Historically, the town of Jackson, Ga. stood in for Hawkins, Ind.—or at least its quaint Main Street. But after the villainous Vecna opened up gates to a treacherous parallel universe called the Upside Down in Stranger Things’ fourth season, Hawkins was left in ruins. For the fifth and final season, the production team needed to build a decimated version of Hawkins. And, to make it even more complicated, they need to keep it that way for all eight episodes. So they rebuilt the street on a set in Atlanta.
The day that I visit the set for a TIME cover story on the final season of Stranger Things, which reportedly cost almost half a billion dollars, that street is in shambles. The showrunners, Matt and Ross Duffer, are filming a major battle scene. Hawkins is under military quarantine. Extras in fatigues cluster around the town’s library, which now serves as an entryway to the Upside Down via a multi-story red hole. Actors in gray suits with orange ping pong balls on their heads stand in for the CGI Demogorgons that will battle these military men and wreak havoc in the town.
With the characters able to move between the Upside Down and the Rightside Up, every street, house, and store in Hawkins must serve double duty. Each must transform into its Upside Down version—and back again—fairly quickly. That involves adding the inky tentacles made from painted black pool noodles with wire running through them to each set. Production designer Chris Trujillo tells me that if you were to line up all these vines back to back they would stretch 52 miles.
I explore several other sets, including the radio station that will serve as home base for the gang this season, a cave where Holly Wheeler will get a good scare, and a laboratory located in the Upside Down. Security spots three drones on set in the time that I am there, likely piloted by intruders trying to suss out spoilers for the final season.
Though I see several scenes being…
