Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 5 found itself at the center of controversy after the release of its latest episode, Chapter Seven: The Bridge.
While the series has long been one of the platform’s most successful and critically acclaimed shows, the episode triggered a surge of negative audience reviews over what viewers described as “woke” messaging.
Highlights
- Stranger Things Season 5’s latest episode was hit by a wave of negative audience reviews.
- Online critics labeled the episode “comically bad” and accused the show of going “peak woke.”
- The backlash focused on Will Byers’ coming-out scene and Nancy Wheeler’s heroic action sequence.
Chapter Seven: The Bridge currently has 5.4 stars out of 10 on IMDB. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Stranger Things Season 5 currently has a Popcornmeter of 56% with over 5,000 ratings.
Stranger Things fans were not happy with the length and timing of Will Byers’ coming-out scene
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Much of the online backlash was centered on a scene involving Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), in which the character finally comes out to his friends and family.
In the episode, Will gathered the group together and engaged in a long speech about his orientation. He concluded his speech by declaring, “I don’t like girls.”
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Some critics argued that the timing of Will’s speech didn’t make sense, as it interrupted the urgency of the group’s impending final battle against the series' antagonist, Vecna.
Critics also questioned Will’s explanation that his fear of coming out could be weaponized against him, despite Vecna never explicitly referencing such a fear in any of his earlier appearances, according to the Daily Mail.
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One viewer wrote on X, “Btw the Will coming out scene may be the worst in the entirety of ST. Making that the most important plot point for the penultimate episode of the show is such a waste. Plus it was super cringy too. A hard watch…”
Another wrote, “Stranger Things S5 was doomed from the start bc it was written back during the era of Peak Woke before the writers' strike and then filmed before Trump won in 2024. Here we can see Wokeness literally jammed down the throats of children.”
Nancy Wheeler’s heroic action sequence also drew claims of unrealistic “girl boss” writing
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Chapter Seven: The Bridge also featured an action-heavy moment for Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), which featured her gunning down armed soldiers with an assault rifle. The scene was met with scrutiny from viewers who argued that the moment felt exaggerated.
Critics questioned how Nancy, whose character has primarily been written as an investigative journalist, was able to overpower trained military personnel easily.
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Some also argued that the setup to the intense sequence was questionable, as the group was able to catch armed soldiers off guard despite arriving in a loud vehicle and crashing through a gate.
One user wrote, “The girl-bossing in Stranger Things S5 is another example of how this show has fallen off… Nancy Wheeler, who is 5 ft. nothing 90 lbs soaking wet, is like a Navy SEAL and John Wick combined, taking out highly-trained military personnel.”
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Another comment focused on the whole premise of the action-heavy sequence, saying, “Nancy being able to sit on top of a non-moving vehicle in the middle of a military zone and open fire on military personnel without being shot at once is the definition of Plot Armor. There are no stakes.”
Other Stranger Things fans argued that The Bridge’s low ratings were only due to “review bombing”
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Not all netizens agreed with the criticism of Chapter Seven: The Bridge. As the negative reviews piled up, some Stranger Things fans accused critics of review bombing the show.
One user wrote, “Stranger Things Season 5 has been review bombed even tho every episode has been good but apparently one scene means the whole of Season 5 is bad. What a world we live in.”
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Another defended the storytelling outright, saying, “Too many haters this season. I thought it was pretty good. I don’t see any flaws in the pacing or acting despite what others say.”
Others argued that character development had been a long-running strength of the series and that the criticism ignored years of buildup.
“Don’t understand all the negative reviews. Makes no sense. This season is amazing. All characters are getting excellent development,” one fan countered.
Will’s orientation had been hinted at since the show’s earliest episodes
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Some fans argued that from the first season, Will has been portrayed as an outsider of sorts, even among his friends. His feelings of distance only intensified after his traumatic disappearance into the Upside Down.
For instance, in the first season, his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) recalled how Will’s father had referred to him as “queer.”
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Later seasons continued to build on the theme, including moments where Mike lashed out at Will for not liking girls. One of Season 4’s most emotional scenes also involved Will struggling to express his feelings during a van ride.
This means that for many viewers, Chapter Seven: The Bridge did not introduce a new storyline at all, but instead confirmed what had been quietly established over the show’s nine-year run.
In a comment to Variety, Noah Schnapp stated that Will’s coming out scene was something he had anticipated for a long time.
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“You know that it's coming,” he explained, adding that he stayed in close contact with the Duffer brothers while waiting for the moment to be written. When he finally read the script, he said, “I was just in tears. It was perfect.”
The Stranger Things Season 5 finale is scheduled to be released on New Year’s Eve, capping off a story that started way back in July 2016.
Netizens shared their thoughts on the backlash surrounding Stranger Things Season 5 on social media
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