finale

The Stranger Things finale included a few Easter Eggs, but only one is the real clue to what The Duffer Brothers’ new spin-off will be about.

The finale episode of Stranger Things has arrived and fans are already picking it apart to find clues for an upcoming spin-off. Since the finale aired on Netflix last week, The Duffer Brothers have confirmed which Easter Egg viewers should look out for that will be an important clue to the series they do next.

One popular fan theory, which had been quickly gaining traction, was that Hopper and Joyce would have their own show when they move to Montauk, a real town that partially served as the inspiration behind the creepy experiments we see in Stranger Things.

However, in an interview with Deadline, The Duffer Brothers clarified that this was simply a cheeky Easter Egg about Stranger Things’ original name, as it had originally been a supernatural drama called Montauk back in 2015 before the location was changed to the fictional Hawkins, Indiana.

“There’s no Montauk spinoff,” Ross Duffer confirmed. “That was more of a wink to the fans, deep-cut fans that know that the show started as Montauk.”

However, fans who had been to see Stranger Things spin-off play The First Shadow on London’s West End spotted a few other Easter Eggs in the finale, with Henry Creel’s origin story reportedly being a crucial clue to the real spin-off.

During the season 5 finale, we learn Henry found a rock inside a scientist’s brief case that gave him powers and connected him to The Mind Flayer. This adds more context to the play, as The First Shadow previously revealed he went missing in the desert and came back changed by what he found there.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Duffer confirmed: “I’ve been pinned down and forced to blow this already, so I might as well tell you. There’s lingering questions about the rock and where the rock came from [in Henry’s story in the finale] and the scientist and all of that.

“Because we had said that there is something in the finale that is going to connect to the spinoff. The spinoff is not about rocks or mining the rocks, but I would say that’s the loose end that’s not that’s not tied up that will be tied up.”

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He went on to explain that there would be “an entirely new mythology” but that the spin-off “does connect and will answer some of the lingering questions”, adding: “It’s not specifically about the Mind Flayer or the Upside Down, but hopefully it provides some answers to that at least those lingering questions related to Henry’s memory.”

The show creators also told Variety that they would start working on the spin-off from Monday, January 5, with Matt revealing: “You don’t understand. My favorite part of the show is working on it. It’s not releasing it — that’s just stressful, no matter how it goes when you release it.

“It’s maybe my least favorite part of the process. I like the creative part. I like making it. So, we’re actually really excited, and it’s very exciting to work with a clean slate: completely new characters, new town, new world, new mythology.”

As well as the new spin-off, an animated series featuring the original Stranger Things characters has also already been confirmed. It will be called Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 and is reportedly set to come out some time in 2026.

Stranger Things seasons 1 to 5 are available to stream in full on Netflix now.

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The finale of Netflix’s blockbuster series “Stranger Things” gave movie theaters a much needed jolt, generating an estimated $20 to $25 million at the box office, according to multiple reports.

Matt and Ross Duffer’s supernatural thriller debuted simultaneously on the streaming platform and some 600 cinemas on New Year’s Eve and held encore showings all through New Year’s Day.

Owing to the cast’s contractual terms for residuals, theaters could not charge for tickets. Instead, fans reserved seats for performances directly from theaters, paying for mandatory food and beverage vouchers. AMC and Cinemark Theatres charged $20 for the concession vouchers while Regal Cinemas charged $11 — in homage to the show’s lead character, Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown.

AMC Theatres, the world’s largest theater chain, played the finale at 231 of its theaters across the U.S. — which accounted for one-third of all theaters that held screenings over the holiday.

The chain said that more than 753,000 viewers attended a performance at one of its cinemas over two days, bringing in more than $15 million.

Expectations for the theater showing was high.

“Our year ends on a high: Netflix’s Strangers Things series finale to show in many AMC theatres this week. Two days only New Year’s Eve and Jan 1.,” tweeted AMC’s CEO Adam Aron on Dec. 30. “Theatres are packed. Many sellouts but seats still available. How many Stranger Things tickets do you think AMC will sell?”

It was a rare win for the lagging domestic box office.

In 2025, revenue in the U.S. and Canada was expected to reach $8.87 billion, which was marginally better than 2024 and only 20% more than pre-pandemic levels, according to movie data firm Comscore.

With few exceptions, moviegoers have stayed home. As of Dec. 25., only an estimated 760 million tickets were sold, according to media and entertainment data firm EntTelligence, compared with 2024, during which total ticket sales exceeded 800 million.

The Duffer Brothers have teased more details about their upcoming spin-off following Stranger Things’ epic finale

Warning – this article contains major spoilers for the Stranger Things finale

Stranger Things creators Ross and Matt Duffer have confirmed a popular fan theory about the Netflix show’s upcoming spin-off isn’t true.

The hit supernatural drama set in the 1980s concluded with an epic finale on Thursday (1st January) that brought an end to the Hawkins gang’s battle against Vecna (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) and the Upside Down.

During the epilogue, after a terrifying encounter with the Mind Flayer on Dimension X and an emotional farewell to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), we see where many of our favourite characters end up 18 months later.

After five seasons, Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) finally get to sit down for a romantic dinner at Enzo’s, where Hopper proposes.

Joyce, of course, says yes, and they enjoy a swoon-worthy dance with some magical backing vocals that set audience hearts a-flutter all across the globe.

During the date, Hopper also suggests a move away from Hawkins after a friend in New York tipped him off to a position for chief of police opening up in Montauk.

Not only would it give Stranger Things’ fan-favourite couple a chance at a fresh start, but fans were also quick to guess that the haven in Long Island could be the perfect setting for the series’ confirmed spin-off series.

One X user said: “WAIT HOPPER WANTS TO GO TO MONTAUK?!!! #montauk that is where the whole story of Papa’s Dad started. Is that the spinoff town?!!!”

