\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tNoah Schnapp as Will Byers <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThere was Will\u2019s (Noah Schnapp) emotional coming out scene, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy\u2019s (Natalia Dyer) cathartic breakup scene, Max\u2019s (Sadie Sink) epic return to the world of the living and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and so much more.<\/p>\n \n\tHere to break it all down for Variety<\/em> \u2014\u00a0and tease where things will go in the \u201cStranger Things\u201d series finale \u2014\u00a0 is executive producer Shawn Levy<\/a>, who directed Episode 6 and co-directed Episode 7 alongside the Duffer brothers.<\/p>\n \n\tWell, first of all, that was incredibly concisely summarized. <\/p>\n \n\tI hope that if anyone ever asks me to summarize the plot revelations of Volume 2, I can just remember your words, because they were incredibly succinct. I mean, to your point, these are profound existential questions being asked in Volume 2. And this deep questioning of, what is sacrifice? What is a worthy sacrifice? And how do you put the needs of the many in front of the needs of oneself? These are age-old existential questions, and I am really excited for fans to see our show wrestle with them. <\/p>\n \n\tWe hopefully do it in ways that are emotional and still entertaining. But when you have characters like Holly and El questioning profound life and death values, like the ones they wrestle with in Volume 2, those scenes need to be handled with care. They need to be written with nuance, and they then need to be performed and directed with sensitivity to the weight of the issues being grappled with.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tSadie Sink as Max Mayfield in Season 4 of \u201cStranger Things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe end of Episode 6, that was a really memorable day because I was given the privilege of directing a scene that required both actresses to deliver big time and with tremendous emotional weight. The writing was excellent. The actors, Nell and Sadie, stepped up so impressively, but it had this added layer of meaning for Sadie and I, because Episode 6 of Season 5 is in some ways an echo of our \u201cDear Billy\u201d episode [Episode 4, Season 4] that Sadie and I are sort of connected for life in from Season 4. A similar red void, a similar epic run using both real speed and slow motion, and set against, no coincidence here, a new orchestration of \u201cRunning Up That Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s certainly a sequence that I\u2019ll cherish forever, because it served as a bookend to \u201cDear Billy\u201d in many ways, and it allowed Sadie and I to revisit that sequence from the end of \u201cDear Billy\u201d that we will carry with us forever. Because even if we wanted to leave it behind, audiences around the world remind us of that sequence pretty much every day of our lives. So the design of this abstract red void with these extraordinary, odd, otherworldly structures, but with a glimpse of the world that is on the other side, the aspirational yearning that Max has carried with her is manifested. And when she looks through that cloudy portal and sees herself with Lucas next to her, still holding vigil, it was such an emotion premise for a scene, and I think it\u2019s clear that it resonated emotionally for Sadie and all of us who were part of that sequence.<\/p>\n \n\tOne day I\u2019ll never forget filming Season 5 was that first scene after Max comes back to life when she is on that table in that laundry room. And it took, like, one take for her and Caleb to deliver some of their most beautiful work in any season. Many of us were teary as we watched these beautiful actors do such great work. I think that Max\u2019s superpower, having returned to life, to the world, is that, as I think we say in the show, she\u2019s been on the other side. She has, in some ways, mapped the target, and can therefore be an essential ally in strategizing how we go at that target, how we go after Vecna.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tNatalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tI love that the Duffers and the writers named the fact on camera, in character, they named the fact that the Nancy-Jonathan connection has been rooted in shared trauma. So I like that there\u2019s an awareness, not only in the writing of the show, but in the characters. And we always knew that this was going to be the watershed \u201cJancy\u201d scene that was almost a decade in the making, and it\u2019s a long scene. It\u2019s incredibly rich in its writing, and it\u2019s acting, and Natalia and Charlie prepared for months for that scene. And I think in acknowledging the shared trauma in their history, Jonathan and Nancy are able to be honest about their past and clear-eyed in assessing their present and would-be future.<\/p>\n \n\tWell, for one thing, I would say that for those of us, and anyone who has seen \u201cThe First Shadow\u201d on stage, that \u201cStranger Things\u201d play fills in a lot of blanks about Henry Creel\u2019s backstory. And for me personally, knowing that I was going to be directing Jamie as Henry\/One\/Vecna in our final season, the stage play gave me a much deeper empathy for Vecna, and it gave me an understanding of the wounds he carries, where they came from, and how formative they were in his youth. <\/p>\n \n\tSo yes, current day Vecna seems to be just straight up nihilistic, but the world has hurt him so much that now he just wants to hurt it back.