PERFECT STRANGERS

As Stranger Things returns for a final time, the cast and its creators the Duffer Brothers discuss what ending its 10-year run means to them.

- By LYNN RUSK

WHEN the supernatural coming-of-age drama Stranger Things first screened in 2016, it became one of Netflix’s most popular series, gaining millions of fans.

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, also known as the Duffer Brothers, the show was conceived as a love letter to classic 1980s genre films and is set in the seemingly ordinary Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana.

The first season followed a psychokinetic girl named Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, who escapes from a secret laboratory in Hawkins and befriends a group of young boys: Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair, played by Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin.

Together, they embark on a mission to find their missing friend Will Byers, portrayed by Noah Schnapp.

Almost a decade later, the show’s fifth and final season is upon us, and the friends reunite again to confront the evil villain Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, one last time.

As the anniversary of Will’s initial disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle looms and with it, a darkness more deadly than anything they have faced before.

Caleb, now 24, says: “Saying goodbye to Lucas is definitely a strange feeling. I had to put myself aside and really understand who Lucas was before I could express or vocalise who Caleb was. Learning to be honest about who Lucas was actually helped me understand myself.

“After putting so much of my life into him, saying goodbye now is bittersweet, but I’m ready to move on. All great things come to an end.

“I wouldn't cherish the moment if it didn’t end.”