While Stranger Things started as Netflix's golden goose that could do no wrong, the sci-fi series finds itself lost in a sea of negativity as the dust settles on its final season.
Whether it was the fact that we feel protective after watching the core cast grow up over the past decade, or whether it's because we all had our own ideas on how we'd want things to end, it's fair to say that the reception toward the final run of episodes has been more than a little frosty.
The Duffer Brothers were once praised as geniuses, but after the final credits rolled, Matt and Ross Duffer have been forced to ask the ever-impatient Stranger Things fandom to cut them some slack over Netflix's all-star finale.
Even though most agree that Stranger Things didn't fumble its final season quite like Game of Thrones did, it's sure to be mentioned in the same breath as HBO's once-beloved fantasy epic.
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The release of the two-hour One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 documentary was supposed to lift the lid on what went into making this 'difficult' season, but instead of garnering sympathy for the pair, it seems to have thrown a can of gasoline on the fires of disdain.
The Duffers are set to return to Netflix for the upcoming live-action Stranger Things spin-off and a new show called The Boroughs, although their much-hyped adaptation of Stephen King's The Talisman has been axed.
A vocal minority is already claiming they won't watch any of their upcoming outings, but adding to the controversy, the Duffer Brothers have now been accused of using artificial intelligence on Stranger Things season 5.
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Over on Reddit and on X, multiple screenshots from the documentary have gone viral, appearing to show ChatGPT tabs open while the Duffers are writing season 5. During One Last Adventure, we hear Ross Duffer admitting, "We went into production without having a finished script for the finale," which doesn't help grumbles that it felt like the second half of the season was ‘rushed'.
It also appears that there's a Reddit tab open, leading to a wild conspiracy theory that writers trawled the depths of Reddit's fandom for ideas on how to round off the story.
Responding to the allegation that ChatGPT was used to help craft Stranger Things season 5, one person on Reddit said: "Wasn't Season 5 filming delayed because of the WGA strike? That would be pretty ironic, considering that regulating AI is just one of the things the WGA is fighting for."
Another complained: "I mean, genAI is terrible for the planet & it steals from actual creators. Even if they were 'just' using it for personal reasons, that's still upsetting. I don't want to support writers who are okay with genAI."
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A third alleged: "The S5 final product is close enough to seeming like AI that this kinda tips the scales for me…"
Defending the Duffers, someone else concluded: "This doesn't prove they were using ChatGPT to write their script. Correlation does not equal causation.
"I use ChatGPT for all types of random stuff at work, and most of it is not work-related. But this sub has it out for the Duffers, so I fully expect people to assume this means they were writing the script using ChatGPT."
It's important to note that there's no indication that ChatGPT or any form of AI was used to help write Stranger Things season 5, while there could be any number of reasons the Duffers had the tab open. Still, at a time when disgruntled fans of the series are sharpening their pitchforks, it's another fire Netflix might have to try and extinguish.
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UNILADTech has reached out to Netflix for comment.