Could Stranger Things 3 or 4 be the end of the road? It’s possible…

While Stranger Things 3 has not been officially ordered yet at Netflix, it seems like close to a sure thing. After all, the series has to date generated Emmy nominations, critical acclaim, and a ton of love from the viewing community. We have a feeling that in terms of streams the first week that the show is airing, this is going to blow the first season clean out of the water.

What may a little bit surprising in speaking about the show’s enormous success is that it’s certainly possible that whether it be Stranger Things 3, 4, 5, or some other season down the road, it does look like there is a defined end date already in mind of the Duffer Brothers, the geniuses behind the Netflix production. Speaking on the subject about the show’s potential end to TVLine, one of the stars in David Harbour had the following to say about how the show’s future, using a certain zombie drama as a key reference point:

“We don’t have an open-ended thing like The Walking Dead … There is an end to all these characters… We’re going to give you something fun and then we’re going to get out before we’ve worn out our welcome. We have a specific story that we’re going to tell.”

Our sentiment here is that four seasons feels right for this sort of show, given that once you get past that point, some of the young cast will start to move into the next phase of their lives. So much of the joy of Stranger Things (yes, there is joy amidst the craziness and the fear) is getting swept up within the nostalgia and the specific spirit in which the show was made — once the kids grow older, a certain part of that imagination starts to fade and it’s not the same show anymore. There is merit of a less-is-more philosophy here since watching all of these characters as young adults, at least for a full-fledged season, doesn’t sound as interesting to us.

Now that we’ve said that, we do think that it’d be fun to do some sort of reunion movie or limited series a decade or so from now when these characters are in a very different place in their lives — or, what about waiting longer and having some of them as parents? You just want to stretch this out too long so that in the event you ever do something more within this world, it does feel like the property was missed and there is excitement to have it back.

In getting back to what Harbour said about The Walking Dead, we do think that one of the things that hurts that show at this point is that there is no specific end date in mind. We don’t know where the story is going, and eight years end, it’s starting to feel like time to move on.

When do you think that Stranger Things should come to a close? Be sure to share in some of the comments! (Photo: Netflix.)