STRANGER THINGS Season 5 Writer Admits It Was “Crazy” That There Were No Monsters in the Abyss

The ending of Stranger Things has been living rent-free in fans’ heads ever since the final episode dropped, and not always for the right reasons.

Season 5 wrapped up Netflix’s flagship series in a way that left plenty of viewers split, especially when it came to how quickly everything fell apart for Vecna and the Mind Flayer.

Now, thanks to a behind the scenes documentary, we know at least one of the show’s writers saw a major issue coming and openly called it out.

A lot of the debate around the series finale focused on what felt missing. The final confrontation didn’t last long, it wasn’t as epic as it should’ve been, the military basically vanished, Eleven’s fate is vague, and some fans even convinced themselves there had to be a secret extra episode waiting to drop.

That whole idea spiraled into the #ConformityGate theory, which ultimately went nowhere. There was no secret Episode 9, but there was a two-hour making-of documentary called One Last Adventure that sheds new light on how the finale came together.

The documentary spends most of its runtime celebrating the massive effort behind the fifth and final season, but it also sheds light on the writers’ room. One moment in particular zeroes in on what might be the finale’s biggest plot hole.

Paul Dichter, who wrote Season 5, Episode 4, “Sorcerer,” brings up a question that feels pretty obvious in hindsight. Why is the Abyss completely empty?

“There have to be some monsters in The Abyss. There has to be [a] demogorgon, bat, dog, something. It’s crazy if there’s nothing there, I think.”

He’s not wrong! The Upside Down has always been crawling with threats, so seeing the heroes stroll into Vecna’s home turf without running into a single creature feels off.

Matt Duffer initially agreed with Dichter’s take, but Ross Duffer pushed back. He pointed to the earlier scene featuring multiple Demogorgons in the MAC-Z and worried the finale might start to feel repetitive. That concern was backed up by writer Kate Trefry, who warned about potential “demo-fatigue.”

The discussion never really gets resolved in the documentary, and as fans know, the final version of the episode left those monsters out entirely.

That decision feeds directly into another common complaint about the finale. The final battle against Vecna and the Mind Flayer was just too easy. The heroes win without much resistance, which undercuts the sense of danger that defined earlier seasons. As I’ve previously said, if this was a D&D game, it felt like every main character was rolling a natural 20 every single time.

Compared to past showdowns, the stakes feel lower, and the victory doesn’t quite feel earned. Even a brief encounter with other Upside Down creatures could’ve stretched out the fight and made it feel more desperate.

Demogorgons have been part of the show since Season 1, and Season 5 already leaned on them heavily, including one of the season’s most emotional moments tied to Will Byers and the reveal of his powers. It just makes sense that they’d be there at the end.

Leaving them out entirely creates a different problem. It’s just weird that nothing shows up at all. The Duffers later addressed this in an interview, explaining that the monsters were technically there, they just weren’t summoned.

“Mainly it’s just that Vecna was not expecting this sneak attack on his home turf. Never in a million years could he even imagine that. They’re there somewhere. We obviously discussed having a demo battle on top of the Mind Flayer battle, but it felt more right to us that why does he need the demos when the Mind Flayer is this giant thing and can attack them?

“He doesn’t need his little ant army to attack, he’s going to take care of this himself. It’s a giant, desolate planet. If you recall, you see Henry wandering the planet back in Season 4 and at some point in his journey, he does see a demo far in the distance, but it’s not like they’re hanging out in little huts. There’s not like a giant civilization of demos up there.”

That explanation didn’t really satisfy me or a lot of other fans, especially fans who wanted one last chaotic monster-filled showdown. It’s good to know that at least one or two writers had common sense and pushed for more creatures in the finale.

Still, it’s interesting to know the absence wasn’t an oversight, even if it ended up feeling like one. For a show that built its legacy on constant danger and escalating threats, that empty Abyss will likely remain one of Stranger Things Season 5’s most debated creative calls.