Ahead of Stranger Things’ final season, fans were vocally worried about nearly everything, but few things inspired more impassioned theories than Steve’s fate. The creators kept fans stressing over Steve potentially dying in one heroic fashion or another, and the trailers for the split-apart season didn’t help matters. Of course, Joe Keery’s character survived the finale’s events, making the start of the 2026 TV schedule that much less depressing, and now Matt and Ross Duffer admit that they intentionally played into that widespread worry.
Beyond the general idea that major TV characters tend to become victim fodder in final seasons, the Steve-centric paranoia came to a head in the final episode as he was dangling from the radio tower, and his fingers let go before anyone reached down to grab him. And then a gobsmacking cut to black! The joke was on us, though, because Hawkins’ finest head of hair was indeed saved and went on to keep crushing at life.
