Featured Image Credit: Chesnot / Contributor / Getty
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5.
When Volume 2 of Netflix's Stranger Things' fifth and final season dropped on Christmas/Boxing Day, it sparked intense debate among its fanbase.
The Volume 2 episode 'The Bridge' overtook Season 2's 'The Lost Sister' as the series' lowest-rated episode, while fans have launched a petition demanding unreleased 'secret' footage that could be enough to make up a whole 'missing' episode.
The streaming giant has weathered heavy criticism over Stranger Things' final instalment, including behind-the-scenes allegations involving David Harbour, inappropriate remarks about young cast members, and widespread disappointment with the finale itself.
Advert
'The Bridge' saw Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) expand upon the idea of the Upside Down acting as a ‘bridge’ between Hawkins and ‘The Abyss’, which was previously referred to as Dimension X.
It also saw Will (Noah Schnapps) come out as gay to his family and friends after Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) was using this fear against him.
However, this particular scene didn't sit well with Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who declared the scene 'unnecessary' in a recent tweet.
In response to a user sharing the clip from the episode, Musk replied: “It’s completely unnecessary and forced on audiences who just want to enjoy some basic sci-fi.”
But the tech billionaire quickly faced a wave of backlash from the show's fanbase.
"Did you even watch the series? It was a big plot throughout the entire series, not something forced into the last season," one X user fired back. "People can write stories the way they want. Do a better sci-fi if you can. Not sure you can get yourself away from your AI slop long enough to do so."
It’s completely unnecessary and forced on audiences who just want to enjoy some basic sci-fi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2025
Another fan added: “Yeah the entire show is literally about him and he’s been canonically queer since season one but alright.”
Meanwhile, additional controversy stirred up over the season's ambiguous 128-minute-long wrap-up of the decade-long show.
“For our characters to move on and for the story of Hawkins and the Upside Down to come to a close, Eleven had to go away,” Ross Duffer said. “We thought it would be beautiful if our characters continued to believe in that happier ending even if we didn’t give them a clear answer to whether that’s true or not.”
Amid the backlash from their post-finale interviews, the Duffers announced plans for a Stranger Things spin-off set between seasons 2 and 3 of the main series.
