Original subtitles

[somber music playing]

[Ross] It's one of my favorite parts of the process is that early brainstorming.

Okay. Let's figure this out.

Where do you guys wanna sit? I think this feels good here. This feels good.

[Matt] It starts out so amorphous.

It's just like this misshapen blob of clay.

And then you just keep working it.

One day at a time, one minute at a time.

You get tired and you go off on tangents.

[Ross] There's always a sense of panic that it's not going to come together.

[Matt] Then you go, "Wait, let's go back to the ball of clay."

"Let's keep working it and kneading it."

And then eventually it just starts to take shape.

And when it starts to take shape, it just gets really exciting.

Ready, and action.

[upbeat music playing]

[Ross] Action.

What was the test on again? Human anatomy?

[Matt] It's been a journey.

[Ross] Yeah, 10 years.

That's a quarter of our lives, a bigger chunk of our actors' lives.

Swallowed in darkness.

It is almost here.

What is it?

[Mike] The Demogorgon.

Will!

- [Jonathan] Will! - Will!

[Matt] Season 1 feels so tiny in comparison to where we are now.

[Matt] We like the idea of slowly scaling up the show,

just like you would a movie sequel.

[screaming]

[Matt] Each episode is its own movie in terms of the amount of time,

the amount of pages we're shooting every day,

the complexities of the visual effects, the stunts, the various locations.

[Ross] I don't think we imagined reaching this sort of scale.

[Matt] It's terrifying because

you see these shows that people love and adore,

and the ending falters.

And they just discard the rest of the show.

[Ross] You can't leave anything dangling. You have to wrap everything up.

[Matt] But at the end of the day, it hasn't changed from season 1

in the sense that it all comes down to these characters,

and that's what people care about.

That's sick.

Yeah. Let's do it again.

[Matt] We went into production without having a finished script for the finale.

That was scary because we wanted to get it right.

It was the most important script of the season.

The whole episode has to be building towards "Eleven is going to kill herself."

Like, if we're trying to sell it as she's going to kill herself,

and then she kills herself…

[Ross] Yeah.

I think that it's like, is she still deciding?

Has she already decided?

[Ross] You have to keep toying with the audience

because I think what works in seven is this, like, "Oh my God."

Like, "Is she really going to go through with this?"

And it's what everyone's gonna keep expecting.

We think she's made the choice to live.

- [Ross] I don't know-- - Just kidding. She hasn't.

- [Kate] Just kidding. She has. - That's where I start…

[Ross] I don't know if we have to play it like that.

- That is… - [Ross] I don't know if we have to.

- How would we play it? - We keep it ambiguous.

We keep it ambiguous till the moment--

[Matt] No. If she comes back and has… In a moment with Hopper…

If she comes back and has this moment with Hopper and gets in the van,

I feel she has clearly made a choice to live.

[Ross] No. Not necessarily.

[Matt] If you show me those images, she's made a choice to live.

- I'm so-- - [Ross] Don't do the 100% thing.

- You have an image-- - I'm 100%.

- [all laughing] - [Matt] What's the other option?

God, I don't know how to play this.

[Matt] The longer it goes, the more stories you have to tie up,

the more character arcs you have to tie up,

the more expectations there are with the audience.

And how do you meet those expectations

but surprise the audience still?

So close.

[Matt] Ross and I had no interest in writing at all.

We wanted to direct.

We realized that the best way in was probably writing.

[Ross] We were focused on what we thought the industry wanted.

Writing bad script after bad script and just going, "Why is this not working?"

[Matt] Eventually we realized we just needed to listen to our gut,

and write for ourselves.

[Ross] I remember when we came up with Stranger Things for the first time.

We just wrote the basement scene with the kids,

and it came so easily.

I was like, okay, now we're onto something.

Oh, we're going way back.

Okay, let's go way back.

What's crazy is we're in the room with the pieces of furniture

on which the Duffers and I first sat when we first met almost a decade ago.

The rules of movies and TV back then said

you can't make a show about kids that isn't for kids.

- Are you out of your mind? - Just listen to me.

You are out of your mind.

[Shawn] You can't combine horror genre and coming-of-age.

[Demogorgon screeching]

It was that transgression that made it feel so fresh.

It was immediately clear that he understood the script,

and what Shawn did, which was so incredible,

because he was a respected director and producer…

What he did is he goes, "I trust you, and I trust your vision."

The only chance of making something hard happen

is by being convinced it will happen.

And so it starts with one person, or a couple of twins,

or then it's ten people, then it's a whole writers' room,

and then suddenly it becomes 1,000 people, who are like, "Oh, you know what?"

"Yeah, we're going to make this impossible thing happen."

[Matt] Season 1, we had no idea if anyone was even going to like the show.

[Tweets chiming]

We had seen that, okay, a lot of people have already finished it.

They stayed up all night and were done, and then it just snowballed.

[crowd cheering]

Oh my God!

[Matt] The global phenomenon is,

well, it's surreal.

It's honestly hard to comprehend.

[reporter 1] Stranger Things topped the TV streaming charts.

The gang from Hawkins nabbed a whopping 52 billion minutes streamed.

[reporter 2] Horror legend Stephen King is hooked on the show.

He tweeted about our show and we've exchanged emails with him,

and that still blows my mind because he,

growing up, he was such an inspiration. He's like a god to us.

I think everything gets bigger,

and every year, there's so much more expectation.

[Lampton] It's a beloved show,

and Matt and Ross have to bring it to an end.

You know, the stakes are high.

[intriguing music playing]

[all chattering indistinctly]

Yeah, this is a ton of people.

Um…

Probably should've killed some of you off.

- Um… - [all laughing]

The, um… Millie was right.

So we're going to start, obviously, with one.

We can only do three in a day.

They're long. Let's do it. Let's just go.

Ah.

[Millie] You did not think I could make the time, did you?

[David] I think you can, but today, no, I don't think that you made the time.

Are you saying that I lie?

No, I'm saying that you're mistaken.

I'm not mistaken.

[Cara] Holly?

Holly? Holly!

I've been calling you.

[Nell] Sorry.

- Can you round up the troops? - Breakfast!

[scattered chuckling]

[vehicle beeping]

[Heymann] We are here to execute Matt and Ross's vision.

No matter what it is,

how big and crazy it is when you read it on the page.

It all starts with the script.

My goal is always to kind of help distill whatever vision is on the page.

As much as possible,

I really try and dive deep into photo archives of the time period.

We knew we wanted some sort of spooky basement and a little Poltergeist-y vibes.

When I was first conceiving of what Hopper's world might look like…

He's in a pretty dark and slightly addicted place

when we meet him in the show.

Looking back through this, I feel we were really able to accomplish in so many ways

a lot of what we were setting out to do.

I need cushions

to make a bed for her that's like a makeshift bed.

When you get a script and you see a character on paper,

you have to kind of build out a world.

So you start with the little pieces of information,

then we start filling them with color palettes and textures.

[Amy] When I get a script, I like to read it as a fan because I do enjoy the show.

You can't help but start to visualize stuff already.

Each decade is defined by its silhouette.

A color can read through the screen

passion or sadness.

This group of actors is very involved.

That's…

- terrifying. - [Amy] I know!

I love it.

With these scripts, the words kind of jump off the page.

You really get a colorful image in your mind's eye

of what this could look like.

This season, there's just so much to shoot.

[Ross] Action.

We have 250 shooting days, but it's not enough. [laughs]

[Tudor] When I get a script from the brothers,

I first read it for, like, story.

Then I go through and I tear everything apart by elements,

meaning props, set dressing, time of day, stunt performers, cast members.

I'm constantly tracking every crew member

and every cast member like a border collie.

It's just the way that my brain works.

[woman] What's the difference between season 1 and season 5?

Something like 180 days.

[Tudor] Welcome back.

Hey, guys. When was the last time we got to sit in a room together?

[Matt] When we write,

we try to keep production in mind.

But you do your best to put some of that aside

and not worry about the pain of what it's going to take to pull it off.

Because then you wouldn't write anything.

I don't think we ever imagined it becoming this big in season 5.

[Tudor] We have 12 stages filled, filled with sets.

And countless location locations.

It's massive.

Massive.

Most films are half the size of a single Stranger Things episode.

[Matt] But if you're making a movie, you have a lot more time to prep.

We are laying down the tracks as the train is going.

[Lampton] We are making something incredibly special

in a particular time in our industry.

It's an opportunity that may not come around again.

Movies was just such a huge part of our childhood.

We were really young when we said this is what we want to do with our lives.

The visual nature of it had a big part.

We fell in love with Tim Burton really early on.

His art direction is so distinct, it felt like magic to us.

Movies like Batman, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands.

[Ross] We love these stories of the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Because I think we had a lovely childhood, but it was a fairly safe one.

It was a bit of a bubble in suburban North Carolina.

We had grown up on Spielberg.

His movies allowed us to travel and go on these journeys and adventures.

- [Matt] Real places, fictional places. - [Ross] Anything.

[screaming]

When I think of movies, I think about my dad.

Because we would go to the movies every weekend with him.

[Matt] I think we were nine years old when our parents, for Christmas,

got us a Hi8 video camera.

I don't think they realized that this was going to be

the best Christmas present they've ever given us.

It was the summer of fourth grade

that we decided that we were going to make a live-action feature film

with our best friend, Tristan, who lived next door to us.

We sketched out a rough plot, and then we just started filming.

We couldn't edit, so you're editing in camera, stopping and starting.

Onward to battle!

[Ross] We learned how to really move the camera.

And so we started to develop a little bit as filmmakers.

It was Sam Raimi, John Woo, and then Shyamalan.

[Matt] We spent a long time trying to figure out their style,

and in that way, learning filmmaking through their eyes.

Let's go Evil Dead.

- And then boom! - [Derek] Holly!

[mechanical whirring]

[man] Get on in there. Get in!

[woman] If you don't need to be inside the room, don't go.

[Matt] "Chapter One: The Crawl."

We cut to an ammo bag slamming on the base of an assault rifle.

Hopper's arming up in the basement of the Squawk,

where the rest of the party prepare for the crawl.

Good to see you.

- This is a big scene for everybody. - Yeah.

- [David] It's a home run, this scene. - [man] First scene of the season.

- Is this the map of Hawkins? - [Matt] Yes.

- That's awesome. This set's great. - Yeah.

Maybe, Noah, you're like loading those batteries in.

[Matt] It's… You guys have done this a lot.

You've been doing it for a year. It's more like you're dialed in.

It's not like you're relaxed.

Charlie, as long as you throw a look my way, it makes sense.

Tag is active! One of those?

- [Maya] Yeah. - That's great. Do it like that.

