Every “Stranger Things” Season Ranked

After almost a decade, “Stranger Things” has finally finished airing its last season. It ended up being quite controversial … but that’s not the only thing I’m going to be talking about today.

I’m going to rank all five seasons of the show from worst to best, giving my reasoning as to why the season as a whole either floundered or succeeded.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

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5 – Season 5

Best Episode – “Chapter Four: Sorcerer”

Now that the dust has settled on the final season of “Stranger Things”, and I can view the art in an impassive, emotionless way … yeah. I get why so many fans were annoyed by Season 5.

Volume 1 was pretty good and culminated in clearly the best episode of the bunch – “Chapter Four: Sorcerer”. Volumes 2 and 3, however, were a mess. To make matters worse, a lot of the things mentioned in Volume 1 seemed to have no relevance to the rest of the season – for example, why was there a doppelganger Eleven running around? Did Hopper pay some chick to get herself arrested by the army?

I actually liked the finale more than most … which isn’t to say I loved it, but I didn’t hate it like everyone else. I really like Henry / Vecna as a villainous force, and I thought (some of) the characters got nice endings. Maybe not Mike and El. Or Jonathan and Nancy. Looking back on it, the romances in this show were pretty bad.

But yeah … “Chapter Seven: The Bridge” rivals some of the worst episodes this show ever put out. There was a point watching all of the exposition when I wondered if I even liked this show at all. Not a healthy thing you want your audience to take away from an episode – and from a season as a whole.

4 – Season 3

Best Episode – “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt”

Credit where credit is due, Season 3 is the most outwardly, unabashedly fun season of “Stranger Things”. It’s lack of seriousness is what ultimately lets it down.

There are a fair few things I don’t like about the season as a whole – the kids have grown up a bit and now there’s relationship drama (a trope I dislike), the Russian sub-plot is cliché, and the final battle is a CGI eyesore. I rarely like it in media when the heroes have to fight a computer-generated monster.

But the overall package is extremely nostalgic and fun. The 80’s mall is a great location brimming with colour, Robin, Billy and Alexei are fantastic new characters, and that final episode certainly delivers.

3 – Season 2

Best Episode – “Chapter Nine: The Gate”

I used to think Season 2 was the worst “Stranger Things” season on account of it being more of the same. In hindsight, more of Season 1 couldn’t be a bad thing.

It’s an interesting evolution of characters, seeing Eleven, Hopper and Steve all change fundamentally (I’d say for the better). Having more Will around also gave Noah Schnapp the chance to blow everyone’s socks off with his harrowing child acting. While not hitting the same highs as Season 1, the finale “Chapter Nine: The Gate” still stands out as one of the greatest “Stranger Things” episodes.

Other than the lack of fresh ideas, it’s the random Eleven sub-plot near the end that tarnishes Season 2. “Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister” is a random, unrelated, boring episode where Eleven finds someone who grew up in the same lab as her. It exists to set up a spin-off show that never happened – as a result, it hurts the pacing of the season considerably.

2 – Season 4

Best Episode – “Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab”

After a couple of seasons that were good but nothing new or special, Season 4 came along and blew everyone’s socks off. For the first time since Season 1, I was watching this show and remembered why I loved it in the first place.

It started off a little slow, I’ll give it that, but once the mystery surrounding Vecna and Henry were introduced – and then combined masterfully in “Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab” – I was hooked.

I could’ve equally given the award for Best Episode to “Chapter Four: Dear Billy”, an emotional, crowd-pleasing romp, or the finale “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”, a badass battle against Vecna which teased a monumental final season.

And no, I’m not going to dock this season points if the following season flubbed the set-up.

1 – Season 1

Best Episode – “Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly”

Call me basic, but Season 1 was never topped. It’s where “Stranger Things” peaked – emotionally and narratively – and if they’d stopped after this first season it would have been a job well done.

It’s almost impossible picking a Best Episode. I went with “Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly” for its incredible ending, but it could’ve equally gone to “Chapter Four: The Body”, or “Chapter Seven: The Bathtub”, or even “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down”. Every episode serves the story and provides the thrills.

Above all else, it absolutely nails the 80’s nostalgia and the family drama. The child acting is some of the best we’ve ever seen on television, but don’t let that distract you from the amazing acting from the adult cast as well. It’s a magical, deeply engrossing tale of childhood wonder and mystery, and they couldn’t have executed it any better.

Aaaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: