Stranger Things Season 5 Will Probably Have A Time Jump

We've all been making this joke since season 2 of "Stranger Things," when it looked like all of the young actors had suddenly aged five years, but this time it sounds like it's really happening — we're getting a time jump! Will they "Riverdale" it and make them adults somehow? Will we get to see them graduate high school? Will they do the reverse "Irishman" and make them all 65-year-old people who are reminiscing about their crazy days as wild youths? I mean, probably not but wouldn't that be something? All of them living in a senior apartment building, still somehow fighting the Upside Down with their walkers and canes?

But enough of my brilliant and criminally underutilized ideas, what's actually happening with "Stranger Things," the only non-reality TV show on Netflix that people care about? According to a TVLine interview with creators Max and Ross Duffer, they're still trying to figure out exactly how to stick the landing of their hallmark TV series. Although, they basically already confirmed that there will be a time jump between the end of season 4 volume 2, which will be released on July 1, 2022, and season 5, which will be released ... someday?

"I'm sure we will do a time jump," explained Ross. "Ideally, we'd have shot [seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that." This is kind of a wild thing to say because it means they definitely didn't bake this time jump into their roadmap. In a perfect Duffer brother world, the "Stranger Things" crew would stay their "Stranger" age, but I guess they're all way too famous now to be tied down to shooting two seasons at once ... or something?

And if you find that a little disconcerting, you'll probably find this next hot Ross quote to be even more unsettling: "So these are all discussions we're going to have with our writers when we start the room up," he said, adding, "Believe it or not, we're still working on season 4. We're trying to finish the final two episodes, they're so massive."

Considering the last chunk of season 4 is supposed to be released in less than a month, it's wild to hear that they're still actively working on it. I'm sure it's all fairly complex, but man as someone who loves to procrastinate and create more stress for myself, I can absolutely relate. Give me a deadline and I will work as hard as I can to make sure I cannot make it. Again, that's probably not the problem currently facing down the "Stranger Things" team, but it would be funny (and obviously relatable) if it was true. 

So get excited about the time jump in your future, because they just can't keep these kids in high school anymore.