That Steadicam shot takes us into this thing. Yeah.

All right. I know it's not the most exciting first scene.

- No, this is a good way to ease… - Warm up.

- You don't want a monologue right now. - No.

Let's head to our spots.

- [Tudor] Ring the bell. - [alarm sounding]

[Tudor] Picture's up. Take one, scene on my mark.

We haven't even tried this.

This is gonna be a shit-show.

[Tudor] Action!

[David] Thank you.

- Good luck. - Tag is active.

Tag is active.

Harrington, tag's active. You getting a signal?

[Matt] Let's cut.

What is Maya doing there?

[woman] Cutting.

- Did it feel what? - Delayed on Maya?

- I think she should be distracted. - Doing some stuff.

So that she has to go "shit" and then press the button.

- So there's a reason for it. - [Tudor] Wanna give a note?

- I'll just shout. - Matt's gonna shout a note.

Maya, because there's a little bit of delay,

maybe you're adjusting a knob when we find you and then--

- [Maya] I think that's a good idea. - Yeah.

[Tudor] Okay. Here we go. Ready there, Nikolai?

Okay. Camera's set and action!

Tag is active.

Harrington, you getting any signal? Tag is active.

- That was it. - [Matt] Let's cut.

- [Heymann] Cutting. - [woman] Cutting. Cut, cut.

- [Ross] That was good. That feels right. - [Hilary] Awesome. You got it.

[Gaten] I think there's like a weird electricity between all of us.

We tend to bounce off each other really, really well.

Okay. Give me the umbrellas.

- [Gaten] No! Double. - I love you.

[Noah] The first season, it just didn't feel like acting.

It was just all these real kids and real interactions.

We were insane children. Definitely just off the wall, just saying anything.

[Sadie] I mean, ten years?

That kind of chemistry, you can't really fake that.

Ready, and action!

- [Hilary] I like both of these shots. - It says Stranger Things.

- Look at that. - [Hilary] Cool.

[Millie] I think it's your chosen family, right?

There's just this profound love and admiration and friendship.

It does feel like a family. That's a little cliché, but it does.

Lucas, you and I will take our usual observation posts.

Mike and the group, they have to put their toys away at some point

and kind of grow up a little bit.

One, two, three! Kill Vecna!

Kill Vecna!

[Gaten] It's been easier to kind of hold onto our childhood a little bit longer,

and that's going to be a bit of a wake-up call.

[Noah] You remember season 1?

Vividly.

- You don't remember it much? - Well, I wasn't there.

- Oh, yeah. - Yeah, you were.

- For like one day. - Season 1, I just felt like…

I remember any time you were in, we were like, "Noah's here!"

- Whoa! The famous guy! - Like, the elusive Schnapp.

[Matt] I want to establish that VFX. They want this whole…

For us, Will really is the heart and soul of season 5.

[Will singing softly]

[Matt] After season 2,

we had put the brakes on his storyline a little bit.

He had not come of age in the same way some of the other characters had.

[Demogorgon roaring]

[Noah] Wow, such a good match.

So gooey.

[woman] So gooey.

I mean, this, we're just exactly trying to match what you did previous seasons.

Once we get to the tree…

- it's what you would have done… - Yeah.

- …we think, you know, back in 2015. - Damn.

You wanna be kinda like shivering,

and your jaw, tense your arms.

[Noah] The Duffers really listen and really collaborate with us,

from when I was, like, ten years old.

Like, it just shocks you, you know?

[Noah] It's been really cool to kind of step into these, like, director shoes.

What does Noah think? We're going to defer to you.

And I'm like, "Oh, okay, I guess you guys trust me,"

which is a really nice feeling.

Get up, like, grab your…

Like that, yeah. Yeah.

- All right. - You got that?

Oh, yes. Thanks.

[Tudor] All right.

Very good. Camera's set.

[Will singing softly]

[Demogorgon roaring]

[Matt] That was really well done.

That was, like, perfect.

[Noah] That's so cool!

[Ross] We spent a long time casting the kids.

[Matt] Action.

[Millie] It was very exciting to audition.

You have to try this on.

What do you think?

Pretty.

Oh! So you're telling me she can make things fly,

slam doors, and talk to Will in other dimensions,

and can't tell us where the gate is?

Now that's bullshit!

- [Mike] She's not a weirdo. - [Ross] She's a weirdo and a freak.

- [Mike] Screw you! - Stop it!

I'm sick of this. I'm sick of it!

[Ross] Oh, shut up, Dustin.

You shut up!

All this fighting, it's gotta stop!

[Matt] You go through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kids.

I don't remember how many.

- And then-- - [Ross] Well over a thousand.

[Matt] It was like, these are the kids.

[Ross] There was really no one else that we saw that could do these roles.

Dustin wasn't Dustin until we found Gaten.

I bet that she could make this fly.

Hey, hey. Okay, concentrate, okay?

[clattering]

Okay, one more time.

[Matt] We cast them very early on,

and they all bonded, they became friends.

We were able to write to them,

and they inspired the characters in a major way.

I've done this drive for so many years.

I've done this drive before I could drive, so I started when I was 10.

And I'm now turning 20 years old.

To know that there's not going to be a next time…

It feels very weird.

[Ross] Where do we pick Millie up, you know?

We go this, and then to the--

- To the other one and then… - [Hiro] We cut into…

[Ross] And then to Millie and it goes down. Okay.

[Tudor] Ready, and action!

[grunts]

- [Hiro] There you go. - [Jahnel] You good?

- But it was amazing. - We should have shot it.

That was the one.

My legs.

I'm never doing that again.

Yesterday sucked.

Okay, let's do it again. Let's go.

She looks trepidatious, for sure. Rather than, like, aggressive.

Let me talk to her.

- [Hiro] How'd that speed feel? - It felt good.

- [Millie] That felt like not faster to me. - [Hiro] Okay.

Good. It felt good.

Millie, you are looking terrified as you go down.

Just letting you know.

Okay. That's my note.

[Millie] I am half their age.

Okay, I'm 20. They're 40 years old.

And yet we get along like a house on fire.

It's just like, we're not really meant to be friends, but we are.

We are tied to each other forever.

[Tudor] Action!

- [Hiro] Yes! There you go! - [Millie screaming excitedly]

[man] Yeah!

[Millie] Starting with season 1,

Eleven was so vulnerable and scared and…

she didn't know what love was, she didn't know friendships.

Papa!

In season 5, she knows what love is,

and she knows what anger is, and she knows what her emotions are.

She kind of knows who she is.

She has many friendships and many loves and I think…

kind of learning the foundation of how to be a human within five seasons has been…

yeah, the biggest growth of all.

Yeah, so maybe next time you get scared, you won't need Mr. Whatsit.

Maybe you just need Holly the Heroic.

She'll keep you safe. I promise.

- Do I… - Something like that?

- I love that scene. - [Matt] Yeah, it feels really nice.

It's almost like talking to a younger version of yourself.

- Yeah, it is. - Yeah. It's really nice.

- [Matt] So, Hope, you're going to be here. - Am I sitting down?

[Ross] In high school, we were really shy kids.

We didn't have a lot of friends,

but Hope immediately, even when we were so tiny freshmen,

uh, she saw something in us right away.

Aside from being this really wonderful drama teacher,

she also gave us a lot of confidence.

[Ross] I don't know if we would've survived high school without her.

Do we have the principal? Is the principal here?

Hope, when you have meetings, you don't have the principal here, do you?

No, well, I mean, it's kind of mental health-y, right? Like…

- It is mental health-y. - I think we would talk first.

- But not in the '80s though. - No.

[Ross] She was a big, big inspiration for us,

and it was really exciting to put her in the show.

[Hope] Even in high school,

they were both more fearless and more considered than their peers.

The boys were really aware

of how much they didn't know and how much they had to learn,

and they were never afraid of failing,

so they took big swings.

These boys didn't spring up out of the ground.

They're 40 years in the making.

They're a parent who didn't say it's ridiculous to buy third-graders a camera.

[Montana] Everyone, if you want a gold star, what do we be?

[kids] Quiet!

[Montana] Good job.

Everyone shush your neighbor walking in.

A single file line, everybody. Single file line.

- [Matt] Have you guys all seen the show? - Oh, yeah. I've watched all of it.

- I love it. - I'm in the middle of season 2.

It's a good show.

[Natalia] I think they actually love working with kids.

It matches their energy.

They remember what it was like when your imagination could

take you to these places and create these things.

[Finn] They're still like our characters in the basement.

That's also what makes them amazing filmmakers,

that childlike sense of wonder.

[Matt] And then just go to the bathroom.

That will become the scene we already shot.

- What? Y'all made two bathrooms? - We made two bathrooms.

That's crazy!

[Heymann] Rolling, rolling.

[Matt] We had this idea that

our characters would need to leave their childhood behind.

And then pass the baton

to the next generation,

Holly and her friends.

[gasping]

It's interesting. I mean, of course, Holly was always there, but…

nobody was really minding her.

[Matt] "Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler."

We're in the Wheeler house.

We begin with a Demogorgon roaring at Holly through the rift.

Holly doesn't wait around for this thing to come for her.

She lets go of her Holly the Heroic necklace and runs.

[Tudor] Okay. Ready, and action.

[Matt] You're like a little Speedy Gonzales there.

[Nell] What?

You're Speedy Gonz… You know who Speedy Gonzales is?

- This is so depressing. Okay. Let's… - [all laughing]

- Do you feel old yet? - I do.

[Tudor] Ready, and action, Nell.

[panting]

- [Ross] What's… What happened? - [Matt] What's wrong?

Why are you so dirty?

- Holly. - [Heymann] Cutting on rehearsal.

[woman] Rolling, rolling.

Action.

Mom! Mom!

[Cara] The moms in the '80s movies weren't just the mom.

You look at Sigourney Weaver.

And Linda Hamilton in Terminator. I mean, like, kick-ass mom.

- Mom! Mom! - Baby, it's just a nightmare. Come here.

- It's not a nightmare. - [Matt] All right, cut. That was great.

[Cara] Season 1, she's the mom.

And then she starts to evolve.

The evolution to being an action hero

is the natural progression for me.

I think maybe that's all I ever wanted to do.

Cut!

That seemed good.

- Mom! - [Matt] No, Mom!

- [Nell] Come on! - Up.

- [Ross] Go, go, go, go. - The wine. Go, go, go.

Right, for her to go out, actually.

[Ross] You just go, "Stay back," is what you say.

- [Cara] Stay back. - [Ross] Stay back.

[Cara] Holly, stay back!

[Nell] You think you can fight this thing off, maybe?

[Cara] Hell, yeah.

- I'm going to save your life. - You are. Thank you, Mom.

