Spoilers ahead for the Stranger Things series finale.
Since its debut, Stranger Things has been one of the best Netflix shows to binge watch. Those with a Netflix subscription were recently treated to the fifth and final season of the show, including its epic series finale. Actress Natalia Dyer revealed one twist related to her character Nancy Wheeler that she fought for, and I've got to say I totally agree with her.
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things ended on New Year's, showing the final battle against Vecna as well as an extensive epilogue about what happened to our beloved characters. In it we learn that Nancy dropped out of college in favor of a job, with Dyer speaking to Deadline about why she fought for that narrative choice. In her words:
The end, I would say Nancy not being in school is something I was very adamant about. The Duffers, they’d go around a little bit and be like, ‘Well, what do you think?’ They’re very collaborative. They would ask, like, ‘Where do you see your character? What do you think?’ Just kind of checking in with the actors, which I thought was really nice. My main thing is like, I just do not think Nancy could go back to school. I just cannot see her in school. and that was something that I said, ‘Pretty please. I just cannot.’
Honestly, this does track. While Nancy was introduced as a straight-A student, she ended up spending years fighting the evil forces of The Upside Down. She was The Party's main marksman, and put herself in danger time and time again while trying to get revenge for Barb's death. So the idea of her putting down her weapon and going back to being a cheery co-ed at Emerson College felt dishonest to her larger journey on the series.
It's sweet hearing how The Duffer Brothers consulted with the cast of Stranger Things about their character's ending, especially considering just how long they spent playing those roles. Nancy dropping out of school and going straight into the workforce was something that felt right for Dyer, as she went on:
I remember reading the epilogue like, ‘Yeah, that’s perfect.’ For me. For Nancy. I felt really satisfied. I think after everything she’s been through, I just couldn’t [see her] writing papers and turning it in. You know? It’s hard, in a way, you feel so much love and care for these characters, and you want so many things for them, but you also wanted to stay kind of grounded. I think for everybody, it felt really good.
She's not wrong. Nancy went through a ton of trauma throughout Stranger Things, including a bunch of near-death experiences and losing her best friend. This has made her an adult from a young age, one that might be frustrated going back to a "normal" life in college. Natalia Dyer knows this character better than anyone, so she had strong feelings about how her journey should end.
There was a ton of pressure on The Duffers to stick the landing with Stranger Things' series finale. While some fans took umbrage with creative choices like Eleven's fate, I think that the Stranger Things ended way better than other shows like Dexter, True Blood, and Game of Thrones. And that was largely thanks to how much closure we were given thanks to that long epilogue.
Stranger Things is streaming in its entirety on Netflix, and a documentary about the final season was just released as part of the 2026 TV schedule. We'll just have to wait and see what comes next for Natalia Dyer and company now that their time in Hawkins has come to an end.
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