Stranger

Stranger Things fans got a hint about the finale in a cryptic social media post

Netflix’s gargantuan hit Stranger Things is on the home run now with only one episode left to drop. The epic sci-fi fantasy series is promising a cinematic-scale series finale, with a feature-length runtime to match the story. Many have been theorising about how the show will end, who will die and the real villains.

However, Stranger Things die-hards have now been sent into overdrive after the official Instagram account for the Netflix drama dropped a cryptic post ahead of the finale. The account shared an embroidered number from Henry Creel’s (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) Hawkins Lab uniform, which read: “1106” and captioned the post: “did you notice….henry creel’s badge number [sic].”

Many correctly pointed out that this was also 6th November when Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) first disappeared and is essentially Stranger Things day. One person posted under the comment: “It’s the day Will goes missing – November 6th !”, with the Stranger Things account responding with a looking eyes emoji. As a second fan simply said: “Lucas’ theory” and got a response from the official account: “idk about you but I don’t believe in coincidences [sic].”

READ MORE: Did Jonathan and Nancy break up in Stranger Things?READ MORE: Who is Meg in Stranger Things?

Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) predicted that everything had to happen on this date as it connected everything. A third person commented: “The day Henry was transported in the cave, the day of Joyce’s play in the 50s, the day Will Byers vanished, Stranger Things Day.” Their thoughts were echoed by another fan: “All. Connected. Will. Henry. The Play.”

Although this is a key date in Stranger Things and vital to the plot, there was another chilling connection that some might have missed after one Stranger Things fan noted: “1 + 1 + 0 + 6 = 008.” However, someone else said: “it is the date will is capture, it’s probably just a coincidence but kali / 008 has been acting really suspicious lately.”

Yet another fan made an astute observation: “wait but remember when Dustin says, I don’t know about u, but I don’t believe in coincidences. He says this in the episode of them in d&d club with Eddie and they r fighting vecna.. js saying. Maybe not a coincidence? [sic].” While another fan said: “Kali is def betraying el [sic].”

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There’s already been plenty of speculation that Kali Prasad (Linnea Berthelsen) is actually an evil character after she told Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) that they needed to sacrifice themselves to break the evil cycle to stop creating more monsters. Eleven was hoping to flee with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) from Hawkins and start over, but Kali warned her that they would be found and her powers exploited.

On Reddit, some fans speculated about Kali’s true motives as fan suggested she was the Mindflayer because she shares her name with the Hindu goddess of destruction and rebirth. Moreover, they drew another connection between Vecna, Kali and the Mindflayer: “Additionally, 008, or Eight, matches the motif of Spiders that fascinated Henry.”

However, another fan debunked this theory and said: “In Hindu culture, Kali is the goddess of destruction/ time and rebirth and she is famously depicted slaying monsters. Kali is motivated to put an end to all of this. She is going to kill the Mindflayer. Maybe because of the hive mind, all Mindflayer particle becomes kaput once you kill him. As a result El may live.”

The user went on to explain their theory: “This may cause a “Snape” moment with the audience, flipping her perception and making her bad***. I also think somebody will be left behind in the Abyss at the end of finale , and I think it will be Kali, to shape the Abyss.”

While someone else commented: “This is too complex for the Duffers to have planned. So it will definitely not happen. It’s too good.” A third person noted Kali’s neck tattoo: “It looks like two dice with a rolled one. Which would be called snake eyes. The duffer brothers said the word traitor summorizes the series, so I think Kali is the snake [sic].”

For now, it looks like the jury is out about whether Kali will be a force for good or evil at the end. However, there’s not much longer to wait for the Stranger Things finale to land and everything to be revealed once and for all, including which beloved characters will meet their maker.

Stranger Things season 5, volume 3 is released on Netflix UK & Ireland on New Year’s Day at 1am

The series finale lands on Netflix in just a matter of days

*Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5.*

The second part of Stranger Things season five has finally dropped and with it came some major bombshells.

Following on from part one, which ended with Will (Noah Schnapp) discovering he had super powers, the three new episodes shed light on Henry’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) long-term plans.

It turns out the Upside Down isn’t an alternate dimension like the gang originally believed. It is actually a wormhole that was created during Dr Brenner’s experiments on Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and it connects Hawkins to another world called The Abyss.

Henry plans to use the children he has abducted to increase his powers so he can merge the Abyss, which the gang named after Dungeons and Dragons, with Hawkins. As far as we know, this other world is where the Mind Flayer and demogorgons are really from.

Episode 7 ended with Henry sitting around a table with all the children he has stolen and seemingly starting his master plan. So when can Netflix viewers dive back into the action?

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When does Stranger Things season 5, episode 8 come out?

