Now That 'Stranger Things' Is Finished, I Plan To Skip These 8 Episodes on a Future Rewatch

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Kareem is a veteran editor and writer with over 15 years of experience covering all forms of entertainment, from music to movies. He serves as a High Trending List Writer for Collider, covering all things TV. His work has been seen in numerous online publications such as FanSided, AXS, Examiner, Narcity, HuffPost, and ScreenRant.

He first began his professional writing career in 2011 writing political columns for HubPages, gradualaly building his portfolio until he was rewarded with his first paid writing position with News Headquarters in 2013. Since then, Kareem has covered everything imaginable, from writing political news columns for Examiner, reviewing the latest albums for AXS.com, and giving a unique take on sports, food, and the entertainment industry for Fansided.com. He had another online stop at Narcity, covering travel and things to do in his native Florida, before finally bringing his uniquely immense writing talent and voice to Valnet in 2020, first as a List Writer for ScreenRant before taking his talents to Collider in 2021.

During his time at Collider, Kareem has showcased his talented writing style on a number of beats, trailer previews (DOTA: Dragon's Blood) to season premiers (Abbott Elementary), to Lists ranking everything from 80s Sitcoms (which holds a special place in his heart), to classic Disney Channel shows.

When he's not working, you can catch him bing-watching classic horror movies (he's a huge fan of Friday the 13th), hitting bike trails, and playing UNO (and losing) during game nights with friends.

He calls Orlando, FL home.

We still can't believe the ride is over. After nine years and five seasons, Netflix's flagship series Stranger Things has completed its epic story. It was a wild ride as we followed our protagonists as they went through the pains of growing up, while also finding a way to save the world from the Upside Down. It was a truly unique show that blurred the lines between horror, sci-fi, and mystery, all wrapped up in a coming-of-age story that was compelling, emotional, and, in regard to the series finale, downright tragic.

Season 5 was definitely well worth the hype, and the ending was fitting for an epic show that transcended boundaries, and brought new energy to the sci-fi genre in ways that other series couldn’t do. Stranger Things will forever be celebrated as one of the best shows of all-time, a beloved classic that few shows will have a hard time replicating. Having said that, as great as Stranger Things was, it definitely had its fair share of skippable episodes. So, as we continue to mourn the ending of a giant series, we're going to take a look at the episode that I will now have an easier time skipping over on repeat viewings. I understand that some Stranger Things fans will defend these episodes, and I get it. Just because I skip these episodes doesn't mean that they're particularly "bad" episodes. It's just that these are the ones that don't hold interest as much, and aren't too important to the overall story.

1 "The Mall Rats"

Season 3, Episode 2

Max looks at Eleven who looks ahead in front of a bus in Stranger Things episode The Mall Rats.

Here's a particularly unpopular opinion: After a strong Season 1, the quality of Stranger Things was kind of inconsistent. While Season 2 was good overall, it had a number of episodes that weren't particularly important to the overall story (more on this later), and even though critics gave Season 3 a positive review, it had an insane number of pop-cultural references that just didn't land, and the narrative structure of the season wasn't as strong as it was in the first two seasons. An episode that highlights this is "The Mall Rats."

Here, we see that Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) released a creature that induces visions of the Upside Down, and this creature particularly tortures Billy with these visions and voices. Meanwhile, we see Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) bond and go shopping at the Starcourt Mall in an attempt to distract themselves from dealing with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin). While the A-plot was good, the B-plot dragged the episode down. Stranger Things was always at its best when it focused on the protagonist's battle with the Upside Down and at its weakest when it stirred into a young adult romantic drama, and "The Mall Rats" represented that duality.

2 "Dig Dug"

Season 2, Episode 5

David Harbour and Winona Ryder as Joyce and Hopper embrace in The Dig Dug in Stranger Things.

When looked at overall, Season 2 was a pretty solid follow-up to the spectacular set-up we had to the lore in Season 1. However, this is also the season that, for me anyway, contains the most skippable episodes. So the question that I think you want to ask is: if the season was so good, why skip so many episodes? The answer is actually quite simple, and that was the change in tone of the season, and while it's a good thing overall that they went in a darker direction, the plot became increasingly convoluted. "Dig Dug," the fifth episode from Season 2, perfectly illustrates this.

Here, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) have a new ally, and together, they exchange conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, Eleven begins searching for someone from her past. In a season filled with good episodes, "Dig Dug" felt the weakest, and dare I say, it almost felt like a filler episode. It was unimportant to the overall story, and didn't match the tone the writers were taking with Season 2. You can easily skip this one.

3 "MADMAX"

Season 2, Episode 1

Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas watching an arcade game in Stranger Things.

Right from the start, Season 2 was definitely going to be different than Season 1. While that season focused more on the coming-of-age story of the friend group, Season 2 leaned a lot more into the horror aspects of the series, and "MADMAX," the season opener, was going to make sure that viewers were in for a different flavor of Stranger Things. The thing is, it wasn't a particularly great way to start out.

