Saturday Night Live has built its reputation on satirizing the biggest moments in pop culture, pushing boundaries with sketches that hold a mirror to society’s obsessions, controversies, and conversations. When Finn Wolfhard returned to Studio 8H to host episode 10 of SNL’s 51st season, the opportunity to lampoon Stranger Things seemed inevitable.
The Netflix series just wrapped its fifth and final season, sparking massive online debate about everything from deleted scenes to character arcs to the handling of emotional storylines. SNL seized on that cultural moment with a filmed sketch that parodied Netflix’s approach to franchise milking while also diving into the conspiracy theories surrounding a supposed deleted ninth episode. The sketch featured Wolfhard alongside fellow Stranger Things cast members Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin, poking fun at fan theories and imagining absurd spinoffs like “Strangerous Minds” featuring Steve as an inner-city teacher. However, one particular element of the sketch has drawn significant criticism online, with viewers accusing the show of being insensitive toward Will Byers’ coming out storyline from season 5. The parody included a segment mocking the length and emotional weight of Will’s confession, redirecting his heartfelt moment into a joke about Dungeons & Dragons preferences instead of his sexuality.
The backlash spread rapidly across social media platforms, particularly X, where fans and critics debated whether SNL crossed a line between satire and insensitivity. The controversy highlights ongoing tensions around representation in mainstream media, the boundaries of comedy when addressing LGBTQ+ storylines, and how audiences respond when emotional character moments become fodder for parody.
The Sketch That Started the Conversation
The SNL segment operated on multiple levels of satire. On its surface, the sketch mocked Netflix’s tendency to extend successful franchises far beyond their natural endpoints, imagining ridiculous spinoffs and prequels that extract every possible dollar from intellectual property. This aspect of the sketch played well, landing jokes about the streaming service’s approach to content creation and fan service.
The sketch also addressed the conspiracy theory that gained traction online claiming Netflix and the Duffer Brothers had deleted a ninth episode from Stranger Things season 5. This theory, which the creators have repeatedly denied, became part of the sketch’s premise, with Wolfhard’s Mike character insisting that the finale was an illusion created by Vecna and attempting to prove his point by bringing back Eleven, only to reveal someone decidedly not Millie Bobby Brown.
Within this framework, the sketch included a segment featuring Jeremy Culhane portraying Will Byers, with the joke centering on the character’s coming out scene “still going on.” The parody intercut footage from the actual Stranger Things episode with exaggerated dialogue, culminating in a punchline that redirected Will’s emotional confession about his sexuality into a joke about liking Dungeons & Dragons instead.
This particular element struck many viewers as tone-deaf, especially given the significance of the coming out storyline within Stranger Things’ narrative and the broader representation it provided for LGBTQ+ characters in mainstream genre television.
Why This Moment Matters in Stranger Things
Will Byers’ coming out scene in Stranger Things season 5 carried considerable emotional weight for both the character and the audience. Noah Schnapp, who portrays Will, has spoken publicly about how meaningful and emotional the scene was to film. The moment represented years of character development and subtext finally coming to explicit resolution, giving Will an opportunity to express something the series had been building toward across multiple seasons.
The 1980s setting of Stranger Things adds additional context to why this storyline resonates so strongly. Coming out during that era, particularly in small-town America, involved risks and social consequences that modern audiences may not fully appreciate. The series acknowledged this reality through Will’s journey, treating his experience with the seriousness it deserved rather than glossing over the difficulty of his situation.
For many viewers, particularly LGBTQ+ fans, Will’s coming out represented important representation in a mainstream science fiction series. Seeing a character navigate this experience within the show’s specific time period and social context provided validation and visibility that goes beyond simple plot mechanics.
The Nature of the Backlash
Online reactions to the SNL sketch divided into several camps. Critics of the segment argued that parodying Will’s coming out scene, particularly by reducing it to a joke about Dungeons & Dragons preferences, trivialized an important moment of LGBTQ+ representation. Some viewers pointed out that the sketch singled out Will’s sexuality for humor while other male Stranger Things characters received different treatment in the episode.