That's what moms do.

- [Cara exclaiming] - [Ross grunting]

The blood from your mom is going to hit you…

in the face. [laughing]

I'm sorry, it's not funny. And then, um…

[laughs]

And then, yeah, that's it. Then it's coming for you.

You're so terrified that you can't move.

And then end of scene.

[Ross] We had always wanted to have a Wheeler house attack sequence,

and have held back on that for the last seven years.

What would Karen do if she encounters a Demogorgon?

She shares so many qualities with Nancy.

So we wanted to see that ferocity within her unleashed.

[Tudor] Ready, and action!

[both screaming]

Go, baby, go. Go!

[Nell] Mom!

- [Matt] The timing was good… - [Tudor] Cut!

- [Ross] Cut. - [Hiro] I know.

[Matt] But the timing was better.

- [Hiro] Timing was better, right? - Much better.

[Matt] So satisfying, isn't it? It looks like we're hurting our actors.

I know, right?

I love it.

[Matt] It's the kind of thing no one's gonna think about,

but it's going to have an effect.

Audiences are getting increasingly savvy to lots of cuts.

[Tudor] Locked in, quiet, ring the bell, please.

- [people shushing] - [alarm ringing]

[Cara] I love that the Duffers wrote this for me.

They could've written, "She's screaming, running away, and cowering."

But she's in her wet nightgown coming out to kick ass.

Transforming into a warrior.

[grunting loudly]

Stay away from my daughter!

[roaring]

No, Mom!

- [Matt] Yeah, let's cut. - [Heymann] Tail sticks.

- So good. - She's badass.

[Natalia] They've always written strong women.

I've always loved what they've given me to do.

[man] Look out, Phil, she might be after your job.

[Natalia] It's a lot of body positioning and, like, looking a certain way.

Go to hell!

I find that fun.

It's a more exciting day to me than just sitting and talking.

Those are great too,

but you're kind of moving, and it feels very kinetic.

[girl] I'm coming.

- [Mike] There's no way that's Mad Max. - Yeah, girls don't play video games.

When I was younger, I didn't really understand the impact

of playing a female character like this on a show of…

at this scale.

Now that I have a little bit more perspective,

I can see that, yeah, Max is a good role model for girls out there.

[Mekash] Put this one on first, put that one a bit closer,

and put that one there so it looks like he…

Oh, yeah.

'Cause doesn't he, like… he impales, right?

Yeah. Did you see the pre-vis?

In the pre-vis, it went up through your back.

That's what I saw.

They were like, "I don't think that's gonna be a thing. She'd be dead."

[Gambi] You would die. Exactly.

- [Mekash] That's better. - [Cara] I survive.

[Mekash] Like that.

Want to take a quick pic?

- [Cara] Oh, God, it's gruesome. - Slashy.

Yeah, look at that. [gagging]

- How much Demo blood do we want? - We need to establish a fair amount.

Because they track the Demo in the Upside Down via the blood.

Right.

[Matt] In some ways, this show is an ode to our childhood.

We like the idea that young kids are watching this,

maybe feeling like it's right on the edge of what they shouldn't be seeing.

I don't know what I'm gonna do. Just not touch anything, right?

Had a... Had a little accident.

And here, and then this is your knee here…

- Like this? - Yep. And your foot here.

[Matt] We're trying to see your feet, then the phone, then your hand.

I'm sorry. If I may, I'm just gonna touch your foot and your knee here.

- Yes. - Like that. That's what we want.

[Tudor] So let's get some blood and some water on her. Let's go.

Now that looks good.

- I feel like I don't know how I survived. - [Matt] I don't… You should be dead.

- It's a miracle. - [Ross] Is it too much?

- Is it too much? - [Cara chuckles]

[Matt] I think the show and working on the show is an acquired taste.

It's not a typical television show, and it's an insane amount of work.

But it attracts people who want to be working at the highest level.

Do you guys have a minute for Amy?

Of course.

[Amy] Kali… Without knowing the ending,

I'm assuming it should feel kind of powerful.

- She is going to be shot. - Okay.

Which is a big story point.

If she's shot, I kind of imagine her getting shot in the gut.

Yeah.

It's a shot that will kill her.

- Oh, okay. - Sorry, spoiler.

No, it's…

It's not like we don't know what the ending is. It's all plotted out.

I just have to…

I have to write it.

- And we're just like, low on time. - Yeah.

I used to be like, seven days a week, blah, blah, blah,

and I can't do it anymore.

- I have two kids now, and I just like… - Yeah.

Do you guys have kids?

Yeah, but they're 40.

They're 40. Yeah, but you remember. Do you remember?

I mean, I was working when they were young.

And, you know, I mean…

- It's a tough career to have with kids. - It's very tough.

[Matt] Because it is so… difficult,

and it can feel like such a grind sometimes,

you have to enjoy challenges.

Everyone loves a challenge, and we certainly gave it to them.

- Oh, shit, I'm sorry. I didn't even… - No, it's all right.

- [crew members chuckle] - We have a backlot.

[Ross] Just another backlot.

[man] No biggie.

That's so sick.

- [Hilary] It's really cool. - That is crazy.

[Matt] The MAC-Z is our first backlot set.

It's so rad.

I've always wanted to shoot on a backlot.

Me too. I've always wanted to build one.

Yeah, it should be good.

'Cause I remember when we were kids and we saw the one in Wilmington,

where they shot The Crow and stuff, just thinking it was so cool.

[Chris] When we first started, we felt like kids.

When we were first building the Wheeler house,

we were like, "I can't believe they're letting us do this."

But, you know, you always envision these giant backlots.

That's kind of a benchmark of a really big show.

We recreated downtown Hawkins

where our MAC-Z is going to be.

[Matt] It took forever to build. It took forever to build.

Early on, when we were breaking this season,

we knew that it was gonna be split in the middle.

And so we wanted to build to a big climax before the break

because we knew the audience was going to have to wait for the next episode.

But it ended up being even bigger

and more complicated than we could ever imagine.

[Matt] There's no question, the MAC-Z action sequence is the biggest

and most challenging sequence we've ever done.

I think it's a great example of multiple departments collaborating.

[Ross] It really helps that so many of these department heads

we've been working with for a long time. So there's a lot of trust there.

They're not coming to us with problems. They're usually coming to us with,

"This is our solution to this problem."

- [Maher] Can you guys hear me all right? - Yeah.

All right, so we have a revised version of the oner.

I'll just let it play.

[Ross] When the Demos come in and start attacking,

we wanted to go into a single shot.

We wanted to feel like you're truly with these characters and there's no escape.

Don't give the audience any edits to give them any room to breathe.

[soldiers shouting]

[Matt] Oh, wow, yeah.

Yes.

Oh, that's cool. [chuckles]

That's awesome. Yeah.

It's really cool.

Well, this will be easy to do. Right, Peter?

[Peter] Shouldn't be a problem. Yeah.

You good, Nel?

Yeah, guys, let's get ready to shoot one of these with pulls.

[men] With pulls.

[Matt] Hiro's the one that really has to make this stuff come alive.

We can have a Demogorgon do anything we want it to do

because it's animated,

but when it's involving real people, it becomes that much more complicated.

Ready, and go!

[Hiro] The bros' most important thing was the big oner.

That was the thing that we concentrated on first.

[Jahnel] We'll be down here prepping for a solid six weeks.

It's such a puzzle piece to put this whole thing together. Um…

Yeah. I hope it works.

I can't wait to see it. I hope it all comes together.

Ready, and go!

An action sequence this enormous

could have very easily been taken over by visual effects,

but the Duffer brothers say, "Do it practically."

"We want to see it in actuality rather than computer generated."

Go!

[Hiro] Stop!

[Ross] There's a slightly larger discussion to be had

just as we think about this that's even beyond…

the character arc, which is the series arc.

This show is about how life does throw this stuff at you,

the hard stuff, but you overcome it.

But it's not just about overcoming these obstacles.

[Caitlin] No, it's like the joy of the adventure.

And that's what people don't understand when we're not killing people off

because we're always like, "We have to maintain this sense of fun

in the show or it doesn't become the show anymore."

So… Or, you know, it just becomes depressing.

Which is why I think Eleven…

I know we all talked about the trauma that she's experienced,

and I think that you have to be able to move on from that.

[Matt] Um, like, I always thought that she kind of represents magic.

- And so she has to leave. - [Kate] Yeah.

She has to be gone in order for them to move on.

[Paul] Like the door to Narnia closes for you,

and then some other kids are gonna find another door to Narnia later.

- But you're never going back. - [Kate] Yeah.

[Ross] You never lose this piece of you but you have to grow…

- [Kate] Right. - …and move on from it.

[keyboard clacking]

[Matt] The show is so large,

and there's so many pages to shoot

that Ross and I can simply not direct the whole thing.

It's impossible. This is something we realized in season 1.

We were either going to have to rush the scripts,

and have them not at the quality we wanted in order to direct them all,

or bring in guest directors.

[Shawn] Cut.

[Matt] And something crazy happened in that Shawn Levy,

who's, you know, a very established and successful director,

who was our producer at the time, raised his hand.

He really liked the scripts and offered to direct.

We'll shoot this. I'm gonna cut it, Bobby, before the push in.

[Matt] So from that point on, we've had directors on board every season.

- Nick. A-Cam Nick? - [Nick] Yeah.

Oh, there you are. I was thinking that on that…

[Matt] Frank Darabont is a real personal hero of ours.

He's directed some of my favorite films of all time.

Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist.

We took the risk of a little bit of embarrassment,

emailed him asking, you know, "No pressure at all,

just want to see if, by chance, I know you probably won't want to,

but is there any world in which you would want to direct?"

Why not? Why not? We love the show that much.

It's very much a throwback to the kind of movies I grew up with and grew up loving.

And action.

For the most part, everything that you see on screen is actually there.

It's kind of a more of an old school way to do things.

You don't want to be hurting this guy. You don't want to be fighting him at all.

What you're trying to do is talk him down.

[Hopper] God damn it!

[Frank] Building the sets,

creating a real environment for the crew to work in and for the cast to work in,

there's just a difference to it.

But it's ambitious.

And, uh, Matt and Ross do not write simple scenes.

Action!

Every scene in this has some layers of complication.

Wow.

Excellent. Excellent. One more.

It's one of the things that makes the show special,

but it's also one of the things that makes the show

a real challenge to shoot day to day.

Lean out.

And…

Clear.

Let's go back.

When you turn to her, you actually did turn your shoulder as well.

Yeah.

Okay.

[man] Sound is speeding.

[Tudor] Sadie.

[Frank] Okay, that's looking good. Keep going.

[Tudor] And act clear.

