It’s nothing new for television shows to have a “will-they-or-won’t-they” moment somewhere in the storyline, but Stranger Things might be the first to have a “did-they-or-didn’t-they” that’s confused audiences as much as this one. In volume 2 of Stranger Things season 5, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) were staring a drippy death in the face, and emotions were high. It was here that they deemed it the perfect time to share a few honest moments with eachother. Jonathan then asked Nancy not to marry him, and she agreed.
So now what? Well, social media had a few things to say about the matter, with some even believing their relationship wasn’t over. Thankfully, the show’s creators, The Duffer Brothers, have confirmed that it very much is.
“That’s a breakup,” Matt Duffer told People, breaking the bad news that seemingly hadn’t quite clicked with some viewers. “They are broken up.” For the writers and minds behind the show, it felt like a natural route to take, particularly with Nancy, who has shown she’s strong enough to go solo for now.
“It’s hard to recall when exactly that idea came, but I think us — and the writers — all felt that Nancy needed to end up on her own and be independent and have an opportunity to find herself.” Ross Duffer added that their relationship is more of “a trauma bond” than anything.
It might not be the ending some would like, but there’s still time for some characters to get the happy ending they deserve. The biggest fear, though, is who will make it out alive. With the show’s finale confirmed to run over two hours, that’s an awful lot of time for a body count to pile up in what will be Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and friends’ endgame. We’ll have to see how things play out when the final episode of Stranger Things arrives on Netflix on New Year’s Eve. Get our thoughts on how volume 2 handled things in our review here.
