Entertainment, Dec 30: The creators of Stranger Things said they had taken unusual measures to protect the final episode of the series from leaks, including printing the finale script on red paper during production.
Matt and Ross Duffer explained that the fifth and final season was completed with a tightly controlled but uncomplicated approach. Matt Duffer said the team deliberately avoided sensational twists intended only to shock audiences, stressing that the ending was designed to feel natural rather than brutal or disruptive.
He said the finale was not conceived as a dramatic bloodbath and ruled out comparisons with infamous television twists, adding that the intention was for viewers to reach the conclusion with a sense that the outcome felt unavoidable rather than upsetting.
Addressing speculation about alternate endings, Matt Duffer said the production did not film multiple conclusions as a decoy. He explained that the team relied instead on strict security measures throughout filming, noting that shooting fake endings would have been impractical and unnecessary.
He said a dedicated security unit worked to keep paparazzi and unauthorised access at bay, while the decision to print only the final episode’s script on red paper was taken as an added precaution, despite it being inconvenient for daily use.
The final episode, titled Stranger Things: The Finale – The Right Side Up, was scheduled to premiere on New Year’s Eve, December 31, at 8 pm ET. The episode was slightly extended from its earlier announced length and was set to run for two hours and eight minutes, marking the end of the globally popular science fiction series.