[Frank] Yeah, there you go. That one looked really good.

This is a very early Orson Welles trick.

They did that in Citizen Kane,

going through a neon sign,

and the neon sign literally just was pulled apart

as the camera went through.

Very innovative stuff back in its day.

- It's a magic trick. - Yeah.

[Ross] What's going on in The Abyss?

I just am feeling like

there's such a promise of some sort of battle

there.

And how do we do it?

I mean, the thing that's cool is the giant monster.

I mean, that's what's new.

Oh wait, we have this VFX test.

If you want the teens and Will and all them

to face off against this giant Mind Flayer,

they need to be outside of here when it comes alive.

[Kate] Ideally, the thing stands up like a big spider,

and can do a chase.

Some version of a chase.

[Ross] I don't even know what a chase looks like.

It'll outrun them so quickly.

The kids, they've all expressed to me, Mike,

and I think they do have a point,

that they would like to take part in that fight.

Especially Finn's like, you know,

- "Don't give me a candlestick, please." - [Kate] Candlestick?

Um, which is fair.

He really wants a gun and I'm just like, "I don't think so."

No.

[Caitlin] Does it kind of feel like they should all be in the rib cage? Like…

Yeah, I think so.

Even if there are monsters attacking, run inside the rib cage.

Get the kids out.

There's a version of they… The teens stay outside.

They've got the weapons.

So if they have to fend off, whatever, Demos or whatever it is that are coming,

it's like, go get the kids.

There have to be some monsters in The Abyss.

- [Matt] I agree. - There has to be Demogorgon, bat,

dog, like something.

It's crazy if there's nothing there, I think.

[Matt] Hm.

You know, in the MAC-Z, it is insane,

insane and so climactic and that…

it is climactic because we have

- six Demos attacking simultaneously. - [Paul] Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot.

[Kate] Yeah, I guess I maybe feel…

wonder about Demo fatigue at the…

[Matt] Yeah, I mean, that's fair.

Like, how exhausting, right? This is crazy.

[Kate laughs]

It's a lot.

- [Ross] Hey! - [Matt] What up, dude?

[Caleb] Oh! What's up, dog!

Finnster said you're crushing it in this scene.

He's crushing it. How you guys doing?

We're good. How you been doing? Good?

- Chilling. - Chilling?

- Just vibing. - Just vibing?

Kicking some Demogorgon butt?

- Yeah. How's scriptwriting? - Good.

- Good, it's gonna be sweet. - Yeah?

Good stuff. Pretty epic shit.

- Do I have another running scene? - There's definitely running.

When you're sweating, I'm going to remind you.

- I don't care. I been working out. - Dust is in your face.

- Really? - It's gonna be intense.

Oh, it's gonna be awesome.

[bell ringing]

[Ross] Is this how we are doing this?

Class is in session?

- [Matt] Ross, where are you going? - Wherever.

[Matt] Wait, where…

We're just going to kind of step you through the big beats.

Basically, this stuff we're imagining is, like, them splitting up.

There's two teams. They're splitting up.

[Ross] Yeah, so they stop The Abyss from coming down,

and so the needle is pierced through.

The problem is, as we get later,

we see that bottom side of The Abyss that we're not seeing.

It's like all these roots and stuff beneath the dirt,

and it's just like all these… It's like really membrane-y.

So the challenge is, how do we… We've got to sell this root system

interlocking and pulling,

and then we have to sell that there's a rift directly over top.

So we have The Abyss with its mountains and floating boulders,

then we have an Upside Down version of The Abyss

- with mountains and floating boulders. - [Matt] Exactly.

- And then the sky of the Upside Down. - That's right.

So if you went through the clouds in the Upside Down,

you'd hit upside-down boulders.

[Matt] Yeah. And then when it moves, the boulders move with it.

- And then there's just the final battle. - [Betsy] Yeah.

We got rid… There used to be a midway battle that we got rid of,

so we're just like, final, you know,

then there's a helicopter explosion but that's…

Then there's the final battle,

which is the Mind Flayer and then all the Vecna stuff inside.

We tried to not go too crazy.

And inevitably it's gonna change as we keep writing it.

All right. Wow.

Thank you, guys.

[Tudor] I can't tell from my branch of government

if I need to raise an alarm bell in terms of the amount of shoot days that I foresee

just from that meeting in absentia.

[Sean] Yeah, I think so.

I don't know if you have enough intel from that to raise an alarm bell.

I can't get these sets ready in time.

We need to be building by basically June 3rd

to hit the November mark for the Pain Tree on stage.

[Chris] It's essentially a set that's a creature.

- And it's going to physically move. - [man] I know.

And they just threw a whole new concept of what the floor is like,

and the nature of the roots, and the membranous nature of it all,

and it's like, do we need to factor that into the physical build of this set?

I mean, the devil's in the screen direction.

We're gonna get a script, and it's gonna be like, "Oh,

there's the other like 70% of business that we couldn't account for," you know?

[Tudor] Yeah, exactly.

Why do we have to have them in the desert?

[Sean] Because they run through the entire cave system.

Henry is chasing them now.

They run out the upper exit and then down into the desert.

Then I don't know what the fuck happens.

[Lampton] We're not going to get a final script in time for you to do this,

so we're gonna have to base it on conversations with them.

[Sean] That's it. We're just gonna have to figure it out.

[Tudor] And it has to be great.

You know what I'm saying? Like, let's not forget that part of it.

[Sean] Well, yeah, we're not going to shit the bed at the end.

That's why I'm saying. It's not…

Not that we've ever half-assed anything on this show.

[Sean] It's not going to be, "That'll be good enough."

We'll never hear that once.

And nor do we want to. You know?

We just got the verbal pitch for episode eight.

The main topic today

is interior, The Abyss Pain Tree.

It's a big set. 130 feet long and it's 80 feet wide.

We got the meaty, gutty kind of shit.

Bones protruding out of that. Sinewy connective tissue.

Vines. Thick, black veins.

It's such a bizarre thing.

We're inside the ribs of this monster, basically.

It's like… What's the guy with the nose that grows?

- [man] Pinocchio. - Pinocchio.

It's like when Pinocchio gets swallowed by the whale.

You got 16 weeks now to build that set.

[upbeat music playing]

[Sean] We now have an opportunity to regain some much-needed stage space.

Because all this shit that's coming up in eight

ain't going to fit unless we can start striking sets.

[Sean] There's definitely challenges.

I started on season 2.

Season 2 ballooned and got a lot bigger.

Season 3 was bigger. Season 4 was bigger.

You have to grow with the show.

Like you have a melting office building.

I don't know what to say.

- This is looking pretty sweet. - [Chris] This is the most recent one.

- That is what I imagined. - [Matt] It's pretty sweet.

- [Chris] This is our favorite. - For sure.

That's the like--

And the mix of the brown and stuff.

Mm-hmm. Showing the weeping colors.

Whatever subsurface is on there is what is leeching out as well.

- I like that. - [Matt] Looks great.

What is this stuff?

It's a sculpted foam underneath three different densities of poured foam.

- This is an actual… - That's what I thought it was.

And then it's unified with a rubber spray, and then it's painted.

- It's a deal. - [Sean] It's like 12 steps.

It's gonna be a motherfu… Yeah.

[Chris] This is what we've conceived of for the upper floor build

as Jonathan and Nancy are discovering the more dramatically melted section.

They round this corner.

This is pretty melty.

[Ross] That idea came about because of the Jonathan and Nancy talk.

We need to put them in a situation

where they feel that they're going to die,

and it forces them to have this emotional talk.

The physical stakes are so high, it forces the emotional stakes to rise.

So we're working backwards from that.

That spring break,

when you were in Lenora,

I didn't really have to stay behind to work.

I just… I needed space.

Our feeling is still that it's a flood set, and we build,

essentially, you know, a 30-inch, you know…

You can fill it up as much as it would ever need to be filled.

We just do it practically. We flood the set.

It's not cheap to VFX the whole thing either.

- [Sean] It's almost an impossible task. - [Ross] We've got to flood it.

It's gonna be one of the more memorable things.

- As crazy as it is. - Definitely. It's gonna be awesome.

- [Chris] Sean'll have nightmares about it. - I don't want to be there when we shoot.

- [Chris] It's such a great scene. - It's gonna great.

Yeah.

[Amy] When I read that script,

all the crew members would walk by and go, "Have you read it yet?"

You know, it was like they knew… Mmm.

It's not so much that the Duffers are trying to challenge us purposefully.

I think that the challenges mean they trust us.

If they didn't trust us, they would not write a melty room into the script.

It's going to melt from the wall so it should look like drips.

- [woman] Ooh, okay. - [Amy] Gravity.

- Getting up. - [Amy] So let's get onto your knees first.

- Okay. - Yep.

[Brynn] We're very lucky that all of our departments work so well together.

Us, makeup, wardrobe would always get together and just be like,

"Hey, what do you have? Because this is what I have."

"Do they work together? Do they look like they belong in the same family?"

You could have gone really far with it

but it would have taken away from that beautiful moment.

- [woman] Hi, guys. - Hey.

[chatting indistinctly]

Wow, you guys are a mess. Looks like you painted a house.

Oh my gosh. Okay.

Amy, is this what you're thinking for when they…

[Amy] This is what I want to ask. Do you think this too much?

This could be before they clean up at the Squawk.

No, I think they need to be a mess.

The challenge of it is when Shawn's shooting that scene…

- [Amy] Right. - I know.

…how much…

The emotional dialogue scene,

like, do you want Natalia to look like that?

- I mean, I kind of do. - [man] We're gonna do rehearsal. Come on…

- [Ross] Matt, we've got to… - Okay.

Can you guys just look at each other?

Okay.

This is so hard, to do this backwards.

[Matt] At the end of the day,

the audience cares most about the characters and not the spectacle.

But the ultimate goal is to collide the two.

Max emotion, max spectacle colliding at the same time.

[Alex] The beauty of what we get to do as sculptors is

we kind of get to use both sides of the brain.

We are doing the super elegant lines

and making that beautiful visual contrast,

but also incorporating,

you know, structure or practicality, things that move.

There's purpose, there's intent, there's life to these things that we're creating.

[Melissa] We work on a lot of shows where

the only thing that sculptors get to make is a cave.

You watch a show like Stranger Things, and you're like,

"Oh, they're actually sculpting really cool things."

"I want to be a part of that."

My tentative goal is all 12 columns are up by the end of July.

[Alex] This is what Sean likes as far as that outer texture.

The bigger and bolder the better,

with these kind of dragon skin almost looking details.

[dark music playing]

[Jamie] I find playing characters that are too happy really uncomfortable.

You have to empathize with your characters and you have to be able to feel for them,

to be able to fight for them,

to be able to play them.