"MADMAX" didn't start out with a horror concept in mind. Oh no, here we deal with the typical hallucinations of the Upside Down, a field of rotting pumpkins, a bizarre conspiracy theory of Eleven being a Russian spy, and so much more that made the story of this episode extremely convoluted. You would expect an episode like this to be in the middle of a season, not in the season's opening episode. It wouldn’t be until episode two that we fully got into the darker nature of Season 2, which is absolutely wild to think about. This was, in every sense of the term, a filler episode to its core, and it just didn't do it for me. There is a lot to like about Season 2, but "MADMAX" wasn't one of those likable aspects.

4 "The Hellfire Club"

Season 4, Episode 1

Stranger Things is very good at wrapping up seasons. Some of its more legendary episodes are actually season finales. They produced unforgettable moments that will forever live in our consciousness. But as good as the series is in wrapping up storylines, Stranger Things is famously mid in setting them up. Outside of Seasons 1 and 5, the season openers for Stranger Things were not particularly good, and had the potential to lose me right out of the gate. We already talked about the convoluted nature of the Season 2 opener, and now we’re going to talk about another one you should skip over, "The Hellfire Club."

Here, see that, in June 1984, the Soviets made another attempt to open up a new gate to the Upside Down, but, in a result that would absolutely shock everybody, they failed at this (this was sarcasm, by the way). But this isn't why "The Hellfire Club" is a skippable episode. It’s the episode where Stranger Things dives into its weakness: YA romantic melodrama. Here's another unpopular opinion: I never really cared for the relationship between Eleven and Mike, and I also never cared for the plot of Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) trying to contact his new girlfriend. It just never held my interest, along with this entire episode. I'll gladly skip "The Hellfire Club" when I re-watch Stranger Things.

5 "The Lost Sister"

Season 2, Episode 7

Linnea Berthelsen as Kali Prasad/Eight in 'Stranger Things' Chapter 2.

After taking a little detour, we're back to my favorite, Season 2, where one of the most skippable episodes resides, Episode 7, "The Lost Sister." Here, we see that psychic visions are drawing Eleven to a group of, let's just say, not-so-friendly outcasts; and, just for funsies, her visions also draw her to a girl with both a shady past and anger issues.

The plot of Eleven's visions leading her into a dangerous situation was compelling, but it had one small issue: the story basically acted as a one-note storyline. Yes, "The Lost Sister," for all that's good in it, doesn't have an impact on the overall story of the series, which, sadly, makes this a filler episode, and one that I'll potentially skip when I restart the show.

6 "The Bridge"

Season 5, Episode 7

Will Byers looking sad in Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2

OK, so before I dive in here, let me add that Season 5 is, perhaps, the strongest season of this legendary series outside of Season 1. Ever since it was announced that this season would bring the Stranger Things story to a close, we were hyped, and Netflix's marketing team leaned into the hype. So, in a lot of ways, Season 5 had to deliver on its promise of bringing our beloved show to a satisfying landing; and, it largely succeeded. However, there was one episode that I found particularly frustrating, and stood out like a sore thumb to me, "The Bridge."

Here, we see our gang reunite on the anniversary of Will's disappearance, and they share one last fond moment together before heading into a battle that will decide the fate of not only their town, but the world itself. On the surface, it was a sweet episode, and despite the hate it received, I actually liked Will's coming-out scene. I just wished it would have happened before the gang went into epic battle. It was simply bad timing. But what got me was that the pacing was all over the place. Because of those pacing issues, "The Bridge" never felt like it was a true tension builder for the finale that was soon to come, and it feels rather unimportant if you're re-watching it. If you’re watching Stranger Things for the first time, then you should watch "The Bridge;" but, as for me, I'm skipping it in repeat viewings.

7 "The Nina Project"

Season 4, Episode 5

Eleven screaming with explosions behind in Stranger Things.

I have mixed feelings about Season 4. While the season ended with a bang, and set us up for a fantastic final season, the first half of the season was up-and-down at best. It had its moments, for sure, but it also had its weaknesses, especially Episode 5, "The Nina Project." Here, we see Eleven being taken to Nevada by Sam Owens (Paul Reiser), and she's forced to confront her past in an isolation tank (called "NINA").

While the episode as a whole wasn't bad, "The Nina Project" had some pacing issues that I just couldn't get over. In fact, one of the small pet peeves I always had with Stranger Things is its uneven pacing. At one point it's exciting, scary, and dark, and the next, we're right back into the coming-of-age storyline. While the latter isn't really here, it illustrates the pacing problems this series has, and was especially highlighted here in "The Nina Project." Hey, at least Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) killing Patrick (Myles Truitt) was pretty cool.

8 "The Weirdo on Maple Street"

Season 1, Episode 2

Lucas, Mike, and Dustin stare ahead in surprises in The Weirdo on Maple Street episode of Stranger Things.

When compiling this list of skippable episodes, I was really on the fence about "The Weirdo on Maple Street," the second episode ever in the Stranger Things universe. This is because Season 1, in my opinion, is one of the strongest opening seasons of modern television. It perfectly set up the universe, and there really is not a bad episode in the season.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I began to be convinced that "The Weirdo on Maple Street" was a bit of an outlier for the season. We see Mike, Dustin, and Lucas try to talk to a girl in the woods that they saw, while Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) have questions about a particularly disturbing phone call (and, if you haven't noticed by now, for those who haven't seen Stranger Things yet, this piece is spoiler free). The episode was good, but I just found it particularly boring, and it's an episode that just never held my interest.