And another fan predicted: “Oh you caught that huh? Montauk is the Easter egg for the next spinoff.”

However, in a post-finale interview with Deadline, the Duffer Brothers have sadly confirmed this is not the case. Instead, the reference to Montauk is actually a cheeky allusion to Stranger Things’ origins, which was initially announced as a supernatural drama called Montauk back in 2015 before the location was changed to the fictional Hawkins, Indiana.

Ross Duffer confirmed there is indeed a hint towards the offshoot, but said: “I don’t know if I want to, but I will say, though, it’s not Hopper mentioning Montauk.

“There’s no Montauk spinoff. That was more of a wink to the fans, deep-cut fans that know that the show started as Montauk.”

Keeping their plans under wraps, the co-showrunner continued: “It’s obviously not Holly (Nell Fisher) and the kids or anything like that. It’s something much smaller than that.

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“We’ve said this before, the spinoff idea we have, it is early days, but it is an entirely new mythology.

“So, it is connected, and it is going to answer some questions that people have, and there’s some lingering questions that weren’t answered in the finale that will be answered in the spinoff. But at the end of the day, it’s got its own story and its own mythology.”

In an earlier interview with Variety, Ross also confirmed there will be some “connective tissue” between the shows, but maintained the spin-off won’t be like Star Wars with characters and locations crossing over.

Even so, the Duffers have confirmed there’s a hint towards the new series hidden somewhere in the finale, so fans had better get started on their next rewatch if they want to dig up some answers.

Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.

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This article contains spoilers from the series finale of “Stranger Things.”

At this moment, somewhere on the internet, “Stranger Things” fans are rabidly and rapidly giving their feedback on how the series resolved the years-long plight of horrors faced by their favorite ragtag troop from Hawkins. But for Noah Schnapp, it didn’t matter how the story concluded. When filming on the final season wrapped last December, it was a bleak ending. At least initially.

The Netflix drama, to this point, had taken up half of Schnapp’s life. When he was 11, he began portraying Will Byers, the baby-faced boy who was abducted while biking home at night from a friend’s house and pulled into an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. It was the catalyst that linked Will to its powerful creatures that tormented him and his inner circle for years. All the while, Schnapp and his fictional alter ego became increasingly intertwined. Like Will, he was a boy coming of age in his own upside down dimension — fame — while stepping into his true self.

“I will never forget that last day and how that last scene felt — it was just so surreal,” he said. “The goodbye was hard. I grappled with this feeling like my life is over and I’m in a crisis, this is my whole identity and all I’ve ever known, and now it’s ending.”

But for Will, “Stranger Things,” created by Matt and Ross Duffer, concluded on more hopeful terms. He began the two-hour series finale — released in the closing hours of 2025, both on the platform and in select movie theaters nationwide — knowing he had no secrets that could be weaponized against him, making him better positioned to help put an end to the Upside Down — and its otherwordly creatures.

Over two separate interviews from New York — a video call and, later, a phone call 20 minutes after I viewed the final episode — Schnapp discussed the complexity of amassing fame as a child actor, the parallel sexual identity journeys he and his character took, and life after “Stranger Things.”

Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve (Joe Keery), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp) and Robin (Maya Hawke) in “Stranger Things.”

(Netflix)

How does it feel to have it finally be out there?

Oh, man, it’s such a relief, honestly. No more worrying. It’s a happy, happy relief.

How did you spend the past two hours? I know you saw the finale with the cast already. Did you watch it again with the public?

Absolutely not. I’m celebrating the New Year, trying not to over stress about what people are saying and stay distracted.

So you’re not going to look at fan reaction tonight?

Probably not. My friends are texting me already, like, “Oh my God, I loved it,” or “Oh my god, I’m sobbing right now.” But no, I haven’t checked anything online.

We get a glimpse of Will’s fate. This idea that he finds his place, deep happiness and acceptance … and maybe love. What did you think of Will’s ending?

I think it was perfect. It felt really hopeful to see what the future can hold for a character like that, that I also kind of relate to, at least in terms of sexual identity. It was nice to see him get his happy ending and learn that it was it was never about Mike. It was about finding the person that was right for him, and in the meantime, kind of just loving himself. I’m just happy he got his happy ending. That’s that’s what he deserved.

Do you think he’ll remain good friends with Mike, Dustin, Caleb, Max — everyone?

Of course. They are forever tied together. Their books stand on the shelf, all next to each other, and especially Mike. They have that conversation which was actually written — now I can say it. It was not originally in the script, but I had the Duffers include it.

Oh, tell me about that. Why did you think it was important for them to have that conversation?

That scene on the tower, it’s a short little moment, but I felt like, with the coming out scene, there wasn’t enough closure between Will and Mike. So they included that moment, just so you get to see that Mike loves him as a best friend, and they will always be friends, which was nice. This relationship has been a slow burn for so many years, and so many people have an attachment and hopes for how it would come to a close. The coming out scene was so focused on on Will’s feelings that there wasn’t time for them to have a separate conversation, so I just felt like it was necessary for them to close out their specific chapter together. It feels very real to many situations I’ve had in my life where I’ve had a best friend that I’ve fallen for, and they ended up being straight and they love me still, just the same. It doesn’t make things weird. It felt very authentic to many experiences I’ve had in my life, and I’m glad it ended positively for him.

Series finales leave viewers to fill in the blanks beyond the chapters they close. We don’t have a real sense of how these characters are going to process the aftermath of what they’ve experienced, or how they’ll handle the trauma. Is that something you think about?

Of course. The story leads the audience to hope that these characters come to acceptance and peace after all these years of suffering. We end together as a group, this show started together as a group in Mike’s basement, and it’s right back to that core lesson of the show — believing in the magic of childhood and friendship and nurturing that and keeping that alive. And when they all say, “I believe that Eleven still exists,” I think it’s a metaphor that they’re saying they believe that the magic of childhood will exist forever and they hold on to that and take that with them into their lives.

