Stranger Things‘ highly anticipated final episode dropped on Netflix just in time for New Year’s Day 2026, and not surprisingly, it’s taken over the pop-culture zeitgeist. The internet is all abuzz with reactions from fans, and (shocker) not all of them are glowing. It’s also a testament to how deep and important Stranger Things‘ lore has become that fans are keeping tally of even minor subplots the show introduced, but did not resolve.
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Case in point: Stranger Things Season 4 left a mystery dangling, and a lot of fans thought it was the sign of a bigger twist or development that was coming in Season 5. Now that the finale is here, it’s clear that the plot point wasn’t some masterful arranging of the chessboard like some theorized it was.
What About Max’s Letters In Stranger Things 4?
The Stranger Things Season 4 episode “Chapter Four: Dear Billy” was a high point for the series back in 2022. The episode focused on Max (Sadie Sink), who senses the doomsday clock counting down to the moment Vecna will possess and kill her. On her last morning, Max writes a series of letters to all her friends, as well as one to her brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who died battling the Mind Flayer in the Season 3 finale.
“Dear Billy” lived up to its title with the now-iconic scene of Max visiting Billy’s grave and reading her letter to him in a monologue, right before Vecna takes possession of her. However, by the time the episode ended (with Max escaping to the tune of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”), the letters had fallen by the wayside. But that didn’t mean fans forgot about it.
There were theories that Max’s letters to her friends could be a key to Stranger Things 5‘s story. Max was stranded in Vecna’s mind at the end of Season 4, with her physical body left comatose in the real world. The letters she left behind were seen as potential clues to freeing her mind, or perhaps serving as last words to inspire her crew, if Max didn’t make it. Now, the scene of Max writing those letters feels pointless, and some fans aren’t afraid to say so.
What Sadie Sink Said About Max’s Letters in 2022
Max’s letters weren’t just something fans fixated on after Stranger Things 4: actress Sadie Sink had her own thoughts on it, too. In a 2022 Variety interview, Sink spoke about whether or not the Duffer Brothers had her write actual letters (she didn’t), or if she knew (even in head canon) what the letters said.
“I don’t! In my own downtime and daydreaming, I have an idea of what she probably will want to say to each specific person,” Sink said at the time. “I don’t know anything about what the plans are for Season 5, but I’m dying to know what’s in there. I want to have a scene where the letters are read… I would love to see what’s inside of those letters.”
We now know that Max’s letters never got their moment in Stranger Things 5, and it’s a real shame: To hear Sink tell it, the letters weren’t so much about the words conveyed, but rather a telling metaphor for Max’s character:
“I think it’s so typical Max, for her to literally be looking death right in the eye but still, she is unable to tell someone face-to-face how much they mean to her or have a sincere conversation with someone,” Sink explained. “The fact that she has to put it into letters and not even be around when they were read, it was like, yeah, like that adds up.”
By the end of Stranger Things Max has gotten (somewhat) better about being emotionally open, graduating into her “soft girl era” thanks to her beau, Lucas (Caleb Landry). That just makes it even more aggravating that we didn’t at least get to learn what Lucas’s letter said.
Stranger Things is now streaming on Netflix.
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