After five seasons and a decade on our screens, Stranger Things has come to an end. Well, the main show has concluded, but the franchise will continue to endure through spinoffs, beginning later this year with the release of animated series Tales From '85.
The fifth and final season garnered mostly positive reviews. Naturally, there were some who weren't so impressed. For instance, season 5 Episode 7 was review bombed; it currently stands at 5.7/10 on IMDb, making it the lowest-rated episode of the entire series. Clocking in at just over an hour long, the installment, titled 'The Bridge,' contained one of the most inherently emotional scenes in the entire series.
Yes, we're talking about Will's coming out scene. Taking up more screen time than the entire final battle against Vecna and the Mind Flayer, it saw Will sit down among his friends and family, the people who make him feel the most comfortable, to come out as gay. The whole scene was a real tear-jerker, and it was super important for creators Matt and Ross Duffer to get right. Watch it for yourself:
The pivotal scene took the longest time for the duo to write. “We just wanted to get it right,” Ross Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter, with Matt adding: “We worked on that for a while with just Joyce [Winona Ryder], and it never felt right. Once we involved the friends, it started to click more into place. I remember … being nervous when we showed it to Noah. Because so much of it is close to what he’s been through. It had to be truthful for him on two fronts.”
Despite the review-bombing, the Duffers remain proud of the scene — and they're delighted that star Noah Schnapp is happy with how it turned out. “I think that’s where Ross and I were most sensitive, was Noah — because of how close to home this hit for him,” Matt explained, per Variety. “And our goal was to make sure that he was comfortable and happy with the scene. And when he was, we felt good about it. I’ve been texting with him a lot, but texting with him specifically after that scene and after that episode aired. And he’s in a really good place. He’s very proud of the scene, and we’re proud of the scene.”
Stranger Things season 5 is now streaming in full on Netflix. The streamer will premiere its spinoff, Stranger Things: Tales From '85 later this year. The upcoming animated series tells stories set in-between seasons 2 and 3 of the main show.