All good things must come to an end - and for Stranger Things, the end should come with season 5. Bursting onto Netflix in 2016, Stranger Things immediately charmed audiences with its throwback 1980s aesthetic and compelling paranormal mysteries, told through a talented cast of young newcomers and a few famous faces from the big screen. Though it was preceded by House of Cards, Stranger Things demonstrated how valuable streaming originals could be, and how platforms such as Netflix were finally ready to compete in a mainstream arena.
Stranger Things season 2 arrived in 2017 with season 3 following 2 years later, turning that fresh-faced cast into household names and doing wonders for the sale of Eggos. A fourth season is now incoming, with clue-filled teasers dropping online but no official release date at present. Stranger Things season 4 will pick up in the wake of Hopper's disappearance, relocating to the chilly climes of Russia, as well as developing the Byers' departure from Hawkins. But as eagerly as fans are anticipating this new chapter in Netflix's ongoing tale of things that are strange, an ending must come sooner or later.
And, all things considered, it should probably come sooner. Though progress is continuing on Stranger Things season 4, there remain doubts over the show's long-term future, both from a behind-the-scenes perspective, and considering the narrative challenges Eleven and the gang are currently facing. Here's why 5 should be the magic number for Netflix's Stranger Things.
After several months of planning, Stranger Things season 4 began filming in February 2020 which, in hindsight, was not a great time to begin much of anything apart from buying Zoom shares and taking up needlepoint. As per the most recent update, filming is finally expected to wrap in August 2021, when season 4 will enter the post-production phase ahead of a currently-unknown release date. Netflix hasn't officially green-lit Stranger Things season 5, but given the show's enduring popularity, one would imagine viewership won't be an obstacle.
There's absolutely nothing in Stranger Things' season 4 marketing to suggest this will be the final season, and Netflix would likely want to promote the show's swansong as "the final season" when that time comes. If that isn't reassurance enough, a 2020 THR interview with Stranger Things creators, the Duffer brothers, saw the pair explicitly confirm "season 4 won't be the end."
Annoyingly, the Stranger Things team has been far more elusive when addressing season 5 as a potential end point. The Duffer brothers and Shawn Levy (producer) have all confirmed that an end is in sight, but are refusing to be drawn on whether season 5 is that end, or whether Stranger Things will keep peddling boldly over the hill onto season 6 and beyond. Going back to a 2017 interview with E, however, the Duffer brothers stated that 4 or 5 seasons was "likely" how long Stranger Things would last. Given that original time frame and the current murmurings coming from Stranger Things HQ, season 5 feels like a realistic stopping point, but no one can say for sure.
COVID-19 played a major factor in Stranger Things' season 4 delays. That's obviously outside of the show's control; a worldwide event still bearing a profound impact upon TV production across the board. But the pandemic isn't where Stranger Things' scheduling issues end. A scant 15 months passed between Stranger Things season 1 (July 2016) and season 2 (October 2017), which increased to a whopping 19 months for season 3 (July 2019). Based on the February 2020 filming start date, Netflix was likely aiming for a similar gap between seasons 3 and 4 (meaning April 2021) before COVID scuppered those plans. But even after Stranger Things joined other productions in North America and Europe by resuming in September 2020, the process remains incomplete almost a full year later. By comparison, the filming stage for Stranger Things season 3 took just 7 months.
Social distancing and COVID testing isn't solely to blame and, sure enough, Shawn Levy concedes that Stranger Things' season 4's lengthy production is partly due to being the "biggest" and most ambitious run yet. With Levy and the Duffer brothers retaining their creative control, the increased scope of Stranger Things season 4 means a longer production, as the creative trio oversee each step of the journey.
That' s not a situation that can continue indefinitely. As kids tend to do, the young Stranger Things cast are hurtling through puberty at pace, and risk looking significantly older than the Hawkins natives they're portraying. This problem started rearing its head in Stranger Things season 3, and could get worse in season 4 (especially with filming stretched from February 2020 to August 2021). The longer Stranger Things continues, the more the show's timeline will fall out of sync with reality, and season 5 might be the last time the cast look young enough to play their parts convincingly. No one wants Will Byers will a beard.
Not only are the Stranger Things gang refusing to stop growing, they're refusing to stop getting more famous too. As the years pass, each of the main actors becomes involved in other projects - Finn Wolfhard in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, David Harbour in Black Widow, Sadie Sink in Fear Street, etc. As the cast's Hollywood stock increases, scheduling Stranger Things will become increasingly difficult, widening the gap between seasons. Then not only will the age issue worsen, but fan momentum could wane, as other shows with other endearing psychic protagonists arrive to steal Stranger Things' thunder.
It's difficult to see how Stranger Things could continue indefinitely from a production standpoint, but stopping at season 5 isn't only a matter of practicality - ending there would allow the Duffer brothers to tell a complete story without overstaying their welcome.
Stranger Things still has many plot tendrils to address. The past 3 seasons barely scratched the surface of the Upside Down's origin and nature, while the presence of the Mind-Flayer still hangs in the background. There's plenty we still don't know about the MK Ultra experiments that Eleven was subjected to, and the full scope of Dr. Brenner's machinations remains ominously vague, with numerous test subjects still to meet. And turning to the personal drama, both the Joyce-Hopper romance and the Mike-Eleven pairing are in need of one final push before a happy ending is achieved.
Two seasons is perfectly adequate to cover everything on Stranger Things to-do list. Brenner is a confirmed returnee in season 4, so Eleven's past looks to be explained sooner rather than later, while Hopper's triumphant return from Russia will likely cement his future with Joyce. Set photos from Stranger Things season 4 hint toward the Mind-Flayer's return, so fans can expect another lesson in Upside Down mythology too. That still leaves a fifth and final season to wrap things up and send everyone on their way.
As demonstrated by the fan backlash when season 2 moved to the big city, the Stranger Things premise isn't built for expansive storytelling. Hawkins' small town vibe is too embedded in Stranger Things' DNA to venture far, but there's only so many spooky situations the gang can find themselves in, and only so many ways their friendship can be tested. If Eleven and her buddies are still running from Demogorgons and being unashamedly geeky in Stranger Things season 6, 7 and 8, will fans still care?
TV audiences tend to appreciate having a goal in sight - and the shows themselves are often better for it, especially those that rely on long-form mystery storytelling. Lost, for example, lost its way around season 3, but after a road map was laid out and the finale came into view, fortunes improved somewhat. The same can happen for Stranger Things. Were a season 5 ending confirmed, fans would be more willing to endure the long gaps between seasons and more invested in the current storylines - just from knowing answers were on the horizon.
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