NEED TO KNOW
As Stranger Things comes to an end, executive producer Shawn Levy teases what to expect.
At the season 5 world premiere in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, Levy, 57, opened up about the finale of the Netflix series. Levy told PEOPLE fans should expect two things: “A finale that’s as good as any TV series finale I’ve seen in my life, and a resolution to the whole Jancy Stancy controversy/triangle.”
Levy is referring to the debate over the series-long love triangle Nancy Wheeler, played by Natalia Dyer, is caught up in with Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton). As season 5 unfolds, fans eagerly await Nancy’s decision on who she will choose.
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The executive producer shed some light on how production of the series’ fifth and final season went as Stranger Things closes out its nearly decade-long run.
“I guess there was this umbrella of bittersweet that sort of was across the whole shoot because we knew how special this was,” Levy said.
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He added, “We knew that these connections are forever, but we knew it was coming to a close. And so that sort of smile with tears in your eyes, that feeling was very prevalent all year long.”
Since its start, the show has accumulated a cult following. The fifth season opened with 59.6 million views as reported by Variety, making it the best premiere-week viewership of an English-language Netflix series and the third best overall.
Netflix
When asked what he thinks the secret to the show’s success is, Levy said, “There’s so much talk about the ’80s and the monsters and the music, but I think the secret sauce is the fact that it’s epic cinematic storytelling with very intimate character stories.”
He added, “It’s the combination of the huge and the very small and personal that I think is the magic.”
Volume 1 of Stranger Things season 5 is now streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 drops Dec. 25, followed by the finale on Dec. 31
