Speaking with Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast , Matt and Ross Duffer revealed some interesting details about the fifth season of Stranger Things.
Which they will start writing in August. The Duffers have first of all confirmed that the next season, which will also be the final one for the Netflix series, will be set completely in Hawkins, unlike the fourth, which has divided the protagonists into different groups.
Matt Duffer explained:
For the first time ever, we haven’t completely closed season four, so [fifth] will move fast. I don’t know it will start at 100mph already, but it will move rather quickly. The characters will already be in action. They will already have a very specific purpose, and I think this will allow us to cut at least a couple of hours and make the season taste different.
Therefore a less important duration:
The reason we don’t expect it to be as long [like season 4] is that, if you think about it, it took two episodes for the boys to get sucked into the supernatural investigation. You have known them, you have seen them in their daily lives, what their problems are, their difficulties in adapting to high school, etc. Steve trying to find a girl, stuff like that. None of this will obviously happen in the first two episodes [of season 5].
Matt Duffer added:
We want to go back to a lot of the things we did in Season 1. A lot of the original groupings and pairings we had in Season 1. It’s nice to be able to come full circle.
Ross Duffer revealed that while the final season details are still vague in their heads, he and Matt know exactly how the series will end:
Knowing the destination gives you clarity. It’s like the light from the beacon flashing in the distance… While much of Season 5 is still quite smoky, the last 30 minutes are pretty clear in our heads. If we can make the journey fun, I think the ending will satisfy. It is not possible to satisfy everyone, but the hope is that it will be right for this story.
Too many characters, too few deaths
During the podcast, Matt Duffer also responded to Millie Bobby Brown , who, speaking to The Wrap , had “accused” (jokingly, of course) the authors of not having the courage to kill their characters. She the actress had stated:
Last night we couldn’t even take a group photo, because there were like fifty of us. I said, “You have to start killing people. The Duffer brothers are too sensitive and don’t want to kill anyone. We have to do like Game of Thrones . We have to adopt the Game of Thrones mentality … They tried to take out David [Harbor] and then they brought him back to life. It’s ridiculous.
Matt Duffer’s response:
Believe us, we’ve explored all the options with the writing team. We are not Game of Thrones . This is Hawkins, not Westeros. The series [would no longer be Stranger Things , because it would lose its realism. Even when she died Barb it took two seasons to get over it, so imagine [if we were killing people all the time].