Stranger Things creators reveal how they’re avoiding fate of terrible TV finales with "inevitable" season 5 ending

The Duffer brothers are all too aware that we as viewers have all been burnt by plenty of terrible TV finales before – and they've done everything in their power to avoid that fate with Stranger Things season 5.

The final battle for Hawkins is nearly here, with Netflix's flagship sci-fi about to end after almost a decade, but the creators of the show have countless threads to tie up and characters to do justice in the space of eight episodes (albeit long ones!).

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, the Duffers revealed that they studied their favourite finales and tried to figure out what worked well, with Ross Duffer explaining: "We were looking mostly at the ones that were successful.

"There are probably more whiffs and misses than there are people that have stuck the landing, because I think it's hard when you've been running for a long time – there are so many expectations.

"But we looked at Six Feet Under, which is one of the great finales that I've ever seen. We looked at Breaking Bad, we looked at Friday Night Lights, so there was definitely a handful of them that we looked and studied. Not for the plot specifically, but just like, why did that work for us and other fans of those shows?"

Matt Duffer added of the Stranger Things finale: "There's a sense of inevitability. When you're looking at shows that don't work, or the endings that don't work, it is when it feels like sometimes the shows are trying too hard to surprise fans or do something different.

"So we want it to feel very much in line with the show and the endings for each of the characters to feel inevitable. That's what we're striving for."

Every fan has got their theories about what's to come in the highly-anticipated final season, with speculation ranging from who might meet their demise, to whether certain characters might make a miraculous return (we're looking at you, Eddie Munson).

For now, we've been dissecting the recent trailer and reading into the tidbits the actors have shared, with Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin, opening up about how Eddie's memory is kept alive in season 5, while Joe Keery teased the return of Jonathan and Steve's rivalry.

Season 5 will also see a new character in the form of Linda Hamilton's Dr Kay. We're also expecting the youngest member of the Wheeler family, Holly, to have a bigger role as she's been recast, with Nell Fisher taking over this time around.

The first five minutes of season 5 have also been released, showing what exactly happened to Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) when he went missing way back in season 1.

In many ways, it seems like season 5 is about to bring us full circle as we return to the Upside Down one last time.

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