Why The Stranger Things Finale Didn't Kill Off Any Main Characters, According To Creators

This article contains spoilers for the "Stranger Things" finale.

Many viewers were surprised and even upset to find that there weren't any major character deaths in the "Stranger Things" finale. Now, creators Matt and Ross Duffer have revealed that while they considered killing off certain characters, it felt antithetical to the show's coming-of-age themes.

The "Stranger Things" finale has been a conflagration of questionable decisions on the part of the writers and unreasonable expectations from a devoted fanbase. The Duffer Brothers had so much to live up to with the final installment of their obscenely popular series that they were never going to be able to wrap things up to the satisfaction of every viewer. But there's no doubt they also made some very odd decisions, from simply declining to explain the fates of several "Stranger Things" characters to apparently forgetting altogether that Demogorgons were a thing.

But what might be one of the most egregious missteps was the fact that the show copped out with the most obvious character deaths. For a long time, fans had expected the Duffers to kill off major characters in the finale, but when it came down to it, the only big death was that of Linnea Berthelsen's Kali Prasad. Kali was brought back following her appearance in season 2, only to be gunned down by Lieutenant Akers (Alex Breaux) before bleeding out (during which time she may or may not have cast an illusion to help her old pal Eleven escape).

Since fans have demonstrated just how devoted they are to these characters, you might have thought that a lack of any major deaths would have gone down well. Not so. The fans were livid, and the Duffers have now addressed them directly.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Duffer Brothers conducted a thorough post-mortem on "Stranger Things" and its divisive finale, fielding lingering questions and addressing fan concerns. One of those concerns was, of course, the lack of any major character deaths in the finale, which, according to Matt Duffer, came down to the fact that "Stranger Things" is a coming-of-age tale at its core. As the co-creator put it:

"The percentage of time spent talking about death and the deaths of characters is really small, you know, because that's not what the show has ever been about. It's an adventure, coming-of-age story. We could've definitely killed some people; it's just not what we want to do, and it's not, to me, what the show is, or what the show is about."

Matt Duffer went on to explain that he and the writers did consider killing off main characters, recalling how they explored every possible outcome to see which would fit best. "You explore everything," he said. "Because why wouldn't you? As much as possible, you want to explore every possible avenue in terms of where the season and the show could go, and you try to land on what feels right." Evidently, killing off any of the main cast did not feel right, but given how expansive that main cast has become, surely someone should have kicked the bucket? Even Eleven, who seemingly sacrificed herself, was given an ambiguous ending (with which "Stranger Things" fans are, of course, furious). 

No doubt if the Duffers did kill someone off, it would have upset a whole different contingent of fans, so they were sort of screwed either way. Still, poor Kali surely deserved better.