Stranger Things season five, episode eight (aka the series finale) is set to release on New Year’s Eve (December 31) for US audiences, and in the early hours of New Year’s Day for UK viewers.

If you’re keen to catch the episode as soon as it drops, it will be available to stream in the UK on Thursday, January 1st from 1am GMT.

How long is the Stranger Things finale?

The series finale has a huge runtime of 2 hours and 8 minutes. Co-creator Ross Duffer confirmed the final runtime ahead of volume two’s release and fans had mixed reactions.

Considering how much ground the show still has to cover, some viewers aren’t convinced two hours will be long enough. But we’ll have to hold on and see how it unfolds.

After almost a decade on our screens, Stranger Things will be coming to an end with this episode.

Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 8 comes out on January 1st.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

This article contains spoilers from Season 5, Vol. 2, of “Stranger Things.”

What could be more gulp-inducing than trying to defeat a nightmarish vine-covered villain and wipe out an eerie and horror-filled alternate dimension? Maybe writing a satisfying conclusion to a mega-popular TV show built on that idea.

Ross and Matt Duffer, the sibling masterminds behind Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” are closer to finding out if they’ve achieved that in the eyes of the show’s fans. On this morning in early December, the duo are in their own alternate dimension limbo with the show’s final season release — Vol. 1 is out and they’re bracing for impact with Vol. 2.

“The day that [Vol. 1] was released, I paced around all day,” Matt says. “I did absolutely nothing, just waiting for reactions to come in and reviews to come in because you really never know how people are going to react. There’s pros and cons to the show growing in size in the way it did — people just take it apart to an insane degree. It’s scary, always scary. You never really get used to it.”

But the self-doubt keeps them sharp, he says. “It forces you to not get lazy.”

“It’s a balance between feeling very confident, then it swings to being very insecure about it — and it’s hard to keep sight,” Ross adds. “You watch these episodes dozens and dozens of times over and over again. And the strange thing about this show is that a very small group of people had seen the episodes, a really small circle, then suddenly you’re just blasting it out to millions of people all at the same time.”

The pair are sitting on a couch in the office they share — “E.T.,” “Alien” and “Batman Returns” posters adorn the walls — at their facilities, Upside Down Productions, in Los Angeles. While they were able to revel in fan reaction for a few days after the release of Vol. 1, they’re back in work mode. At this point, they still have to finalize sound and color, as well as some visual effects, on the series finale.

“Very boring visual effects,” Matt quips. “If I have to look at one more shot of spores and fog, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) in Season 5 of “Stranger Things.”

(Netflix)

For now, the drip-drop release around the year-end holidays continues, with Vol. 2 (Episodes 5 through 7) now streaming. The episodes contain some of the season’s bigger emotional beats, including one of TV’s most amicable breakups between teenagers, a mended friendship and a character finally living his true self openly. The Duffers discussed that and more in this edited conversation.

Let’s start with those final 10 minutes of Episode 7. Will [Noah Schnapp] shares a part of himself that he’s kept secret for a long time. He realizes that if he wants to be successful in defeating Vecna, he can’t feel afraid about this part of myself. How did you decide Will’s coming out would be revealed?

Matt: It’s something that we’ve been planning to do for a really long time. Initially, it was planned for Season 4, and we just felt it was unearned by the end of it. We wrote that scene with him in the back of the van and him talking to Jonathan [Charlie Heaton]. But I like the idea of Will slowly building to this moment. He has a breakthrough in Episode 4 in a major way, but he has this one final step to take in order to really unlock his full potential. Something we really wanted to do with the show is tie his emotional growth with these powers that he’s developed.

Ross: Putting it at the penultimate [episode] ultimately made sense because what we’re trying to do with the second volume is get our characters in a place where they all felt confident in themselves. Will being one of the major character arcs that carries through the season, but also with Dustin [Gaten Matarazzo] and Steve [Joe Keery] and Nancy [Natalia Dyer] and Jonathan — we wanted to get people, before they go into this final battle, having dealt with their internal fears and doubts.

Matt: Because that’s what Vecna weaponizes against you. If you don’t have that self-hatred or self-doubt or those insecurities, then he can’t hurt you. When Will purges himself of that, he becomes unstoppable — or that’s the hope.

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1. Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, the show’s central character. 2. With his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder). In Season 5, Vol. 2, Will comes out to her and his friends. “It’s something that we’ve been planning to do for a really long time,” says creator Matt Duffer. (Netflix)

What did you want that moment to be? What didn’t you want it to be?

