The ‘Stranger Things’ Brothers on Resolving Character Arcs

The penultimate batch of Stranger Things episodes fell on Christmas, and a lot happened in this trio. With great revelations about the reverseaudiences also got to see the characters come to a conclusion before the series finale.

Specifically, Jonathan and Nancy broke up and Will came out as gay to the main cast. In a major spoiler-filled interview with Varietycreators Matt and Ross Duffer said they wanted to make sure everyone “actually resolved those tensions or conflicts” before the big fight with Vecna. “If the party is serious about defeating this great evil, they must all work to the best of their abilities,” Ross Duffer said. “Whether those conflicts are external with others or internal with themselves, they all need to be on the same page.”

For Will’s scene, Matt Duffer called it the longest scene the couple worked on all season. After cutting the scene in season four because there wasn’t room for it, they were “so concerned” about getting it right and making sure it was “resonant and truthful” for Will’s actor, Noah Schnapp. Duffer said he burst into tears after reading it, and when it came time to shoot, he “seemed to get to something incredibly truthful. It didn’t feel like Noah was acting. I think he completely lost himself in that scene, and it was that take that ended up on the show.”

As for Nancy and Jon, one of the oldest relationship bonds through Stranger things, Matt said it was also something they wanted to wrap up for a while. To the Duffers, the two “needed” to separate and be their own people. “They love each other very much,” he noted, “but at the same time, there’s a very real conflict in the sense that they’ve been through something very unique and difficult. Will they ever be able to connect with someone who is as meaningful as this? But also, how do you grow as a single person? You need that independence.”

The only unresolved thread is that of Eleven and her ability to live without endangering the world. And the answer to this question will come in the last episode of Stranger things, hit Netflix on New Year’s Eve.

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