Stranger Things season 5 has been a hit so far, with audience views making it the number one show in 90 countries based on statistics gathered by Netflix. Stranger Things is a sci-fi /horror show about a child that goes missing in the 80s and soon escalates with characters finding out there is a whole other dimension of horrors they must overcome. So far there has only been four episodes released this season in Vol. 1, with Vol. 2 releasing on Christmas, and the series finale releasing on New Year's Eve.
These episodes have been everything fans have been waiting for with great action, funny dialogue, new characters, and high stakes. Fans have been on the edge of their seats wondering which characters will meet their end in this final season of the show. To make this season even better, Stranger Things has brought on a new director to the show that The Walking Dead fans may be familiar with.
The Duffer brothers were able to bring Frank Darabont out of his 11 year retirement to direct episodes three and five of the final season of Stranger Things. Darabont is known for his work on many movies including: The Shawshank Redemption, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Green Mile, and The Mist. He is also known for writing, producing, directing, and developing season 1 and the beginning of season 2 of The Walking Dead.
Frank Darabont wrote and directed the first episode of season one of The Walking Dead, "Days Gone By." Darabont kickstarted The Walking Dead and played a major part in bringing the beloved series to life. Sadly, Darabont departed from the show during the production of the second season.
In an interview with SYFY, Darabont explained that he had been a fan of Stranger Things long before the Duffers came in contact with him, so when he got the opportunity to direct a couple episodes, he was more than delighted to do so. Fans were able to see the first episode Darabont directed in Vol. 1 of Stranger Things.
Frank Darabont directed the third episode of Stranger Things season 5, titled "The Turnbow Trap." In this episode we see the group try and infiltrate the Turnbow house in order to save Derek Turnbow from being Vecna's next victim. Once the group is able to "safely" extract the family after indulging in some delicious pie, they head to work setting up a trap for the demogorgon. They follow through with their plan to shoot a tracking device into the demogorgon, so it will lead them to Holly Wheeler and Vecna. This episode had amazing visuals and direction, being a funny and exciting episode to watch.
Another episode that has yet to be released that Darabont also directed this season, is the fifth episode, titled "Shock Jock." Ross Duffer recently put out an Instagram post stating that all the editing was complete for Vol. 2. In his post he also wrote who directed each of the next three episodes and stated what direction the fifth episode was heading in saying, "Frank Darabont is back, but he flexes very different muscles on this one than he did on 'Turnbow Trap'— it’s far darker, and far scarier." This leaves fans with a scary teaser for what our favorite characters will be facing in the next episode. Darabont is known for his work directing in the horror genre, so this episode should go beyond our expectations.
Fans are both nervous and excited about this episode to air. The title worrying fans over the fate of the beloved character Steve Harrington. Personally, I am convinced that Steve will meet his end in this season. During the first set of released episodes, I was a ball of nerves, watching the show, hoping that Steve would live. I was relieved to see that he survived the first half of the season, but it's not over yet.
I am both excited and nervous to see what Darabont has done with his directing in the fifth episode. With the season we've had so far I'm sure fans will be more than happy with the results of the second half of the final season of Stranger Things.