‘Stranger Things’ Creators Reveal They Want to Redo One of the Series’ Most Controversial Episodes

The creators of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer, have spoken again about one of the show’s most controversial episodes and said they would like to remake it. At the same time, they pushed back strongly against long-running rumors about it.

The comments come from an interview on Happy, Sad, Confused with Josh Horowitz, where the Duffer Brothers looked back on their work across all five seasons of the hit Netflix series. One topic that came up was Season 2, Episode 7, known as “The Lost Sister,” which remains one of the most debated episodes in the entire show.

Matt Duffer admitted they would handle the episode differently if they could redo it. He said, “I think the mistake was this idea of a bottle episode. I think if we had threaded it in more organically throughout the season, it would have worked. It wasn’t anybody’s fault except ours. I just would have approached how we integrated Kali differently.”

The episode takes Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, away from Hawkins and sends her to Chicago. There she meets a group of outcasts led by Kali, another girl with powers who also has a connection to Eleven’s past. The story focuses on Eleven exploring anger and revenge, but it breaks away from the main Hawkins storyline that fans were deeply invested in.

This is one of the main reasons the episode became so controversial. Many viewers felt it slowed down the momentum of Season 2, especially because it came right before the final stretch of episodes. Instead of continuing the main conflict in Hawkins, the episode shifts to a completely different setting and tone, which made it feel disconnected for a large part of the audience.

Ross Duffer explained that the issue came from how the episode was handled during production. He said, “Matt and I got so drawn into getting those last two episodes of Season 2 written, and prepping because we were directing them, that it just got lost in the shuffle.”

Over time, “The Lost Sister” became one of the least popular episodes in the series. Some fans even believed it was meant to serve as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off centered on Kali and her group. The Duffer Brothers directly denied this idea.

Matt Duffer addressed the rumor clearly, saying, “First of all, let me just clear up some bulls**** out on the internet. There’s so much bulls****t, we’d be here all day, but that was never designed as like a spinoff. That’s bulls**t. That’s not true. That’s gross. We would not do that.”

Despite the criticism, the creators do not believe the concept itself was a mistake. Instead, they feel the execution and placement of the episode within the season structure is what caused the backlash.

The controversy around “The Lost Sister” has lasted for years because it represents a major tonal shift in the series. While most episodes of Stranger Things focus on group dynamics in Hawkins, this one isolates Eleven and explores a darker, more experimental side of her character. For some viewers, that made it interesting. For many others, it felt like it interrupted the story they were most invested in.

Even after the series concluded with its Season 5 finale, the episode continues to be a talking point whenever fans discuss the highs and lows of the show.

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