Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2.
Fans miss a key plot point in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2, released December 26 on Netflix. Many think Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) get engaged. Creators Matt and Ross Duffer clarify it is a breakup.
The “Unproposal” Scene
Jonathan and Nancy escape an “exotic mass” on Hawkins Lab roof. They trap in a melting room. They confess issues: Nancy hates the clash, Jonathan hates her articles, and he skipped Emerson college.
Jonathan reveals a ring. He says, “I figure that I have screwed up enough with you that it’d be nice to get something right for once, in the end. Nancy Wheeler, will you not marry me?” He calls it an “unproposal.” Nancy accepts, says she loves him, and they kiss. The melting stops. They survive.
Fans call it the “most romantic” scene but debate its meaning.
Fan Reactions on Social Media
- “It’s clear they didn’t get engaged, but wtf is an unproposal? Did they break up?”
- “Did they break up?????”
- “Wait it was a break up scene? I thought they was talking bout living happily ever after?”
- “I thought he actually proposed to her I’m crying.”
- Some say it “was NOT breakup sounding” or “so clearly a breakup if you listened.”
Duffer Brothers Explain
Matt Duffer tells PEOPLE: “That’s a breakup. They are broken up.” The team planned it. Nancy needs independence. Matt adds, “How many people wind up with their high school sweetheart?” Ross calls it a “trauma bond.”
Stranger Things Season 5 Volumes 1 and 2 stream on Netflix. Finale airs at 1am January 1, 2026.
