzo’s timing keeps the exposition from becoming terminally dull, and David Harbour and Winona Ryder, though underused, still inject lived-in warmth into their scenes. A few new and returning faces feel sketchy rather than shaded, but the core cast carries the load with seasoned ease.

Music and Aesthetics

Visually, the series remains confident in its retro-apocalyptic identity. The production design moves effortlessly between small-town Americana and cosmic horror, while the colour palette grows increasingly sombre. The music, both score and needle-drop, continues to do heavy emotional lifting, deploying nostalgia and dread with precision. Occasionally, the reliance on familiar sonic cues feels self-conscious, but the overall effect remains immersive, especially when silence is allowed to speak louder than synth.

FPJ Verdict

Season 5 Volume 2 is not flawless, nor is it entirely satisfying on its own terms. It explains too much, carries too many players, and risks mistaking preparation for payoff. Yet it also delivers genuine emotional resonance, sharp performances and a villain who feels disturbingly human beneath the supernatural veneer. As a bridge to the finale, it is crowded but sturdy. Whether it leads to transcendence or collapse is a question the show leaves deliberately unanswered. Hawkins, once again, waits.