Ross: We were nervous about it because you want to get it right, particularly working with Noah, who had recently come out himself. When he read it and we got his blessing, we felt really, really good about it. For us, it clicked writing it when we started talking about, “What are Will’s actual fears here in the future?” When the show really works for us is when we can combine both our mythology and the supernatural with the emotional. In this case, it’s going: Vecna is taking these fears and weaponizing them against Will, so Will actually talking to the group about these fears, as opposed to keeping them to himself — that’s when the scene really clicked.

The original plan was for him to come out to Joyce [Winona Ryder], and we started writing it and it felt really wrong because if he’s really going to be confronting these fears, he has to open up to to his friends as well. Once we did that, and we put the group in there, and we had him talk about what he saw in his future, that’s when the scene felt, as a coming-out scene, like something very unique to this show.

Matt: It’s the scene we spent the longest on this season because we were so anxious about it and getting it right. It was the most important scene of the season. I can’t emphasize enough how much the actors influence the characters, and their journeys as people really feed into what we’re writing and how we write those characters. You’re trying to channel Noah and what he went through and his growth, which we’ve watched as a person, as he’s found himself. Most of what is in the show is the first take, the first close-up that we did of Noah. It was incredible to watch because it’s one of those moments where Noah was not acting. Those words were real that he was saying. It was very emotional. It felt so real to Noah, so truthful to him. Hopefully the scene feels like that to other people because a lot of kids are watching. You feel a certain responsibility, especially with scenes like that. You can’t be careless about it.

Shipping is a hallmark in every fandom. There’s a moment where Will mentions a crush he’s harbored. He doesn’t directly state it’s Mike, but Mike knows. The viewer knows. How would you describe their dynamic?

Ross: There is a lot of shipping that’s going on with this show. In terms of all the relationships — this goes with the Will storyline, it goes with Jonathan and Nancy — for us and the writers, what’s interesting is not who ends up with who. What’s interesting to us is, how are our characters growing as people? And most of the time, the answer to that is them finding strength within themselves as opposed to finding strength with someone else. When we were talking about Will, those are the conversations that we have. How do we get Will in a place that he feels confident and strong? And that, ultimately, is him confronting these fears and exposing himself to everyone, including Mike.

Matt: When we were growing up, shipping was not a thing. This is a new thing and it gets intense. Part of me likes it because it shows how passionate people are for the show. I don’t mind people interpreting things however they want. Obviously, Ross and I have what we intended. Ross touched on it thematically — in [Episode] 4, when Will finds his power, what we were intending was not that his love for Mike gives him these powers, but his love for himself and tapping back into how he felt when he was younger — that was the key to unlocking his full potential.

Ross: It’s more of an important message to put out to younger viewers. When I’m thinking about my younger self and our struggle growing up, to put out a message that’s “It’ll all be right if this secret crush you have works out” versus “You don’t need that.” Even if it disappoints some people, it’s the more important message to put out into the world.

Matt: Not one crush of mine worked out. It hurts you, though, right? If you feel feelings and it’s unrequited, it feels like an attack on you or makes you feel unwanted. So much of the show is two things: just our love for the supernatural in the movies that we grew up on, and the other part of it is dealing with all the feelings that we had growing up. The best thing for me in the world is when younger people come up to us, the very few that recognize us, and tell us how it helped help them through a difficult time in their lives. Even Robin’s speech to Will, giving him the confidence to come out, that makes it all worth it.

“To write them being back together and friends again was just such a relief,” says Ross Duffer of Dustin, left, and Steve.

(Netflix)

I want to move on to Dustin and Steve. The strain on their relationship comes to a head in these episodes, but also reaches a reconciliation. That moment between them on the collapsing stairwell —

Matt: It’s a very short moment, but incredibly emotional. We were really moved by Gaten and Joe’s performance. It wasn’t hard for them to get into that spot. They’re very close, they have a very sweet friendship that’s not entirely dissimilar from their friendship on the show. The one frustrating thing about the show being split in the way it is, is we didn’t put out a season of the show in Volume 1 — that’s half of a show. I’m excited for people to see Volume 2, mostly for the Steve-Dustin resolution.

Ross: It was hard even writing it, keeping them apart. We felt it was right, emotionally, but to write them being back together and friends again was just such a relief because we’ve missed them, and hopefully the audience has too.

And I love that Steve gets to have his a-ha moment where he comes up with what may be the plan that ends all this.

Ross: It’s funny, we’ve joked about this; he’s very convenient for us as writers because he’s always confused. He doesn’t know what’s going on. Dustin dings him for that in Episode 5, and it was so satisfying to have Steve come up with the final plan, or the linchpin for the final plan. That was such a thrill to write to finally give Steve a moment because the brainstorming almost always goes to Dustin.

