Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer are feeling the pressure to create a worthy ending for their hit Netflix series, which comes to a close with the impending season 5. To craft the best finale possible, the creators turned their attention to some of the best regarded series finales of all time.
The Duffer brothers tell Variety that they went back to TV finales including the final episodes of Six Feet Under, Friday Night Lights, and The Sopranos - which famously ends on a beat that has left audiences poring back over the show for years.
"The best ones were very true to themselves," Ross Duffer explains. "The shows that are trying to be super clever - I think that's where it can go wrong really quickly."
At the same time, the Duffers have never been shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves, adding in timely cultural references to Stranger Things that reflect the movies, games, and stories they grew up loving.
"We were playing Magic: The Gathering and video games and making movies and having adventures in the woods," Ross Duffer continues. "A lot of the show, especially the early years, was us tapping into that feeling."
It's that sense of intuition for their own storytelling desires that has shaped the finale they've had in mind for Stranger Things, with the Duffers knowing exactly what they wanted the show's final scene to be for years now.
"We knew roughly what the end scene was for years - it wasn't something we had a strain to come up with," Matt Duffer says. "There were elements of it that were discussed for weeks, but the core idea of the ending, we had for a really long time. "Anyway, we're really happy with the way it ended. It's nerve-racking to put it out. I'm sure people will have opinions!"
Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1, arrives this November 26, with volumes 2 and 3 following soon after on December 25 and December 31. Until then, check out our guide to the best shows on Netflix.
