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Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5. (Courtesy of Netflix.)
Charles Hilu /

A Strange Ending for ‘Stranger Things’

Eleven’s ambiguous fate does the show (and its viewers) a disservice.
Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5. (Courtesy of Netflix.)

Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of Stranger Things.


I remember the circumstances under which I watched most seasons of Netflix's Stranger Things. Months after the first season’s release, I was recovering from the worst stomach flu of my life my sophomore year of high school, so I decided to give the much ballyhooed show a try.

Charles Hilu is a reporter for The Dispatch based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the company in 2024, he was the Collegiate Network Fellow at the Washington Free Beacon and interned at both National Review and the Washington Examiner. When he is not chasing down lawmakers on Capitol Hill, he is probably listening to show tunes or following the premier sports teams of the University of Michigan and city of Detroit.

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