Why Stranger Things’ finale feels unfinished? A new documentary may have the answer

For many Stranger Things fans, the ending of the Netflix show has carried a strange sense of pause, as if the story stopped just short of saying what it really meant to say. A newly released two-hour Netflix documentary titled One Last Adventure suggests that this feeling was not accidental but deeply tied to the fear, doubt, and creative tension behind the scenes while shaping the final season.

The documentary offers rare access to the making of the finale and opens with creators Duffer Brothers admitting how nervous they were about closing a show that had grown into a global phenomenon, especially as they prepared to end the main story while keeping the door open for future spin-offs. They also spoke about how they were unsure of Eleven’s ending until the very last moment.

Also read: Stranger Things 5 Finale Episode Review: Vecna’s fate, Eleven’s closure, and a grey goodbye to Hawkins

Stranger Things 5 ending: Makers went into finale production without a finished script

Over footage from the production process, The Duffer brothers can be heard reflecting on the uncertainty that followed them throughout filming, with one voice saying, “There is always a sense of panic that it’s not going to come together. Then you say wait, lets go back to the ball of clay, lets keep working it, keep kneading it, and then eventually it just starts to take shape and when it starts to take shape its just really exciting.”

They admitted that panic never fully went away, explaining that they were “terrified” because they did not want to disappoint viewers, especially since they went into production without a completed finale script. “We went into production without having a finished script for the finale. That was scary because we wanted to get it right, it’s the most important script of the season,” they said, underlining just how fragile the ending was even at that late stage.

Footage from the writers’ room shows how early discussions revolved around a dark and emotionally loaded idea, with one line cutting straight to the core of the episode’s intent: “The whole episode has to be building up to ‘Eleven is going to kill herself’.”

Stranger Things 5: How was the finale shaped 

What follows in the documentary is not a neat creative agreement but a clear disagreement over how far the show should go, with Matt Duffer seen visibly overwhelmed as he says, “If we are going to sell it as she is gonna kill herself, and then she kills herself…”

Writer Paul Dichter immediately questions the certainty of that path, asking, “I think it’s like, is she still deciding? Has she already decided?” Ross Duffer then expands on the tension they wanted to create, saying, “I think you have to keep toying with the audience and I think what works with [episode] seven is like ‘Oh my god, is she really going to go through with this?’. And it’s what everyone is gonna keep expecting.”

Matt pushes back, adding, “We think she has made the choice to live… just kidding she hasn’t, just kidding she has… like that’s where I start to go…” Ross suggests another route altogether, proposing uncertainty as a tool rather than a flaw, explaining that they could “keep it ambiguous”, clarifying, “We keep it ambiguous up to the moment she…”

Stranger Things 5 ending: What happens to Eleven?

Later in the documentary, Matt returns to the symbolic meaning behind Eleven’s arc, saying, “I always thought she represents magic and so she has to leave, she has to be gone. In order for them to move on.”

So what actually happened to Eleven in the final moments of Stranger Things? In the final moments of Episode 8, titled The Rightside Up, Eleven disappears from Hawkins and the lives of her friends. Meanwhile, Mike Wheeler and the group return to the basement to play Dungeons and Dragons. Mike takes on the role of a storyteller, where he doesn’t take names but reveals a beautiful fate and ending for Eleven, with everyone saying “I believe” in unison. 

That way, the makers left it to the audience’s imagination – whether to believe that Eleven was pulled into the parallel world or whether she actually goes on to live a happy life with three waterfalls, without her shadow looming over her friends.

Stranger Things 5 was released in three volumes – the finale episode premiered on January 1 in India.

Also read: Stranger Things, Friends piracy case: Delhi High Court issues block order against illegal streaming websites