I want to talk more about Eleven. Before we get to the theory that Mike has, what do you remember about shooting the scene where Eleven decides to stay back? Each one of you were so emotional in that moment.

I think of Millie as my own sister, so I tried to just make it feel as real as possible for me and imagine what that would feel like to see my own sister be taken from me. And it was so easy to access the emotions for that, because Millie does feel like family to me. I personally believe that she [Eleven] is still alive. I am hopeful about it. What I think is interesting is so many people expected so many people to die, a big massacre —

Did you think that it would go that way, at any point?

Our show has never been a show that’s killing off main characters left and right. I think, too, the big part of this season was tying it back into Season 1 and bringing things full circle. Eleven’s goodbye scene with Mike felt really perfectly full-circle and not traumatic and left the viewers with a question, but still hopeful and satisfied. I’m sure everyone’s going to have lots to say, positive and negative as they always do — that’s OK — but I personally loved how the Duffers closed it.

Earlier in the episode, there’s the exchange between Will and Henry, where Will is in his mind, and he sees what happened to Henry in that cave and is trying to appeal to his humanity. What did that unlock for you about the journey of these two young men and how they navigated their respective traumas?

It was satisfying for me as a viewer to understand these two characters, though, they are so polar opposite in their places in the story, are really inherently the same and come from the same emotions and sensitivity. The only difference is that the villain gives into this evil and Will fights it. It was just really cool as an actor to play those parallels and shooting it, we had to move in the same physical ways when his hand goes back in the same way — and watching how he [Jamie Campbell Bower] did a scene and matching it perfectly was really fun.

There were quite the needle drops in this episode from Prince — “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain.” Also “Heroes” from David Bowie. Were these songs played a lot on the set while filming this last episode?

“Heroes” by David Bowie, they were playing over and over on those last takes. “Purple Rain,” they were playing out loud. Usually we don’t get to actually listen to songs while we’re filming, but just to get a vibe, they were playing it on the speakers while we were in the truck. It was a fun episode to film, and also so difficult because they didn’t give us the freaking script for Episode 8 for so long. They were so lock and key about it. And you’re reading it in parts. We didn’t get a screener for it, so I only got to watch it once recently. It felt like watching a brand new episode when I watched it. When those credits hit … man.

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1. Will Byers (Schnapp) “comes out” to his inner circle in Episode 7. (Netflix) 2. Will (Schnapp) is embraced by his brother and friends — Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard). (Netflix)

Will had a big moment in Episode 7. Fans have long felt that the undercurrent of Will’s journey was his sexuality. How was it to face that moment as Will?

I knew this scene and this moment was coming for years, and I’d just been anxiously awaiting it, to see how it would be written, how I would perform in it. I’d been building it up in my head for years. I remember reading it alone in my room for the first time and I just cried. Then in the performance, I was so nervous because I always thought it would be a one-on-one with Joyce, but it was the full cast. It also came at a time close to when I came out personally and I never had that moment to come out to the whole cast in my own life. It almost felt like this extra pressure of, “Oh, it’s this personal thing too that I’m now having to share with them” and “are they gonna judge me personally for …” I don’t know, there’s all these layers of pressure for the performance, and the personal part of it and making sure it’s good.

We were filming the scene on the stages at like 3 a.m. and I was so tired and worried that I would mess it up, but it was cathartic as hell. I totally felt a stronger bond with everyone in the cast. Regardless of the critics and the excitement of the show, this is actually going to touch so many kids out there. If I was sitting there watching that at 12 years old with my parents and saw how all the characters hug him after it and embrace him and cheer him on and say, “We love you,” I might have come out right there and then too. I think this will have a real positive impact on so many young little boys and girls out there like me.

How would you say your relationship to your identity has changed as you’ve gotten older? How did Will help you? And how do you think you helped Will?

When I was younger, I always felt this pressure — like interviewers would ask me, “Do you feel a personal connection? Anything personally close to the character?” I would always kind of deflect. And I would say, “Well, no, he’s [Will] not queer. He’s just growing up slower, and he’s suffering from his trauma.” I felt defensive over Will, to almost make sure that he wasn’t gay because I felt it personally, and I was kind of like compensating for it. Our stories there were intertwined and, eventually, as I got older, I noticed how people, they really dive deeper into that sexual identity for him. And I saw people with such positive reactions to it. It definitely had an impact on me, like, “Oh, people don’t care as much as I used to think they did.” It helped me in my own journey. I think having accepted it publicly before having done this scene, changed everything for me. It allowed me to to fully be vulnerable and feel all the real emotions as much as possible in that scene, which was my goal, to make it feel just like I was living it. If I was still hiding, I wouldn’t have been able to really authentically show that.

Noah Schnapp on connecting with his character’s coming out journey: “I think having accepted it publicly before having done this scene, changed everything for me. It allowed me to to fully be vulnerable and feel all the real emotions as much as possible in that scene, which was my goal, to make it feel just like I was living it.”

(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

You said you knew about Will’s sexuality for years — was it since the start of the show or did that conversation come later?

To be honest, we never sat down and had an explicit conversation of “Look, your character is gay.” It was more just hinted at from the beginning. I always thought about it, but pushed it down because of my own internal things. I think by Season 3 and 4, it became so obvious that it didn’t have to be said. It was just clear. I think once we got to Season 5, there was this unspoken, agreed upon thing that it was coming. It’s been building to this moment of acceptance so it’s going to be this season. It wasn’t in the first six after the table read, so then I started needling them, like, “Is it in [Episode] 7? Is it in 8? How are you going to write it? I need to see, I need to see, I need to see.” And they’re like, “just let us write it.” They were nervous. I could tell they were scared to have others see it because I’m sure it’s hard to write something like that and not make it corny or inauthentic.

