The highly anticipated final season of Netflix's global phenomenon, Stranger Things, has been targeted by a significant wave of online review-bombing. The backlash, which has seen audience scores crash to series lows, erupted following the release of the final batch of episodes, with particular focus on a scene where the character Will Byers comes out as gay.
Audience Scores Plummet to Record Lows
Season 5 Volume 2 landed on Netflix on 26 December 2025, setting the stage for the grand finale episode scheduled for release on 31 December. While the first volume's November debut broke records for Netflix's biggest English-language premiere week ever, the audience reception has sharply reversed.
On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score for the final season has tumbled to just 56 per cent at the time of writing. This marks a steep fall from over 70 per cent and is now the lowest-rated season in the show's history. For context, previous seasons held scores of 97, 94, 89, and 90 per cent respectively.
The downturn is even more pronounced on IMDb, where Episode 7, titled "The Bridge," has become a major flashpoint. It currently holds a rating of 5.4, starkly contrasting with the other Season 5 episodes, which sit between 8 and 9.5. "The Bridge" has now unseated the much-maligned Season 2 episode "The Lost Sister" (rated 6.0) as the lowest-rated episode in the entire series.
A Scene at the Centre of the Storm
The intense reaction appears heavily concentrated on this specific episode. Data shows an unusually high volume of ratings for "The Bridge," with more than 104,000 user ratings submitted compared to an average of around 50,000 for other episodes this season. This surge in activity is a classic indicator of coordinated review-bombing.
While broader criticism of the season has cited perceived poor writing, plot holes, and sidelined lead characters, a significant portion of the backlash has zeroed in on a pivotal scene where Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp, comes out to his friends and family. Critics on social media platform X have labelled the moment "completely unnecessary" and accused the show of forcing "woke" content on viewers.
Elon Musk, owner of X, weighed in on the discourse, stating: "It’s completely unnecessary and forced on audiences who just want to enjoy some basic sci-fi."
Defence and Broader Critiques
Many fans and commentators have been quick to defend the narrative choice, arguing that Will's sexuality has been a subtle but consistent character thread since the show's first season. One supporter explained on X that his coming out was a logical character arc, particularly given the 1980s setting where such revelations were profoundly difficult, and tied to the villain Vecna's modus operandi of exploiting personal fears.
Beyond the controversy surrounding Will's storyline, other viewers have expressed disappointment with the final season's execution. Complaints on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes highlight illogical plot armour, unresolved story threads, and a perceived decline in writing quality. One commenter pointedly questioned why Vecna used Mike's fear about sexuality but not Max's interracial relationship, both taboos in the 80s, calling the writing "terrible."
As the cultural debate rages online, the saga of Hawkins prepares for its ultimate conclusion. The final episode of Stranger Things is set to stream globally on Netflix and receive a theatrical release on 31 December 2025.
