Stranger Things Documentary Reveals Surprising Alternate Ending for Season 5—Fans Left Longing for What Might Have Been

So, Netflix just dropped One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, and—surprise, surprise—it turns out the show’s ending could have looked a lot different than what we actually saw. I mean, the internet always finds ways to dig up alternate endings, but this one's got receipts: a leaked whiteboard from the writers' room with an entirely different finale breakdown. Yes, fans obviously went wild when they spotted it in the documentary. Honestly, it's like peeking at someone else's cheat sheet and realizing they took a whole different test.

Wait, Was the Finale Always Supposed to Be That Ambiguous?

Alright, here’s how things allegedly went down according to what showed up on screen and what the board showed was originally planned:

• Just like the version you saw, Eleven and Kali team up and dive into Henry’s mindspace. The goal? Find the kids and take on Vecna, because what would 'Stranger Things' be without a mind-bending trip or two.
• But after Vecna bites the dust, the supposed original plan kicks in—and it’s way more ambiguous than what ended up on Netflix. Here, Hopper knows about Eleven’s plan to fake her own death. (In the aired version, it’s all in Mike’s head—just a ‘what if’ scenario. But in this scrapped draft, Hopper is in on it.)
• There’s even a 'Lost in Translation' goodbye moment between Hopper and El—no big speeches, just a quiet end with the two parting ways forever. That reference? Yeah, it’s the bittersweet embrace before Bob and Charlotte go their separate ways in the 2003 movie. Basically: emotional gut-punch, no closure.
• The board notes El says goodbye to everyone using a 'happy memory', and once the Upside Down blows up, she's... just gone.
• To round out the drama, Hopper supposedly finds out about the new plan from Kali, ties up some loose ends, and quietly bails so nobody else knows El made it out alive. It’s a lot tidier than the double-bluff we actually got.

Fans Are, Obviously, Losing Their Minds

The online reactions are a mess—just how the Stranger Things fandom likes it. The moment the clip leaked, Twitter was full of theories, memes, and people wishing this 'El is still alive and Hopper knows it' twist had actually happened. Some fans are fully convinced Hopper’s part in the fake-out is what explains his bizarrely calm attitude in the ending we got.

Key comment:

'So the story is she’s still alive because Hopper wouldn't be happy and go lucky in the end if El was dead... Hopper being in on it makes so much sense. Of course her living would be 100% more important to him than keeping her in danger by being in contact with her.'

But, of course, other viewers are quick to point out that just because something was on a whiteboard doesn’t mean it’s canon. If El’s big happy memory goodbye didn’t actually happen on-screen, then, well, none of this alternate ending made the final cut. Basically, it's not 'real'—but it sure is fun to wonder what could have been.

The Duffers, as Usual, Stay Silent

No big explanation yet from the Duffer brothers about why they switched things up last minute. Typical. Maybe ambiguity just played better with test audiences, or maybe they wanted to keep the door propped open for more Eleven stories down the line. Either way, what we’ve learned here: even the most locked-in TV finales have last-minute jitters, and your favorite characters might've dodged a totally different fate if a single conversation went another way in the writers' room.

One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is streaming now on Netflix, if you want to dig for any other creative secrets. And yes, if you need a refresher, we’ve got reviews and explainer posts for the Stranger Things season 5 finale—just in case you want even more speculation.