Nancy and Jonathan, at one point, are bracing for imminent death and find themselves having this touching and tender moment, sharing confessions and hard truths. What was the lay of conversation for what you wanted from that moment — there’s the acknowledgment of their trauma bond and a slightly romantic unproposal?

Matt: It’s not dissimilar, in some ways, to the Mike-Will stuff. These are people who do love each other very much; it’s just a question of, “What does that mean? What does the future look like for them?” Whenever we talked about Jonathan-Nancy — there’s got to be this feeling that they feel like they must be together because of what they’ve been through, and how could you ever connect with somebody else who hadn’t been through the same thing? But are they right, in the long run, for each other? We wanted to express that as best as we can.

Ross: It was a challenging idea. We’ve been building to it, but to get it across in five-ish minutes, it’s a complicated thing. It’s not just a soap opera where it’s shipping and who’s going to end up with who. I’ve been through experiences similar to this, when you’re with someone for a very long time, you grow so close and you go through so many things together, and it reaches a point where you go, “Well, how could someone else understand?” But at the same time, is that suffocating to your own self-growth? So when we were talking about Nancy and Jonathan, and where do they go from here, it felt like for Nancy to really grow, it’s not about Steve, it’s not about Jonathan, it’s about giving herself the space.

Matt: And for Jonathan. They both felt the same way, they just weren’t expressing it. Especially when you’re young, you have trouble understanding or expressing those feelings. We wanted to put them in a life-or-death situation where it’s their last opportunity to confess. The reference for that scene was “Almost Famous,” when the plane’s about to crash and everybody, in the moment of near-death, tells everybody everything. And then the plane doesn’t crash and it’s awkward. This is the opposite.

Matt, left, and Ross Duffer are closer to releasing the “Stranger Things” series finale. Is it a happy ending? “Even in victory, it’s not confetti and dance parties,” Ross says.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

To return to this idea of the characters wrestling with what life looks like after this is over, if it’s ever over — is a happy or triumphant ending possible? Do you even think of it in those terms?

Matt: It’s weird because we didn’t realize until we had finished writing it, how much was a reflection on the show itself. Everybody had a tricky year emotionally; it was a real roller-coaster in terms of dealing with the fact that something we had been putting everything into for 10 years was coming to an end. Ultimately, the show is more about childhood, coming of age and leaving that behind for a new part of your life. It’s not really a question of a happy ending versus a not-happy ending. It’s just a question of capturing what it feels like to move on. It’s a bittersweet thing, but I think it’s something that everybody goes through.

Ross: Even in victory, it’s not confetti and dance parties. It’s a little more complicated than that. I remember “Lord of the Rings,” reading it and watching the films as a kid — there’s that moment when they’re just back in the Shire, and there’s bit of like, “How can you understand? And how do you move on from this?” I remember at the time, when I was younger, feeling a bit of disappointment. I was like, “Can’t they just come back and everyone just celebrate and there’s a party and then we fade out?” But watching it older now, there’s something so much more resonant about it. That’s why we talk so much over the course of this season about “Even if we are able to defeat Vecna, what does that look like for all of us?” Because this Vecna and the evil in the Upside Down brought all these people together.

Matt: In terms of the parallels to the show ending, that’s really a complicated and confusing mix of emotions. Everybody’s sad to move on, but then there’s that sense that you have to move on. We try to capture that feeling.

I need you to tell me what the workflow is like on a show like this. It’s lore, science and nerd-heavy. What are the checks and balances of making sure you’re not messing things up?

Matt: The challenge, especially as the lore and mythology has gotten too complicated, is to ensure that it’s not weighing down the show and that there’s enough room for the characters. That is more important than anything. What we’ve been trying to do as much as possible with this season, because there is so much mythology, is tie it into characters and their growth.

Ross: For instance, the Jonathan-Nancy scene — the melting lab was not an idea we had and then thought, “Oh, we could put Jonathan and Nancy in the situation.” We know we want this conversation with Jonathan and Nancy. How do we get there? Then going, “Oh, what if the dark matter makes the lab unstable?” Most of the time, you’re starting character first, and then we’re adjusting the mythology in order to make those character moments work.

Matt: But also, a melting lab is cool! Everybody was super enthusiastic about that — Netflix, our production designer.

Ross: Other dimensions, everyone was fine with the wormholes. But when we suddenly go, “The lab is going to melt,” everyone was like, “Excuse me?” No one knew how to do it.

Matt: We had to fight for that melting lab, from a production and cost standpoint.

I thought we were going to have a “Titanic” situation.

Ross: Oh, “Titanic” was a reference. But we wanted them both on the table.

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1. Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), left, and Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher). 2. Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna. (Netflix)

There’s a massive culture of forecasting and dissecting — it can be overwhelming to me as a viewer because I feel like I’m not watching closely enough. But I also love seeing how people interpret things.

