STRANGER THINGS Fans Freak Out After Spotting ChatGPT Tabs in Season 5 Documentary
The release of Netflix’s latest behind-the-scenes special has sent the Stranger Things fandom down a familiar rabbit hole. What started as a casual viewing of a making-of documentary has quickly turned into a full-blown online theory fest, with some fans convinced the show’s controversial ending had a little help from artificial intelligence.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 recently dropped, giving viewers an inside look at how the final season of Stranger Things came together. The series officially wrapped with its Season 5 finale on December 31, 2025, closing the door on Hawkins and the Upside Down. But instead of closure, the documentary has sparked a new wave of speculation.
In one brief scene, creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, are shown working on a script on a laptop. Sharp-eyed fans paused, zoomed in, and noticed what appears to be a ChatGPT tabs open in the browser. That was enough to light up social media, with theories spreading fast that the brothers might’ve used ChatGPT while crafting the ending of the show.
There’s no actual proof this happened, and the Duffers haven’t commented on the situation at all. Still, that hasn’t stopped fans from having a lot to say.
On X, reactions ranged from disbelief to pure sarcasm. One user posted a frustrated GIF and wrote, “When you watch the Stranger Things documentary and you learn The Duffer Brothers didn’t write the script, they let ChatGPT write it.”
Another fan summed up their mixed emotions by asking, “chatgpt wrote stranger things s5. I don’t know whether to cry or laugh.”
Others weren’t holding back. One comment read, “Duffer Brothers really used chatgpt for this script? WTF.” Another took a jab at the finale itself, saying, “Pretty sure AI would have produced a much better ending than that.”
Some fans leaned fully into mockery. One post joked, “Imagine getting caught with ChatGPT tabs in your own BTS doc… that’s a generational fumble.” Another piled on with, “Wait, so the Upside Down was just a ChatGPT prompt all along? This is a complete buzzkill for the final season hype.”
The ending of Stranger Things Season 5 has already been a hot topic, with a noticeable portion of the fanbase calling it underwhelming compared to earlier seasons. That dissatisfaction has made the idea of AI involvement easier for some viewers to believe, even without evidence.
For now, the ChatGPT theory sits firmly in conspiracy territory. A stray browser tab doesn’t equal authorship, and no official source has backed up the claims.
Still, it’s fascinating to see how one little background detail in One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 has fueled debate about creativity, technology, and how fans process an ending that didn’t land the way they hoped.