And if you really involve yourself,

there is a nugget of gold waiting for you.

[Jamie] Oh, we've got company. How are you?

I'm good.

Ooh, yeah. What do you think?

- It's great. - Yeah.

It's super malleable. It's great.

Yeah.

Yeah, can I see some expressions?

Yeah. [laughs]

- Yeah. - [Ross] Holy shit.

It's perfect. 'Cause you're still Vecna. It's just like Vecna 2.0.

- How do you feel, Jamie? - Good.

It feels the same. I know exactly how much I've got to put on. What I gotta…

- The movement. - …bring out. Yeah.

It looks beautiful, Barrie. I want to get some nice close-ups of that.

So we've glossed up the majority,

but we've tried to keep these sort of charcoal blacks matter.

We've got areas on the skin which are a bit more burnt,

and we've got a bit of fresh blood in there--

Yeah, that's really nice.

[Jamie] I also had some great thoughts last night.

I think what's really interesting is that

in his mind, he's gone back home.

He could go anywhere. This is a choice. You could be anywhere, right?

- Yeah. - He's decided to go back home.

And he's living in the same house. It's almost like it becomes this…

perfect vision of what he wanted it to be, and what it never was…

- That's good. - …which makes it so human.

Yeah. And what you wanted your dad to be, and… Yeah.

Right. And these are my… And I had no friends.

- No one but Patty was nice to me. - Oh, yeah.

That's great. That's a great way of… I love that.

That's the reality, right? It feels much more, um… real.

- And sad. - And sad.

And gives it a purpose, which is lovely.

Season 4, when Vecna showed up as kind of our big bad,

uh, the bros turned to me for that creature design.

We must have went through maybe a hundred different looks.

Anywhere from a person who's actually fully clothed with a cloak,

to somebody who was really diseased.

And then finally, we used some vines as kind of a disease for him,

and that really made it click.

The MAC-Z in episode four, that whole sequence

with Vecna coming out of the gate, I think it'll be something iconic.

[Heymann] The Duffers love to move the camera in a very expressive way.

There's seldom a scene where there's not some ambitious

or challenging element that needs to get worked out in advance.

We like to keep the camera pretty close to people

because there's a sense of intimacy that comes from that.

We're typically in, like, the three to five feet range,

so it's like you would in a conversation.

But then that also causes you to be on a slightly wider lens

so that you're not always like this.

So you also end up seeing more of the background.

With the MAC-Z battle, we kind of took that one step further,

where we're on an 18-mil.

It brings you closer to the actors,

and you get a sense of the environment at the same time.

Would you be cool if we walked through it together in the space?

Of course.

[Nick] I got together with Hiro

to try to understand the choreography that he was creating

so I could try to memorize that ahead of time.

How do you get a camera through these spaces

and not have any sort of bumps or anything and just make it perfect?

Because the brothers, they want a perfect camera move every take.

There's a guard over here going, "Hey, come on."

Boom, he gets taken out.

And then we go up the hill…

[Nick] I was a dancer as a kid growing up,

and so I knew that I'd have to be prepared for it physically and mentally.

[Hiro] …out behind the Humvee. [mimics gunfire]

Peek out…

And then…

[Nick] It's all choreography at the end of the day.

If your partner is the actor, you have to anticipate them.

[Hiro laughing]

Okay.

[Hiro] Damn, son.

Sweet. All right.

I definitely need to start understanding

what the rehearsal period is going to look like around MAC-Z.

We're definitely hurting stuntman-wise.

- It is massive. It's a big scene. - Yeah.

I don't know if we can… If I can even get that many people here.

There's like 75 army extras and 50 stunt people… Yeah. Crazy.

Is this the most expensive thing we've ever done?

Action, whip!

Jump, ready, and go!

There's all those guys that come from like nowhere.

It just looks like they're waiting.

We want to give them something to run past.

I would say it could… Maybe it's the 5 ton?

Are we trying to engage special effects at all for any of this rehearsal work?

[Lampton] Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

We are trying to get up to maybe a version of a dress rehearsal.

Put all of the elements in place. So that we're as rehearsed as possible

for when the main unit comes in on the next two weeks.

Start clearing back. Thank you. We'll get a rehearsal.

- Is it heavy? - It's heavy.

- It's really sweet. - Oh my God!

Stand down.

[man] That's good.

How are you, man? You good?

Can you see the children?

- Looking good. - [man] Yeah.

I feel like we could almost spread that one that way a little further.

- Okay. - You know?

[Matt] "Chapter Four: Sorcerer."

A steel trench plate suddenly jerks upward with a thunderous clang.

Soldiers ready their rifles.

[Champion] Rifles out. On your marks, please!

[Matt] We've never done anything so complex,

and we've never involved so many people in a single sequence.

We wanted it to be spectacular

but I think we underestimated how complicated it was going to be.

Our last Demo, when it arrives here,

it jumps out of there and squishes a guard.

When that guy squishes, you guys take off this way.

There's a Demo there, there.

And when this Demo takes out all these guys,

you guys have stopped here.

Ramirez moves past. That's when you're gonna be like, "Okay."

- You're trying to find a place to get out. - [Finn] Right.

- Hey, how's it going? - Hey.

- Sorry, we're shaping the beginning. - No, great. Great.

- But we do need you to help Noah... - No, I know. There… I mean…

[Tudor] Set up team, sound here, right, on your marks.

First team's watching. Right over here.

Rehearsing!

Watch, guys. Giancarlo, Alyssa, watch your doubles.

Jump! Ready, and jump!

Watch out!

[Finn] It's such an ambitious sequence.

It's five one-take shots made to look like one long take.

[Hiro] You back out, and go, guys.

[Finn] I think a oner is incredibly captivating for audiences.

It builds tension because you're with the characters the whole time.

There's no coverage, no cutting to anything.

You're watching it all play out in front of your eyes.

[Tudor] …be in this area, step away.

We're gonna be doing a full first team rehearsal.

Please go away if you don't need to be here.

There's enough people here as it is.

[Champion] Ready, and Justin.

Jump!

[Matt] I'm debating about this line,

and whether… you kind of skipped over it in the pre-vis

but we're not married to the pre-vis

because I feel like you've got to have a moment with the kids.

I want to try it the way we thought about it, which is like right here.

[Champion] Whip!

[Finn] Stay close, keep your eyes down. Got it?

- [Champion] Demo! - [Jahnel] Ready. Three, two, one, go!

Duck!

My character has to lead these kids to hopefully not die, which is fun.

Mike kind of gets to be a leader.

It's been a long time since we've seen that.

Listen to me! Keep your eyes on me!

Good impression.

Thank you. I should have been an actor.

Just be proud of what you are.

I'm… Thank you. [laughs]

[Tudor] Ready, and action!

We're gonna get out of here, okay? Stay close, keep your eyes on me. Got it?

- [Champion] Demo! - [Jahnel] Three, two, one, go!

- [Champion] Get down! - [Finn] Watch out!

[Matt] It's feeling a little dead over there.

Whoops.

[Champion] Cut, cut.

Did anyone… Did they talk to you about maybe trying to look back?

[kid] Yep.

Monsters everywhere, gunfire,

you're not going to be hearing it, but imagine bam, bam, everywhere.

Chaos.

Soldiers shouting, screaming, all of that.

- I gotcha. - Okay.

You're in a war zone.

[Ross] What's that guy doing that's just walking around?

[Tudor] They're again watching a Demo that we can't see.

[Matt] Oh, God. I mean, it's better. What do you guys think?

[Ross] I think it could be better.

Back it up to this dead spot here.

[Noah] I feel like you have to just like paint in people.

Like, it's just so empty.

[Matt] There's a Demogorgon right there too.

And then it would go there. There?

Then I say ready and then just stay here.

Stay up and then I'm gonna get behind you here.

[Champion] Ready, and action!

- [Jahnel] Three, two, one… - [Hiro] And action!

[Matt] Stop.

[Champion] Resetting!

- [Nick] Hey, Hiro. - Yes, sir.

The second pull was late.

- I'll go earlier. - Cool, thank you.

You got it.

[Champion] Ready, and action!

- Three, two, one, go! - What, no, hey, hey!

[Champion] Action.

- [Matt] Cut, cut, cut. - [Tudor] Cut!

[Heymann] Rolling, rolling.

[Matt] Oh, take eight.

Dude, this can't take longer than last night.

- [Jahnel] Tudor's going to give an action. - Yes.

I'm going to give a three, two, one, go.

I need you to react, but then also be fast.

[Tudor] All right, here we go, camera's going up.

- [Matt] We figured out other problems… - [Ross] Yeah. Yeah.

[Tudor] I think we've solved every problem that we've created. Here we go, guys.

[Finn] Okay. Radio Shack. If we move quick, I think we can get there.

Get into the tunnels and get the hell out of here. Okay?

[Matt] I don't know if we had the same intensity as that other take. Eight.

Like something felt…

Alive? Or are we getting bored with it?

[Finn] Is this ten or whatever?

[woman] This is eight.

- [Matt] This is still eight. - [Ross] This is eight.

- [Finn] Stop! - [Matt] I think we live with that bump.

- And we smooth it out. - Yeah.

- [Noah] You can barely tell. - Okay.

- You guys think eight's the best? - [Finn] Eight's the best.

I think we all thought eight was the best right when we did it.

It's one of those sequences that you look at on paper,

and you're like, "Oh no, this is gonna be impossible."

But we totally did it.

I feel like half our job right now is to be college minors in meteorology.

- Maybe we'll get lucky. - Mm-hmm.

- Yeah, it's unavoidable. - Yeah.

So you might as well now 'cause these guys have to walk through. All right.

Hey, Mike, let's start getting them up to 14-15, all right?

All right, my stunt guys.

We're going to start taking everybody up to the holding area at 14-15.

[tense music playing]

[thunder cracking]

No.

This weather is bananas.

It is absolutely bananas.

[Matt] The last nine out of ten nights there's been lightning.

Yeah. I think Wednesday was the only day we did not have weather.

[Matt] Weather, yeah.

And so however you want to lift them…

With one hand.

[Tudor] And action.

[Jahnel] And three, two, one, go.

And drop.

[soldier screaming]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Champion] All right, cut. Not bad.

Yeah, so it's like laying into the Demo. You see him.

And then you start to make your move over there.

Whoa!

Oh, shit.

[Jahnel] The adrenaline just keeps going.

Because we're here every single night doing all this cool shit.

- And it's just one right after the other. - Big action sequences. Yeah.

There's no time to come down off of it.

[Champion] All right. Flames are coming up, guys. We're very close now. Thank you.

[Tudor] Ready, and action.

