We were perfectly content with Stranger Things 2 leaving Eleven and co. on a happy Snow Ball, save one looming shot of the threat to come. The second season finale almost went much further, however, before creators vetoed several epilogues for Season 3.

You’re warned of full spoilers for Stranger Things 2 from here on out, but where last year left us with a number of finale setups for the next run, Season 2 closer “The Gate” largely sat back and enjoyed the win. We’ve got more than a few questions for Season 3, but as executive producer Shawn Levy told Collider, the Duffer brother creators initially considered a series of epilogues that would set up the next chapter:

There were epilogue scenes that were considered for after that [final] shot that would have hinted more at Season 3. But there was a decision made by all of us where we said let’s not back in to any promises again … We always felt after Season 1 that we had to payoff that slug that Will coughs up in the sink, or whose black car Hopper was getting into, and had to — and wanted to — follow-up on Hopper putting the Eggos out in a wooden lockbox in the woods. This time the [Duffer Brothers] very consciously wanted to promise less, so that their freedom is more.

At the very least, we know of several unresolved elements likely to resurface in Season 3, including eighth test subject Kali and her gang, or the apparent survival of Matthew Modine’s Dr. Brenner. Still, did Stranger Things 2 need a more pointed hook than the finale gave us?

Gallery: Eleven ‘Stranger Things’ Questions We Need Season 3 to Answer

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