The cast of Stranger Things have taken to social media to share their emotional reactions after Netflix aired the last-ever episode of the sci-fi series on Thursday.
ICYMI, the streaming behemoth came to a dramatic conclusion on New Years Day — nearly a decade on from its season one premiere — capping off a mammoth five-season run that shot its stars to international fame and solidified itself as a cultural phenomenon.
Millie Bobby Brown, who played Eleven on the show, led the emotional responses to Stranger Things’ conclusion with an Instagram post on Thursday. “Over and out,” the actress wrote alongside a pic of herself and series creators, Matt and Ross Duffer.
Will Byers actor Noah Schnapp also shared behind-the-scenes images on Instagram in the wake of the finale, captioning the carousel — which included snaps of the core cast, stills from the finale, and on-set Polaroids — with a simple “the end”.
Meanwhile, Caleb McLaughlin — who portrayed Lucas Sinclair — posted a video of himself and fellow castmates Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo embracing and saying “I love you” while thanking the Stranger Things fandom.
“Thank you for the immense love and support throughout the years. We love you all,” McLaughlin wrote.
Elsewhere, Wheeler matriarch Cara Buono shared a snap of the cast watching the finale episode in a theatre and reflected on her “surreal” run playing Karen Wheeler on the show.
“10 years of monsters, childhood, and magic,” Buono wrote. “I looked around the room at these ridiculous, brilliant humans, artists, my friends, my family and felt this wild rush of gratitude. For every single moment of it.”
“Thank you for loving this story the way we loved telling it. We may be done with Hawkins, but we’re forever bonded,” she added, while revealing she’s “still processing” the show’s conclusion.
While his character Scott Clarke — the science teacher at Hawkins High — may not have had the biggest role on the show (despite getting a deserved spotlight in season five), Randy Havens also had much to say when reacting to the series finale.
“It was the time of my life getting to act with these talented people … Thank you to the fans for making our show the cultural phenomenon it is. I’m sad, but I smile thinking about all the people that Stranger Things brought happiness to over the years,” Havens wrote.
Saving the most emotional for last, Ross Duffer also shared a pic of the gang watching the finale in a cinema, saying the experience was “emotional and cathartic” because the cast had become a “family”.
“I looked around at all these incredible artists — laughing, crying, supporting one another — and felt so lucky that we remain so close, bonded by these 10 years. While we’re finished telling this story, we are family now, forever,” Ross wrote before thanking the fans.
“We hope you all love the ending as much as we do. We are forever grateful for your support and love over the years, which allowed us to end this journey the way we always envisioned,” he added.
It caps off a thrilling and nostalgic series that oversaw both the cast and many of its fans growing up over the course of almost 10 years.
Matt and Ross Duffer have already discussed a spinoff, but with no plans for any returning stars or storylines, it seems this was our final farewell to Hawkins and its most loveable crew of nerds.
Lead images: Instagram
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