Because most people don’t have a big coming out moment like that.

That’s also the thing. What I struggled with in the scene was I wanted to make sure I’m not coming out as Noah in 2023 on TikTok. This is Will coming out in 1987, or whatever year it is — it’s a totally different landscape, and you really have to separate the two as much as it was part of my own journey.

Your character is coming out at a time when he would be considered, for lack of a better term, the monster.

Totally. It’s such a good queer character. It’s so well-written, with the monster and Vecna as the parallel of his own identity; to harness these powers, he has to accept his own inner struggles.

How does your experience of coming out as a young adult under the spotlight parallel the fears Will feels in this fictional world populated by monsters?

It was different. It’s the pressures of the job and the career. I was like, “Why do I have to talk to my agents and my publicists about my sexual identity, who I want to be with in bed?” But they’re like, “No, this is something you have to consider because it affects the roles you get and how people perceive you. This is a conversation we have to have if you tell the public or if you just keep it personal.”

With Will, in the ‘80s, he’s suffering from this whole AIDS epidemic that was going on during the Reagan administration, where the president wouldn’t even acknowledge that gay people existed. If you were, if you did come out, people thought that you were contagious and had a disease and would get other people sick. It was a totally different landscape. I really made sure to educate myself on that difference. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to take some personal anecdote into it. Right before the scene, I reread all the “coming out” texts I sent and tried to listen to the songs that I would listen to when I was trying to build up the courage to come out to my mom. I did try to bring in myself to [that scene], but also understand that it’s not exactly the same.

Is it too personal to ask you to share the name of one of the songs?

This is so embarrassing, but I listened to “Brave” by Sarah Bareilles because she’s like, “Say what you want to say, and let the words fall out …” It would always just give me the confidence. Every time. Every person I came out to, I listened to that before and was like, “OK, I can do it now.”

In Vol. 1 of the final season of “Stranger Things,” Will Byers (Schnapp) develops significant powers that allow him to control Demogorgons and fight Vecna by channeling the Upside Down’s hive mind.

(Netflix)

I want to return to that other moment this season, which had the fandom on the edge of their seat: Will coming into his powers. Have you seen the TikToks of people recording themselves as they watched that reveal?

Yeah. I’m fully on TikTok, but I’ve made sure to have my friends keep me up to date and send me the edits and what people are saying. My friends were sending me TikToks to be, like, “Noah, people are saying Will is hot.” I’m like, [bashfully hides his face with his hands] “What?” I knew people would freak out at the reveal, it’s such an exciting moment. But I did not at all expect people would be calling Will Byers hot. That’s funny, but it’s cool. As a kid, I always wanted to be the Spider-Man, and this was kind of my Spider-Man-superhero “Save the Day” moment. And it’s so fun doing that stuff because there are no rules. And the Duffers definitely put a lot of trust into me with that this year.

It was a demanding sequence — you popped your blood vessels.

I look back at some of those scenes and I was giving too much for what it was, these little moments. You never know how they cut it together and what ends up being important and what ends up being a tiny little moment. A lot of this stuff is very physical that they have me do, and it was me screaming all night, at the top of my lungs. Even the way my neck tensed up — I couldn’t, move my neck after some of these days because you’re straining.

The show is, in part, about kids coming of age. Tell me about your upbringing and life in Scarsdale, N.Y., before “Stranger Things.”

I had a very normal childhood. All the guys were into sports; I tried doing that growing up, and I just hated it and never felt like I was good at it or fit into those boys and what they were doing. I remember my dad being like, “He’s gonna do sports.” And my mom was like, “No, stop putting him in sports. He’s picking the flowers at the outside of the baseball field. That’s not for him. Let’s put him in the arts.” They put me in this class where you do acting, singing, dancing. And I just thrived. I did that for a few years and the teacher saw that I loved it so much and recommended that I audition in front of an agent. I started doing real auditions. By fifth grade, sixth grade, I got my first films. It was a great place to grow up and having that normal childhood and not growing up too fast was always very important to me. And still now, that’s why I’m in college and didn’t just rush into adult life.

You say that, but your first big on screen role was as Tom Hanks’ son in ”Bridge of Spies,” which was directed by Steven Spielberg. What stands out from that experience?

I just look back and think like, how crazy that my first thing was with these legends of Hollywood. I remember Tom Hanks never sticking to a script; he always just made it work for what was right for the scene, right for the character. They’re just so down to earth, such great people. And what a place to start.

Would you say you were ambitious as a child? How did you view the acting thing?

I looked back at a video the other day — I was 9 or 10. I went to a pond with my mom, and I was like, “One day, I’m gonna be a huge actor. And following my dreams.” It made me realize, when I was younger, I did have that passion and hope to do this long term.

“I went to a pond with my mom, and I was like, ‘One day, I’m gonna be a huge actor. And following my dreams,’” Schnapp recalls. “It made me realize, when I was younger, I did have that passion and hope to do this long term.” (Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

I will never know what it’s like to be a young person thrust into the global spotlight. I want you to pretend like I am an alien or a Demogorgon with no concept of this world, and tell me what it has been like growing up in the spotlight.

My problem was I’m so unapologetically myself, and I’ve always been like that, so I never learned to be properly media trained and curated into a certain way. I always just existed and did what I wanted to do. I learned over time, it’s good to create some privacy and distance for your own mental health. When the show came out, I was 10 years old. I was at camp and I didn’t have any contact with the outside world and my mom would send me emails that I was getting fan pages and blue check marks, and people started recognizing me, and I loved it. I love my fans so much. I would get their phone numbers and meet up with them, and my parents would be like, “Noah, this is not normal. You need to create boundaries with them.” Now I look back, and more of my life has been this than not now, so it’s all I’ve ever known was being famous and it just feels normal.

