By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 2 seconds ago
The Stranger Things series finale left many fans (including myself) disappointed because of all the different questions that went completely unanswered. It was bad enough that even the show’s biggest fans had to ask why the heck a once-iconic show kept dropping the ball when it came to captivating storytelling.
In a recent interview, however, the Duffer Brothers accidentally said the quiet part out loud and confirmed that they left some aspects of Stranger Things unexplained so they could explore them in a future spinoff.
The Biggest Unanswered Question In Stranger Things
While the Stranger Things finale left viewers with plenty of questions (including why there were no Demogorgons defending Vecna and why the Mind Flayer ended up being such a pushover), there was one particular question that vexed everyone: what was up with the glowing rock in the briefcase in those caves? In a flashback, we see Henry Creel kill the scientist carrying the briefcase; afterward, the stone turns into particles that enter the gunshot wound on his hand, transporting him to the Abyss and setting off the chain of events that would transform the young Henry into the fearsome Vecna.
That’s all well and good, but the flashback in the Stranger Things series finale doesn’t actually explain what the heck this radical rock is. It may be a fragment of the Mindflayer, or it may be the key to another dimension. Heck, it could even be some kind of psychic stone because it’s unclear whether Henry is physically or mentally transported to the Abyss. Unfortunately, the Duffer Brothers confirmed in a recent Variety interview that the exact answer to this burning fan question will be answered in a future Stranger Things spinoff.
Fans Will Have To Watch The Spinoff For Answers
According to Matt Duffer, “The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you’re going to understand it.” He emphasized that the new show will be “a completely different mythology” rather than “a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer or anything like that.” However, he reaffirmed that the future spinoff “will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining.”
I have been very disappointed with Stranger Things Season 5 from the beginning, and I was staggered to see that the show wrapped up with so many of those aforementioned “loose threads.” Ever since the series became a breakout hit, this beloved Netflix show has stretched out its mysteries for nearly a decade. Literally, millions of fans have been waiting for satisfying answers. Not only did the final season fail to provide answers to many of those questions, but the Stranger Things creators have now confirmed they didn’t bother providing certain answers because they are saving them for future spinoffs.
Lazy Writing: Even Scarier Than Vecna
Even if you love Stranger Things and idolize the Duffers, you have to admit that this is lazy writing. First, these showrunners hid most of Vecna’s backstory in an official play (Stranger Things: The First Shadow) that most fans will never be able to see, then they used the show to contradict the canon of the play; in The First Shadow, Creel is sent to the Abyss by stolen technology, but in the show, it’s a magic rock. Now, fans have gone from being unable to understand Vecna’s backstory without watching a play to being unable to understand the show’s retcon without watching a later spinoff!
If there was no spinoff on the horizon, we’d have gotten more answers and a better finale, and that’s the problem: somewhere along the way, the Duffers became more interested in building an ongoing franchise than just telling a good story. Unfortunately, they haven’t considered that they are killing their golden goose. Why would any Stranger Things fan watch a future spinoff when they know that the new show will also be lazily written and full of half-baked mysteries requiring us to watch even more spinoffs to finally get answers? If that’s what we’ve come to, the blunt truth is that Stranger Things should have simply ended after Season 1.