The Duffer Brothers’ STRANGER THINGS Ending Explained, Including What Really Happened [SPOILER]

The series finale of Stranger Things arrived on Netflix last night, closing out a show that launched on the streaming platform in 2016.

You can read a full analysis of the final episode herebut as a reminder, Stranger Things ended with the defeat of Vecna, a happy ending for each of its young protagonists, and an ambiguous, potentially tragic fate for Eleven, who seemingly made the ultimate sacrifice to stop the ongoing military experiments.

Mike then imagined him escaping death to find peace away from Hawkins, but it’s up to the viewer to decide if that’s actually what happens.

In an interview with Netflix’s Tudum (via SFFGazette.com), Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer spoke about El’s fate. Although they refused to definitively reveal what happened to the show’s main character, they did explain what led them to choose this particular ending for the teen.

“What we wanted to do was confront the reality of her situation after all of this and how could she live a normal life,” » Matt said. “These are the questions we’ve been asking this season that Hopper doesn’t even want to think about or talk about. Mike obviously talked about it a lot, but it’s sort of this fantasy version that would never work.”

“There are two roads that Eleven could take. There is this one, darker and more pessimistic, or this one is optimistic and full of hope. Mike is the optimist of the group and has chosen to believe in this story.”

Ross added: “There was never a version of the story where Eleven was hanging out with the gang at the end. For us and our writers, we didn’t want to take away her powers. She represents magic in many ways and the magic of childhood. In order for our characters to move forward and the story of Hawkins and the Upside Down to end, Eleven had to leave.”

“We thought it would be nice if our characters continued to believe in this happier ending even though we didn’t give them a clear answer as to whether it was true or not. The fact that they believed it, we just thought was a much better way to end the story and a better way to represent the end of this journey and their journey from children to adults.”

“And the reality is, if Eleven is out there, all they can hope to do is believe it’s true because they can’t be in contact with her. Everything falls apart if that were the case.” » Matt noted. “So if that’s the narrative, it’s really the best way to keep her alive. And it’s about Mike and everyone finding a way to forget what happened.”

Stranger Things also ends with Hopper and Joyce finally having their date at Enzo’s house, where she accepts his proposal to get married and move to Montauk. If Montauk is often the subject of conspiracy theories around military experiments, it does not seem that the Duffers were putting together a spin-off around the happy couple by evoking the town.

“We made the cry of Montauk [where Hopper has a job offer] because the show was originally scheduled to take place in Montauk,” » shared Ross. “It was like a nice little nod to the superfans of the show who knew this nugget.”

As for the decision to take the gang back to play its finale Dungeons & Dragons campaign in the Wheelers’ basement, Ross confirmed that it had always been planned to end Stranger Things with a full circle moment.

“It was such an awesome shoot, and it really reminded us of the first day of filming where we filmed the kids playing D&D. [in Season 1]. It was the first thing we shot, and it seemed fitting that it was the last thing we shot.” he explained. “We even tried to imitate on camera what we did in Season 1 all those years ago.”

Matt concluded by saying: “It was very emotional and nostalgic to film this scene. What happened that day? [of filming] and what the actors felt and what we felt really reflected the scene. We’re really happy with how it turned out.”

The Duffers previously confirmed that, despite their deal with Paramount, they were closely involved in the Stranger Things spin-off that is in the early stages of development for Netflix.

We don’t know which characters it will revolve around or even when it will take place. However, we don’t anticipate this will directly revolve around anyone from the main series (an Eleven-led series, for example, would be well-received by some fans, but risks dampening that series’ ending).

Stranger Things Season 5 is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.