The Real Reason The Stranger Things 4 Finale Wasn't Broken Up Into Shorter Episodes

Season 4 of "Stranger Things" differs in format from the previous seasons, seeing as, not only was it split into two volumes, but it also features significantly longer episodes. Each of the seven episodes of Volume 1 were over an hour, with Episode 7 even clocking in at 98 minutes — in other words, the runtime of a short feature-length film. Further, Volume 2 proved to be even lengthier, with Episode 9 clocking in at a whopping 2 hours and 19 minutes — in other words, the runtime of a long feature-length film.

For many of the series' most ardent fans, the extended episodes were likely a thrill — after all, the longer the episodes, the more time we get to spend with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Will (Noah Schnapp), and the rest of the Hawkins gang. However, one cannot deny that a 2-hour-plus episode isn't exactly the norm, and it also seems a bit unnecessary. Why wasn't the "Stranger Things" Season 4 finale broken up into two shorter episodes? The Duffer Brothers have opened up about that decision in a recent interview.

In a recent interview with Collider, the Duffer Brothers revealed why the final, lengthy episode of "Stranger Things" Season 4 wasn't just split into two parts to make two shorter episodes, and the reason is a practical one.

Ross Duffer said, "I think we just couldn't find a good spot to break it because there's almost an hour of build-up tension, and then it just goes hard for an hour. Then we have our 25 minutes of coming down the coda. It would've just not been a very satisfying episode to stop it after that first hour." Duffer elaborated that they didn't want to force an ending where there wasn't one, so they decided just to embrace a super long final episode. Indirectly addressing those who have complained about the length, Duffer concluded, "If you want to pause it, go ahead."

It remains to be seen if Season 5 will have similarly lengthy episodes, but the Duffers did say that they could once again split the season into two parts. This time, however, they would do things differently. "So if we were to do it again, I would probably make the split earlier ..." Matt Duffer said after explaining that Season 4's split was out of technical necessity, rather than for narrative reasons. "I would write it into the narrative. I would love to see all eight at once, but it's also, people talk about it more when it's split up."

That is one of the many burning questions fans will see answered in "Stranger Things" Season 5.