Stranger Things: The 5 Best (& The 5 Worst) Cliffhangers Of The Show, Ranked

Stranger Things loves to use cliffhangers to keep fans excited, and these are the best and worst cliffhangers of the series.

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Stranger Things has typically relied on cliffhangers to create tension for the series. Not that that’s a bad thing, because most of them were truly stellar. But the thing with cliffhangers is that they don’t usually amount to much. They’re meant to entice viewers into watching the next episode, only they’re usually wrapped up and solved within minutes of the very next episode – usually without much detriment to the characters.

Of course, that’s not always the case. Some cliffhangers do change the momentum of the story, and in various interesting ways. With that said, these are the five best, and the five worst, cliffhangers of Stranger Things, ranked.

10 Best: Hopper Breaks Into The Lab

“Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly” ends with the shocking revelation that Will is dead. Of course, he’s not actually dead, and both Joyce and Hopper begin to suspect that the lab covered up his death.

In Chapter Four, Hopper confronts the trooper who found the body, and when that fails, he decides to just break into the lab. With this cliffhanger, audiences knew that Hopper was officially taking charge and that he would be finally getting to the bottom of things.

9 Worst: Barb’s Disappearance

Chapter Two ends with Barb falling victim to the Demogorgon. It’s a decent ending, but there are a few problems. Firstly, Barb always came across as a throwaway character, so audiences were never really invested in her death.

In fact, more people seemed invested in the aftermath of her death and “disappearance” than they were with the death itself. It also led to the tiring “justice for Barb” subplot of season two, which always seemed a little fan service-y.

8 Best: Billy Is Dragged Into The Mill

Season three begins with a bang. Billy arranges a “date” with Mrs. Wheeler but ends up crashing his car along the way. While investigating the damage, he is dragged into the dark and dreary mill by an unseen force. It’s very similar to the Barb cliffhanger, complete with a similar positioning of their arms.

With this, the Billy that we knew was effectively killed. It’s a horrifying sequence and it launches the overarching story of the Flayed.

7 Worst: Dustin Finds Dart

As far as mishandled season two subplots go, the entire Dustin and Dart subplot was borderline frustrating at best.

It also doesn’t help that the origin of the subplot was handled in a messy and question-raising manner. For one, it’s very convenient that an Upside Down creature made its way into the garbage of one of the very few people who knows about the Upside Down. It’s also a good thing that Dustin’s mom never heard the clanging and investigated! It’s also never really explained just where Dart came from. It’s sort of implied to be the slug that Will coughed up, but that’s never explicitly confirmed.

6 Best: Will Gets Possessed

As sloppy as some of season two was, it did contain some absolutely amazing cliffhangers. One of the best has to be “The Pollywog”. Deciding to take Bob’s advice to heart, Will turns to face the Mind Flayer and confront his fears.

But rather than descending into the cliché, Will instead gets a face-full of Mind Flayer tentacle. It’s a fantastic ending, and it signaled the “true” beginning of season two.

5 Worst: The Melting Bodies

The ending to “E Pluribus Unum” is wonderfully edited and scored. Billy/The Mind Flayer telepathically links with and threatens El while the citizens of Hawkins converge on the Mill to melt into goo. Theoretically, it’s great stuff.

But what makes this cliffhanger so boring is that it was the fourth cliffhanger in six episodes to take place in the mill. It was getting a little old by this point.

4 Best: Will Convulses In Agony

Another stellar Will cliffhanger comes at the end of “Dig Dug”. The scientists from the lab arrive at the location of the tunnels, and soldiers go down to set the whole thing on fire.

But once the slimy creatures are engulfed in flames, Will keels over in pain and begins convulsing on the ground – complete with an utterly horrifying expression and piercing scream. Not much came of it, but it was brilliantly terrifying.

3 Worst: The Organ Monster

The budget of season three was massively increased, leading to the disgusting Organ Monster that resembles the Mind Flayer. “The Flayed” ends with Tom and Bruce melting and forming into the Organ Monster, which in turn screams at Nancy before the screen cuts to black.

However, audiences knew that Nancy wouldn’t die in the attack, and everyone knew that the day would probably be saved by El (which it was). It’s a visually thrilling cliffhanger, but an empty one.

2 Best: Monsters Enter The Lab

“The Spy” is arguably the greatest episode of season two, owing largely to its fantastic twist ending. Viewers, and the scientists, are led to believe that Will has sent them to a mysterious spot which the Mind Flayer doesn’t want them to see.

However, he’s actually working with the Mind Flayer, and the whole thing is a trick to get the monsters into the lab. It’s a wonderful cliffhanger that heralded the thrilling and deadly climax of season two.

1 Worst: Nancy Heads Through The Gate

Perhaps the worst cliffhanger of the show comes at the end of “The Flea and the Acrobat”. Nancy crawls through a gate in a tree, all alone. She’s desperate to find Barb, yes, but she’s not stupid. And that was incredibly stupid.

The resolution is also very disappointing (she crawls back out after a minute) and poorly edited. Where was Jonathan? Why could he later hear her through the tree, but not when she initially called for him? Why did the tree open back up to let her escape?

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/stranger-things-best-worst-cliffhangers-ranked/