Goosebumps Producers Break Down Surprising Season 1 Finale Cliffhangers (Exclusive)

The first season of Goosebumps delivered multiple twists in its final minutes.

By Charlie Ridgely

The first season of Goosebumps came to an end on Friday morning, with the finale of the 10-episode run releasing simultaneously on both Disney+ and Hulu. In keeping with the tradition of author R.L. Stine's iconic book series, the Goosebumps finale delivered plenty of thrills, and delivered a couple of massive, last-minute twists to leave viewers guessing as they wait for news about a second season. WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the Goosebumps Season 1 finale! Continue reading at your own risk...

It seemed as though the five teenagers at the center of the story extinguished evil in the finale, stopping Kanduu (the spirit that had been encased within Slappy) and sending him away from the world of the living once and for all. In his final moments, however, Kanduu fires a gun at Margot and Isaiah stepps in to save her, taking the bullet for himself. The final minutes of the episode reveal that Isaiah will likely succumb to his injury.

In order to save Isaiah, whom she finally admits to being in love with, Margot makes the decision to use Kanduu's magic to bring him back to life. That will obviously have some major consequences, one of which is the return of Kanduu. After the spell is read, Mr. Bratt looks in a mirror only to find Kanduu staring back at him. Unfortunately for the cowardly English teacher, his issues with possession are far from over.

Isaiah's life is hanging in the balance and it appears as though the cost to keep him alive is keeping Kanduu on Earth. Ahead of the episode's release, ComicBook.com spoke to Goosebumps executive producers Nick Stoller, Rob Letterman, and Hilary Winston about those shocking final minutes.

"Rob has always talked about it, when I started on the show with Rob and Nick, they said that one of the big things of Goosebumps is 'Be careful what you wish for,'" Winston said. "And so it was really important to us that the season wrap up with that idea; be careful what you wish for. So Margo feels guilty. She's had the relationship with Lucas, but she's always been in love with Isaiah. She saved him in the pilot with the cheating and now here she is, kind of saving him again. And because he wishes that he was back, and then that idea of her bringing him back is what allows Kanduu to come back into Mr. Bratt.

"And Bratt's whole story is being careful what you wish for. He wants so badly to be this writer, to be successful, to have this, that he's willing to do whatever he has to do so."

This finale is the second time in a couple of weeks Goosebumps has pulled the rug out from under viewers with a surprising episode ending. The eighth episode of Season 1 largely felt like a finale, with the heroes defeating what they thought was the evil force harming their town. Bittle, however, was just a symptom. Slappy/Kanduu was the real problem. 

That episode essentially launched the final act of the season, flipping the script and setting up a different story for the last two hours of the season.

"Part of that is just the canon of Goosebumps. There's always a twist," Letterman explained. "The other part of that is just the way we designed all 10 episodes. It really is a big movie structure, and that was the tee-up for the big act three in episodes nine and ten."

Goosebumps Season 2

There hasn't yet been any word from Disney or Sony about a potential second season for Goosebumps. The EPs admitted they are feeling good about the show's chances, but nothing has been made official.

Before the show premiered in October, Goosebumps producer Conor Welch laid out the creative team's hopes for Season 2, provided there's news of a renewal.

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"We lucked out so significantly with the cast that we were able to assemble for this show. These five relatively unknown young adult actors just immediately found a chemistry and were able to play into their very natural and organic dynamics they had within the group," Welch expressed to ComicBook.com. "Our hope is to follow this group of kids and adults for many, many more seasons and many, many more episodes to come. Because we do have every one of the books of the canon at our disposal, and there's just a lot more to dig into."

What did you think of the Goosebumps finale? Let us know in the comments!

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