Would You Believe the ‘Stranger Things’ Finale Didn’t Have a Finished Script?

New Year’s Eve was pretty spectacular in my house this year. My family and I were supposed to go to Western Massachusetts, but plans changed at the last moment, and we were stuck at home. We decided to make the most of it and made pizza as a family. Then, we played Mario Kart (a first for my kids) and just had the best time. The kids stayed up later than usual, but not until midnight. We thought about it, but my wife and I had the two-hour finale of one of our favorite shows to watch.

We’ve been watching Stranger Things for its entire run, and my wife and I have enjoyed it the whole time. It was nice! So, we were very much looking forward to the finale and stacked the deck in our favor in terms of enjoying the night, and it worked. We had a great time. It felt like a just end to such a long saga. I’ve seen complaints about the finale that I disagree with, but there were definitely some that I understood. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a big finale with a lot riding on it, and I thought they did their best.

And yet! There’s a new documentary on Netflix about the making of the final season. Now, one complaint I’ve heard that I definitely agree with is that it took too long to make the show. Five seasons over ten years is pretty silly. I’ve been able to square that aspect of things in my head because I enjoy the show. I’ve very much had an “if it works, so what” mentality. But the new documentary gives us an inside look at the final season, according to Deadline, and that includes the finale having no finished script.

“It’s not like we don’t know what the ending is. It’s all plotted out,” Matt Duffer at one point claims in the documentary. “I have to write it, and we’re just low on time.” Guys, c’mon! You’ve had so much time. He admits the script isn’t finished as they are gearing up to film the episode. That sucks! It’s easier to forgive certain things if they were just choices the creators made on their own. That, I can get behind. But learning the finale didn’t have a finished script makes some of the flaws feel more glaring.

It’s not like the duo were happy about it. At one point, Matt Duffer laments starting to shoot the episode because the script isn’t ready. “I’ve never read 8 through, and we’re just shooting it,” he noted. “I’ve never done anything like this before. This is so weird jumping to eight… Don’t love it. Don’t love it.” We don’t either, Matt! This was the big finale! The end! At the very least, you should have the script written. This isn’t Curb!

I still enjoyed the episode. This doesn’t change that. I had an incredible night! But it certainly sours the whole thing. It makes it harder to defend (not that they need my help anyway). It’s just a bummer. There was time, Duffers! You should have used it!