[Demogorgon growling]

[Matt] Okay, cut.

- [Tudor] Cut it. Save it. - [Jahnel] Cut.

[Noah] There's so many things this year that I've just never done before,

as an actor or in this role.

Will has always been this weakling,

and the one who's made fun of, and he's always felt different.

And then this season, he's able to fight this monster,

but also his internal demons with his own struggles and his own sexuality.

He kind of becomes a superhero.

[Jamie] I felt closer to Vecna this season.

Knowing more,

so being able to… ask for it

and access it has been easier and more powerful.

I described it to Noah.

We can have these beautiful moments where we step outside of ourselves.

I'm not pushing. I'm not trying.

I'm not… forcing it.

And you can feel you've become this vessel.

[Noah] After all these years,

finally he's getting all these moments that he's overcoming.

It's out of this love for these people that he's able to find this power.

I don't know. I just think it's really cool how they… how they write it.

[Matt] Vecna lowers his hand and Will drops, landing on his hands and knees.

As Will gasps for breath, heaving and pale with shock,

Vecna walks away.

He steps through the gate and vanishes back into the Upside Down.

Will slowly raises his arms,

and the Demogorgons simultaneously lift off the ground.

He's doing this.

Mike, Lucas and Robin watch transfixed

as the monsters are violently killed by a powerful force.

Will drops to his knees in the middle of the burning battlefield.

His eyes are back to normal,

only they now reveal a new sense of calm and strength.

He is now in control. He is a sorcerer.

[exhales slowly]

That has been shot.

That is done.

- We are at day 118, I believe. - Seventeen.

A hundred and seventeen. And that puts us halfway through.

So we only have like six months to go.

Look at all these Post-its.

We're going to try to get the entire remainder of this season in our heads

and understand it.

[Jackie] But do you have the script?

Uh, no. We don't.

Okay, I'll call it out.

- Episode six, church cemetery. - [Jackie] Church cemetery.

Interior Hopper's cabin, six and seven.

Interior Hawkins Library.

Blue screen, Holly falls.

Seven, we're in the Creel house and six…

Interior Squawk, seven and interior cave, six.

Wednesday is shooting eight. Cave.

- Episode eight is red. - It's exciting. Episode eight.

[Jackie] Red for red alert. [laughing]

[Montana] Today's a very interesting day.

We are shooting episode eight, which isn't completely written yet.

Spoiler alert.

So we don't even fully know what's going on.

Everyone on set is walking around with red script pages.

[Tudor] You don't want to jump out of story order too much

because actors will get confused as to where they are.

They haven't experienced certain events or had certain emotions.

But the elements of summertime look from episode eight need to be shot now.

[Ross] I've never read eight through.

And we're just shooting it.

I've never done anything like this before.

This is so weird jumping to eight.

- [Dena] Yeah. - Don't love it.

- Don't love it, I gotta… be honest. - [Dena] Have to do what you gotta do.

[Tudor] Here we go. Ready, and action.

[Derek panting]

Come on, we need to go. Come on.

- [Matt] Cut. - [Ross] Cut.

- [Tudor] Again. Here we go. - [Heymann] Okay, picture's up.

[Tudor] Let's roll please.

- [Heyman] Rolling. - [woman] Rolling.

[all chattering excitedly]

You have to cock it, so.

No, not that close.

[Nell laughing]

Wait, The Abyss is…

Oh sorry, The Abyss is like… Hilary, do you have that drawing?

So that's Hawkins, that's the Upside Down.

Those are the flesh walls.

[Noah] Oh my God.

[Matt] And then that's the… This is The Abyss up here.

[Sadie] The Abyss is… Hold on, okay. Where--

- [Noah] It's like in the sky. - [Matt] It's in the sky.

Is this based on like…

- [Matt] Um… - …real scientific theory?

It's all very realistic.

Like, are you consulting somebody?

[Duffers] Uh…

When you guys read eight, it will make more sense.

It's gonna probably be 120 pages.

115 maybe?

No way, dude.

Dude, we gotta cut it down.

[Matt] We were getting hammered constantly

by production and by Netflix for episode eight.

[Ross] It was the most difficult writing circumstances

we've ever found ourselves in.

Not just because there was the pressure of we had to make sure the script was good,

but there's never been so much noise at the same time.

It was the longest time we've ever spent with the writers on a single episode,

just breaking it down beat by beat,

pushing that thing to get as good as it could.

[Matt] Just being honest and truthful with the show

has always worked out for us.

[foreboding music playing]

[Matt] "Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz."

We hard cut to Max's head jostling up and down.

Lucas is carrying her as he runs down the hallway.

Boombox hangs over his shoulder.

[Shawn] I feel for you. That's got to be gnarly, gnarly…

We're gonna start the day with a big, complicated oner.

- If you get tired-- - Oh, I'll let you know.

[Heymann] Rolling, rolling.

Set and… elevator.

[Shawn] Very often when you are directing,

your job is to make the thing better than the script.

- [Robin] Let's go! - [Lucas] Let's go!

[Shawn] But these scripts, from beginning to end,

from 2014 to now,

they've always been so ridiculously good, that my job is to do justice to them.

- [Shawn] Cut! - [Zulu] Cut, cut, cut.

Caleb's a champ.

This ain't easy.

Look at that, boom.

Great, great.

- How many takes… This is like six? - [Shawn] Six.

- Yeah. - [Maya] Yeah, dude.

- [Shawn] No, we're good. - This is six, guys.

I know exactly how to cut it. We're good. Good job, everybody. Good job.

[Caleb] Every show has a specific rhythm.

- It's like a frequency. - Green is Caleb.

In the scene, you don't really know the rhythm until you do it.

It's the chemistry that the actors kind of bring out of it.

Even the directors, how they direct you into

this is how it goes, this is what it is, and then the actors create the rhythm.

- We wanna try and get this up front. - Yeah.

And then let's do the explosion.

- Make sure you label them. - I'm going to. Yes, sir.

Zulu, is it too late to ask if the fourth window could break?

- It's never too late. - [man] Copy.

Let me do that.

[Maya] I have a question.

It hasn't been talked about much in the scenes we've been in together.

- No one knows that we're dating. - Yeah.

- Including Caleb. - Yeah.

Can I do like a…

I would like to play this scene in a whisper.

- Yeah. - I would like to do this.

- [Shawn] Yeah. Fine. Good. - Is that okay?

Yeah. It says you take one another's hand, right?

- We can. - Yeah.

- That's what… It would be here. - Great.

- Okay, good. Let's do that. - Cool.

Okay, gang, I think it's gonna be messy, but let's shoot it.

[Zulu] Okay, last looks now, please. Last looks.

[man] I'm gonna pull the marks.

[Zulu] Three, two, one, go!

[Jess] I think once they're done with those windows,

I'll throw more debris over the top of the dryer

so that can get stuff back there.

I think you can go, Stephanie… Sorry. …wider here

so that maybe we can get some of that blood into this lighter area even.

- Okay. - Even there. On both sides.

[Chris] It was just going to be an exploding dryer,

but as is the nature of this show, everyone was like,

"If we're already blowing up the dryer, we should probably blow up these windows."

I don't think it's often that you end up on a show

where there's that sort of flexibility and a will to that fantasticness.

[vehicle beeping]

[Alex] Last one.

Hey, guys.

Smile.

[woman] It's bittersweet?

Bittersweet.

This has been our life for six weeks and now it's over.

On to the next phase.

[man] Hey, Adam, over the top of the rail right behind you.

Turn around.

[Shawn] Nancy, does "shit" feel in character or "stuff"?

I feel like I've never heard her swear. But maybe I'm wrong.

Yeah, but like when she swears, she swears.

"Right. Is it me or is this stuff getting thicker?" Good.

- [shouting] Ready! And feel it! Feel it! - [Zulu] Three, two, one, go.

Go, go! Go!

Go!

It's not just you!

- [Charlie] Someone! - Help!

- Help! - Help!

[Zulu] Cut.

[Ross] This goo?

[Shawn] Oh my God, honestly…

It's not sludgy enough.

Oh yeah, it looks kind of thin.

So literally, they're faking it really well.

We're going to have to rely on VFX more than I wanted to.

What's really heartbreaking

is that we all saw tests for months that looked more like goo.

[Ross] It looks just like water.

That's not even close to right.

The thing about directing, the thing about leadership,

is you can prepare rigorously, as I do.

But when you're in a moment, and it's just not working out,

you can't have a tantrum.

You can't give up.

You can't shut down.

We have to shoot today.

And I got to get the story right.

I know that all that matters is what's ultimately in the cut,

not what's happening here on set.

So I immediately go into Jedi-level, rigorous problem-solving mode.

Okay, I'm going to shoot this angle.

I'm gonna hold this until I can solve this problem.

Then if I put them together and that's all the audience sees,

the audience will never know that we failed today.

Your shots are awesome, though.

[Shawn] Yeah, I'm bummed. There's no…

You're where we were at yesterday at 9:00 a.m.

- [Matt] Check out my stress score. - This is just today?

I've been stressed for 3.5 hours.

[laughing] Why have you been spiking so hard?

- You were relaxed this morning at 7:00-- - No, that's asleep.

That's… I was stressed as soon as I woke up.

[David] Yo, let's read the last episode of Stranger Things, shall we?

[all whooping]

Come on, everybody. Come on.

[Finn] We had a year of being on the edge of our seats.

It was torture.

[Noah] Reading that episode, it signifies an official goodbye to our childhood.

Brett, no cheating.

- Huh? - No cheating.

- [Caleb] No cheating? We can't cheat? - [Brett] Cold read?

Yeah. I think we're just gonna, um…

launch into it.

We finished on Wednesday.

This is fresh. Hot off the presses.

[Joe] Speech!

- [Matt] Speech? - [all] Yeah!

I know. We thought about it. I was like, I just feel like, uh…

everything we want to say about the experience and the show,

and the characters, and everything is in the script.

Ross and I are not as eloquent speaking as we are at writing.

So I think we'd just rather read it.

"Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up." This is it. Okay.

We're outside the MAC-Z. Starry night. Beneath it, the rift gate.

The membrane is still torn from when the Big Buy truck crashed through it.

As the massive planet continues its relentless descent

on a collision course with Hawkins,

we go one last time to titles.

[mimics theme song] And then…

Steve gasps. He dangles midair, swaying, seemingly held by nothing.

- [all exclaiming] - [Gaten] No!

[Matt] But then our camera rises to reveal

a strong hand gripping tight to his wrist. It's Jonathan.

He's caught him.

[all cheering]

[Matt] Henry snaps to find Eleven stepping into the living room.

A tense moment here as Henry takes in his sister

for the first time in a very long time.