Ross: Especially with the superfans, the tiniest of detail is picked up on. I think it’s fun for them because they’re rewatching this over and over again, so every little minute thing is seen as something significant even when that wasn’t our intention — not that we don’t plant things for later and do Easter eggs, but 99.9% of the writers’ room is just talking about these characters in the story they’re on. That is hopefully how you’re going to be watching the show because it can get overwhelming when you see this stuff online. But at the end of the day, we’re having people engage with a long-form story, so it makes us generally happy.

Matt: But you hit on something important, which is everybody experiences the show very differently. Sometimes I go, “What show are you watching?” Whatever show they’re watching is a completely different show than the show we thought we wrote. Then sometimes, some are on exactly our wavelength. And you see this with debates over the season. Season 3 is either the best season ever or the worst season ever. This is why you can’t write to fans, because which fan are you writing to? It would be impossible. Ross and I just try to write what we think is cool and what our writers think is cool.

There are so many theories out there about how the show is ending. Has there been one where the person got it or close to it?

Ross: I remember Season 4 someone early, very early, before we’d even released it, had figured out the Henry-Vecna-One thing, which was pretty impressive. This season, though, I have not seen anyone get the ending correct, which is, hopefully, a good thing.

Matt: I think it’s good. We’ll find out. I like that the ending is not obvious to people.

My understanding is the final scene of the series is one you’ve had in mind for about seven or so years. In the end, did you reach it the way you thought you would?

Matt: Yes. The show changed a lot in the course of seven years, so aspects of it certainly changed. But I think the fundamental state, more or less, the scene is what we always thought it was going to be.

Ross: I would say there was a key idea that we came up with, breaking [Season] 5, that wasn’t in there seven years ago. There was one element that we changed, but generally it is what we always hoped it would be. After the finale is out, we’ll be happy to tell you.

Matt: It didn’t change the scene, it just added something that I think was really important.

You spoke earlier about the circle of people that you share episodes with. How do you know you’re on the right path?

Ross: It’s such a small group. It really comes down to just our group of writers. What I love about our writers’ room is, even with Matt and I, people are very happy to tell us that an idea is not working. It’s usually everyone building off of each other, and then someone synthesizes those ideas, pitches it out to the room, and you feel this collective relief and excitement within that room. And when that happens, we go, “That’s it. That’s the idea.”

Matt: This is how we’ve always worked, once the draft is written, Ross and I will do multiple passes to the point where we’re really happy and confident. We don’t like turning in anything even remotely rough to Netflix. But the final episode, that was actually weird. We didn’t get any notes from Netflix or the producers. It is that first draft that we turned in. We did multiple drafts of it, but once we turned it in, that was it.

Were you on time with that draft?

Matt: We’re never on time, as you can tell with the gaps between seasons. Ross and I are not the fast. We were actually writing it in the midst of shooting, which was not a great idea. But Ross and I do the best work when we have a gun to our heads.

Ross: There’s not a single finale of the show that wasn’t written in the midst of production, but we like it because it allows us to get a sense of what the season is, what’s working, how the actors are performing, and we can really write to that. If you look at our season finales, generally, they’re some of our better episodes, part of it because the story is culminating, but also because we’ve learned over the course of the season what this season really is, what is really clicking. Then you can lean into that.

Matt: The only weird thing to have is because we were behind, and this has never happened before, is the Holly sequences that are in Henry’s mind, that’s in summer, so we couldn’t wait to shoot those. We were shooting any scene in the woods with Holly before the script was done. That was odd because we were handing actors scripts and scenes when they hadn’t even finished the episode. But it worked out quite well.

But now, I don’t know if it’s because of us, but Netflix won’t start shooting a season of anything until all the scripts are written. I do think they’re missing out on something because … like the sense of discovery that it allows. That’s the nerve-racking thing to me about doing a movie next, is we won’t have that ability to have it evolve.

What was the reaction at the table read for the series finale that stood out to you?

Matt: As nervous as we are of how the audience is going to react, it will never match the nerves we had in terms of how the actors were going to react to it. They’ve been in it with us since the beginning and they’re so invested in these characters. I think everybody was crying. Noah started crying first, then it just spread from there.

How do you feel you’ve changed since starting the show?

Matt: It’s hard to know. You have to try to remember back to how we were 10 years ago. We were really green. We had only directed one movie before. And we never directed television before. We’ve become, hopefully, better leaders and more confident and better at communicating. Ross and I, because we’re twins, we were really good at communicating with each other, but not with other people, and I think we’ve gotten a lot better at working with a large group of people, and hopefully we’ve evolved as as filmmakers.

