The fans of every massively popular TV series know how difficult it is to see their favorite characters' storylines come to an close, often with them meeting their ends in an unexpected, or worse, unsatisfying way.
Anyone who watched Game of Thrones knows this tragedy only too well; showrunners rush through major set pieces and moments of character development to reach their story's weak and confusing ending.
But viewers of Stranger Things' fifth and final season are taking matters into their own hands, fearing a similar disappointment after this season's second volume, which dropped on Christmas Day, left them wanting more character development.
More than 300,000 fans are now backing a petition calling for streaming platform Netflix to make a major change and their demands are simple: "We want the unseen footage of Stranger Things."
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Many long-time fans of the show believed that vital pieces of character development that looked to be impending were simply skipped over. One of these was so egregious that the show's creators, the Duffer brothers, had to step in and clarify.
After a confusing scene where characters Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers both appear to break-up and get engaged, some viewers could not figure out if the pair were meant to still be together.
“That's a breakup," the brothers told PEOPLE. Adding: “They have broken up.
“It's hard to recall when exactly that idea came, but I think us – and the writers – all felt that Nancy needed to end up on her own and be independent and have an opportunity to find herself.”
With so much expected content left out of the final cut, speculation has become rampant that there are hours of unseen footage that has been removed from the final season – something thousands of fans cannot abide.
These issues are why the viral petition goes on to argue: "I believe it was more to the episodes and we didn’t see them either due to Netflix or the team of stranger things cutting them. This has been a long 10 years process and this is what we get.
"They must have cut out a lot of scenes from volume 2 and from our loved characters. I believe we as fans should stand up and take the initiative to get the footage and make the decision."
Rumours that Netflix is sitting on a bunch of cut content spread like wildfire online, with Google Docs circulating purporting to contain whole storylines that did not make the final cut. Then some fans began comparing what the show's actors said in interviews before the season aired, finding a number of inconsistencies.
However, the streaming giant has not substantiated these claims.
Randy Havens, who plays Scott Clarke on the show, has gone as far as to shut the rumours down completely, saying: “There is no Snyder Cut of the show, please don’t believe everything some random a** tells you on the internet.”
Stranger Things viewers will have to wait until New Year's Day (January 1) when the extended Season Five finale airs to find out how the massively popular show will come to an end.
Topics: Netflix, Stranger Things, Streaming, Film and TV
William Morgan