Duffer Brothers Talk 'Stranger Things' In New Interview
Image Source: Stranger Things Wiki
With the final episode of Stranger Things fast approaching, everything is in place to deliver an impactful one. Characters have forged connections, mysteries need answering, and an ultimate decision on how to save the world rests with them. The Duffer Brothers have taken part in a new interview with Variety, hyping up the final episode. It’s obviously a spoiler-heavy one, so if you’ve been saving a watch of the season until it’s all out, it’s best not to read on.
Will had been hiding a secret throughout this season, having gained his powers directly from Vecna. Who is using Will as a spy? There comes a point where he has to reveal why he accepted his powers, and in doing so, comes out as gay. From Matt Duffer, they “spent longer writing that scene, I think, than certainly any other scene this year – if not ever. We were so concerned about getting it right.” Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, found it impactful on first reading it, as Matt reveals, “He wrote us sobbing after he read it. So it really worked and resonated for him, which was great.”
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Image Source: IMDb
And speaking of Schnapp, Matt reveals that he put a lot of work into preparing for the scene on the day of filming. Months of preparation really helped, as “most of what’s in there is the first take. It’s just one of those moments you always hope for when you’re working with an actor – he seemed to access something incredibly truthful. It didn’t feel like he was acting. I think Noah completely lost himself in that scene, and that take is what wound up in the show.”
The Brothers wanted to make that scene unique among coming-out scenes. Something that fit the world they had constructed. And so, as Ross reveals, “it was about the fears – because that’s what Vecna does.” Explaining more on that, “The fear is something that Vecna, what he’s talking about, feels really real and grounded to Will, which is not that everyone’s going to make fun of him or be mean to him. It’s that everyone’s going to slowly withdraw from him.” Because of that framing, the scene worked best when everyone was there to witness it, to show their support and affection, rather than just Joyce.
Away from that impactful scene, the Upside Down and the Abyss were established as two distinct entities from the very first season. Despite the Brothers saying they weren’t going to explain the mythology in the series, the execs of Netflix wanted to know. As Matt says, “I think it was actually a really good exercise – we spent quite a bit of time with our writers figuring out exactly what the Upside Down was. We wrote a 20-page mythology document. It wasn’t called the Abyss at that point; it was called Dimension X, which is a Ninja Turtle reference.”
Image Source: IMDb
One of the major points for the finale is what happens to Eleven. That, if she lives through the finale, her blood is still important enough that the military will continue hunting her down. Simply because she has the blood of Vecna – otherwise known as Henry – in her. And there is no simple solution for that. “It’s unchangeable,” Matt reveals. “There’s no magic antidote that’s going to solve this issue. And we like that, because it just creates a very complicated, messy situation.”
The characters of Stranger Things are united in their cause to save the world. So it made sense that, whatever conflicts they hold with each other, are all resolved before that final battle. It was an important thing for the Brothers to make sure happened. As Ross says, “In our mind, if the party’s actually going to be able to defeat this great evil, they have to be all working at the best of their ability, and be all on the same page. So it was important just to resolve those tensions and conflicts. There’s one left, really.
And that final one is Eleven. “How can there be a happy ending there?” Matt says. “That’s the question going into the finale. Is Mike right, or is Kali right?” There are two other impactful parts to the final episode, which Matt reveals as “the big thing is Henry’s backstory specifically, and his connection to the Mind Flayer.” Max, having spent a lot of time in Vecna’s mind, will also be instrumental in the final battle as Eleven prepares to enter it, as “I think if Max hadn’t spent all that time there,” Ross says, “and hadn’t learned her way around, it would make this final battle nearly impossible.”
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Source: Variety
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