Stranger Things Creators Shut Down “The Lost Sister” Spinoff Rumours: “Pure Bakwaas!”
Salam, Stranger Things fans! We all remember that one episode from Season 2, right? “The Lost Sister” – the one that took Eleven out of Hawkins and into a whole new world in Chicago. Well, the masterminds behind the show, the Duffer Brothers, are finally spilling the chai on that controversial chapter, and they’ve got some strong words for those spinoff rumours!
Matt and Ross Duffer recently sat down for an interview where they looked back at their journey creating the hit Netflix series. When asked about moments they’d love to revisit and tweak, both brothers immediately pointed to Season 2, Episode 7. It seems even they know it could’ve been handled differently.
“Our mistake was thinking of it as a ‘bottle episode’,” Matt Duffer explained. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a bottle episode typically means an episode that takes place in a limited number of locations, often to save on production costs, and sometimes feels a bit disconnected from the main storyline. Matt added, “If we had woven it into the season more naturally, it would have worked better. It’s on us, nobody else. I just would have integrated Kali’s story differently.”
If you need a refresher, “The Lost Sister” saw Eleven (played by the brilliant Millie Bobby Brown) venturing to Chicago, where she met Kali – another gifted individual with a mysterious connection to Eleven’s past and supernatural powers. This episode, which first aired in 2017, quickly became one of the most talked-about, and often criticized, entries in the show’s history.
Ross Duffer chimed in, admitting that they were so engrossed in writing and prepping the final two episodes of Season 2, which they were also directing, that “The Lost Sister” just got “lost in the shuffle.” They even knew before it premiered that fans might find its placement a bit jarring. Matt confessed that despite their premonition, the negative feedback still “hit harder” than anticipated, leaving them feeling “bummed” as they headed into Season 3.
For years, theories have floated around, with many speculating that “The Lost Sister” was secretly designed as a “backdoor pilot” – an episode meant to test the waters for a potential spinoff series centered around Kali and her crew. But now, Matt Duffer is putting those rumours to bed with some very direct language.
“First of all, let me just clear up some absolute nonsense circulating online,” he stated emphatically. “There’s so much rubbish out there, we’d be here all day, but that episode was NEVER intended as a spinoff pilot. That’s pure bakwaas. That’s not true. It’s ridiculous. We would never do that.”
So there you have it, folks! Straight from the creators themselves. While the main Stranger Things saga is nearing its highly anticipated conclusion with Season 5, and fans are always buzzing with theories and hopes for the future of Hawkins and its characters, at least one major rumour can officially be put to rest. And for those interested in the wider Stranger Things universe, don’t forget about the upcoming animated series, *Stranger Things: Tales from ’85*!