There are many themes explored over the course of Stranger Things and its five seasons, but there's only one real takeaway fans should have after watching the send-off documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, directed by Martina Radwan.
The new documentary just premiered on Netflix on Monday, Jan. 12, almost two weeks after the hit Netflix original series ended, and fans are tuning in (and dragging the Duffer brothers for a lot of creative choices.)
After watching the two-hour adventure, I'm left with only one real takeaway. It's cliché, but it's this: teamwork makes the dream work.
From the opening scenes of the documentary, which begins with the Duffer brothers alone basically, to the very end when they say "That is a series wrap on Sadie (Sink), Caleb (McLaughlin), Gaten (Matarazzo), Noah (Schnapp), and Finn (Wolfhard)," you see how many people were actively involved with this project. And, the scope and scale is massive. It took hundreds of people working night and day to bring Hawkins, the Upside Down, and the Abyss to life and make it look real.
In his wrap speech, Ross Duffer reveals that they filmed season 5 for "237 days, 6,725 set ups, which adds up to 630 hours of footage." They edited that down to about 10 hours.
After seeing the discourse online about season 5, I don't think people appreciate or value just how difficult it was to make any of this. It's not just digital effects made with AI or whatever is going to happen in the future. Real people worked together, endlessly, to make the magic happen for a decade. The magic wasn't just there on its own.
"I started this show when I was 12 with these guys," Wolfhard tells the cast, crew, and team immediately after shooting his final scenes as Mike Wheeler. "It's going to sound sad, but I feel like I didn't really feel like I had a lot of friends as a kid. And, when I talked to the Duffers the first time, I felt like I had friends. And, now I have so many more friends."
And, that's the real heart and beauty of Stranger Things. You have these people from all walks of life, just like with any TV show or movie, coming together to make something great. And, it doesn't always work out, but I think most people would agree that it really worked out in this instance.
Just like Eleven, Mike, Hopper, Joyce, and the rest of these characters had to work together every step of the way to stop Vecna and the Mind Flayer, you had teams working together to defeat their villains, too. Those villains just happened to be deadlines, Netflix (probably!), and their own ambition.
When you see the size and scope of the series, it's incredible that they were able to pull any of this off. It's remarkable that they put it all together when you consider how many things have to be prepped, put together, and all come together at one time. Yes, Stranger Things had a bigger budget than most shows and movies, but it's still wild that all of these teams were able to work together so cohesively to make such a touching story.
Look, the Duffer brothers and the creative team at Stranger Things HQ do not need me to stick up for them, so I won't. They made their choices, right or wrong. But, I do want to mention that I think it's incredibly disappointing that fans are flocking to the documentary only to drag the Duffers, poke holes in the story, and complain about how bad it is. I'm not taking the high road or anything like that. I love a good hit-them-when-they're-down joke, too!
I just think it's sad that we see a group of people clearly pouring their heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into something so massive. Did it land the way they wanted? Maybe, maybe not. But, all of those people have real lives, families, friends, and other things going on. They were sacrificing their time to make art and be part of this incredible, massive collaboration.
Regardless of how you feel about the Duffer brothers or the story, I hope you can appreciate just how hard everyone worked to make Stranger Things happen.