Let it be known that Stranger Things, the old-school Netflix phenomenon that captured our collective imagination almost a full year ago, won’t overstay its welcome on the streaming service.
Echoing previous comments made by series showrunners and co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer, Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin) told Paste Magazine that Things is likely to bow off the airwaves after “four or five seasons.” That’s a good thing, too – no, really – as it tells us the Duffer Brothers have a specific arc and finite end in mind for the haunted folks of Hawkins, Indiana.
Think of how Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad was staunch in its commitment to a five-season arc, thereby allowing Gilligan and the show’s creative team to put a bow on Heisenberg’s crime-ridden saga and bring a sense of closure to those viewers who had spent years quietly rooting for the apex predator of Albuquerque. Besides, you don’t have to look too far across the TV landscape to locate a series that has become a little long in the tooth (see: Dexter, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother), so it’s reassuring to know that Stranger Things won’t succumb to the same fate.
As relayed to us by Screen Rant, here’s what Matarazzo had to say about the show’s future, and why he believes it’s better to go out on a triumphant high than coast along on recycled ideas and half-hearted storytelling.
Well, the Duffers definitely have a good idea of how long they want it to go. The problem with a lot of shows is that they start out really strong and then decline as they run out of ideas. I know they don’t want it to go that way, so I think their max might be—this isn’t confirmed or anything—but four or five seasons at the most?
The big question now is whether future seasons of Stranger Things will retain the same episode count. If you’ll remember correctly, the show’s inaugural run stretched for eight episodes in total, while we understand season 2 brings that figure up to nine spooky installments. Perhaps Netflix will mull over the possibility of nudging Things‘ episode count toward double figures? Time will tell.
All nine episodes of Stranger Things season 2 will haunt Netflix this Halloween, and at least according to Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), you’d be best buckling up for a “very, very disturbing” opener.
