Finn Wolfhard Thinks Stranger Things Ending With Season 5 Is The Right Call
For many TV shows, the sweet spot in terms of length is five seasons. "Breaking Bad" and "The Wire" are just two examples of all-time-great shows that hit that spot, going out while they were on top and not overstaying their welcome (like, say, "The Walking Dead," which probably should have ended its long walk much sooner). "Stranger Things" is the latest member of the informal Five Seasons Club, and for Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler on the hit Netflix series, five is shaping up to be just the right number.
Wolfhard was 13 years old when "Stranger Things" dropped its eight-episode first season on Netflix back in July 2016, quickly becoming a pop culture phenomenon and one of the streamer's most popular shows to date. He was even younger, just a kid, when they shot those episodes, but now he's 20. Viewers have watched his character grow up onscreen in the town of Hawkins over the last seven years (or mere days, if you later binge-watched several seasons at once, as I did).
Meanwhile, Wolfhard, the actor, has branched out into movies like "It" and "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." When asked if he was ready to be done with "Stranger Things" after its fifth and final season, Wolfhard recently told Uproxx:
"Not ready but I'm just really excited to start working on it because after I finished watching season 4, I just was like, 'Damn, let's just go back and film now.' I just want to help finish it off, but not in a way of I want to be done with it. It's just like I want to know what happens. I'm definitely sad about it, but also, I know that it's the next kind of chapter of everyone's life that needs to happen."
For whom the grandfather clock tolls
"Stranger Things" almost cheated the TV gods a little in season 4 by having movie-length episodes and splitting the season up into two volumes, released five weeks apart from each other. It packed in a lot of stuff as Mike and friends faced the new bone-breaking threat of Vecna, who was always there with a grandfather clock to let characters know their time was up.
Offscreen, the clock is now chiming for "Stranger Things" itself, which may feature a time jump in season 5. Some said season 4 went on too long, but it's understandable given that series creators the Duffer Brothers were working off an 800-page teleplay. Season 5 is expected to be shorter.
For his part, Wolfhard said he'd like to see "Stranger Things" season 5 "draw back on more of the dynamics of season 1." The conclusion to the series will no doubt be epic, but Wolfhard is hoping for something that will also "be a little more contained." He finished by saying:
"To me, if 'Stranger Things' went on any longer than five [seasons], I would say it would be ridiculous. I think the Duffer Brothers figured out, I would imagine, a perfect ending in five. We didn't even know if we'd do two. So, we're happy that people still are around and want to watch it. But yeah, I'm excited. Four was huge in scale, but I think I'd like to see the fifth season draw back on more of the dynamics of season 1, and sort of be a little more contained, but also still be gigantic. I hope we kind of get an ending for each character that's pretty satisfying for fans."
"Stranger Things" season 5 doesn't have a release date yet, but we'll keep you posted.