It’s no secret that the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is swimming in rumors, dashed hopes, and disturbing behavior. From the “Conformity Gate” nonsense to fans obsessing about a finale they’ll never get, the Netflix phenom is having a rough go despite chart-topping viewership numbers and remaining a topic of conversation (for better or worse). If you find yourself frustrated by the relentless discourse, I have a story that might make you chuckle. While visiting The Tonight Show on Thursday, Maya Hawke told Jimmy Fallon she lost someone betting on which characters would die in the fifth and final season, “a lot of money” by giving them “obscure” hints.
Hawke hilariously misleads a Stranger Things fan
“Somebody came up to me and asks me — I just heard this today — who was gonna die,” Hawke explained. “And I didn’t tell them, but I gave them some obscure hints, and they took my obscure hints and they placed a bet with a lot of money on my hints and they lost it all.”
“Oh my gosh,” Fallon replied while covering his face with his hands. “That’s a tough lesson to learn.”
Continuing to talk about the situation, Hawke explained, “I was like, ‘This is not how we should be running our economy! Predicting random events on television shows!”
Why did people assume Stranger Things 5 would have a high death toll?
Before Stranger Things Season 5 debuted on Netflix, fans obsessed over which character would survive the final conflict with Vecna and his Demogorgon army. Many fans convinced themselves that the Duffers would kill off several characters based on the cast’s reactions during an emotional table read of the final episode. With little to no context, a select group of fans assumed that tears equaled death, rather than the cast getting emotional because their time together was coming to an end.
Which characters were most likely to perish?
Among the characters that fans believed would perish in the final season were Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington and Maya Hawke’s character Robin Buckley.
“I think it’s just that people were sick of hearing me talk so much and they were hoping that Vecna would just, you know,” Hawke teased on The Tonight Show, mimicking a cutting gesture across her neck.
I can’t help but take satisfaction in knowing that someone lost “a lot” of money by betting on the wrong horses for a Stranger Things death race. While some members of the Stranger Things fandom are enthusiastic and appreciative of the show’s efforts to entertain, others are toxic beyond reason, poisoning the well with their far-fetched theories, click-chasing TikToks, and outright lies. Do better, friends.
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