It’s been three and a half years since Stranger Things season four was released, and fans have been waiting with bated breath ever since to find out what happens in the final instalment of Netflix’s science fiction drama. Now, we are mere days away from the release of Volume One, which includes the first four episodes of season five.
There has been a lot of speculation around the show’s ending, and stars Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin told Yahoo Lifestyle what it was like finding out before anyone else.
“There were a lot of different reactions, I mean they were all positive, but a lot of emotions,” Finn, who plays Mike Wheeler on the show, said after reading the script for the first time.
Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin told Yahoo Lifestyle how the cast and crew managed to keep the show’s secrets from spilling. Photo: Netflix
“None of us had read it before, it was the first time we’d ever even laid our eyes on it, and we had heard pieces and stuff, and we were really excited about how it was going to go.
“Once we actually started reading it, it was like – there was so much energy.
“We got halfway through it, that was when I started to get really emotional reading it, because it just dawned on me that this was coming to an end and that, ‘Oh my God, 40 pages left, ever of the show’, like that is crazy.”
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Caleb, who stars as Lucas Sinclair, also said great lengths were made to ensure the cast kept the script details secret.
“Honestly? I read it, then I forgot about everything, because in the table read… we weren’t able to take the script, keep it, or even get it in an email,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Honestly, words kind of go over my head,” he quipped, suggesting he couldn’t have spilled the secrets even if he wanted to.
Finn added that they only read the script right before filming the episode.
“We were all so deep on filming it too, we were about to start filming the eighth episode, so it was very much like everyone was like, ‘Alright, let’s go!'” he said.
“It was a very energising period, because we ended [the table read] and it just motivated everyone to push forward, because it was a year shoot and this was in the last three months.”
Stranger Things cast reveal ‘grief and gratitude’ of finishing the show
Joe Keery, who plays fan favourite Steve Harrington, told Yahoo Lifestyle that he had mixed emotions about wrapping up the show.
He said it was a year-long shoot, with the cast and crew starting on January 2 last year, and finishing in mid-December.
“You go through the full range of like, you’re excited, you’re frustrated, you’re happy, you’re bored – everything you can imagine and then at the end it’s really bittersweet,” he said.
“It was everything,” he added.
Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan Byers, added that the filming schedule was actually pretty neat.
“In a way, the idea of starting in January, finishing in December, it’s a whole year, it’s circular and then you close out the year, we closed out this show,” he said.
“It worked. It was kind of amazing that that ultimately the experience that we got for the final season.”
Maya Hawke plays Robin Buckley in the show, and she explained that she felt “grief and gratitude” on her final day.
Joe agreed and said it’s hard to say goodbye to something like Stranger Things.
“To be on something that lasts for 10 years is so unique and to be able to share it with people who you actually like? It’s just great,” he said.
Charlie described it as “like a loss”, with Joe adding: “But at the same time so happy that it happened.”
“It’ll be crazy some day to go back and watch the show with your kids or your friends’ kids and to see the way you grew and changed,” Maya said.
What happened at the end of Stranger Things season four?
Stranger Things season four ended with quite the cliffhanger… Photo: Netflix
The science fiction drama, set in the 1980s, follows a group of young friends as they investigate secret government experiments involving a monstrous creature, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), from an alternate dimension called The Upside Down.
Season four ended dramatically when Vecna killed Max (Sadie Sink) briefly, allowing him to open four gates to the Upside Down, triggering a major earthquake.
Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) managed to save Max with her supernatural powers, leaving her friend in a coma for the foreseeable future.
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While Steve, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and Robin managed to badly injure Vecna, he disappeared to prepare for a final confrontation.
Hawkins residents believed the earthquake was a natural disaster, but now the group must figure out how to prevent the Upside Down from merging with their world and stop Vecna.
Where can I watch the trailer for Stranger Things season five?
The final season of Stranger Things will hit Netflix on November 27, but it will only be the first four episodes.
Volume Two, which consists of episodes five to seven, will premiere on Boxing Day, and the final episode will stream from New Year’s Day.
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