Spoilers below for Vol. 2 of Stranger Things’ final season, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched it via Netflix subscription.
During these days between Stranger Things Season 5 Vol. 2 and the reality-shattering series finale, fans are digging as deep as possible into everything we’ve seen thus far to figure out what the endgame might be. I’ve already picked out the major characters I think will die in the final episode, and we’re pretty certain Kali is going to dupe Eleven in one way or another. But I honestly didn’t expect to go into the final episode worried about Jonathan and Nancy’s current state of affairs.
Jonathan And Nancy's Big Un-Proposal Conversation
In "Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz," several of the main characters witnessed their corner of the Upside Down turning into a big melting mess of goo after Nancy shot a round into what the teens assumed was a shield generator, but was instead the outer perimeter of a wormhole. It seemed like all was lost for Charlie Heaton and Natalia Dyer’s characters, inspiring the pair to put all of their relationship cards on the half-sunken table they were trapped on.
From panic came a sense of exhausted honesty, kicked off by Nancy confessing how much she dislikes The Clash, much to Jonathan's surprise. They continue to air out their previously shielded differences, and I know I'm not the only fan who was totally taken aback by him saying he gave her pink sweater to Goodwill without telling her.
In any case, the dour admissions culminated in Jonathan pulling out a John Coltrane cassette case, hidden in which is the engagement rignt that he'd been waiting for the right time to pull out. Which led to this tearful exchange:
- JONATHAN: One last confession. A big one. I figured I’ve screwed up enough with you. It’d be nice to get something right for once in the end. . . . Nancy Wheeler, will you not marry me? I tried to convince myself that this would somehow fix everything, but it was just gonna make things worse. Which is why it’s been sitting like a cannonball in my pocket the last two days. So what do you say? Do you accept my un-proposal?
- NANCY: I accept your un-proposal.
- JONATHAN: I loved you. I love you, Nancy Wheeler.
- NANCY: I love you, Jonathan Byers.
Okay, so the entire time this scene was playing out, my brain was bouncing from believing it to be a break-up scene to believing that it was Jonathan and Nancy's version of Ross and Rachel's controversial break in Friends. In fact, by the time that episode was over and the next one was kicking off, I'd convinced myself that the un-proposal wasn't truly a split at all, but rather a mutual understanding that the current version of their coupling was flawed, and they'd need to adjust it to move forward.
What's more, when I asked others who'd watched about it, I didn't get many of the exact same answers, with some believing it to be a permanent fissure, while others didn't think it was even a temporary break-up. The same kinds of varied takeaways were present on social media as well. So imagine my surprise to find that Stranger Things' creators already supplied guidance for confused souls such as myself.
The Duffer Brothers Address Jonathan And Nancy's Relationship Status
For all these years that the Duffer brothers have had to hold back on sharing concrete details about the characters in this series, they were surprisingly open about confirming with People that the star-crossed lovers are indeed kaput. Here’s how Matt Duffer put it:
That's a breakup. They are 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.
Matt Duffer
No arguments here. I’ve never been entirely against this particular pairing, even if I’ve always found Jonathan to be a bit of a dull plug next to Nancy’s vibrant and welcoming nature. I was all good with that mismatch so long as it kept her happy, since I was even less interested in seeing Nancy and Steve ending up together. But if the endgame idea is for her to strike out on her own and find new adventures and new lovers to call her own, that’s the ideal in my mind.
Matt Duffer pointed out the unlikelihood that the two teenagers would wind up staying together for the rest of their lives, saying:
I mean, how many people wind up with their girlfriend or boyfriend that they met in high school? [Granted, they do] have a little bit more of a complicated relationship than normal high schoolers.
Matt Duffer
I really hope the series finale doesn’t immediately retcon this idea by showing us a post-climax resolution where Jonathan and Nancy DO end up together, which kind of feels like the kind of thing the Duffer brothers would do. But that would butt up against my prediction that Jonathan is going to die in the episode, so scratch that.
Stranger Things will close out its final chapter with an extended finale hitting both Netflix and theaters around the country on December 31, 2025, leading into the Vecna-free 2026 TV schedule. At least that’s what I’m assuming.
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