Coming of age on its own is so hard. You’re leaving one stage of your life and going into another. But to do that and have everything you say, your mistakes magnified, seems overwhelming.

It’s the worst; the fact that it’s all public, every weird look I’ve worn, every bad thing I’ve said. I hate that, but it is what it is. That’s what it is growing up in the spotlight, everything has its pros and cons.

Has there a moment where it felt too overwhelming? How do you protect yourself?

Every few weeks I’m like, “Oh, this is too overwhelming. I can’t do this anymore.” When I put my phone away, it all becomes OK. I learned that social media and all that is not real life. It just feels like so much pressure when you live so deep in your phone and what everyone’s saying and having to live up to these standards and feel like your life is over if you don’t do this, or this person doesn’t like whatever. Trying to please everyone in this industry is impossible and the only way to accept that is to detach from the online world and just live in the real world. I remember how much I love it and how many real, loving fans support me, and how I actually make a difference in a lot people’s lives, genuinely, and that actually matters.

Noah Schnapp says Winona Ryder, who played his mother Joyce on “Stranger Things,” was a motherly figure in real life, too. “I adore her truly.”

(Netflix)

Winona Ryder plays your mom, and she knows what it’s like navigating fame at a young age. Did she give you any advice or was she protective of you on set?

So protective. She always says, she never had kids, so we were her secondary children. I look back at our texts from 2017, when the show was first starting, and I had to do my first crying scene or all these “first” things I was so nervous for, and she would send these paragraphs being like, “Oh, sweetie, you’re nervous. Don’t worry a second. Come meet me before the scene. I’ll sit down with you and we’ll run through it. I’ll make sure you’re OK.” I remember I sent her a picture and I had this rope burn from Season 2 because I was screaming in a chair and my wrists were all scabbed and I was crying because it hurt, and she ran me to the set medic and stayed with me all night and made sure I was OK. She was such a mother figure to me, and I adore her truly. Even now, it’s nice to see our relationship has grown from her being protective over me to me feeling protective over her.

We see Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Robin up on the rooftop talking about not losing touch, making a point of staying in contact. There’s also Dustin’s valedictorian speech. Each had moments that felt like they paralleled the ending of this unique experience you’ve all gone through together. Did you all make a similar pact?

Oh, absolutely. That day of graduation, we felt like we were really graduating. I loved the coda part of the episode. That last day of shooting was hard, when I was putting my book on the shelf, that was when they told me, “OK, Noah, this is your last shot.” I broke down. I couldn’t do the freaking take, every time, it was just so emotional. Luckily, there’s one that I’m little less emotional, but that day was just so sad. I remember when they said “Cut!”, and that was it, and we — me, Caleb, Gaten, Finn and Sadie — standing in that little set, arms around each other, huddled up, not saying any words, just crying. It was complete silence outside. There were hundreds of people waiting [outside on the set] for us to cheer and celebrate, and we were waiting in there, like, “We go out when we’re ready.” We all agreed, gathered ourselves and walked out of that set to 100 people cheering, screaming, there was confetti dropping, clapping and we gave speeches. It didn’t feel real. You’re so in it for so many years, and then it’s just over.

What do you remember about the day after wrapping?

We ended up sleeping on the set. We made a little fort in the D&D basement. It was so cute, so wholesome — a perfect way to end it. I remember driving back with Caleb [McLaughlin, who plays Lucas] the next morning and he dropped me off. It was really foggy that day, really gloomy, and just so somber and tense. And we said goodbye so quietly. It felt like we left a funeral, like grieving something. The next day, I had to fly to L.A. for a call back, and I was just sitting alone in a hotel room — I felt so empty. This is all I’ve this all I’ve ever been attached to, this is my whole identity, my whole life. But then, the next day, I was like, “Oh, life keeps going. And it’s OK.” It was really just that one day after that was tough.

To your point, this isn’t your first professional on screen role, but it is your longest. How do you feel you’ve grown as an actor across these 10 years, these five seasons?

This show has taught me so much. When I was younger, I felt like scared to have any kind of opinion or perspective or speak up on what I felt was right for the character; now, I’m like, “No, I played this character for 10 years. I have a right to say, ‘No, he would wear this’ or ‘he would say this’ or ‘this scene doesn’t work or represent the story well.’” Just learning to not be bound to the script; it’s OK to play and explore and try different things. That’s what makes it feel authentic when you have those spontaneous little moments that aren’t written. I’m excited to continue to learn and grow in different ways in film and theater.

So it feels like the right time for you to say goodbye to Will?

Totally. It’s kind of crazy how right of a time it is. I’m graduating in a few months at the same time as this show is ending. I’m an adult now. It all happened at the right time, and this season came at the perfect time with my sexual identity journey. Everything was timed really well.

Are you thinking about what you want next? The kind of projects you want to do or the way you want to move through your career?

Oh my God, absolutely, the second I wrapped last year, I was like, “What’s next?” I’d love to do theater. I loved doing that as a kid and want to explore that. And do other films. But no set path, I’m just excited for what’s next.

The Duffer Brothers call you in 10 years and say we have an idea for how to revisit Will Byers, are you in?

I think my work is done with that character. The story for him has been told. So if that ever happened, I would honestly probably stray away from that. But of course, I would love to work with the Duffers again on another project. But this story is done.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said quarterback Justin Herbert will not play in the team’s regular-season finale Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

With the Chargers’ 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday putting them out of contention for the AFC West title, the move to rest Herbert is a logical one. Herbert is still recovering from surgery he underwent Dec. 1 to stabilize a fracture in his left (non-throwing) hand.

Herbert was sacked five times by the Texans, and he appeared to be wincing in pain after taking a hit in the first half. He didn’t miss a snap, however, connecting on 21 of 32 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 37 yards.

