David Harbour and Winona Ryder in 2019
(Picture: Getty Images)Caution: spoilers ahead
Stranger Things fans have had an extremely exciting week. Firstly, the final two episodes of Season 4 were released. Then, just days later, the official Stranger Things Twitter account belonging to the show’s writers started to share behind the scenes details from production.
The most exciting secret disclosed so far? The fact that the second kiss shared between David Harbour and Winona Ryder was not scripted.
“This kiss wasn’t scripted, Winona and David added it on the day of filming,” explained the writers.
This kiss wasn’t scripted, Winona and David added it on the day of filming pic.twitter.com/9vSWwYliWU
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) July 2, 2022
For Stranger Things devotees, the news is particularly exciting because the tension had been rising between Harbour and Ryder’s characters for multiple seasons, with the incarceration of Harbour’s character Jim Hopper in a Russian prison, only boosting the ongoing suspense.
Though the pair had locked lips previously in the series, in a sequence filmed as they prepared to re-enter the Russian prison and fight monsters from the Upside-Down, the second moment between the two ended up being entirely improvised.
Thrilled viewers turned to Twitter to share their thoughts.
“DAVID HARBOUR KISSED WINONA RYDER,” one said.
“I literally screamed when they kissed,” said another.
“I’ve felt like I saw this kiss from a mile away, but didn’t expect to be improvised,” said a third.
DAVID HARBOUR KISSED WINONA RYDER
— em CASS DAY (@eleanorxchidi) July 1, 2022
I literally screamed when they kissed
— RamonaTheVillain 🌙 (@galaxycat09) July 3, 2022
I've felt like I saw this kiss from a mile away, but didn't expect to be improvised. #StrangerThings4
— Faris Anwar (@fariswheelanwar) July 3, 2022
Despite being delighted by the scene, quite a few fans replied to the verified Twitter account, which is called Stranger Writers, with incredulity, saying that many of their favourite scenes had actually not been scripted.
“Is there anything that was scripted?” asked one.
“What did y’all actually write????” questioned another.
“They improvised a kiss that’s it lol calm down,” added a third.
Is there anything that was scripted?🤡
— Umarbae (@umarbae_) July 3, 2022
what did y’all actually write???? 💀💀💀
— rory ♡ spoilers (@keerysdjo) July 2, 2022
they improvised a kiss that’s it lol calm down
— Daniel Strong (@DanielStrong16) July 2, 2022
Stranger Writers also shared pictures and other details about moments in the finale that had been improvised.
One of these was the scene when Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, said “I love you, man”. Another was when Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair says, “Erica, help.”
“I love you, man” was improvised by Joe pic.twitter.com/z5gYyl18KF
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) July 2, 2022
“Erica, help” was improvised by Caleb. pic.twitter.com/9g5etO5VAz
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) July 2, 2022
The fourth season of Stranger Things broke Netflix viewing records, knocking Bridgerton off its top spot for the highest-ever premiere weekend with a 287 million hour record.
On Netflix’s Global Top Ten list for an English-speaking series, Stranger Things 4 remains at number two, five weeks after its premiere. Showing the power of the show, Stranger Things series 2, 3 and 1 are also all in the Top Ten list - at third, fourth and sixth position.
Stranger Things 4 was split into two parts. Vol 1 was released on May 27, and then the second instalment, which was two episodes long and came in at almost a whopping 4 hours, was released on July 1.
The writers’ room for Season 5 of the Netflix show is expected to start as soon as August.
In an interview with Collider, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer said, “We want to give the characters their moments and a lot of these characters have been evolving over the course of these four seasons, and so it’ll be five seasons of them. We want to make sure that they all land in a way that we all feel good about.”
