Highlights
- Stranger Things season 5 is promising to be the biggest and most ambitious season yet, with the creators claiming it's like "season one on steroids."
- Fans can expect to see the original characters from season one reunited and interacting more, which is something many fans have been eagerly waiting for.
- While the writers are confident in their ability to deliver, ending a beloved show like Stranger Things is notoriously difficult and will be a challenge.
Stranger Things season 5 marks the end of an era for Netflix. However, the Netflix show's writers have big shoes to fill, and the creators seem confident they can do so.
Since 2016, the Stephen King-inspired supernatural series has been a main selling point for Netflix. Stranger Things fans stayed glued to their screens to experience the end of Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) story in the highly anticipated series finale. But before the end of an era could arrive, something unprecedented happened. The dual Hollywood strike put a stop to work to a point where creatives joked the final season would be computer-generated in a hilarious first look at the Stranger Things season 5 premiere.
Now that writers and actors have returned to work, Stranger Things season 5 is back in production, and the writers have made a bold claim about the final episodes. “This season -- it’s like season one on steroids,” Matt Duffer, who created the series with his twin Ross, told The Guardian. “It’s the biggest it’s ever been in terms of scale, but it has been really fun, because everyone’s back together in Hawkins: the boys and Eleven interacting more in line with how it was in season one.”
For most of Stranger Things season 4, all the characters were separated. Following the supposed death of El's surrogate father, Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder) effectively adopted the young girl and moved her children across the country for a fresh start. Only when Joyce started getting abstract clues did she think Hopper could still be alive, eventually finding him in a Russian prison. At the same time, Max (Sadie Sink) was dealing with her complicated feelings over her stepbrother’s death while a new foe terrorized Hawkins.
Historically, separating the characters has never been a selling point for the series. Season 2 took El away from the main cast in one of the most universally disliked seasons of the show. Season 4 had some interesting concepts, such as Creel House and El regaining her powers, and did not quite fail to that extent. The series succeeded where others had failed, with very few unnecessary Stranger Things plot threads. But there is no doubt that fans want to see the characters that started it all reunite.
Even so, this is not the first time the writers weirdly described Stranger Things season 5. The Duffers' claim that the final season could supersede season 1 is easier said than done. The freshman season of Stranger Things was the most beloved of the series and fired on all cylinders. There was no fat to trim back when Will (Noah Schnapp) was trapped in the Upside Down, Steven (Joe Keery) had the best character development, and the kids were fighting the government. Even if the final season is bigger in scale, meeting fan expectations will be difficult. The Duffers acknowledge that pulling off a series finale is notoriously difficult for any show, and ending a nostalgia-infused fan favorite will be more difficult than most.
Stranger Things seasons 1-4 are streaming on Netflix.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things is a horror and supernatural franchise that was originally a popular show on Netflix. The viral success of the television program caused it to have its very own mobile game, Stranger Things 3: The Game, where you play one of 12 characters in an SNES-like version of Hawkins.
Source: The Guardian
