Netflix has released a tell-all documentary that goes behind the scenes of Stranger Things season five, which has led to multiple revelations about how they made the hit show.
The Stranger Things season five finale was particularly controversial, even compared to other major shows’ final seasons, with a viral theory taking off that convinced fans the show would release a secret extra finale episode.
Called ‘Conformity Gate’, it brought a heightened interest to the documentary, which was released today, called One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5.
Whilst it features no references to a secret, unreleased ninth episode of season five, it does reveal a number of shocking things about the show's final season and how it was made.
The finale was forced to begin shooting before they even had a script
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One of the biggest shocks in the documentary comes when you reveal how late the finale script was written.
Certain scenes from the finale, particularly those inside Camazotz due to the lighting, had to be filmed before the Duffer Brothers had finished the script for the finale.
The documentary shows stressed crew members talking about how they will have to start building sets based on ‘conversations’.
Whilst many have pointed out that this is more common than you’d expect in TV and Film production, others have suggested that this ‘explained’ what happened in the controversial finale.
The documentary showed emotional speeches on the last day of filming
Whilst most have focused on the negatives revealed within the documentary, it is a surprisingly emotional watch.
The final table read featured Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and multiple other actors in floods of tears, and Wolfhard’s speech after filming the final scene of the show was also shown.
In it, the It: Chapter One star speaks about how he had worked on this show since he was 12 (he is now 23 years old).
The actor states that, whilst he never had friends as a child, meeting the Duffer Brothers was the first time he felt like he had any friends and that now he has tonnes of them, gesturing to the entire cast and crew in an emotional moment.
Actors gave major input on their characters in the show
The documentary shows the actors behind the show, many of whom have played these characters for almost a decade, who are quite influential in decisions made for their characters.
Shawn Levy has particularly come under fire for Maya Hawke ‘reminding him’ that she and Vicky are not out to Lucas just yet, so he wouldn’t know they were in a relationship.
Even though the viral tweets ignore the fact that Levy does not state otherwise, it is an interesting insight into the extent of actors' say in their characters.
The Duffer Brothers also mention the actors playing the party members wanting to be part of the final battle, with Finn Wolfhard wanting a gun (which made it into the final show), and Levy is shown consulting Natalia Dyer about whether she thinks Nancy would swear in a certain scene.
The documentary revealed major decisions in the writing room
One of the first scenes in the documentary is the two Duffer Brothers disagreeing on the best way to end Eleven’s story, whether that be to be ambiguous or emphatically show her surviving.
In addition to this, fans have been left raging after the documentary showed a writer bringing up the fact that no Demogorgons being in The Abyss would be an ‘insane’ decision.
This was later cited as a major criticism of the finale by fans.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, Finn Wolfhard, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin