Stranger Things Creators Reveal Why They Began Filming Season 5 Before Finishing the Finale Script

If you figured the final season of Stranger Things was a tightly-orchestrated, everything’s-in-place operation, let me burst that bubble for you. Turns out, the Duffer brothers—Matt and Ross, the creators running the weirdest upside-down in Hawkins—kicked off filming their big, series-ending season... without actually having a finale script done. Yes, on the biggest show Netflix has, they didn’t lock in the ending before the cameras rolled. Bold choice? Nervous breakdown in the making? Maybe a little of both.

Making It Up (Mostly) as They Go

The not-so-secret spilled out on Netflix’s own behind-the-scenes doc, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, released January 12. Matt puts it plain: 'We went into production without having a finished script for the finale. That was scary because we wanted to get it right. It was the most important script of the season.'

If you think that sounds mildly chaotic, you’re not alone. The documentary goes from there into the weird push-pull between the brothers over how, exactly, to wrap up their mega-hit—especially what to do about Eleven in the final episode.

Should She Stay or Should She Go (All the Way)?

Ross was apparently dead-set on Eleven’s storyline ending with a big, dark swing. He wanted the whole episode to build up to: 'Eleven is going to kill herself.' Yeah—kind of a surprise for a show that mostly bounces between monster fights and 80s mixtape nostalgia.

Matt, on the other hand, argued that jerking the audience around with fake-outs would be a mistake: too many 'gotcha' moments and people tune out. So, the compromise? Ambiguity. Ross landed on keeping things unresolved, and that’s the flavor that made it to the final cut. If you leave your audience arguing, at least they’re still talking about you.

Other Finale Oddities: Plans, Pivots, and the Rumor Mill

• The Duffers confirmed they thought about making Vecna switch teams (yep, the monster-villain might have gone good—or something adjacent to good).
• A big finale battle with Demogorgons was mulled over. The jury’s out on how much of that survived into the actual show.
• Most eyebrow-raising: They almost wrote a three-hour finale. For reference, that’s longer than most superhero movies, and a likely reason why having the finished script at the start wasn’t in the cards.
• For the drama-lovers: the doc covers that very emotional last-day-on-set goodbye from the core cast, so bring tissues if you’re into that sort of thing.
• If you remember hearing about #ConformityGate (one of those online fan uproars) or the mysterious “extra episode that never happened,” the behind-the-scenes coverage drops some breadcrumbs there, too.

So, Did It All Work Out?

For all the fuss about how the sausage was made, Stranger Things managed to actually land its ending—more or less. The Duffers’ last-minute, script-still-hot approach may have launched 10,000 Reddit takes, but it kept things loose and let the finale go places even the cast probably didn’t see coming.

As for my full take? Check out my review of Stranger Things season 5. And hey, if you’re just looking for something else to binge, I’ve got picks for the best Netflix shows, too.