<\/p>\n \n\tCertainly that\u2019s a question worth asking the Duffers. So Matt, Ross and I all chatted and worked with Noah well in advance of shooting that scene. And I personally ran through the scene with Noah and talked through it and the evolution of Will\u2019s sharing in it. Bear in mind that Noah, quite famously and quite publicly, brings personal experience to that scene. So we came with a lot of instincts about how to approach it. And between Matt and Ross and I, and with the benefit of exceptional writing by the Duffers, it was about calibrating the feeling and calibrating how emotional Will gets at what stage of the scene. <\/p>\n \n\tAnd as far as all of the listeners, all of those reaction shots that for me personally, as just a viewer, those are what really break me. Those cutaways to Jonathan to Robin to Max to Mike, those are just authentic reactions of Noah\u2019s castmates and friends as their buddy gave a powerhouse performance in an all-timer of a scene. What you see on screen is what went down on that set, and it\u2019s just authentic and honest and required very little prep or discussion.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tMatt Duffer, Ted Sarandos, Ross Duffer, Shawn Levy and Bela Bajaria attend \u201cStranger Things\u201d Season 5 World Premiere at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on November 6, 2025 in Hollywood, California.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Getty Images for Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tLike for everyone, the last day was an emotional day. The two moments I will personally never forget are the very small, intimate read through of the final episode. It was literally the cast and maybe a half-dozen other people that were allowed in that room. I was lucky enough to be one of them \u2014 because I\u2019ve walked the long road over a decade with the show \u2014 that day. And the way those actors, and particularly those young actors, came undone emotionally as we read it, is something so beautiful. I\u2019ll never forget it.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd then on my very last day, I went to the Wheeler basement, and it was empty. No one was shooting there, and I sat on those stairs, and I sat on that couch, and I just steeped myself in 10 years of memories, 10 years of this challenge, and above all, 10 years of this privilege of being a part of this show as both an executive producer and frequent director. It\u2019s changed me forever, and I sat there in the quiet of that iconic basement feeling very grateful.<\/p>\n \n\tYes. Hard, yes. Emphatic, \u201cyes,\u201d he said, as he nodded his head vigorously.<\/p>\n \n\tThat is a really great question you should ask the Duffers. And you can tell them that I believe I am correct in saying, no. It\u2019s the Abyss, and I believe the Abyss is not Dimension X. Ask the Duffers, and I can\u2019t wait to read your article, so I can finally understand the answer.<\/p>\n \n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\t\u2022 The Duffer Brothers<\/a><\/strong> Break Down All the Volume 2 Spoilers![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p><\/div>\n\t\tWe now know Eleven is the most successful of Brenner\u2019s experiments because she tolerated the blood transfusion from Henry the best. And this means that even if the team kills Vecna, this cycle is not over, because the military wants to use El to make more kids like her. Kali tells El they should kill themselves to end it. Can you talk about creating those life and death stakes for Eleven going into the series finale?\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\tThank you. \t<\/h5>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n\t\tWhat did you want to show with the scene where Max and Holly (Nell Fisher) say goodbye in Vecna\u2019s mind in Episode 6? How did you work through what real-world Max would look like, and what she could feasibly do to help now that she\u2019s back?\t<\/h5>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n\t\tCan you talk about the choice to have Nancy and Jonathan\u2019s relationship, which was built on a deep trauma bond, end by them having a new deeply traumatic shared experience that caused them to be honest?\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\tWhat\u2019s it like to direct the revelations about what Vecna actually going to do, turn the world into the Upside Down? Is Vecna just a nihilist?\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\tDirecting Noah Schnapp in Will\u2019s coming out scene in Episode 7, did you have any specific discussions about preferences in what Will would do and how others would react \u2014 even subtle details?\t<\/h5>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n\t\tWhat was your final day on set like?\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\tThe man with briefcase that Henry meets in that mine shaft in the Nevada desert. What\u2019s in that briefcase, Shawn? Is there more to the Henry\/Dimension X story of how Henry got his powers that day in the desert than was shown in \u201cStranger Things: The First Shadow\u201d that\u2019s coming in the finale?\t<\/h5>\n
\n\t\tIs the Abyss, the other world where Henry is \u2014 which is connected to Earth via the Upside Down\/wormhole \u2014 also Dimension X, the place he originally entered when he first got his powers in the desert as a child?\t<\/h5>\n
\u2022 <\/strong>The Duffer Brothers<\/strong> <\/a>Break Down All the Volume 1 Spoilers
\u2022 <\/strong>Our 13 Burning Questions<\/strong><\/a> Ahead of the Series Finale
\u2022 <\/strong>Noah Schnapp<\/strong><\/a> on That Scene in Volume 2
\u2022 Noah Schnapp<\/a> <\/strong>on Turning Into the [SPOILER] in Volume 1
\u2022<\/strong> Sadie Sink<\/a> <\/strong>on Max\u2019s Key Role in Volume 1
\u2022<\/strong> Nell Fisher<\/a><\/strong> on Playing Holly Wheeler in Season 5
\u2022 The Cast of \u2018Stranger Things\u2019<\/a><\/strong> on the Show\u2019s Final Days
\u2022 <\/strong>Variety\u2019s \u201cStranger Things\u201d Oct. 15 Cover Story<\/strong><\/a> About the Duffers
\u2022<\/strong> Cara Buono<\/a> <\/strong>on Karen\u2019s Kick-Ass Hero Moment (At Last)
\u2022 The Duffer Brothers<\/a><\/strong> on the \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 Spinoff
\u2022 Linda Hamilton<\/a> <\/strong>on Being Millie Bobby Brown\u2019s \u2018Biggest Fan\u2019
\u2022 Shawn Levy<\/a> <\/strong>on \u2018Sticking the Landing\u2019 for Season 5
\u2022 David Harbour<\/a> <\/strong>on How \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 Has Changed Him<\/p>\n<\/div>\n