Farewell, Hawkins: A retrospective on Stranger Things

Disclaimer: This is not a review.

With the final episode of Stranger Things out, it marks a beautiful end to a show that started back in 2016. At that same time, a lot of us have grown up alongside the main cast, and while our characters fought Demogorgons, we dealt with our own challenges. Sure, the show often stumbled on its way to the end, but it would be safe to say it made up for it with the fun and memories it created for audiences all around the world.

Stranger Things made the cultural obsession with 1980s nostalgia popular among Gen Z. While the show clearly appeals to Gen X and millennials who remember the decade, the series belongs just as strongly to Gen Z, if not more. Younger viewers grew up consuming '80s media through their parents and streaming platforms, making those references feel familiar rather than distant. 

As an original series available through streaming, the show has become a defining cultural touchstone for Gen Z. Even after the finale, merchandise and nostalgia-driven entertainment ensure that both the show and its nostalgic appeal will endure the test of time.

For a decade, the Duffer Brothers managed to keep an original sci-fi series compelling and entertaining. Stranger Things stands as a masterclass in longevity and in the cultural impact a television series can have on an entire generation.

Watching Stranger Things became a grand event, as everyone waited patiently for the Duffer Brothers to work their magic with our beloved characters. Nearly every character found their way into our hearts, from Steve's endearing behaviour to Dustin's charming nerdiness to Max's sassiness. 

Some characters fell out of favour, like Jonathan and Nancy, whose arcs seemed to have been intentionally written to be confused and often stagnant in the later seasons, while Steve, Hopper, and, surprisingly, Karen Wheeler made strong comebacks as fan favourites despite their rocky starts. Their characters became guardian angels for the main group of kids, showing up for them no matter what. They made it hard not to love them.

It is now hard to imagine how season one started as a mystery-thriller science fiction show about Will disappearing and finding El. I still remember when I first watched the show, the same age as Millie Bobby Brown, and found myself completely immersed in its storytelling. 

It was dark, gritty, and constantly hinted at an unseen danger lurking around the group of kids. We knew something terrifying was waiting in the background, ready to pounce. They were helpless, and we felt the same way.

As the production time increased, the tone of the show began to shift. Season two became plagued with uneven writing, dull stretches, and limited commitment to the core mystery. When it was met with disappointment, the Duffer Brothers responded by delivering one of the show's strongest seasons. 

They understood the characters were teenagers and wrote them as such, capturing realistic group dynamics while making the Mind Flayer feel like a genuine threat to our heroes.

Through seasons four and five, fans continued watching as the main villain, Vecna, attempted to complete his plans by using innocent children as psychic batteries in his takeover of Hawkins. Personally, I began to lose interest in the overarching plot. 

It no longer carried the same thriller-mystery weight. The writing struggled to maintain urgency, and immersion suffered when visibly grown actors were asked to convincingly portray high-school students in dialogue that ignored their age.

Despite this loss of immersion, I kept returning to the show. For nearly a decade, the Duffer Brothers managed to keep an original sci-fi series compelling and entertaining. Stranger Things stands as a masterclass in longevity and in the cultural impact a television series can have on an entire generation.

In the end, the final episode manages to tie together both the beauty and flaws of the show, offering viewers a well-deserved full-circle conclusion. From that ending emerges a more hopeful and optimistic future for its characters, a clear contrast to the darker tone with which the series began.

With no spin-offs officially announced, this truly feels like our goodbye to Hawkins and our characters. Still, the legacy of Stranger Things will live on in the hearts of viewers for decades to come.