Duffer Brothers had no ending for Stranger Things when they started shooting Season 5

Riddhee
Netflix
Netflix's "Stranger Things" Multi-City Series Finale Screening - Source: Getty

Stranger Things came to an end on December 31, 2025, with its Season 5's final episode, and not all fans had the same reaction. While some were happy with the ending, many were unsatisfied because of Eleven's fate and because they felt that many questions weren't answered.

One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 has just been released on Netflix, and it shows us the behind-the-scenes process of Stranger Things Season 5. We not only get to see many aspects of the production, but also see the discussions that took place in the writer's room about how the show would end.

In the documentary, we see the Duffer Brothers say that they didn't know how the show's finale would go when they started filming the final season.


The Duffer Brothers did not know how Stranger Things would end when they started filming the final season

One of the key things fans have had a problem with regarding Stranger Things' ending is the narrative, and how they expected more of a fight, more incidents happening, but they didn't. Some fans have also expressed disappointment in how the story was written.

The documentary that has been released on Netflix will now hopefully explain some details of the writing and production process so that the fans can understand why certain choices were made.

But before the documentary goes into the minute details of the final season, we see the Duffer Brothers say:

"We went into production without having a script for the finale."

While surprising, it is not uncommon for a show to go into production even if the makers don't know exactly how the show will end. In the documentary, we see the creators talk about Eleven's fate, whether they want to go with a definitive ending or an ambiguous one, and even see the Duffer Brothers disagree with each other initially.

Eventually, we know how the show ended, but the creators did not when they started filming. It is honestly understandable that they weren't sure of exactly how they would end the show because there was a huge pressure to end it right.

Over the years, Stranger Things became a global phenomenon, a show that is loved by fans worldwide, and has high expectations from them. Thus, the Duffer Brothers ensured they not only killed off the main villain but also gave us a conclusion for each character.

As for Eleven, they always knew she wouldn't make it at the end; they just had to decide how they would show it to us. It is clear from the documentary that the writers took time to write out the ending properly, to do their best to wrap everything up.

The documentary also takes us back to how it all started, the fact that the Duffer Brothers never anticipated how big the show would become, words from executive producers Shawn Levy and others, and then we see the final table read for Season 5 before seeing the rest of the behind-the-scenes.

All seasons of Stranger Things and the documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is streaming on Netflix.


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Edited by Amey Mirashi