Several social media users referenced Schnapp’s previous comments about the emotional difficulty of filming the coming out scene, arguing that SNL’s parody disrespected not just the character but the actor’s investment in portraying that moment authentically. The critique suggested that some subjects, particularly those involving marginalized identities coming to terms with themselves, deserve more careful handling even within satirical contexts.
Others defended the sketch as typical SNL fare, arguing that the show has always made everything fair game for parody and that treating Will’s storyline as exempt from comedy would itself be a form of othering. This perspective holds that comedy’s role includes puncturing self-seriousness and that no topic should be considered too sacred for satirical treatment.
The debate also revived discussions about Stranger Things season 5 more broadly, including divisions among fans regarding character arcs, romantic pairings, and narrative choices. Some viewers had hoped for a romantic resolution between Mike and Will, and the sketch inadvertently highlighted those ongoing fan disagreements about how the series handled its LGBTQ+ representation.
Context of Season 5 Reception
The SNL sketch controversy arrives amid broader criticism of Stranger Things season 5. Episode 7 became the lowest-rated episode of the series on IMDb, reflecting audience divisions about the final season’s creative choices. Fan reactions have been mixed regarding how storylines concluded, pacing decisions, and whether the Duffer Brothers stuck the landing after building anticipation across multiple years.
This broader context of disappointed expectations may have contributed to the intensity of reactions to the SNL sketch. When audiences already feel protective of characters or sensitive about how their stories were handled in the source material, parodies of those elements can feel like adding insult to injury rather than good-natured ribbing.
The Duffer Brothers on Deleted Scenes
Interestingly, the conspiracy theory aspect of the SNL sketch, while played for laughs, reflects real online discourse that the Duffer Brothers have spent considerable time addressing. Speaking with Variety earlier this month, Matt Duffer acknowledged receiving the Google Doc outlining the deleted scenes theory, stating clearly that “Obviously, that’s not a real thing.” Ross Duffer added that he hadn’t seen the Change.org petition demanding release of the supposed deleted episode, noting “I don’t think there’s a single cut scene in the entire season.”
The Duffers emphasized that Netflix provided “no interference or direction at all” regarding content decisions, maintaining creative control throughout all five seasons. Matt Duffer explained to Collider that the only significant trimming involved a rooftop scene among the teenage characters that was reduced by about five minutes due to extensive improvisation. In fact, across the entire five-season run, only one scene was ever fully deleted, dating back to season 1 and involving a scene Netflix requested that the Duffers shot and then removed, which the streaming service apparently forgot about.
This context makes the conspiracy theory element of the SNL sketch particularly ironic, as it parodies online discourse that the creators themselves have repeatedly addressed and debunked.
Where Comedy and Sensitivity Collide
The SNL controversy ultimately raises familiar questions about comedy’s boundaries when addressing identity and representation. Saturday Night Live has faced similar criticisms throughout its history when sketches ventured into territory that some viewers found offensive while others considered fair satirical game.
The challenge lies in distinguishing between punching up at institutional targets versus punching down at marginalized experiences. Netflix’s franchise extension practices make a reasonable target for satire. Whether Will’s coming out scene falls into the same category depends largely on how viewers perceive the sketch’s intent and execution.
Parody in the Age of Social Media
What makes this controversy particularly 2026 is how quickly reactions spread and amplified across social media platforms. Within hours of the episode airing, the discourse was fully formed, with opposing camps staking out positions and debating the sketch’s merits and failures. This accelerated feedback loop means that creative decisions face immediate public judgment, with consequences for how future content gets produced and what topics creators feel comfortable addressing through comedy.
SNL’s sketch probably sounded funny in the writers’ room, played well during rehearsals, and seemed like a legitimate way to engage with Stranger Things’ cultural moment. Whether it landed successfully depends entirely on who you ask, which is basically how comedy has always worked. The difference now is that those opposing perspectives collide publicly and immediately rather than being confined to water cooler conversations. If you thought the sketch crossed a line, you’re not wrong for feeling that way. If you thought it was harmless satire that treated all aspects of Stranger Things equally, that’s also a valid read. Just maybe think twice before trying to definitively declare which interpretation is correct, because the internet’s already having that fight without needing more fuel.
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