Herbert might not be the only starter who sits for the Chargers, but Harbaugh didn’t say who might be joining Herbert on the sideline.

“The guys that have the most bruises and need the most healing, we’ll pull them back. Justin Herbert would be one,” Harbaugh told reporters Monday. “We’ll see how the rest of the week goes with who all they are. They’ll be some situations where some starters are backups.”

Former third-overall pick Trey Lance will start against the Broncos at Mile High on Sunday, with DJ Uiagalelei serving as backup, Harbaugh said. The Chargers are battling to secure the No. 5 playoff seed in the AFC playoffs.

Herbert has passed for 3,727 yards and 26 touchdowns for the 11-5 Chargers, who had won four straight games before falling to the Texans for the second time this calendar year — they lost to Houston in last season’s wild-card playoffs.

Although a win over the Broncos would give the Chargers a season sweep over the AFC West, the Chargers need Herbert to be at his healthiest with potential wild-card road matchups against either the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars looming.

Two weeks before the Alamo Bowl, USC got its best news of the bowl season: Star quarterback Jayden Maiava was forgoing the NFL draft to stay in L.A. for another year.

Two days later, TCU’s star quarterback, Josh Hoover, delivered his own announcement: He was entering the transfer portal.

Those two decisions will have the teams in drastically different places on offense. USC won’t have two of its starting offensive linemen or most of its regular receiving corps, but will have one of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks at the helm. TCU, meanwhile, has most of its offense available, including star receiver Eric McAlister, but a backup quarterback who last started in 2023 in Ken Seals.

“Ken started 22 games in the SEC,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “He’s been a great teammate, a great practice player. Now he’s going to get a chance to go perform on the big stage.”

Maiava should get plenty of chances Tuesday to show why he’ll be seen as a serious Heisman contender next season. TCU struggles to pressure opposing passers, ranks 109th in the nation in yards allowed through the air and has yet to face a passing attack this season as prolific as USC’s.

Not to mention there’s a notable calm to Maiava that wasn’t there at this point last bowl season.

“He’s just taken giant steps,” offensive coordinator Luke Huard said. “[You] just see him playing free and with a lot of confidence.”

What’s not clear is how much he’ll play, with freshman Husan Longstreet waiting in the wings and USC still hoping he’ll settle for another season sitting behind Maiava.

Warning: This story contains spoilers from the series finale of “Younger.”

In the very last scene of “Younger,” Liza (Sutton Foster), wearing a chambray button-down shirt, tries to order a round of drinks at the bar. She’s frantically waving her shoe in an attempt to get the bartender’s attention when Josh (Nico Tortorella), dressed in a crisp white tee, interrupts her.

Josh: Whoa, you don’t wave a shoe, you never wave a shoe! In Thailand, that’s considered a capital offense.
Liza: And you’ve been to Thailand?
Josh: Ah, no. But I have been to Myanmar…
Liza: … which used to be Burma …
Josh: … back in the day.
Liza: I knew that!

Any devout fan watching this scene probably got a feeling of deja vu: Is this the first episode of the series or the last?

The answer, of course, is both. “After seven seasons, it’s tough to end a series in an elegant and satisfying way,” creator Darren Star told The Times. “We all thought it’d be great to have this full-circle moment where we go back to the pilot, if we could find a way to get there.”

It’s quite far from where the series finale began: Liza and Charles (Peter Hermann) are lying in bed and smiling about their reconciliation in the previous episode, in which he left Quinn (Laura Benanti) and told Liza he loved her. “I just know what makes me happy, and to pretend anything else would be just lying to myself,” he tells her. “Only the truth from now on, even if it hurts.”

The hourlong installment takes Charles’ words to heart. Consider the episode’s musical number, which literary agent Redmond (Michael Urie) asks Liza and Charles to watch as a potential investment opportunity. A cross between the “Chicago” roll call “Cell Block Tango” and the “Assassins” opener “Everybody’s Got The Right,” it equates Liza’s fibs about her age to schemes of infamous liars like Elizabeth Holmes, Billy McFarland, Bernie Madoff and Rachel Dolezal.

“When it’s the last season of your show, you want to do everything on your wish list,” said Star of the performance, with lyrics by parodist Ryan Raftery. “But it wasn’t completely gratuitous because it pushed the Liza-Charles story along by bringing the big lie back up again.”

Charles, however, says he has come to peace with that chapter. And it turns out he’s also OK with the fact that Kelsey (Hilary Duff) covertly sent her and Liza’s proposal for their unconventional e-book publishing app Inkubator to investors for a valuation, in case they can get a better deal as a standalone venture than with their publishing house, Empirical.

He already knew Kelsey did that but wanted to hear Liza cop to it herself. “Wait, so you were testing me?” she asks him. “Maybe — in a way, I was — but you passed,” he responds, an answer that visibly irks Liza.

“After everything they went through, Charles wanted a level of complete honesty between them,” said Star. “You see Liza realize that she was never going to be in a safe place with him. There would always be this cloud of suspicion over everything she did, and this would be a relationship where she’d be continually tested.”

Liza soon confesses that she secretly submitted Charles’ unfinished manuscript to the notable writers’ colony Yaddo — and he was accepted. While that’s great news, Charles isn’t thrilled. They discuss it while lying in bed later that night:

Charles: If I hadn’t gotten into Yaddo, would you have let me know?
Liza: Uh, I don’t know. Maybe not.
Charles: Yeah, why bother? Because I didn’t even know you applied. … It would’ve just been your little secret.

It’s a passive-aggressive response that doesn’t go unnoticed. “For Charles, even a white lie, or a lie of omission for the purpose of protecting somebody’s feelings, was considered a lack of integrity for him,” said Star. “We all tell little lies like that, and they’re forgiven. But Liza realized all the things that other people let slide very easily in their relationships weren’t going to slide with them.”

