Stranger Things' Ending Isn't Another Game Of Thrones, But It Is The New Lost

The end of Netflix's Stranger Things marked the first time since Game of Thrones that a TV finale became a true cultural event, and that brought with it a great amount of pressure. Game of Thrones fumbled its entire closing season, the last episode in particular, and that grave misstep has altered the fantasy series' legacy for the worse.

Naturally, then, Stranger Things was keen to avoid a similar fate, but it's hard to call "The Rightside Up" a resounding success. The episode has come in for criticism over its lack of character deaths, the ambiguity of Eleven's fate, apparent plot holes, and missing characters. "The Rightside Up" is also ranked third-lowest on IMDb after "The Lost Sister" (which was virtually a one-episode spinoff) and "The Bridge" (which was review-bombed).

For those reasons, Stranger Things' ending is being mentioned in some circles in the same breath as Game of Thrones. If there is a comparison to be made, it should be between Stranger Things and the finale of Lost.

Comparing Stranger Things' Finale To Game Of Thrones Is Too Harsh

Stranger Things' finale may have been imperfect, but placing it within the same bracket as "The Iron Throne" is a step too far. One of the biggest issues with Game of Thrones' ending was inconsistent characterization - Daenerys burning King's Landing, Bran becoming the new king, etc. Whether you like where Stranger Things' characters end up or not, the finale stays true to the respective personalities of each party member.

Eleven's sacrifice for her friends, Dustin channeling Eddie at graduation, the older kids caught between Hawkins and the wider world. The development in "The Rightside Up" never feels unnatural, and is never subversive for the sake of unpredictability.

Arya Stark finishing off the Night King proved to be another controversial beat from Game of Thrones' final season, with everything that came before positioning Jon Snow for that role. Stranger Things made a similarly left-field choice by having Joyce Byers put the finishing touches on Vecna's demise. In this instance, however, the choice was poignant, harking right back to season 1 when Vecna put Joyce through the pain of a missing child. No one deserved that moment more - not even Eleven.

And speaking of the Night King, a major point of contention from Game of Thrones' final episodes was how quickly the ending chewed through major threats - the Golden Company and Euron Greyjoy, the Night King's army, then Cersei, all to establish Daenerys herself as the true big bad.

Stranger Things season 5 and its eventual last chapter kept Vecna as the focus throughout, with the surprise villain in "The Rightside Up" being an old friend: the Mind Flayer. The Netflix series cannot, therefore, be accused of sweeping past major antagonists like Game of Thrones was guilty of.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Game of Thrones' finale was how storylines that had been vital throughout the entire show were suddenly cast aside - Jon Snow's parentage and the Prince that was Promised, for example. While Stranger Things' ending is certainly guilty of sidelining Linda Hamilton's character and glossing over the pregnant test subjects, it's hard to deny that the biggest mysteries were solved.

Stranger Things delivered a full explanation for the Upside Down, filled in the blanks of Vecna's backstory, gave each of its main characters an emotional goodbye, and paid off Will's importance to Vecna. One can argue over whether those points were addressed in a satisfying way, but at least crucial plot threads weren't ignored or forgotten.

Stranger Things' Finale Has A Lot More In Common With Lost's Ending

Before Game of Thrones replaced it, modern television's most notorious finale proudly belonged to Lost. The iconic mystery series ran for six seasons before ending in 2010, and general consensus at the time skewed in a negative direction. Unlike Game of Thrones' ending, Lost's finale earned a core audience of supporters who would describe "The End" as a flawed but appropriate conclusion to a complex story.

Stranger Things' "The Rightside Up" seems to be following the Lost pattern, because while critical voices do make valid arguments, an undercurrent of positivity is championing Stranger Things' finale with, "actually, I thought it was pretty good." Nerdist, Medium, and IGN all afforded the episode positive reviews, and they weren't alone. On IMDb, "The Iron Throne" is rated at 4.0 compared to "The Rightside Up" with 7.6. You may be surprised to hear that Lost's two-part finale clocks in at 8.4 and 9.1.

Even more interesting is how the criticisms of Stranger Things' ending mirror those leveled at Lost 15 years earlier. Both episodes were accused of too much ambiguity, with Eleven's death/survival comparable to Lost's flash-sideways church scene. Both episodes were forced to sacrifice less pivotal mysteries (the whereabouts of the Demogorgons, or why the bird said "Hurley") in favor of focusing on the bigger fish like Vecna's connection to the Upside Down, or the purpose of Lost's island).

And, ultimately, both Stranger Things and Lost are guilty of providing answers that just invite further questions. In Lost, the giant cork at the heart of the island added a whole new chapter of lore big enough to sustain a series in its own right. The rock that introduced Henry Creel to the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things could also form the basis of an entire series - and, according to the Duffer brothers, will do exactly that.

Throwing Stranger Things in with Game of Thrones does a disservice to the Netflix series. The former was flawed, the latter had little but flaws. Instead, Stranger Things joins Lost in being a finale that is divisive, at times vague, arguably incomplete, but when all is said and done, still a logical destination for the story.