Overview
- The season’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score dropped from the 70s to about 56–57% following the Dec. 25 release of Volume 2.
- Penultimate episode “The Bridge” is now the show’s lowest‑rated entry on IMDb at 5.4/10, with more than 96,000 user ratings.
- Coverage notes many viewers faulted pacing and exposition around the Will Byers moment rather than the character’s identity.
- Creators Matt and Ross Duffer said they spent the longest time of the series crafting the scene, co‑directed it, and indicated Will’s role is central to the conclusion.
- Noah Schnapp said filming the sequence was emotionally intense over nearly 24 hours as high‑profile voices amplified backlash on social media, and the finale debuts Dec. 31 on Netflix with limited theatrical screenings.