The penultimate installment of Netflix’s hit series has become its most divisive, with viewers criticizing the handling of a long-awaited character moment and sparking online petitions.
The release of Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 has triggered a significant wave of backlash from fans, centered on the portrayal of Will Byers and accusations of “queerbaiting.” While the series builds toward its grand finale, a vocal segment of the audience feels a core character’s multi-season arc was mishandled, leading to review bombing, viral petitions, and comparisons to other famously disappointing TV endings.
The controversy primarily focuses on Will’s coming-out scene in Chapter Seven: The Bridge, which many viewers found rushed, poorly executed, and emotionally unfulfilling after years of buildup. This dissatisfaction has manifested in a stark drop in audience scores and a fierce debate online about representation and narrative payoff.
What Happens in the Episode?
In Chapter Seven: The Bridge, with the final battle against Vecna imminent, Will Byers gathers his friends and family for a pivotal conversation. He delivers a speech listing all the ways he is like them before revealing the one way he is different: “I just don’t like girls”. He explains that Vecna has been weaponizing his fear of rejection and loneliness, showing him a future where he ends up alone because of his secret. By coming out publicly to the entire groupโincluding people he has just metโWill aims to rob Vecna of that power.
Fans and critics have taken issue with several aspects of this scene. Many argue that a private, intimate moment was transformed into a public declaration that felt more like a tactical plot device than a personal milestone. The scene’s setting in the tense moments before an apocalyptic fight also struck some as tonally jarring.
Why Are Fans Upset? The Core Complaints
The backlash is not about the fact that Will came out, but how and when it was executed. The criticism from fans and entertainment writers coalesces around a few key points.
- The Execution of the Coming-Out Scene: Critics say the scene felt “forced” and “unrealistic,” particularly for a character living in the 1980s. One major complaint is that Will comes out to a large crowd instead of having a safe, private conversation with a close friend or family member first. A fan on social media criticized the scene as “insensitive,” arguing it downplayed “his entire experience as a queer kid in love with his best friend and having five randos there”.
- Accusations of Queerbaiting: For multiple seasons, the show hinted at Will’s feelings for his best friend, Mike Wheeler. This slow-burn approach led many fans, who dubbed the potential pairing “Byler,” to believe a significant LGBTQ+ narrative was being developed. The finale’s resolution, where Will dismisses his feelings as a childhood crush he has moved past off-screen, has led to accusations that the show “queerbaited” its audienceโteasing a queer storyline to maintain engagement without providing a meaningful payoff.
- A Sidelined Character Arc: Will Byers is the character whose disappearance launched the entire series, yet many feel he was consistently sidelined in later seasons. Volume 1 of Season 5 began to recenter him, giving him a connection to Vecna and newfound psychic abilities. However, fans argue that Volume 2 largely abandoned this development, reducing him to crying and exposition before his crowded coming-out moment. As one viewer put it, “Early this season Will got these freaking awesome powers and then all of a sudden heโs crying again and canโt do anything”.
- Handling of Will’s Feelings for Mike: The show draws a direct parallel between Will’s crush on Mike and Robin’s past crush on Tammy Thompson. However, critics note this is a false equivalence: Robin’s was a superficial infatuation, while Will’s feelings grew from a deep, years-long friendship. The fact that Will seems to get over Mike off-screen and frames his love as something that “was never about him; it was about me” left many feeling his emotional journey was unfairly simplified and dismissed.
Measurable Fallout and Fan Theories
The disappointment has translated into tangible metrics. The episode has become the lowest-rated in the series’ history on IMDb, with a score of 5.5/10 from over 65,000 votes. On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience “Popcornmeter” score for Season 5 has plummeted to 56%, a dramatic 33-point drop from the previous season. Some disgruntled fans have even drawn comparisons to the widely panned final season of Game of Thrones.
This frustration spawned a viral conspiracy theory that Netflix had released an altered cut of Volume 2. Under hashtags like #NetflixReleaseTheVolume2Files, fans speculated that key scenesโespecially deeper explorations of Will’s trauma and more interactions between Will and Mikeโwere edited out. A Change.org petition related to this theory garnered nearly 200,000 signatures.
These claims were directly debunked by Randy Havens, who plays teacher Mr. Clarke on the show. On his Instagram story, Havens stated, “There is no Snyder Cut of the show, please donโt believe everything some random a** tells you on the internet”. His comment refers to the fan-led campaign that eventually resulted in the Zack Snyder’s Justice League recut.
Cast and Creative Perspective
Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, has expressed a completely different view of the controversial scene. In an interview, he revealed he was moved to tears when he first read the script, calling it “perfect”. He worked closely with creators Matt and Ross Duffer and director Shawn Levy on the scene.
Schnapp also addressed the specific language Will uses, explaining that the phrase “I don’t like girls” felt more authentic to the 1980s setting and to Will’s emotional state than a more modern, direct label.
The Duffer Brothers have previously stated that Will’s journey was planned from the start, a point underscored by the fact that his father’s derogatory comments about him being “queer” were mentioned in the very first season.
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Where to Watch and What’s Next
Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 (Episodes 5, 6, and 7) is currently streaming on Netflix. The story will conclude with Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up, a two-hour series finale scheduled for release on December 31, 2025. The finale will also receive a limited theatrical release.
Whether this final episode can address fan concerns and salvage the perception of Will Byers’ arc remains to be seen. The intense reaction highlights the increasing demand from audiences for thoughtful, well-executed representation and satisfying conclusions to long-running character stories.
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