Liza then asks the big, honest question: “Hey, we’re not gonna make it, are we?” Charles shakes his head: “I don’t think so.”

“We wanted to have almost an unspoken moment between them when they really understood that, though they loved each other, it was going to be an impossible relationship to have because he was just never going to forgive her for the original big lie,” said Star. “She was being held to an impossible standard that nobody could ever maintain. So as much as they both wanted to make it work, it just wasn’t going to.

“Maybe, had they met each other under different circumstances, it might have worked,” he continued. “But then again, if they were being honest from the beginning, Charles would have had to meet Liza as a divorced housewife from New Jersey who wanted to get back into publishing, and she would have had to meet somebody who was looking at her like she was a divorced housewife from New Jersey.”

After their breakup, Liza and Charles are back at the office, where she tells him that she plans to resign. But Charles, it turns out, is seizing the opportunity to go to Yaddo and finish his book. He plans to leave Empirical in her hands while he’s gone — and maybe longer. In their final scene together, they genuinely thank each other.

“You have to remember that, for most of the seasons, they were projecting ideas onto the other person, and they didn’t really have a lot of time to actually be their authentic selves together,” Star explained. “It’s also a lot of projection and wish fulfillment from the audience as well — this idea of ‘These two look like they should belong together, so they do belong together.’ In fact, there are a lot of reasons why they aren’t really that suited for each other.

“But they had a passionate love affair, and Charles, through his relationship with Liza, discovers a way to reinvent his life,” he added. “I think he gets so much out of his relationship with her. Finding a partner may not necessarily be what he needs. What he might really need is to feed his creative side, and she helps him find a way to do that.”

The episode concludes with the ladies celebrating their collective good news: Liza’s new role at Empirical, Maggie (Debi Mazar) and Lauren’s (Molly Bernard) respective romances, and Kelsey’s next adventure on the West Coast, after Inkubator finds a home with a Los Angeles-based company. (A spinoff about Kelsey’s next chapter would’ve been “a bit of a female ‘Entourage,’” and is unlikely to move forward due to Duff’s commitment to a new series.)

“Regardless of the spinoff, that was gonna be her path,” said Star. “She had to get out from under publishing and completely set off in a different direction. We felt she needed a fresh start — her own reinvention.”

Liza then heads to the bar and runs into Josh. They look similar, though not exactly the same to how they did when they first met. “Seven years later, Liza and Josh have each grown up a little bit,” said costume designer Jacqueline Demeterio.

Some of the tweaks? Foster wore a denim Celine shirt (instead of the Current/Elliott top from the pilot) and waved a Prada leopard-print shoe rather than a nondescript black flat “to show a slight evolution in her personal style.” (Once Foster tried on the outfit in her final fitting with Demeterio, they both got teary-eyed.)

Tortorella, who wore a burnout’s white T-shirt in the first episode, was updated with a Saint Laurent tee, complete with a tattoo heart design just below the neckline. “I didn’t want it to look like we were trying too hard or distract from what was happening,” said Demeterio. “I just wanted it to be subtle and keep the focus on them two in this moment that’s going to be the end of the whole series.”

After they repeat their meet-cute, she says offhandedly, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He gives her a layered, puzzled look. “Really?” he says. “Because you know what? I’ve been right here, by your side, all along.”

His response is visibly unexpected by Liza — and, likely, the viewer, who hadn’t seen much of Josh all season. “We knew it was worth having him sit back for a while so we could have that beautiful moment at the end of the series,” said Star. Writing those key lines, Star “wanted to keep it simple, heartfelt and real.”

The camera zooms out as they continue to repeat the banter of their first meeting — a decision that leaves their fate up for debate. Does this mean Liza ends up with Josh after all?

“There’s always been a real authenticity between them since the beginning of the series — even though she did lie to him, that lie was revealed by the end of the first season, so he certainly knows her better than any man on the show,” said Star. “I think Josh really loves her, and I think she really loves him.

“In that very last moment, after everything with Charles, Liza is definitely looking at him through fresh eyes and seeing him from a whole new perspective,” he continued. “I don’t know if they’re gonna be together, but I think they’re open to the fact that they’re always going to be in each other’s lives.”

Those final frames — and Star’s explanation — might be unsatisfying to anyone who’s been waiting for years for a more definitive answer about Liza’s love life. “But the show was never about Liza finding a man; it was always about Liza reinventing herself,” reminded Star. “She’d already had a marriage, she was looking to have a career.

“So I never really thought it was such a binary thing — Josh or Charles,” he added. “And I didn’t felt the pressure or obligation to have this big, romantic endgame for her because, to me, at its heart, that was never really what the show is about.”

The 2025 celebrity festive special of Gladiators aired on Christmas day – with two winners crowed after a batch of stars took on the professional athletes – and the daunting travelator

Two celebrities have been crowned winners of the 2025 Christmas special of Gladiators. The festive edition of the revived sports entertainment TV show saw a number of stars take on the titular athletes and race through obstacle courses.

But in the end, only two stars could be crowned the winners of the latest episode of the show. Fitness coach Joe Wicks – who arguably had an advantage when it came to taking on the challenges due to his sporty background – was one winner.

While TV presenter and podcaster Vogue Williams proved her worth in the arena and was also found to be a champion. The pair succeeded after facing off against other celebrities, Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson and boxing champ Nicola Adams.

READ MORE: M&S’ coffee and cake hampers are now under £5 in time for Christmas giftingREAD MORE: The real reason Nicola Adams split with adult star girlfriend who was 15 years younger

After winning, Joe, 40, explained that he was truly challenged by the physicality of the special. He said: “Even though I had a bit of a breather, I still found that travelator hard. It’s much harder doing it in real life than watching it on TV. I’m really chuffed that I won but I have to say Sam has been an amazing partner.”

