Stranger Things Fans Slam Finale For Failing to Answer a 3 Year Old Mystery

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The final episode of Stranger Things arrived on Netflix on New Year’s Day 2026, and it’s quickly become a major topic of conversation. As expected, fans have strong opinions – and not everyone is happy with how the story ended. It’s also a sign of just how dedicated the fanbase is that they’re tracking even small, unresolved storylines from the series.

For example, the fourth season of Stranger Things ended with an unresolved question, leading many viewers to believe it was a setup for a major reveal in the final season. However, with the finale now released, it’s become apparent that this wasn’t a cleverly planned plot twist as some had predicted.

What About Max’s Letters In Stranger Things 4?

The fourth episode of Stranger Things Season 4, titled “Dear Billy,” was a standout moment for the show in 2022. The episode centers on Max (Sadie Sink) as she realizes Vecna is closing in on her and she’s in grave danger. Facing what she believes is her final day, Max writes heartfelt letters to her friends and a particularly emotional one to her deceased brother, Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who died fighting the Mind Flayer at the end of Season 3.

The episode “Dear Billy” featured a memorable and now famous scene where Max read a letter to Billy at his grave, just before Vecna attacked. Although the focus shifted by the end of the episode – especially with Max’s escape set to Kate Bush’s song – fans still remembered the significance of those letters.

Fans speculated that the letters Max wrote to her friends might hold important clues for the plot of Stranger Things 5. At the end of Season 4, Max was trapped in Vecna’s mind while her body remained in a coma. These letters were thought to potentially reveal how to save her, or serve as a final message to her friends if she didn’t survive. However, after recent developments, the scene of Max writing those letters now seems unnecessary, and many fans are expressing their disappointment.

What Sadie Sink Said About Max’s Letters in 2022

Sadie Sink, the actress who plays Max on Stranger Things, also thought a lot about the letters her character received in season four – it wasn’t just fans! In a 2022 interview with Variety, she discussed whether the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, had her actually write the letters, or if she even had an idea of what they contained, even if just in her own understanding of the character.

Sink revealed she often imagines what her character would write in letters to others when she’s not working. While she doesn’t know what the writers have planned for the fifth season, she’s eager to find out and is particularly hoping for a scene where the letters are finally read aloud. She’s very curious to discover the contents of those letters.

It’s disappointing that Max’s letters weren’t used in the final season of Stranger Things. According to Sadie Sink, the letters weren’t important for what they said, but as a symbolic representation of Max’s personality.

Sink described Max as someone who avoids direct emotional conversations, even when facing serious situations. She explained that Max prefers to express her feelings in letters and can’t even bear to be present when they’re read, which Sink felt was very characteristic of her personality.

Throughout Stranger Things, Max starts to become more open with her feelings, largely because of her relationship with Lucas. It’s frustrating, then, that the show never revealed the contents of the letter Lucas wrote to her.

Stranger Things is now streaming on Netflix.

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2026-01-01 20:10