His voice quivers with anger.

[Jamie] Where are they?

[Millie] With Max. Safe.

[Ross] Vecna suddenly appears behind Hopper, faintly visible in the thick mist.

Hopper, sensing him, whirls and opens fire. Bang, bang, bang.

But… his bullets have not struck Vecna.

They've pierced the door of the isolation tank.

Water streams from the bullet holes.

He races forward in a panic.

He throws open the tank to find Eleven floating in the bloody water.

- [David] No, no. - Her body is riddled with bullets.

- He flips his gun and hammers the glass. - [David] No, no, no, no. Holy shit.

I need one of those goddamn guns.

[Ross] Nancy considers, sighs.

She hands Mike a bulky, Magnum-esque weapon

along with a bandolier loaded with red shells. Mike can hardly believe it.

Holy shit, thanks!

[Ross] She nods, continues on her way. Mike slips on the bandolier.

Those are flares.

[all laughing]

[Millie] When you found me in the woods, I was just a kid.

I was scared. I didn't understand this world.

Didn't understand people.

But you took me in and you taught me.

You protected me. You raised me. You became my dad.

Don't do this. Please don't do this.

I need you to help them understand.

- Help them understand my choice. - [Finn] But I don't. I don't understand.

[Millie] I love you, Mike.

[sniffs] Please don't leave me, El, please.

[Ross] Through his sobs, at the top of his lungs, he screams.

[Finn] El!

[Matt] Lucas wraps his arm around Max's waist.

Okay, now you're definitely getting ahead of yourself.

Can't help it. You're looking super sexy right now.

[all laughing]

[Sadie] Yeah, and you're looking super dorky.

A smile, then they kiss and kiss, as they make out. Oh yeah.

[all laughing]

[David] Forget the damn bedsheet.

Yeah, the light's too strong. It needs diffusion.

[David] This isn't The Godfather. One more take.

You get one more take, Jonathan!

[all laughing]

Screw this school. Screw the system.

Screw conformity.

Screw everything and everyone trying to hold us back and tear us apart,

because this, this is our year.

[Matt] He signals the band, and they start a new tune, "At Last" by Etta James.

Before Joyce has time to process what's happening, he's on one knee.

- [Caleb] Oh, my God. - Whoa, bro!

[Matt] He holds up a modest but pretty engagement ring.

- [Noah] Oh my God! - Oh, shit.

Joyce Byers…

Joyce Byers.

[all exclaiming]

Will you spend the rest of your life

with an old, tired, stubborn, grouchy son of a bitch

who loves you very, very much?

[Matt] Her eyes fill with tears. She nods.

Yes, yes, I will.

[all cheering]

[Matt] Hopper stands. He holds out a hand.

Back at the MAC-Z, as a panicked Mike and Kay search for Eleven,

our attention turns to the Radio Shack.

A spell of invisibility.

The Radio Shack door opens on its own as if by a ghost. It's Eleven.

Everyone's crying now, but the moment is shattered

as Karen throws open the basement door and shouts…

- Jesus! - [sobbing] Oh, Karen!

Guys! What's going on? Lasagna's getting cold.

[Matt] Mike watches Holly and her friends from the top of the stairs.

The sound of their banter and laughter fills the basement.

They're just like him and his friends all those years ago.

A moment of sadness as Mike remembers back to his childhood.

Then the sadness fades, giving way to a smile.

He walks away

and closes the basement door.

End series.

[all applauding]

[Gaten] Cool.

[Finn] Thanks.

Oh, man.

- Now we just have to film it. - [all laughing]

There was something so cathartic about writing that last scene,

and it was really hard to do,

just writing the last lines that these characters would ever say.

[Matt] I mean, I remember more than anything just writing "end series."

Writing those two words having the biggest impact.

And we're doing it while filming is happening.

Why? Oh, no.

[camera clicking]

[Ross] We're proud that the show has always, through nine years,

continued to make swings in terms of storytelling.

[Matt] I think people like the authenticity of the show.

That's how the show came into existence in the first place.

We just try to listen to our gut, and when it feels right, we go forward.

You know, the artists that I look up to

are true to themselves above all else.

What is this?

[Sean] Just a bunch of junk.

This show is such a unique show.

We've been afforded an opportunity

to build an incredible amount of high-quality sets.

In this day and age, those are rare things.

Most other shows would say, okay, we just build this small amount,

everything else becomes VFX,

but it's important for the brothers to have that physical playground.

We'll have to rectify with the brothers

where this blue goes and how long of a travel it is.

- Right. - Like, there's…

It's…

Yeah, there's…

There's going to be some issue, like, just understanding the space.

I think we're thinking about,

because of just the distance,

minimum of 60 feet of blue,

60 feet of blue there, and 60 feet of blue there.

[Sean] Yeah, of course I'm proud of all this.

Like, it's an astounding achievement

that this thing hasn't gone off the rails in a burning ball of fire.

It felt like it… could.

I don't know what we do after this.

Everything we do is going to be boring, you know?

What's up?

- [Ross] Corey, can you get up the pre-vis? - [Caleb] Wow, look at this.

- [Ross] Natalia giving Ripley. - Holy shit.

- [Charlie] Yeah! - [Maya] We did not bring enough weapons.

[Matt] It started out, season 1, us going, "Everything has to be practical."

But we've got a monster that's the size of, like, you know, three buildings,

and so obviously that's going to have to be computer graphics.

We're out there with our actors in the elements.

We're not on stage.

The more practical it is,

the easier it is for everyone to lose themselves in the scene.

Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Whoa!

- [all exclaiming] - Yeah! Sick, man.

[Matt] We gotta get going.

[Gaten] Sometimes they'll animate your actions,

your facial expressions, your movements.

It is a prediction of what you'll do.

But do you want me to, like, make that face when I turn?

I don't think that's their goal, but that can be a little bit like,

"Ah, I kind of want to figure that out when I get there."

[Tudor] Lock it up. Thank you, guys.

Here we go. Ready? Three, two, one, action! Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

And… boom!

[Matt] That was so close, though. All right, cut! Cut, cut, cut.

[Natalia] Dude, that last one was so fast.

[Matt] Working with blue screen usually ends up looking not bad,

but if at all possible, we avoid it.

Frankly, Ross and I have a lot of trouble framing up shots

when you're just looking at an actor on blue screen.

I don't really understand what looks good, what doesn't look good.

Nick, can you give it some, like…

On boulder hit, can you give it, like, some shake?

- Set? - [Tudor] Set, and rehearsal, and action!

[Matt] Roar!

And boulder!

- And… Yeah, get out of there. Just kinda… - Go! Go, go, go!

- Which way? - [Finn] And get out of there.

- What way are we going? - [Tudor] Cut rehearsal.

Back?

Is it like we're running into this shot, like, already having seen her?

No, we're running away from that thing, and I think the motivation is…

- [Matt] Moving away. - It's like, it's not chasing us anymore.

[Matt] Yeah, that's right.

- And then someone looks and sees Eleven. - Did we…? Right.

Ames, where's the monster?

- They're running away, right? - Yeah.

- So where is it? - They were facing here. The monster's now…

That's what I thought, okay, yeah.

[Sean] Part of the job of VFX is to remind everybody

and help everybody integrate the aspects that aren't there yet

but will be on the final composite

so that everything looks like

it was framed for and shot with the intention of it being there.

So where is she?

So she's at three o'clock.

They were facing here, because she throws the rock from that direction.

- Oh, interesting. - Yeah.

Hey, guys. Okay.

I got some clarity here. This is actually going to make things easier.

As you're running this way, right, you'll…

Eleven's actually over here.

- Okay. - The monster's here.

[Natalia] Oh.

So you guys can all start to see her and slow down.

That makes a lot of sense.

[Matt] Here we go. Ready, and roar!

- [Nick] Go. - It's coming to get you and boulder hit!

[grunting]

[Hiro] I haven't really fully put together all that I want to do in here yet.

This is like a playtime tonight

to sort of just figure out what works in here

and trying to come up with fun, new things that make the bros excited.

They like violence, so if we can do some good violent hits,

and make this pretty brutal, I think it'll be good.

- [Shannon] Yes. - Yeah.

[Shannon] I feel like there are a lot of really brutal opportunities.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

[muttering] Then she goes…

Shannon, be Eleven for me for a second.

- Throw some powers at Vecna over there. - Okay.

Boom, he slides back.

Foo… Shoots his vines out at her,

and then she's gonna dive out of the way.

Maybe.

[Hiro] Go!

You might have to try to fight the unwrap a little bit,

and let it ride you and pull you, and then go.

Oh, that's cool.

- Bam! - [man] Yeah.

I'm going backwards, though. [laughing]

I got the beginning. Then I have like the very end.

I don't have the middle… yet.

Let's see this one.

These are going to be kind of bones going through,

and we're going to be having these teeth coming through the whole set.

I think that one and that one…

are my favorite.

Yeah, from this angle right there, that one looks pretty excellent.

And once it gets that yellow kind of shellac on it…

- Mm-hm. - …it really works.

[Kate] Trying to make it look…

like flesh, but not human flesh,

because then it would just look like a big foot.

Always doing something gross over here.

They haven't finished sculpting on that.

They aren't going to be done with that till the end of next week,

so we'll have…

I think, a week and a half.

Hopefully it all comes together.

[Alex] It's gorgeous. Proud of those guys.

I feel like it's the end of an era. Like, this is the end of giant…

- We may be making the last giant set. - Yeah.

- [Alex] It's kind of a lost art. - It's a bygone art, yeah.

[Tudor] Good morning, everyone.

Here we are in Pain Tree, finally.

Incredible work from our sculptors,

our painters, the art department, Chris and his team.

Incredible, stunning work, guys. Really beautiful set.

[Hilary] When did you guys start it?

Four months, right?

That feels about the time where I went,

"Oh my God, this is the size of a football field."

I think that's when Melissa and I, we probably, five months ago,

really started our planning, plotting process.

Were you ever nervous?

Probably. I don't remember, though.

- Yeah. [chuckles] - Probably.

[Hilary] So when you look at the pictures of it,

that you kind of have an idea already in your head of how to accomplish it.

Because I looked at that and went…

Yeah. Completely.

"Well, I don't know, forget it. It's not happening."

It's been a journey.

I'm perfectly okay having this be my peak of my career because…

- Well, it's been awesome. - Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

[Matt] "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up."

Vecna rises to his feet,

and once again, Eleven and Vecna find themselves facing off.

Eleven takes in Vecna's new, terrifying form.

- Look how many… Look at the scale. - Oh my God.

- It's sick! - [Ross] Look at this.

Wow.

Okay, I'm really happy I get to see you like this first.

