As Stranger Things prepares to debut its series finale on Netflix on New Year’s Eve, several fans are questioning the production value of the final season.
Stranger Things season 5 viewers criticized the visual style of the final season on Reddit. They argued that the heavy lighting, excessive background blurring, and tacky green screen make the show’s high-budget production feel cheap. Several commenters also had a problem with the apparent lack of practical effects, saying many scenes look digitally manufactured even when physical sets or effects could have been used.
Others slammed Stranger Things season 5’s dialogue, stating that the poor writing, along with “sloppy” aesthetics, also hurt the show. One Reddit user complained about how the characters over-explain everything by discussing their actions every time they do something, which takes away the immersiveness of the show.
The ‘Netflix look’ and green screen look has gone too far. Over-lighting, sets that look fake as hell, the overuse of depth of field to blur the background on almost every scene and shot. Hardly any practical effects even when it could have been done. I am just so tired of this sloppy look. Not even going to mention the horrible exposition-heavy dialogue where they explain what they are doing every 20 seconds.
Specific scenes from Stranger Things season 5 have received some pretty rough critiques, including the Upside Down lab scenes in episode 5. Audiences said that the set design appeared to be “amateurish” and unconvincing. And, some viewers felt that Max’s cave looked very “fake.” This online backlash reveals how high fan expectations were for the final chapter of the hit Netflix science fiction series, and how those needs were not met.
The tentacles on the walls all looked weirdly amateurish,” that user wrote. “It was as if a bunch of interns were told to superglue some stuff to walls and that’ll be fine. I thought it looked cheap as f***.
In the same Reddit thread, another viewer said that this was mainly a Netflix problem rather than a Stranger Things issue. They pointed out that some of the streaming platform’s other shows, such as Emily in Paris, suffer from the same overly bright visuals and dialogue that lack substance, making these series feel cheap despite their very high budgets.
They also compared Stranger Things to HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry and Apple TV+’s For All Mankind. The user claimed that the visuals, writing, character development, and overall production quality of those shows put the Netflix series to shame.
The Reddit thread was also filled with snarky comments about how disappointing the final season has been up to this point. One user sarcastically wrote, “Don’t be harsh. They only had four years to get it right,” taking a jab at how Netflix made fans wait for years only to disappoint them. Another questioned where the budget went as they did not spend money on the right things.
Stranger Things’ series finale will debut on December 31, 2025, on Netflix and premiere in select theaters.
