It’s time to pull back the curtain on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, currently streaming on Netflix, is your behind-the-scenes ticket to the juggernaut series, featuring two hours of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the set and writers room.
The new documentary, which follows the Duffer Brothers, cast, and crew as they bring the show’s final season to life, is packed with intimate, must-see moments — including an emotional final table read and the cast’s last days filming in Hawkins together.
Below, we break down all the fascinating insider stories we learned from watching One Last Adventure. Warning: Tissues, Eggos, and more tissues are required for this viewing.
In one of the documentary’s early moments, Matt Duffer explains that the writers went into production without a finished script for the finale. “That was scary because we wanted to get it right,” he says. “It was the most important script of the season.”
Inside the writers room, the Duffer Brothers debate the lead-up to Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) conclusion. Ross Duffer pitches the idea of “toying” with the audience over whether Eleven is going to end her life, noting how well that tease worked in Episode 7.
Matt expresses reluctance about creating a push-and-pull for viewers. “We think she’s made the choice to live — just kidding, she hasn’t, just kidding, she has,” he says.
While Ross argues that they can play into the “ambiguity” of her choice, Matt notes that the scene of Eleven getting into the van with Hopper (David Harbour) is “clearly” telling audiences she has decided to live. “No,” Ross pushes back. “Not necessarily.”
As the writers room discusses the series arc of Stranger Things, Matt points out that Eleven represents “magic” to him, and she “has to leave — she has to be gone in order for [the kids] to move on.”
Writer Paul Dichter compares Eleven’s goodbye to closing “the door to Narnia.” He explains, “Some other kids are going to find another door to Narnia later, but you’re never going back.”
Downtown Hawkins was replicated on a back lot for scenes involving MAC-Z, the town’s military-controlled area. It took “forever to build,” the Duffer Brothers share in the documentary, and it served as a backdrop for Episode 4 (“Sorcerer”) when Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) makes his first appearance in the town. That sequence — which involved multiple Demogorgons and Will’s (Noah Schnapp) first display of magical powers — proved to be the “biggest and most challenging sequence” the show has ever done, Matt notes.
The back lot was an exciting feat for the brothers, who can be seen exploring the set in the documentary. “That is so sick,” Matt says as he looks around. “I’ve always wanted to shoot on a back lot. I remember when we were little kids, and we saw the one in Wilmington [North Carolina], where they shot The Crow, and just thinking it was so cool.”
“We must have gone through maybe a hundred different looks,” VFX art director Michael Maher Jr. shares in the documentary. “Anywhere from a person who’s actually fully clothed with a cloak to someone who was really diseased.”
The turning point came when they began to incorporate vines into the design, which represented growths coming out of Vecna’s diseased body. “That really made it click,” Maher notes.
When Vecna emerges in Episode 4, Barrie Gower, the makeup effects department head, added gloss to the monster’s face while maintaining the charred black look throughout. Areas of his skin were designed to look burnt and topped off with fresh blood.
Joyce delivered the final ax blow to Vecna in the show’s finale, but there’s absolutely no bad blood between Ryder and Bower.
“Sweetie!” Ryder says when she spots Bower, whose character has just been impaled by Eleven. “How are you?” Bower replies, reaching out his hand to her. Ryder also nervously informs the Duffer Brothers that she doesn’t want to swing at Bower. (She’s reassured that she won’t have to, and Bower was just on hand to rehearse dialogue with her.)
The whole cast of Hawkins teens took a well-deserved dance break on set after killing Vecna. “Dance party!” Schnapp declares. “We got Vecna!”
After the Duffer Brothers called a series wrap on Wolfhard, Schnapp, Sadie Sink (Max), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), and Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Wolfhard offered moving words to the teary cast and crew.
“I started this show when I was 12 with these guys, and it’s going to sound sad, but I really didn’t feel like I had a lot of friends as a kid,” he says. “When I talked to the Duffers for the first time, it felt like I had friends. And now I have so many more friends.”
The tears continued to flow as the Duffer Brothers shared their own emotional speech.
“To the cast — people fell in love with the show because they fell in love with you. Thank you for giving so much of yourselves to the story. For all the laughs, tears — for being the little brothers and sisters we never had. You’re family. We love you always.”
