Stranger Things Finale Can Be Worse Than Game of Thrones – Here Is the Alarming Stat
Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 7 rating dips below Game of Thrones’ penultimate episode. Can the finale escape a similar disaster?
The penultimate episode of Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 7, titled The Bridge, has officially set off alarm bells for fans and critics alike. With a shocking IMDb rating of just 5.4/10, it dips below the rating of Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5 (The Bells), which scored 5.9/10. Rarely does the internet reach consensus on anything, yet here, fans are speaking and not kindly.
Following the release of Volume 2, Season 5 of Stranger Things has seen fan frustration intensify, particularly around Episode 7. This has sparked comparisons to Game of Thrones, an association the Duffer Brothers had once promised would never be relevant to their series. Episodes earlier in the season received significantly higher scores: Episode 6, Escape From Camazotz, earned 8.2/10, and Episode 5, Shock Jock, scored 8.1/10, highlighting the sharp decline.
While Episode 7 contains moving moments, including Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) waking on November 6th (the anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance) and Will coming out, fans argue the episode fails to deliver consistently. Scenes often feel stagnant, with characters sitting and planning rather than taking action.
Fans are concerned about resolving multiple arcs, ensuring Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) escapes, and providing a satisfying conclusion without the disappointments that marred series like Game of Thrones and Lost. With the penultimate episode underperforming, expectations are sky-high for the last installment.
What Caused Stranger Things Season 5’s Sharp Decline?
It’s rare for the internet to agree on much, but Stranger Things Season 5 has achieved it and not in a flattering way. Episode 7, The Bridge, has fans lamenting a steep decline in quality. Many are drawing parallels to Game of Thrones, despite the Duffer Brothers’ insistence that such comparisons would never apply. Several factors have fueled disappointment:
- The breakup scene between Nancy and Jonathan lands at a disastrous moment, right before a life-threatening scenario — amidst a room full of disturbing, p*rnographic goo.
- Holly, a previously minor character, suddenly drives critical plot threads, overshadowing central figures Eleven and Mike.
- The literal “Bridge” introduces a second Upside Down, complicating tensions rather than elevating them.
The most widely criticized moment belongs to Will the Wise, whose coming-out scene occurs in front of a small audience, leading to an awkward, forced feeling. Kali mutters, “who even is this guy and why are we postponing stopping the apocalypse for this?”
Fans now brace for a finale tasked with resolving multiple arcs in just two hours, while also setting up a potential spin-off.
Stranger Things Star on Finale: Can It Avoid Game of Thrones Fate?
With the Stranger Things finale imminent, comparisons to infamous endings like Game of Thrones loom large. Stars and creators are determined to ensure Stranger Things avoids a similar fate. Maya Hawke, portraying Robin Buckley:
To give a slightly different answer than I have been saying, which is just sad, emotional, and things, I was actually so happy, no spoilers, about some of the last scenes and what was happening. I found myself extremely happy with where they took the characters at the end. It was everything I dreamed it would be, and so there was a joy there, too.
Ross and Matt Duffer have been transparent about studying past series finale flops. The latter explained to GamesRadar+ :
We’re constantly learning what works and what didn’t work, and we’re applying those lessons or attempting to apply those lessons to the next season. So hopefully we have learned any possible lesson there is to learn, and season 5 will be perfect, and fans won’t have any issue with anything. I think that the chances of that are 0.5%.
Finn Wolfhard also expressed the weight of expectations in Time magazine:
The way that Game of Thrones got torn to shreds in that final season, we’re all walking into this going, ‘We hope to not have that kind of thing happen.’ But then we read the scripts. We knew that it was something special.
If Episode 7 is any indication, the finale faces a tightrope walk between brilliance and disappointment. Will Hawkins deliver a satisfying conclusion, or will we be left comparing it to Game of Thrones? What do you think?