In defeat, Sam remained gracious and laughed about the self appointed Gladiators name he had awarded himself. He told the Utilita Arena in Sheffield: “El Cockroacho, baby – you can’t stamp him out!”

Meanwhile, Vogue, who won after only being two-hundredths of a second ahead of her opponent Nicola, gushed: “I honestly cannot believe it, I’ve had the best day ever. The crowd when I was doing so badly were so nice to me so thank you.”

And the Olympic gold medallist said in defeat: “I came down on the zipline and landed funny on my ankle and I just couldn’t get it going again. This is the first silver medal I’ve had!”

Nicola was the first woman to win Olympic gold in her sport when she took the flyweight title at London 2012, and successfully defended her crown in Rio four years later. Another four years later, she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing – making Strictly history as the first same-sex couple to perform after she was partnered with professional dancer Katya Jones.

Vogue’s time on Gladiators comes soon after her stint in the Australian jungle as a contestant on the 2025 season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! The mum-of-three – who has been married to former Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews. Fans of the couple were concerned when Spencer failed to fly to meet his wife after she was ditched from the series.

Vogue was greeted by her manager – leaving some fans to fear for her marriage, which has been notoriously rock solid since they swapped vows in 2018. However, the reality star later took to social media to applaud his wife – even though they were far apart from each other.

Sharing a snap of themselves on holiday, he captioned his upload: “Disappointed to hear that my gorgeous Vogue is out of I’m A Celeb but I’m so proud of the brave stint she did in there. She showed heart, courage and fearlessness in challenges and, as always, was such a positive and pragmatic figure in camp! I would have loved nothing more than to have been there for her when she came out and am sending so much love from Antarctica.

“On the positive side, we can now all FaceTime – I know she will have missed the kids like mad and I can’t wait to hear her voice and for us to all be reunited next week.” His message came after Vogue had previously told fans that her husband was off on a wild adventure of his own.

Before her stint in the jungle, she wrote on social media: “Spence has landed in Antarctica – as I knew he would. This will be the most gruelling part of the whole challenge, but if anyone can push through it, it’s him.”

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This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Apple TV’s “Pluribus.”

Fellow misanthropes, Season 1 of “Pluribus” is done. Now what do we do, other than lean into our usual harsh judgment and mistrust of others?

Our spirit series left us wondering who or what will put the final nail in humanity’s collective coffin: an alien virus or a malcontent with an atomic bomb. As for saving everyone? Cranky protagonist Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) struggled to find ways to preserve the human race for much of the series, but by the finale, she was fairly convinced that the planet would be better off without us.

For those of you who haven’t kept up with the best show on television this year, Carol’s among 13 people left on Earth who are immune to an alien virus that’s otherwise fused all of humanity’s consciousness together into one blissful hive mind. Now everyone thinks alike and has the same knowledge base, which means TGI Fridays waiters can pilot passenger planes and children can perform surgeries. No one is an individual anymore. They simply occupy the body formerly known as Tom or Sally or whomever. “Us” is their chosen pronoun.

This army of smiling, empty vessels just wants to please Carol — until they can turn her into one of them. Joining them will make her happy, she’s told. It’s a beautiful thing, having your mind wiped. But the terminally dissatisfied Carol would rather stew in her own low-grade depression and angst that forfeit her free will. Plus, her ire and rage is kryptonite against those who’ve been “joined.” When confronted with her anger, they physically seize up and stop functioning. Their paralyzing fear of Carol’s ire is empowering, pathetic and hilarious. The world literally comes to a standstill when she snaps. No wonder she’s my hero.

“Pluribus” comes from Vince Gilligan, the same brilliant mind behind “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.” The Apple TV series is nothing like his previous successes except that it’s set in Albuquerque, stars Seehorn and is singularly brilliant. And like those other seminal dramas, it plumbs deeper questions about how we see ourselves, who we really are and who we strive to be.

To be fair, Carol was irritated by the human race long before the alien virus converted them into worker bees. She was convinced most people were sheep — including those who loved the flowery writing and cheesy romance plots of her novels. But the the total loss of a free-thinking community isn’t all that satisfying, either.

In the finale, she connects with Manousos Oviedo (Carlos-Manuel Vesga), a fellow survivor who’s also immune to the virus. He wants nothing to do with the afflicted, no matter how peace-loving they appear. In the before times, it appears he was a self-sufficient loner. Postapocalypse, he travels all the way from Paraguay to meet Carol after he receives a video message from her. He drives most of the way before arriving at the treacherous Darién Gap, where he’s sidelined after falling into a thorny tree — but “they” save him, much to his chagrin. He eventually continues the journey, via ambulance.

Now saving the human race is up to two people who never had much love for it in the first place. They converse through a language translation app, which makes their arduous task all the more complicated — and hilarious.

Multiple theories have sprung up around what “Pluribus” is really about. One prevailing thought is that “the joining” is a metaphor for AI creating a world where all individual thought and creativity are synthesized into a single, amenable voice. Surrender your critical thinking for easy answers, or in the case of “Pluribus,” an easy life where you’ll never have to make a decision on your own again. Most humans would rather be a doormat than a battering ram, regardless of the urgency or circumstance.

Optimists might say, “Why pick one extreme or the other? There’s surely a place in the middle, where we can all live in harmony while holding onto our opinions and sense of self.” That’s sweet. Carol and I heartily disagree given the arc of history and all.

Just how my favorite new antihero will deal with her disdain for the Others is yet to be seen. Save the world or destroy it? We’ll all have to wait until next season to find out. Until then, “Pluribus” just needs some space.

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When are the episodes on Netflix?

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What happened in the opening of season five?

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What is the significance of the cave?

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Why does music appear to stop Vecna?

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What is the connection between Vecna and Will?

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Will this really be the end?