The discourse around the Stranger Things finale rages on, with the Duffer Brothers now adding fuel to the fire via a bunch of revelations in the just-released documentary.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 landed on Netflix this week, soon after the show’s series finale prompted a divisive response from fans. The doco offers a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the Netflix hit’s final season, with plenty of bombshells revealed by the cast, producers and crew members.
So while we might not have gotten the widely-theorised “Conformity Gate” episode, we at least got some twisty reveals about exactly what went on as fans bid farewell to Hawkins once and for all.
Here’s all the biggest takeaways from the new Stranger Things doco.
The finale episode still hadn’t been written when production began
Many fans displeased with the show’s ending might’ve guessed this, but the Stranger Things doco officially confirmed that finale episode — titled The Rightside Up — wasn’t completed before season five got underway.
“We went into production without having a finished script for the finale,” co-creator Matt Duffer revealed. “That was scary because we wanted to get it right. It was the most important script of the season.”
While Matt and Ross Duffer stressed they had “plotted out” the finale in their heads, they said the frenzy of filming meant they were “low on time”, to the point where the script wasn’t even completed halfway through production and Netflix execs were hounding the Duffers with a deadline.
The doco hears from crew members who were forced to build sets without having read a script, and reveals that one scene involving Holly Wheeler (played by Nell Fisher) was filmed with incomplete dialogue.
In an extremely generous way of putting it, one crew member described the unfinished-ness as “laying down the tracks as the train is going”.
This revelation might feel like a lightbulb moment for fans who found the finale to be rushed or unable to tie up all the loose narrative threads, particularly since the Duffers have insisted they knew how the show would end since as far back as season one.
Castmates alerted higher-ups of plot holes
Turns out fans weren’t the only ones to grab shovels and dig for plot holes. One scene in the doco sees actress Maya Hawke, who plays Robin, reminding director Shawn Levy of a key plot point involving her character’s love interest, Vickie (Amybeth McNulty).
That snippet of Hawke and Levy’s interaction took off on social media, with many fans questioning why directors weren’t wary of potential plot holes when going into a scene. It was one of many (potential) inconsistencies spotted by fans as the season aired, but seeing it in action within the doco made it all-the-more glaring.
A bunch of scrapped plot points were pitched for the finale
The doco takes us into the writers room for the finale, where it seems everyone threw ideas out to see what stuck. Answering a key fan question, writers were heard discussing whether there’d be any monsters, like Demogorgans, in The Abyss during the final battle with Vecna.
One writer suggested that at least some monsters should be present to defend Vecna because it’d be “crazy if there’s nothing there”, but the pitch that was ultimately overruled as another writer thought fans would have Demogorgon “fatigue”.
This puts to bed one of fans’ major gripes over the final battle, since many questioned how the gang was able to defeat Vecna so easily without his trusty, toothy sidekicks.
Another pitch seen on the writers room whiteboard was that Joyce (Winona Ryder) would not join the gang for the final battle in the Abyss, instead placing her in the lab with another group. That suggestion wasn’t executed (just ask Vecna’s decapitated head).
The Duffers (rightfully) predicted finale backlash
A scene early on in the doco sees the Duffers look into a crystal ball well before the finale premiered. “It’s terrifying because you see these shows that people love and adore, and the ending falters, and they just discard the rest of the show,” Matt said.
While “discarding” the whole show might be extreme, Matt’s concerns were somewhat well-placed given the sheer volume of those who critiqued the finale. Maybe Matt has telepathy like Eleven?
The Duffers were reluctant to kill any core characters
This isn’t necessarily a shock given Stranger Things’ long-running resistance to killing characters, but the doco reaffirms this series-long commitment, even for the finale.
“That’s what people don’t understand when we’re not killing people off, because we’re always like, ‘Oh, we have to maintain this sense of fun in the show, or it doesn’t become the show anymore’,” Matt said in the writers room. “Or it just becomes depressing.”
The creators might’ve (mostly) denied fans’ blood thirst, but the show’s main character did meet her final fate… well, kind of.
The Duffers were unsure of how to deal with Eleven’s fate
Fans angered by Eleven’s ending will find little solace in the Duffers arguing over whether to make it ambiguous or more clear-cut. The doco shows Matt leaning towards the latter, suggesting to the writers that the show make it clear she had chosen to sacrifice herself.
But Ross felt differently. “I don’t know if we have to play it like that,” Ross said of making Eleven’s fate obvious. They ultimately went the ambiguous route, leaving it up to fans to decide if Eleven was swept away with the Upside Down or made it somewhere safe.
Whether or not these revelations will satisfy all your Stranger Things finale questions is up to you, but I suggest we all take a mental breather, because we know Vecna preys on compromised minds. So go forth and find a happy place with at least three waterfalls.
Lead images: Netflix and X