Ross: There was a lot of fear making that first season. It was almost out of panic and fear both, if we get this wrong — our first movie was a failure — if we mess up, we’ll never be able to tell a story again. And the lack of experience, especially in terms of production. Production was scary because our production on the movie was such a challenge and it was a traumatic experience. Now, we know so much more. We keep making it hard for ourselves because we keep raising the bar in terms of the scale of the production [and] the number of people we’re hiring. But at this point, we can walk into a set, we’re much more flexible now if actors are coming in with ideas that are different from what we had planned, there’s a lot more ability to explore.

Caleb McLaughlin, left, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown and Gaten Matarazzo when they were much younger in “Stranger Things.”

(Netflix)

To expand on the learning curve, there was a recent report that said Millie Bobby Brown had filed a complaint of bullying and harassment against David Harbour. As first-time showrunners, how was it helming a show with young actors and figuring out how to balance the responsibility of making sure they feel safe and cared for on set?

Matt: Ross and I just love working with kids, and it was fun this season to go back to that, in terms of bringing in a new generation of kids. Mostly what we try to do is treat them respectfully and listen to them and listen to their ideas. I think you just get so much better work out of them that way. We’ve become very close because we got to know them when they were really young. It feels less parental and more like an older brother situation, and we try to make it very relaxed so they’re not nervous around us, and they certainly are not. I think what’s been challenging, and mostly challenging for the kids, who are no longer kids anymore, is when the show became bigger and [dealing with] social media. I think if something’s been damaging, it’s social media. I saw it happening with Jake [Connelly], who plays Derek this year.

Ross: And Nell [Fisher, who plays Holly], as well. That is something you feel more helpless about. But what has been beneficial for them, for Jake and Nell, [is] the kids that have been through it can help them through this more. Millie’s been through it. Finn’s been through it.

Matt: That’s the thing — yes, they have us, but they also have each other to get through this. I always think that that’s the key in terms of how they all turned out as grounded as they are. We were with all of them on this press tour, and I’m constantly impressed by how level-headed and grounded they are, and how ego-less they are; that they’re not broken by what they’ve been through. It’s been great with Jake to see it completely turn around. But that doesn’t excuse what people were doing before. It’s disgusting. I wish they had gone through this without social media.

A big talking point in Hollywood right now has been the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. You have forged relationships with both Paramount and Netflix, the companies vying for it. How are you feeling about this moment and where things seem to be headed?

Matt: It’s just so hard to know what things are going to be like. It’s hard to say anything right now. Ross and I have been pretty open about wanting to make sure that the theatrical experience is preserved. For as long as stories have been told, it’s often in front of a group. There’s something about the communal experience and I just don’t want people being isolated. But as long as things are getting in theaters, I think it’s going to be OK. I’m trying to be optimistic about it.

Ross: I think the two fears are, with whatever happens, is you want to try to protect theatrical, which is in not the best state right now. And if you keep shrinking these windows, it just continues to de-incentivize people to go to the theater. That is not something we want to see. It’s a reason why we’re making a movie for theaters next; we believe in it and want to fight for it. The other is you need competition for artists because that’s the whole reason “Stranger Things” exists in the first place. If it’s too much consolidation, then shows like this are just going to become increasingly extinct.

Was it an easy sell, getting Netflix on board with releasing the series finale in theaters?

Matt: Yeah, actually. This is where the internet can frustrate me because something starts as a rumor and then goes around, then it’s fact. We pitched the idea to Netflix marketing — it was mine and Ross’ idea, then [Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria] called us — it was only about five days [later] and [she] said, “Yeah, let’s do it.” We’re really grateful for them for supporting us. I cannot wait to go sneak into some theaters and watch it.

Ross: We’re definitely gonna go.

Netflix’s mega-hit Stranger Things first hit our screens back in 2016 and now, its fifth and final season is underway with the last ever episode dropping on December 31

Stranger Things’ final season is well underway, a decade after the residents of Hawkins first hit our screens and became a global phenomenon. The Netflix series begins in the small fictional Indiana town in November of 1983, with a cast of beloved characters played by talented actors at varying levels of their careers – and one casting choice has been lauded by fans.

The children at the front of the show were complete unknowns when they first donned 80s gear, accessories and dialogue, hooking viewers with nostalgia and intrigue back in 2016. They were joined by screen icons though, with Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers drawing in many viewers.

Ryder’s performance as the perpetually stressed, chain-smoking mother who refuses to listen to authorities when her son, Will, goes missing in the very first episode added a sense of heart and strength to the show.

The actor’s star power also helped attract viewers to the first season. Ryder shot to fame in a string of quirky, misfit-type roles in the 80s and early 90s, before taking on more dramatic and period roles too.