- Did you ask for this? - No.

- Just happened this way? - [Matt] I've never seen half Vecna.

That maybe is the way it's meant to be.

- [Matt] And then earthquake. - Yeah.

- Fall, fall, fall… - Then it'll go left, right.

It's left, right and then down. The monster kind of lands.

[Heymann] You're in the belly of the beast in the ribcage,

and then it starts moving.

We had to go old school using interactive light

coming from outside the set to feel like the shadow's moving around inside.

It was this kind of gloomy, diffused, amber version of the sunlight,

imagining you're on Mars.

[Tudor] And action!

[Matt] Left!

Right!

[Millie grunting]

[Matt] Left.

- [Tudor] Cut it! - [man] Tail sticks!

- [Hiro] You ready to go up? - Oh yeah.

- Do a hang test, just to check everything. - So ready.

- Okay, let's take Jamie up. - So ready.

[Tudor] We're going to turn our camera as well.

[Jamie] Oh, this is sick.

[dark music playing]

[pulsing]

[Finn] Is this year like the gnarliest year, you think? The most violent?

I don't know if it's gnarlier than last year.

Yeah, last year with the bone-break, and that was pretty gnarly, man.

Even season 2, we don't have anything as gnarly as Bob's death.

I'll never forget my mom called me up,

and she's like, "You went too far on that."

- [Joe] Really? [laughs] - "You went too far."

[Joe] She said that?

[Finn] I think she stopped watching.

She stopped watching! No, they watch the dailies.

- That's amazing. - They keep up with the dailies. I don't.

[Joe] Your parents?

I'll check in, and I'll be like,

"Is Frank doing okay?" They're like, "He's doing great."

[Ross] It's less notes. It's more like, "I'm not sure you got that scene."

And you're like, "Oh shit, Mom? God."

She does… They don't really say much.

She watches till she makes sure we got it. Yeah.

[Tudor] Here we are rehearsing, ready, and action.

And…

decapitation and victory.

[Noah] Dance party! We got Vecna!

Let's twerk on Vecna!

Vecna!

- What's up, dude? - What's up?

You ready to make a show?

Everyone's surprisingly emotional at your death, so I feel like you should be…

Should I cry?

- Should I cry? - I don't think you should.

- There were tears over here. - We're gonna weep watching you get killed.

- Yeah? People from the cast? - Yeah.

- Oh. "They like me, they really like me." - They were crying with joy, though.

- And relief. - Tension relief… Yeah.

- You kill him. Separate him from Jamie. - [Winona] Sweetheart.

- Look how disgusting he is. - I don't want to swing at him.

- You're not gonna actually swing at him. - Okay.

No, he's not gonna be there. This is just to rehearse the…

To rehearse the dialogue.

- You're almost wrapped. - Really?

- [Winona] Sweetie! - How are you?

Oh my God.

Have you not shot with him?

No. This is our first time shooting together.

[Tudor] Ready, and action!

[coughing]

You fucked with the wrong family.

[yells]

[Matt] And decapitation.

[grunting]

[Matt] And cut.

[Tudor] That's it for Jamie and the Pain Tree! Good job, Jamie!

I'm not saying anything, 'cause I'm seeing you all on Thursday.

Wednesday. I love you. That was awesome.

- [Tudor] Love you. - Thank you, Jamie.

[Hiro] You rock. Well done.

See you guys on… See you on Wednesday.

- Jamie wrapped. - How do you guys feel? Jamie's wrapped?

He's done. And everyone was asking him, like, "So, how'd it feel?"

- Ready? - Uh, yeah.

[Matt] And the car's gonna skid to a stop in here,

and then, before you know it, probably within three seconds,

this door's gonna fly open,

and you're gonna be faced with soldiers with guns

who're gonna be saying, "Get out!" And they start to pull you out of the car.

I kinda wanna shoot it real, make it feel real.

See you guys later.

[Matt] And I'll cue you.

Actually, you're gonna need to wait till they're…

It's a bit of a cheat, but wait until they're all pushed up

against the truck.

Right.

[Tudor] Ready, and action.

[Joe] It is a massive ensemble piece.

Like this giant moving circus.

[Sadie] When you come back to this show,

and you're with these people, it's like you're 14 again.

Yeah, that never really goes away.

[Brett] These guys have brought me the closest to being an action hero.

I'm in my childhood right now,

playing the character that I would've wanted to play

if I was watching this.

[man grunts painfully]

[David] I'm sorry they did that to you.

- They won't be doing that to me. - [all laughing]

Thank you, though, for taking the brunt…

- Your beard didn't make it. - We gotta get some touch-up.

[Linda] Everyone can justify their behaviors.

You don't need to know whether you're good or bad.

Pretty much every bad character thinks they're good in some way.

[Finn] The Duffers talk to us like equals.

It's the best feeling in the world as a kid to feel taken seriously.

I feel like you guys are already all up.

I think as it… I'm not sure if there's enough time. I think…

[Caleb] They helped me learn how to talk to adults and explain myself,

and learn how to flesh out ideas and understand a character.

[Gaten] We'll take a deep breath. Things may work, things may not.

There's just a general level of respect.

[Joe] The foundation of the show is built on trust.

Trust that all the different departments have synergy.

[Caleb] I think that's why people gravitate to Stranger Things,

because everyone's, like, truly connected, even behind the scenes.

[Maya] It's a full undertaking.

You really get to be in and out with these people,

and see them on good days and see them on bad, and they see you that way too.

[Millie] I had found it really hard to fit in in the past.

But here, I'm welcomed and loved.

It feels like it's a part of me that I'm leaving behind as well,

not just a character.

I think it's just, um…

half of my life.

[Matt] This is a series wrap for the one and only Millie Bobby Brown.

[all cheering]

[Millie] I'm not ready to let go.

[Tudor] Ladies and gentlemen, that is a series wrap…

for Charlie, Natalia, Joe and Maya.

[Joe] There's so much work that goes in when we're not here.

Thanks to everyone here, really.

[woman] Happy last day.

Happy last day!

- Hey, buddy. - Hey.

Good morning. Fifteen more hours of crying to do.

I was about to say, we have so much day ahead of us.

You can't be emotional already.

- Stinky got me first thing. I'm sorry. - [Matt] Oh my God.

Don't, Stacey, don't.

I'm sorry.

- You have 12 hours to get through. - Tudor just got me.

Oh, Jesus.

- Everything's fine. - What do you mean Tudor got you?

- Tudor gave me a hug, and I lost it a bit. - Oh, no.

Oh, no.

- Don't worry, I won't hug you. - [Stacey chuckles]

- Happy last day, guys. - Happy last day.

[Tudor] It'll be an emotional day for all of us and an emotional scene,

especially for our actors.

Hard to believe we made it, guys. Last day here. Let's get on it.

- Whoo, whoo! - Yes!

[applause]

- Starting off the day on a high. - Yeah.

We'll see where we are in 12 hours. Tudor!

Happy last day.

- Dandy. - Peachy?

Yeah. Just dandy.

I want to do a quick huddle.

- All right, let's bring it home. - [Caleb] Don't leave Ross out.

- Let's do it. - Let's do it.

- [Matt] I don't have any special… - What?

[Matt] I just wanna say I love you guys.

- [Caleb] Love you too. - Love you too.

- [Matt] Okay. That's it. - [Caleb] All righty.

- Ugh! Sadie, don't get me. - Oh, boy.

Here we go.

Ready and action.

Come on.

What this means… This is you putting away…

Maybe… This is probably too… But whatever.

It's putting away childhood. So just saying goodbye.

It's a saying goodbye feeling.

You would take your time. You're not gonna shove it and walk off.

There's a weight to saying goodbye to this part of your life.

[melancholy music playing]

So you put the book in. Then we're slowly going to pull away.

Then I want to find you looking to the stairs.

- And then we pan. - Okay. Great. Awesome.

- [alarm ringing] - [Heymann] Rolling, rolling.

[kids chattering]

Cut.

[Matt] Okay, we're going to check it.

[all cheering]

- That was great. - Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

All right, everyone.

That is a series wrap on Sadie, Caleb, Gaten, Noah, and Finn.

[Noah sobbing]

[air hissing]

Um…

I know something's definitely coming.

- [crew laughing] - Um…

I just wanted to say that, uh…

I mean, I started, uh, this show when I was 12

with these guys. And, um…

It's going to sound sad, but I feel like I really didn't feel

like I had a lot of friends as a kid.

And like, when I talked to the Duffers for the first time,

it felt like I had friends.

[Noah crying]

[Finn sniffles] And now I have so many more friends.

[all applauding]

To the cast, um,

people fell in love with the show because they fell in love with you.

Thank you for giving so much of yourselves to the story…

For all the laughs, the tears…

Need me to do this one?

For being the little brothers, little sisters we never had.

You're family. We love you always.

There are so, so many on this production we need to thank.

This is, without a doubt, without hyperbole,

the best crew we've ever worked with.

We felt your love and passion every day.

We came in here not knowing what the hell we were doing,

and I learned from the crew.

And we made a lot of friends.

This is day 237.

We've had 6,725 setups.

Which adds up to 630 hours of footage.

[all exclaiming]

For you nerds out there, that's a petabyte of data, which is 1,000 terabytes.

I should clarify, that's just main unit, so who the fuck knows…

[all laughing]

- Ready? Here we go. - [marble clinks]

And that is a wrap on Stranger Things!

- [triumphant music playing] - [air horn blowing]

[Ross] I think everyone was surprised by how emotional it was to say goodbye.

We really felt like Mike in the final moments of the show.

It's just so hard to let go.

But you have to.

You have to move on.

[Matt] It was important to all of us to close the book on this story,

these characters,

and this period of our lives.

But all the experiences we've had over the past decade,

all the crazy ups and downs,

the chaos of it all, the friends we made,

will always, always be with us.

It really was the adventure of a lifetime.

["Should I Stay Or Should I Go" by The Clash playing]

♪ Darling, you've got to let me know ♪

♪ Should I stay or should I go? ♪

♪ If you say that you are mine ♪

♪ I'll be here till the end of time ♪

♪ So you got to let me know ♪

♪ Should I stay or should I go? ♪

♪ It's always tease, tease, tease ♪

♪ You're happy when I'm on my knees ♪

♪ One day is fine, the next is black ♪

♪ So if you want me off your back ♪

♪ Well, come on and let me know ♪

♪ Should I stay or should I go? ♪

♪ Should I stay, or should I go now? ♪

♪ Should I stay, or should I go now? ♪

♪ If I go, there will be trouble ♪

- [Tudor] Everyone say Stranger Things! - Stranger Things!

♪ So come on and let me know ♪

♪ Should I stay or should I go ♪