As of tonight it has been 120 hours since the series finale of Stranger Things dropped on Netflix. And in that time the Internets have been going full-blown wacky with theories and speculations. It's the kind of debate and discussion that I can't remember seeing in a very long time, at least not since the Lost finale almost sixteen years ago.
I have now watched "The Upside Down" twice all the way through and numerous bits and pieces of it since it went live on streaming. And I thought it was the most beautiful thing that I've seen on the television medium in quite awhile. But if you've seen it also, you're well aware that it left a few things dangling. Not "critical" information, but we are certainly teased a bit about what becomes of these characters who we've followed for almost a full decade. The Duffer Brothers, the creators of Stranger Things, have given us just enough to whet our appetites for more. Or as one friend put it, they made a satisfying conclusion without putting a solid padlock on it.
So since everyone else it seems is weighing in with their own thoughts and theories, I might as well chime in with my own. What happens to our heroes after their struggle against the Upside Down and Vecna?
Be warned: Spoilers ahead!!
I believe that El survived. She did so knowing that never again could she see Mike and the rest of her friends but it had to be done. El knew that she had to break the cycle and that nobody else could do it. That there would always be people like Brenner and Kay who would continue the work. So El took herself out of the equation and I think that in her dying breath Kali saw to it that El would escape as cleanly as she could.
I'm thinking to something that Hopper tells her earlier in the episode. About El getting to have a normal life, and be a parent herself and have children. I believe that she goes on to do that. El goes on to find herself, and in time she will marry and have children. But she will never forget the love that she had with Mike and I very strongly doubt that Mike is ever going to forget her. As long as they live they will be thinking of each other.
This finale evoked so much thought. It's been a LONG time since a story has had me ruminating upon its ending.
I can't help but imagine that Will went on to have a better story than he could have imagined. And I say that as a trauma survivor also. The full measure of what Will went through because of Vecna was something that could not be portrayed on screen. Will survived but he's going to forever be scarred. Maybe Will goes on to make his life a triumph over Vecna. I think Will becomes something like a behavioral therapist, with a master's degree and everything. Will knows what it means to be damaged, he's going to use that experience toward helping others who have survived their own Vecnas. Just a hunch that I have. I may not have ever had a homosexual temptation but in many ways I still identify with Will (I also identify with Dustin a lot, but I digress). I know what it's like to be hurt and be discarded by society. There was a Vecna in my own life, and that's something I write about in my book. Going through that, coming out on the other side, a person absolutely wants to do what he or she can to keep others from knowing that same pain. It's what led to my having a career in the mental health field and I think that if Will doesn't end up doing much the same professionally, his heart is definitely inclined toward that direction.
I had wanted Dustin and Suzie to come together and get married. But it's been established by the Duffer Brothers that their relationship ended. It was mostly Dustin's fault. He was so torn up about Eddie's death that he pushed aside almost every other relationship he had with people. It took the party and especially Steve to pull Dustin back from the brink of self destruction. In the end we see that Dustin comes back, and has embraced life again. I like to think that he goes on to have a brilliant time in college and career in science and technology afterward. That Dustin comes to fall in love again and he and his wife have a son who they name Eddie.
Lucas and Max are going to end up together happily ever after. I've seen love like theirs a few times. Sometimes it goes well and others, it doesn't. But a young man like Lucas doesn't go to the hospital every day for a year and a half to play "Running Up That Hill" for a comatose girl without that meaning something profound. By the way, the Duffers have said that the movie we see them sitting together watching is Ghost, so by the summer of 1990 their love is still going strong. I think it's going to keep getting stronger.
I also think that Nancy and Jonathan end up with each other after all. The two of them are each in a place where they're discovering who they are supposed to be. They had that taken away from them for the better part of six years. Now Nancy is pursuing her dream of being a journalist and Jonathan is where he wanted to be, studying photography and film at NYU. They've seemingly gone separate ways but they're always going to share something remarkable and very unique and that's going to draw them together sooner than later.
Steve is a wandering journeyman of sorts for a few years. But he comes to discover that his heart really is for helping young people be their best. It started with being "baby-sitter" for the Party and it's going to continue. If he doesn't get his full "six nuggets" he's still going to get that family he longs for... and that is very encouraging and inspiring.
Robin? I'm not sure of her. I do believe that she completes her college education. I like to think that she ends up happy.
Holly, Derek, and the other kids that Vecna captured bounce back none the worse for wear. Derek though has discovered personal responsibility, including for himself. I think that Derek becomes quite the athletic type, taking part not only in baseball but also swimming (I say that because I was a swimmer in high school and taking part in that was one of the best things that ever happened to me).
Murray Bauman, the Duffers have already said he continues to be weird. Maybe so but he's also a happy weirdo. By the end of the series his conspiracy theories have been proven true, he's taken out government forces and he's saved the day for the entire world. I imagine that ten years or so later Murray has become the master of a website devoted to conspiracy theories, and maybe even hosting a late-night radio show a'la the one Art Bell had for many years.
Mr. Clarke is going to be Hawkins, Indiana's most eligible bachelor. But his first and foremost love is going to be teaching children. Playing a part in the final battle against Vecna, seeing his star pupil Dustin come up with the conclusion that the Upside Down was a wormhole, filled Mr. Clarke with enormous pride. He truly got to have a dream come true as a science teacher and he's going to do his best to catch lightning in a bottle again.
Erica. Ahhhh yes, Erica. Who ties with Dustin as my most favorite character in Stranger Things. The Duffers have said that she goes on to be valedictorian also when she graduates. Erica Sinclair is a force of nature and she goes far. She's either going to get involved in Internet commerce at the start of the industry revolution (like Bezos, she can call her company Ericorps) or, more likely, she enters politics. For some reason or another I think she's a registered Republican. Erica eventually runs for U.S. Senate, wins the race, and provokes discussion about her running for higher office. But that's maybe saying too much.
Hopper and Joyce spend the rest of their lives happy. Hopper finds fulfillment that he never knew he needed before. It's a quiet life at Montauk. The only real trouble that comes about is when a great white shark starts prowling the waters and eating people. Just kidding 😛
And Mike? The storyteller? He goes on to write what he can about the time that he and the Party and their friends had together. It becomes a book that goes on to be a bestseller, and it's going to be a story that will forever perpetuate debate and discussion about whether it's true or not.
The title of Mike's book? It is "Stranger Things".
