After nearly a decade of production for the five total seasons, the first of three volumes of the final season of “Stranger Things” was released on Nov. 26. Considering the three and a half year wait, a majority of the episodes did not meet my expectations.

Throughout the first three episodes, the poor writing had nearly caused me to write the entire season off as a letdown. Multiple major plot points contradict minor details from previous seasons. Even overlooking the nitpicky writing errors, the season seemed to rely on the buildup of the rest of the show for fans to have an emotional connection with the characters instead of building new, interesting character depth. The only compelling aspect of the characters is that the writers are now willing to kill many of them off.

By using the setup for the climax of the episode, the writers successfully repaired the emotional connection that was lost earlier in the season. Though Robin’s monologue was intended to help Will with his queer identity, it easily connected with audience members who relate to Will’s identity struggles, no matter who they are. Then, how they used the monologue to fuel the big twist at the end was the exact combination of emotional connection and science fiction that I was looking for in the previous episodes.

Although the setup of the first three episodes was hard to follow, the ending of the first volume was inevitably satisfying. I’m excited to see how the writers wrap up all of the plot lines they’ve introduced through Volume Two and the finale.