She’s been critically acclaimed for her acting prowess and has even bagged two Academy Award nominations.

Stranger Things fans have praised the casting choice, with one taking to Reddit to declare: “Winona Ryder being cast as Joyce Byers is one of the greatest casting decisions of all time. I couldn’t picture anybody else in this role.”

In the comments section, people were keen to share their thoughts. One Reddit user said: “I just rewatched season 1 a couple weeks ago and I was just blown away. I think her acting in that season is amazing!

“You see things differently during a re-watch and her acting really struck me and I don’t think I fully appreciated the first time around.”

Another asked: “Where is her Emmy for this role?!”

A third shared: “Winona is my favourite actress. People forget she was HUGE in the late 80s and 90s. I had been hoping for her to have a comeback for years and years and she is wonderful as Joyce Byers.”

A fourth said: “It was so smart to cast her because I didn’t know anything about the show. Just that this new show was coming out on Netflix and Winona Ryder was gonna be in it and I will watch anything with Winona and then it became one of my favourite shows ever.”

Someone else said: “Such a great comeback role for her.”

Another said: “I’ve always been a huge fan.”

One fan shared: “IMO [in my opinion] Season 1 NO ONE could top her acting. Millie was #2 for me…”

Reflecting on other casting choices, another said: “They also did great with casting her boys. They genuinely look like they could be related to her.”

And another added: “The casting of the whole show is brilliant and also is the yardstick for child actors as far as I’m concerned.

“A lot of movies or shows prioritise looks over the actual acting talent of the kids, but these kids can act.”

The underrated ‘Capital of Christmas’ has everything you could want for a festive break but there’s also plenty more than just Christmas – including Stranger Things locations

Nestled in the south of Lithuania, Vilnius, the second largest city in the Baltic states, is a place where Christmas is celebrated with gusto.

Every nook and cranny of the city sparkles with festive lights, baubles, gifts, and all sorts of decorations you can imagine. The streets are festooned with Christmas trees, buskers strumming carols on their guitars, and everyone indulging in warm wine, soaking up the holiday cheer.

The city has earned the title ‘Capital of Christmas’, and it’s not hard to see why – they pull out all the stops when it comes to decking the halls.

I had the pleasure of visiting this enchanting city and was swept away by the festive euphoria. There’s a magical aura that permeates the city, making the spirit of Christmas palpable.

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As I wandered around, snowflakes gently falling, fairy lights twinkling, and shop fronts adorned with such stunning decorations that you can’t help but stop for a closer look.

A short flight from London City airport (with return fares starting at £33) transported me within hours to this vibrant and mystical Baltic city, steeped in rich history and home to over 50 churches, subterranean spas, numerous museums, and an arts quarter. It’s also gained fame as a filming location for Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, with parts of season four shot here, including scenes in a now-defunct 100 year old prison.

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Vilnius is famed for the architectural splendour of its Old Town, one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved historical centres, earning it a UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1994. This heritage-rich area also hosts the city’s iconic Christmas market.

The European Parliament’s Christmas Cities Network crowned Vilnius as the Capital of Christmas, largely due to its internationally acclaimed Christmas trees. The Vilnius Christmas tree has topped the European Best Destinations list two years running.

For me, it was the picture-perfect Christmas markets that drew me to this city. The main Christmas market is nestled in the enchanting Cathedral Square, within the old town, and is renowned for its stunning, award-winning Christmas tree – a genuine 205-square-metre installation standing 20 metres tall.

The market is brimming with quaint wooden stalls offering sweet delicacies, mulled wine, and festive crafts.

You can enjoy a warming mulled wine or a hot chocolate for €7 each, but if you return your mug, you’ll receive a €2 refund, making these festive beverages a bargain at just €5 (roughly £4.60).

If all that wandering about works up an appetite for some authentic Lithuanian fare, you can sample regional specialities from the vendors, including traditional “kaladinis” chimney cakes, sweet curd doughnuts and plenty of pudding-style treats such as confectionery, gingerbread, doughnuts, hot chocolate and naturally mulled wine. The vendors also offer numerous handcrafted goods and locally-made products created specially for Christmas.

Adorned with fairy lights scattered throughout the market and featuring an enormous sparkling tree, the principal Christmas market is genuinely spectacular, but in typical Vilnius fashion, one market simply won’t suffice and the city plays host to ten different ones across the area. Once you’ve finished browsing the stalls, be sure to explore the stunning Jewish quarter within the Old Town district.

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Alternatively, if you’re seeking somewhere for supper, you might venture to Lokys, the city’s most established family-operated restaurant, which serves vibrant pink chilled beetroot soup with potatoes, alongside beaver casserole – genuine regional specialities of the area.

