Stranger Things signed off at the start of the year and left no shortage of controversy in its wake. The outcry grew so loud that some fans started a viral theory that a secret bonus episode was about to drop. But though “Conformity Gate” was a myth—the best Netflix could do was that behind-the-scenes doc; there was also a Saturday Night Live skit—that didn’t prevent the Stranger Things cast and crew from being asked about it. A lot.
And now, many months later, it seems there’s still curiosity about the finale. Not regarding the ninth episode, which we know by now doesn’t exist, or the actual finale’s biggest takeaways, like whether or not Eleven is actually dead. Rather, it’s about how the people involved in Stranger Things felt about the whole kerfuffle.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with a few Hawkins escapees at a recent “For Your Consideration” event, and we now have even more reactions to add to the pile.
Executive producer Shawn Levy called the “wishful thinking” about episode nine “baffling.”
He also pointed out that “the internet and social media is this sort of self-fueling machine of theory and story. I felt bad for the world, because they really believed; as much as I believe that Eleven is still alive somewhere by those waterfalls, the world seemed to really believe for a while in that extra episode. I knew they were going to get their hearts broken by its absence, but there was nothing I could do to spare them that pain.”
As for the cast, who are probably sick of thinking about Stranger Things at this point, much less a piece of Stranger Things that doesn’t exist, they had even more spirited things to say. Jamie Campbell Bower, Vecna himself, called the speculation “fucking crazy,” while Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) recalled being inundated with texts demanding to know if episode nine was real or not.
For his part, Levy was also able to see an upside to the situation. “You’ll never satisfy everyone, but it feels like we satisfied most. That’s better than most series I can think of, especially ones with this kind of fan base, which is ferocious.”
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