Netflix Strives to Keep ‘Stranger Things’ Perfect

The Duffer Brothers realize that too much of a good thing could be the downfall of ‘Stranger Things.’

There is no doubt Stranger Things is one of the most popular shows right now. Fans are made up of kids the same age as the main characters on screen, adults who can’t get enough of the nostalgic and twisted horror/comedy storyline, and everyone in between. It’s absolutely captivating. But, all good things must come to an end, as Deadline reports that Netflix has decided when the show will conclude.

While no specific year or season marker was revealed, during this year’s Television Critics Association event, Netflix Vice President of Original Content Cindy Holland stated, “We have made a determination how long Stranger Things will go.”

Holland also confirmed when Stranger Things would return. After the show debuted in midsummer 2016, the sequel season, known as Stranger Things 2, arrived a little more than a year later, in October 2017, giving fans a treat for the Halloween holiday. Now, with a delay in the release of the third season and 2018 being skipped altogether, fans will finally be able to watch more of the show in the heat of summer 2019.

“The Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy have worked really hard, and they understand the stakes are high. They want to deliver something bigger and better than what they did last year. And so they really want to take the time to get it right.” Holland explained.

After the release of Stranger Things 2, the Duffer Brothers told E! News that they didn’t know how long the show would last, but they were looking at four to five seasons. “I mean, none of this is official, and we know where we want to go. We’re trying to figure out still how long it’ll take to get there, so we’ll see.” At the time of the interview, the co-creators were only two days into writing Season 3 but were able to say, “There will be a time jump for sure.”

Season 2 definitely left us with some unanswered questions that the time jump will hopefully give us answers to from the start. Are Hopper and Joyce going to date after the tragic yet heroic death of Bob? What other misadventures can we expect from new BFFs Steve and Dustin? Will Max finally stand up to the terror that is her brother? With all of these questions in mind and the release of a sneak peak of sorts from Netflix, I’m more excited than ever to see what the Duffer brothers were perfecting that caused the release date to get pushed back.

The time jump seems like a no-brainer, as the actors of the leading kids are now in the age range of 13-16 and are obviously growing and looking a little older than their characters. The same goes for characters like Nancy and Jonathan who will evidently grow up and have to leave Hawkins High School and pursue lives as adults. The progression of time, in the show and in real life, is something that no one can ignore, and fortunately, the Duffer Brothers aren’t.

With a show like Stranger Things, you have a group of kids who are sucked into the unfortunate circumstances of disappearances, monsters, alternate universes, and the horrors of everyday life like dealing with family members or trying to flirt with friends whom you want to be more than friends. It’s the perfect balance of fantasy and everyday life. But how far can the show go before it all becomes a little unbelievable? Not saying that a Demogorgon is believable to begin with, but these kids can only experience so much horror before it gets old.

Most fans will be heartbroken once the show comes to an end — I know I will be. But it’s for the best. Would you rather have a show with a smaller number of seasons that had a good plot, solid character arcs, and a story that had a beginning, middle, and end all at the appropriate times? Or would you rather have a show that stretched on for too long, fought for a plot that never seemed to come close to an end for the obvious purpose of making money for Netflix?

While that sounds harsh, it’s true. A story like Stranger Things can only go on for so long before it becomes too much that the kids are being emotionally disturbed as much as they are. And major props to the Duffer Brothers for knowing that the show coming to an end is in the near future.

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