The Christmas market launched on 29th November and will remain in the square until 6th January, whilst you can discover the additional markets at the railway station, Hale Market and a rather unconventional market in Lukiški prison (yes, genuinely!).

The city adores Christmas so thoroughly that the national bank even introduced Vilnius’ own Christmas currency, enabling you to purchase goods from the Christmas markets using the festive tender which was revealed as red pine cones. Another yuletide attraction in the square is the two-storey Christmas carousel.

Standing at a towering 10 metres high, it’s been crafted by Italian artisans in a traditional style. Other jolly features to keep an eye out for in Vilnius include the ice rink in Town Hall Square and the Christmas train that whisks visitors on a 20-minute journey through the twinkling streets of Old Town Vilnius for a mere €1.80.

Book the trip

LOT Polish Airlines provides direct flights to Vilnius from London City airport. Ryanair and Wizz Air also offer non-stop flights from the UK.

Rooms at the Hotel Pacai start from €176 a night (approximately £153).

For more information about Vilnius, visit govilnius.lt.

Stranger Things fans have pinpointed a specific tragic moment in the season 5 volume 2 trailer.

Stranger Things fans are in a frenzy after Netflix released the official trailer for the second part of season five. The epic video shows Will Byers (played by Noah Schnapp) feeling deflated after the gang failed to save the children from Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).

The teaser also shows Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) and Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) as they attempt to escape Vecna’s trap, while the rest of the gang discover something major about the Upside Down.

While many fans still believe Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) could be at risk in the final season, other viewers believe another major death has flown under the radar, until now. They took to YouTube to pinpoint a specific moment, just over half-way into the video, when one of the main characters is seen coming face to face with a Demogorgon.

Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) is seen walking down a hospital corridor, flanked by two armed men, as a Demogorgon comes charging towards them. The camera then turns to face the Demogorgon as it lunges at its target. @Kaiiizerrrp said: “1:18 omg, did you see Robin behind the military? [crying emoji]” While @Obama_Plays added: “Omg Robin please runnn” and @Sham-d3y shared: “I am gonna cry so bad.”

More fans picked up on the hint, with @AviAuthorColorado adding: “I’M GONNA CRY BRO LIKE ACTUALLY,” and @Sham-d3y expressing: “FINALLY SOMEONE SAW IT. I AM 100% SURE THAT’S THE SAD DEATH WHICH THE DUFFERS WERE TALKING ABOUT, IT WAS ROBIN ALL ALONG.”

This could be the case as episode five is titled Shock Jock, which refers to a DJ on a radio show who expresses opinions in a deliberately offensive or provocative way. At the start of season five, viewers saw Robin hosting her own show for The Squawk, which serves as a decoy for them to relay information regarding military operations to the Upside Down and the rest of the gang.

This is not the first time fans have predicted Robin’s death, as they believe Netflix had teased her demise after the unveiling of some photos for the fifth and final outing. The official Netflix Instagram account posted multiple photos showing cast members staring at an unseen threat, but one person was left out.

Robin’s absence did not go unnoticed, with one fan writing: “UM HI I BEG YOUR FINEST PARDON WHERE IS MY GIRL ROBIN AT?” Another added: “Hahaha very funny, where the HELL is Robin.”

Robin’s role in season five was pivotal as she helped Will harness his powers by making him believe in himself and not fear his authenticity. She also helped validate Will’s feelings when it came to romance, as she opened up on her relationship with Vickie Dunne (Amybeth McNulty).

Fans took to Reddit to explain how they believed Robin’s emotional speech in volume one of the final season is “SO intensely ‘this character will die’ coded.” MedievZ said: “The Duffers most definitely are not killing off the main core cast. Steve is too obvious of a death.

“Robin is the perfect character to die and get the maximum emotional impact while fitting into the story nicely and being an unexpected gutpunch. We do not see much of Robin in the remaining trailer shots.”

Elsewhere in the season five, volume two trailer, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) was seen asking Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) to help her find and kill Venca, after the character’s epic return was unveiled in episode four. Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve were also seen making a pact as they said: “You die, I die.”

Regardless of whether she meets her demise in the final season, Robin is set to live on through the latest Stranger Things novel – One Way or Another. The book, by TV writer and novelist Caitlin Schneiderhan, focuses on Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Robin as they solve an unexplained phenomenon.

The story is set following the events of Stranger Things season four – two months since Vecna’s earthquake tore through the town. Nancy and Robin are convinced they have discovered Vecna’s next victim – fellow student Joey Taft.

Stranger Things season 5 part 2 airs on Christmas Day in the US and Boxing Day in the UK