The Last Scene The Duffer Brothers Shot For Stranger Things

As you may know, most films and TV shows are shot non-linearly, which means that the experience of principal photography doesn't have the same type of emotional arc for people as watching the finished product does. Although a tight-knit cast and crew will absolutely shed a tear or two over an actor's final shot or a picture wrap, the chances are that these climactic moments on a production schedule aren't all that dramatically resonant. Oftentimes, the beginning of a shoot will be a scene in the middle of the story, and the end of a shoot may be a moment from the beginning, for example. All of this means that, for the filmmakers, they may be having feelings of closure and farewell over a short, little nothing of a shot. Like, say, a lunchbox. 

That seems to be precisely the case with the Duffer Brothers and the conclusion of "Stranger Things," the Netflix series that launched their careers. Although the show has been ongoing since it premiered in July of 2016, the series will only consist of just five seasons, all told, thanks in large part to how the Brothers (Matt and Ross) arrange each 8- or 9-episode season as one big multi-part film or mini-series. In other words, this is not a small episodic procedural show, but an ambitious sci-fi/horror adventure. As such, it may have been possible for the final shot of the fifth season of the series to be something substantial. It was not to be, however, as the last scene (the last one the Duffers shot themselves, at least) was essentially an insert shot of a lunchbox. That's it; no cast members, no monsters, no VFX, just a lunchbox. If big things have small beginnings, as "Lawrence of Arabia" once said, it seems that big things can have small endings, too.

Just because the final shot Matt and Ross Duffer filmed for "Stranger Things" isn't all that exciting doesn't mean that it was devoid of drama. As a matter of fact, the shot may not have ended up being the final one the Duffers filmed had things gone the way they expected. As Ross and Matt told Variety during their recent chat about the series coming to a close, the shot of the lunchbox was something they thought they had in the can, only to discover otherwise:

"Ross: We had a close-up of a lunchbox, and we could not find it for the life of us.

Matt: It's a GI Joe lunchbox, and there's a blinking red light. But there is debate over whether it was actually [shot]. Everyone on the crew thinks we did shoot it and editorial claims we did not.

Ross: So we had to go back and shoot this close-up. That was the last shot we ever shot on 'Stranger Things,' a lunchbox on the floor."

While this may seem like the Duffers' ending their "Stranger Things" experience with a whimper, it's not like the duo is leaving the world of Hawkins, Indiana, behind completely, even with the news of their exclusive four-year deal with Paramount in mind. The animated series "Stranger Things: Tales from '85" is in development, and the Duffers are still planning on executive producing a live-action spin-off series, too. They won't be the showrunners of this proposed series, yet this won't be an in-name-only exec producer involvement, either, as Matt was quick to stipulate: "We just want to make sure that if we're gonna do it, it's something that we're very excited about."

All that said, there's no doubt that the fifth and final season of "Stranger Things" marks the end of an era for the Duffers and fans of the show. Expectations are riding high, and we can only speculate what, if any, significance the GI Joe lunchbox may have. After all, the series has made other seemingly innocuous objects important before. Who knows; when all's done, maybe we'll end up feeling a connection to that lunchbox as much as the Duffers do now.