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The newly released Stranger Things documentary has revealed how the show’s creator, Matt and Ross Duffer, completely changed the ending to the series.
The new Stranger Things doc, called One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, has sparked controversy online following on from fan criticism of the finale.
Releasing a documentary about how the season was made just under two weeks after it finished was always a bold move, but this became doubly true after a major fan backlash to the finale.
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Between rumours the show was set to have a secret extra finale episode due to a viral theory called ‘Conformity Gate’ and the finale itself coming under fire from super fans of the show, the end to Stranger Things has come under intense scrutiny.
This has continued with the documentary’s release after it was revealed that the final episode began filming before a script was actually written, with a crew member in the doc revealing they ‘didn’t know what was going on’.
Keen-eyed fans, however, have spotted details on whiteboards in the background, showing major scenes which appear to have been cut from the finale.
One of the most talked about aspects of the finale the documentary exposed was originally part of the plan was the presence of Demogorgons, demodogs, and demobats.
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When no Demogorgons appeared in the finale, many fans questioned this as the creatures were an iconic part of the series.
The documentary revealed that one writer said it would be ‘crazy’ to not have them in the finale.
A separate part of the documentary had whiteboards shown with a plan for the finale episode, including sections in which the group is ‘trapped’ by Demos, leading Will and eventually Eleven to save them.
Eleven’s ending also reads very differently from the whiteboards, showing that originally her plan recounted by Mike at the end was less ambiguous.
Not only was it less ambiguous but Hopper was in on the plan, something which fans have suggested made his actions speaking to Mike on the bench at the end more understandable.
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It also stated that ‘Hopper tends to Kali’ and they have a ‘heart to heart’ before sharing the plan for El to escape.
Whilst these were likely brainstorms from earlier drafts, fans online have still run with them as proof that the finale was originally better.
One tweet said: “holy sh*t mike’s ‘theory’ was originally the canonical scene but they removed it to be more ambiguous about el’s fate…alright…”
Another said: “HOLY SH*T!! GUYS THEY COMPLETELY CHANGED THE ENDING TO MAKE IT MORE AMBIGUOUS… Wtf this is SO MUCH better.”
Ultimately though, even if superfans don’t love it, the average viewer of the show was actually fairly positive about the finale.
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Whilst it is not the highest rated episode of season five it still sits at a respectable 7.6 on IMDb, demonstrating that superfans calling this the worst finale ever might be being a tad hyperbolic.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: TV, TV and Film, Documentaries, Stranger Things
Michael Slavin