**Spoilers ahead**
The final shot of “Stranger Things 2” is a terrific cliffhanger. As the gang gets a minute to relax, and enjoy a school dance, The Duffer Brothers take audiences outside, flip the screen, and dive into the Upside Down, where the shadow monster still looms large. It’s a great piece of tissue that will undoubtedly tie into whatever season three becomes, but the siblings intially had more on the table.
Speaking with Collider, “Stranger Things” producer and director Shawn Levy reveals that more scenes were conceived to build a link to the next season, but they were ultimately axed.
“There were epilogue scenes that were considered for after that [final] shot that would have hinted more at Season 3. But there was a decision made by all of us where we said let’s not back in to any promises again…,” he explained. “We always felt after Season 1 that we had to payoff that slug that Will coughs up in the sink, or whose black car Hopper was getting into, and had to — and wanted to — follow-up on Hopper putting the Eggos out in a wooden lockbox in the woods. This time the [Duffer Brothers] very consciously wanted to promise less, so that their freedom is more.”
It’s a wise move, and one that allows the Duffers to free themselves up narratively and move in a few more directions. “Stranger Things 2” was very much tied to the events in the first season, but things this time around are a bit more open-ended, the world of the expanded a bit more, and hopefully the Duffers will find new places to explore.