A final season, a lasting ache: Parting with ‘Stranger Things’

There is a certain kind of heartbreak that comes with saying goodbye to a show you love. It’s not dramatic. It doesn’t announce itself loudly. Instead, it settles in quietly like realizing you’ll never again be the same person who first pressed play in 2016.

That’s what “Stranger Things” feels like ending.

More than just a television series, “Stranger Things” has been a time capsule that captured not only the fictional world of Hawkins, Indiana, but also the real lives of the people who grew up alongside it. Including yours truly.

“All good things must come to an end,” they say.

But knowing that doesn’t make the goodbye any easier. Especially if they concluded the series the best way possible.

When “Stranger Things” premiered nearly a decade ago, it introduced us to a group of kids on bikes, a missing boy, flickering Christmas lights, and a mysterious girl with a shaved head and extraordinary powers and a knack for Eggo’s. Back then, the cast were practically children… awkward, wide-eyed and still trying to make sense of sudden global fame. Watching them grow up on screen felt strangely personal, as if we were all aging together.

Through the years, we had an extraordinary experience not just telling stories about “Stranger Things.” We witnessed it.

I remember when Millie Bobby Brown came to the Philippines for the first time. She was young, bright and still processing the magnitude of the phenomenon she was part of. Filipino fans welcomed her warmly, and even then, you could sense that she was only at the beginning of an extraordinary journey.

By Season 2, the cast returned for a Manila junket with Noah Schnapp leading the pack alongside Joe Kreery, Dacre Montgomery and Sadie Sink. They got in with bigger crowds, louder screams and a clearer realization that this show had crossed cultural borders. “Stranger Things” was no longer just a hit series; it had become a global language.

Season 3 took us to Japan in 2019. By then, the cast had transformed into bona fide superstars. That trip, however, holds deeper meaning for me. I was pregnant at the time — with my daughter Aerin — covering a show that had grown up with me, while I was preparing to welcome a new life of my own. It felt symbolic, even then. Plus points because the junket coincided with my birthday in June and I spent it with them.

Season 4 followed in Australia in 2022 — my first major work trip as a mom. It was also post-lockdown, when the world was just beginning to open again. Airports felt emotional, travel felt surreal and everything carried a different kind of weight. Covering “Stranger Things” during that period felt almost poetic: a show about survival, fear and hope returning just as we were learning how to move forward again.

And now, Season 5 brought us back to Japan last November — for the conclusion. Literally full circle.

Almost a decade later, the same kids we once interviewed are now grown a.k.a. binata at dalaga — commanding red carpets, fan events and international stages. Yet when you sit down with them, the bond remains unmistakable.

When I asked about their final day on set and who cried, denial came first.

“Not me!” Finn Wolfhard joked.

“He’s lying!” Gaten Matarazzo quickly fired back.

Eventually, the truth came out. Everyone cried. There was clapping. There were tears. Caleb McLaughlin revealed that Noah cried the most and Noah didn’t deny it.

Because how could you not cry after growing up together in front of the world?

Millie, our Eleven, shared that the Duffer Brothers were generous with parting gifts. She took home her iconic pink dress and the socks from Season 1 and pieces of television history now displayed in her movie room. Noah teased her about rings and tattoos. It felt less like an interview and more like siblings reminiscing.

Set in the 1980s, “Stranger Things” carried lessons that feel even more relevant today. Caleb spoke about communication and how people used to be fully present with each other, with no phones to hide behind. Gaten admitted catching himself slipping into modern habits. Noah hoped the show would remind viewers of the power of friendship, of being true to who you are, and of never forgetting that.

And at its core, that’s what “Stranger Things” has always been about.

Yes, there are monsters. Yes, there’s the Upside Down. Vecna is terrifying, and the stakes have never been higher. But beneath all that spectacle is a story about loyalty, love and growing up together.

Sadie, who brought Max Mayfield to life, admitted that the final year of filming was about soaking in every moment. Jamie Campbell Bower, who played the menacing Vecna, reflected on how fortunate he felt to embody such a complex character and joked that he would also be taking home the “trauma” of seven-hour makeup sessions, alongside a mold of his face and one of Vecna’s hands.

From Halloween houses to unforgettable scenes that sent Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill back to the top of the charts after 44 years, “Stranger Things” didn’t just entertain. We witness it shaped culture. Don’t be surprised if we witness Purple Rain back in the charts after the finale.

Now that the entire series is finally out, the waiting and the wondering is over. The mysteries of the Upside Down have been answered, and we see where the characters are headed. It felt like a graduation for the viewer with an open ended finale that leaves one to interpret it the way we choose to. It may hurt to let go, because the show took up a real space in our lives. But it also leaves us grateful. And maybe that’s the most honest ending there is.