It has been nine years since the first season of Stranger Things turned the world upside down in 2016. Now the series is finally coming to an end in 2025, and I don’t know how to feel.

During the run of this series, I have started and graduated high school, reached my fifth year of university and now I am nearing the end of my undergraduate degree as the show finally reaches its finale. Does Stranger Things still interest me? Do I even have time for it? These are questions I have asked myself amid the promotion for the fifth and final season.

I was compelled to check out Stranger Things in 2017 after seeing Finn Wolfhard in It in theatres and recognizing him from “that ’80s show my parents like.” I adored It, and Stranger Things seemed to be in a similar vein with its ’80s nostalgia and Stephen King energy, so I watched the first season. It altered my brain chemistry forever — I was hooked, and so was the rest of the world.

Nobody involved in the first season of Stranger Things expected the show to have the widespread cultural impact that it did. David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, told Variety, “I figured it would be kind of a sci-fi show, which some people would really enjoy, others it wouldn’t be their thing. But the universal appeal on the sort of zeitgeist that it has become, I never imagined.”

The show is quite nerdy, but it became one of the most successful television shows of the past decade. Brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, the show’s creators, have alchemically created the perfect combination of nostalgic references and timeless tropes to appeal to an almost universal audience. Whatever you enjoy — Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, rooting for the underdog or simply a good story — you will get something out of Stranger Things.

It’s great to see a show become so mainstream while still clearly being made as a love letter to the outcasts and misfits of the world. I sometimes miss the more intimate tone of season one, but it is exciting to see the story and budget grow exponentially with every season.

I also believe much of the series’ long-term success can be attributed to the Duffer brothers’ ability to let the show and its characters grow alongside its actors and audience. The plot has focused not only on fighting interdimensional monsters with telekinetic powers, but also timeless coming-of-age growing pains and cornerstones through the lens of the 1980s. The ensemble includes characters of a wide variety of ages, allowing for most viewers the ability to see the ups and downs of their own chapters of life represented.

In their commitment to grounding the show in reality, the Duffer brothers even went so far as to line up every actor’s last day of shooting with their final scene in the series so the actors could truly feel a sense of closure once they wrapped. This certainly would have also impacted the realism of the actors’ performances as they played out their characters’ final moments.

So, do I, a full adult, still care about this nerdy show that teenage-me ran fan accounts for once upon a time? 

Yes. Duh.

I have admittedly been nervous about letting myself get too excited about the final season, but only because I have spent the past nine years being so invested in this story and I cannot help but fear disappointment. There is a lot riding on this finale, every character and story arc needs to be wrapped up in a way that feels satisfying and true. I have spent so long analyzing the story, and I have many expectations for where each arc could lead. However, I think I might need to loosen my grip on my expectations and just allow season five to be whatever it is in order to fully enjoy it. The Duffer brothers deserve my trust — surely they’ve earned it if they’ve kept me so interested all these years.

Honestly, it feels cathartic to see this series come to a close. It feels like I’m finishing a chapter of my own life. I am not at all the person I was when season one came out — granted, I’m not even the person I was at the start of this year. Even though I’ve grown and, in many ways, moved on with my life, this story impacted me greatly and continues to hold a special place in my heart.

I can still feel the same magic when I hear that dreamy synth glimmer while neon red letters in ITC Benguiat fill my television screen, and I know millions will be feeling that same magic as we all sit down to watch the final season of Stranger Things.

All eight episodes of Stranger Things season five will be releasing in three parts on Netflix. The first four episodes were released on Nov. 26 and the next three episodes will be released on Dec. 25. The finale will be released on Dec. 31 on Netflix and in select theatres across the U.S. and Canada.