5 Major Bombshells from “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 ”(Including Debates Over Eleven’s Fate)

The Duffer Brothers started filming the finale episode without a finished script

When production for season 5 of Stranger Things began in early 2024, the Duffer Brothers had not completed the script for the finale.

“We went into production without having a finished script for the finale,” Matt said in the documentary. “That was scary because we wanted to get it right. It was the most important script of the season.”

In the middle of the production schedule, the Duffer Brothers decided to film a scene for the finale even though the script still wasn’t done.

“We are shooting episode 8, which isn’t completely written yet — spoiler alert! So we don’t even fully know what’s going on,” production assistant Montana Maniscalco revealed.

However, Matt clarified that he and Ross had the finale “all plotted out,” but they just hadn’t written it yet and were “low on time.”

Both of the Duffer Brothers later explained that they were “getting hammered by production” to finish the finale episode, which was later titled “The Rightside Up.”

“I’ve never read 8 through, and we’re just shooting it. I’ve never done anything like this before. This is so weird jumping to eight … Don’t love it. Don’t love it,” Ross said.

Matt added, “It was the most difficult writing circumstances we’ve ever found ourselves in, not just because there was the pressure of we had to make sure the script was good, but there’s never been so much noise at the same time.”

Matt revealed that by the time he and Ross finished writing the finale, it “was the longest time we’ve ever spent with the writers on a single episode.”

The writers debated whether or not to include Demogorgons in the final battle

While the Duffer Brothers and their fellow writers were brainstorming what to include in the series finale, they debated whether or not they should feature Demogorgons in the final battle.

The writers were nailing down one of the last scenes where the stars confront Vecna and the Mind Flayer in the Abyss and discussed whether or not other Upside Down monsters — specifically Demogorgons — should appear.

“There have to be some monsters in the Abyss,” writer Paul Dichter argued. “There has to be [a] Demogorgon, bat, dog, like, something. It’s crazy if there’s nothing there, I think.”

However, Ross countered that much of the season 5 midseason finale, “Chapter Four: Sorcerer,” centered around Demogorgons. Similarly, writer and producer Kate Trefry pointed out that viewers may be feeling “Demogorgon fatigue.”

The rest of the writers, including Matt, ultimately agreed and decided to leave monsters out of the series finale.

The Duffer Brothers debated Eleven’s fate and eventually changed the ending

In addition to the final script not being completed when season 5 production began, the ultimate ending — specifically Eleven’s fate — was also still up in the air while filming.

As Stranger Things viewers are aware, the Duffer Brothers decided to leave Eleven’s fate up to character and audience interpretation. Throughout the final episode, Eleven plays with the idea of dying and sacrificing herself to save the Upside Down, but it ultimately remained unclear if she actually died or if she faked her death in an illusion and survived.

Although the Duffer Brothers eventually came to the conclusion that Eleven’s fate would end on an ambiguous note, they did not make the decision lightly.

“The whole episode has to be building towards ‘Eleven is going to kill herself,’ ” Ross pointed out to his writers.

Meanwhile, Matt suggested that they could make viewers believe that Eleven “made the choice to live,” but Ross wasn’t buying that. Ross ended up being the person who wanted to “keep it ambiguous,” while Matt argued that it already felt straightforward.

“God, I don’t know how to play this,” Matt admitted to his fellow writers. “The longer it goes, the more stories you have to tie up and the more character arcs you have to end. The more expectations there are with the audience. How do you meet those expectations but surprise the audience still?”

The show’s writers defended not killing anyone in the finale

Unlike past episodes and season finales, the Stranger Things season 5 episodes didn’t result in any of the main characters getting resolutely killed off. The Duffer Brothers revealed that they intentionally made that decision because they wanted to keep the final episodes still somewhat “fun.”

“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 while anticipating backlash. “Or it just becomes depressing.”

Later on in the documentary, during a table read, Matt joked about the “ton” of actors in the room and said, “We probably should have killed some of you off. Millie was right.”

Many writers and actors worried about continuity errors

As season 5 evolved and changed throughout production, there were some continuity issues that writers and actors, alike, brought up to the show’s directors and creators.

At one particular point in time, star Maya Hawke — who portrayed Robin Buckley — spoke to director Shawn Levy about how her character’s relationship with Vickie Dunne (Amybeth McNulty) wasn’t disclosed to the rest of the group during a scene where they were supposed to be holding hands in front of Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink).

“I have a question. It hasn’t been talked about very much in any of the scenes that we’ve all been in together — no one knows that we’re dating, including Caleb,” she said, referring to the secret relationship.

Hawke suggested, “I would like to play this scene in a whisper — I would like to do this,” while moving her face close to McNulty’s.

While Levy said that the whispering adaptation was “good,” he didn’t directly address the plot hole.