Will’s coming out scene is what society needs right now

Stranger Things season five is getting some flak. Chapter Seven: The Bridge has quickly become the lowest-rated episode of the entire series. 

The entire season’s rating has been hovering around 53 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes based on audience scores, as of Jan. 13. Before the second part of season five — which contained Chapter Seven — was released, the Rotten Tomatoes audience rating was 73 per cent. 

The episode contained a long-awaited scene, with character Will (Noah Schnapp) coming out to a crowd of his friends through a lengthy monologue.

Since the episode aired, negative reviews have flooded social media platforms like Instagram, Reddit and X, with comments calling the scene “ridiculous” and “performative.” 

Unlike the many vocal reviews, I enjoyed this tender scene, which served as a break from the stressful supernatural-horror show’s suspenseful final season. 

Will’s coming out was a long time coming. Since the first season, his sexuality has been instrumental to the show’s plot. 

From the show’s beginning, Stranger Things establishes the social context in which Will is growing up. He could have easily been targeted and hurt because of his queerness. 

When Will went missing in season one, his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) says to Police CHief Hopper (David Harbour), “He’s a sensitive kid. Lonnie used to say he was queer.” To which Hopper replies, “Is he?”

Later in season one, school-yard bully Troy (Peyton Wich) says, “Will was probably killed by some other queer.”

Yet some people on social media still argue that the storyline about Will’s sexuality was “unnecessary, cringe and actually derailed the entire show,” according to one tweet with six thousand likes. These viewers have clearly not been watching closely enough. 

Will’s coming-out is the culmination of his character development built through the show’s five seasons. It’s ultimately about reclaiming authority over his identity so that it can no longer be used against him — either by bullies, parents or Vecna, the otherworldly monster that Will and his friends fight against. 

The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, told Variety that “Vecna, in so many ways, represents all the dark thoughts and the evil of society. And for our characters to overcome that, it’s really about embracing themselves and then embracing one another.”

This scene had to happen, and it had to be in front of everyone. While most don’t come out in front of an audience, Will needed to so he could move forward and fight Vecna. Secrets gave Vecna something to prey on. 

Despite the crowded room, the Duffer brothers and Noah Schnapp still managed to create a moment that felt immensely intimate, human and endearing. This makes it difficult to understand how this gentle scene drew so much hate.

I can understand how the characters echoing “and me,” in support of Will might have felt cheesy, but I was mostly grateful for a feel-good moment. So much of modern media is negative, so it was refreshing to see a wholly positive scene. 

While the group’s compassionate reaction to Will’s announcement may not have been realistic in the 1980s, I don’t see why that’s so bad. This is a show with shadow monsters, aliens and alternate dimensions, yet no one complains about realism there. It’s important to consider where these complaints come from and the possible homophobia that could be behind them. 

Beyond my enjoyment of this scene, I think it has an especially important message for North American viewers right now. 

As censorship increases in the United States, it becomes increasingly necessary for popular media to represent marginalized voices, such as those in the LGBTQ+ community.

PEN America, an anti-censorship and press freedom advocacy group, states that local governments and school boards enacted 6,870 book bans in the U.S. during the 2024-25 school year. The majority of books that were targeted explore themes of race, gender identity and sexuality. 

While bans are a direct form of censorship, bad ratings and review bombing can discourage streaming platforms and creators from producing inclusive media.

It’s powerful, especially for young LGBTQ+ individuals, to see how accepting Will’s family and friends were of his sexuality. 

Stranger Things has always been a show about outcasts finding each other. If viewers want to put limits on what “different” is allowed to look like, the show was never meant for them. 

As actor Noah Schnapp shared in an interview, “I hope it touches everyone — not just queer people — and makes them emboldened and empowered to be who they are and proud of who they are.”
As Stranger Things viewers move on to other shows, I encourage them to be kinder than they were to Will’s coming-out scene. Our responses carry weight. You never know what these scenes may mean to someone else.