The Stranger Things Finale Kept One Of Eleven's Coolest Scenes Offscreen After Setting It Up All Season

While the Stranger Things finale did technically make use of Eleven’s most impressive ability, the Netflix hit inexplicably left this major moment offscreen in its last outing. Whether viewers love it or hate it, the Stranger Things finale has officially been and gone. Despite what the ConformityGate conspiracy theory claimed, the iconic Netflix show is over for good.

Of course, there will be plenty of spin-offs and continuations that take place in the world of the series. Author Caitlyn Schneiderhan’s spinoff novel Stranger Things: One Way or Another, subtitled “A Nancy Wheeler Mystery,” arrives later in 2026, while the official Stranger Things spinoff Tales from ’85 will recast the show’s heroes for a new animated adventure.

That spinoff’s story takes place between seasons 2 and 3, filling in a major blank in the timeline of the original show. However, the original story of the series ended with the finale, and although some fans were content with the fate of the show’s large cast of characters, plenty of other viewers noticed that a few major moments were missing.

Stranger Things' Series Finale Doesn't Show Eleven Jumping Into Vecna's World

One jarring absence was the sequence of Eleven using her much vaunted powers to jump from the Upside-Down into Vecna’s world, where she was reunited with Will, Joyce, Mike, Nancy, Lucas, Robin, Jonathan, Dustin, and Steve. After Kali’s tragic death, El was left in the Upside Down with Murray and Hopper.

Her climactic confrontation with Vecna was moments away, but there was one big problem. Eleven needed to somehow travel directly up into the air to get inside Vecna’s world, which was above the Upside Down (which was, itself, above Hawkins). In a moment of inspiration, Eleven told an understandably worried Hopper and Murray that she could make that jump.

Rocky islands dotted the purple-blue sky of the Upside Down, meaning there were potential stepping stones for her to jump between. However, this was still an absurdly risky idea. Falling from one would mean certain death for El, which, in turn, would spell doom for the entire gang. The stakes could not have been higher.

That’s why it was a crazy decision for the show to completely ignore the jump itself, instead cutting to El already in Vecna’s world in the next scene. While the Stranger Things finale wrapped up a few stories perfectly, leaving this dramatic, climactic scene offscreen was one of its most inexplicable and unfortunate creative choices.

Showing Eleven's Jump Scene Would Have Paid Off Her Training Scene

The first time viewers saw Eleven in season 5, she was running an obstacle course that she used to train for her eventual, inevitable confrontation with Vecna. This sequence, wherein the heroine jumped over a school bus using her telekinetic powers, was used in the season’s promotional materials and marketing and even prominently featured in the first trailer for the final season.

As such, it was reasonable to assume that the payoff from El’s extensive training would play a role in the finale’s action. Not only had Eleven been training a lot onscreen, but viewers had even already seen her jump once in the Upside Down. When Hopper and El planned their Hawkins Lab break-in, this risky jump prompted much angry discussion.

Hopper and Eleven argued over whether she could pull off the all-important move or not, with El eventually convincing her mentor that she was ready. The dramatic jump was a success, so, naturally, it seemed like this comparatively minor event would have been building up to something bigger in the finale. However, bizarrely, that big moment wasn’t seen onscreen.

Although the Stranger Things finale was never going to please everyone, it is still striking to see the series fumble what seems like such an easy win for the show. Admittedly, the spectacle of Eleven jumping into Vecna’s world would no doubt have been expensive to realize onscreen, thanks to stunt performers and CGI landscapes.

The Stranger Things Finale’s Missing Moment Highlights A Bigger Problem

However, Stranger Things season 5 was already set to be the most expensive TV/streaming project ever made, and the finale wasn’t short on spectacle elsewhere. The issue, then, seems to be rooted in screen time rather than prohibitive expense. Put simply, the finale already had too much going on to cover El’s jump.

Despite its super-sized feature-length runtime, the finale was badly overstuffed, resulting in the show speed bumping major, vital moments like El’s big jump. Stranger Things season 5 struggled to wrap up its story thanks to its many characters and numerous dangling plot lines, which is how viewers ended up with the show ignoring Dustin’s bullies in his valedictorian speech.

In the first three episodes of the season, these violent jocks seemed set to become major antagonists as they repeatedly assaulted Dustin without consequence. Instead, like Linda Hamilton’s Dr. Kay, they were largely forgotten by a Stranger Things finale that couldn’t find time for every major story beat, despite the show's best attempts.