It was a warm summer day in 2016. We sat down to watch a show we didn’t know much about. Soon, we started getting to know children – kids like us – through the screen. They grew on us. They behaved, talked, and felt in ways that mirrored our own lives. Finally, there was a show that wasn’t about adults, but about kids who were allowed to make their own decisions and express their feelings. For once, we were in the spotlight.
As we followed Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, our beloved El, and later Max, we were taught an important lesson: friendship is what makes us strong, and our differences are something to embrace.
Then came October 2017. Colorful leaves were falling, seasons were changing, and we were growing just a little more mature. A new season was released. The kids were a bit older too, but not noticeably so. They still resembled us in the same way, still felt close to who we were.
“ And somewhere along the way, we grew up.“
After a longer wait, season 3 arrived in 2019. By then, not only the characters had grown up – but so had we. As someone who started watching Stranger Things at 13, I was suddenly 16. Trying to figure out the world while everyone around me still thought I was a senseless child, I found comfort in this show. It began to embrace female friendships too, with Max and El growing closer. We watched Mike and Eleven struggle, break up, and find their way back to each other and through them, we experienced our first real glimpses of love.
Season 4 came out in 2022. Three years passed in the blink of an eye. I was 19 then, just a step away from my twenties. We started paying more attention to Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve. Somehow, the age gap between us and them felt smaller than before. Seeing kids as main characters – making decisions, facing consequences- made it feel like the show truly saw us and treated us as equal partners in the story.
Then came Eddie. Everyone thought he was a freak, when deep down he was just like everyone else. We have all met Eddies in our lives, maybe we just didn’t recognize them at the time. That season also showed Eleven being bullied. And even though we, as viewers, know she is a hero, someone who saves her friends again and again, the kids at school only saw what was on the surface. It made us reflect on how often this happens in real life. We only ever see the fragments people allow us to see. We never truly know what they are carrying. And once again, after all the chaos, Eleven had her friends by her side, reminding us what truly matters.
And now we are here. It’s 2026. Season 5 came out in 2025. I am 22 now. I started this journey as a 13-year-old, terrified of demodogs and Will’s story—yet unable to stop watching. And suddenly, nine years have gone by. Nine years full of ups and downs, friendships and love, breakups and fights—but most importantly, growth.
It truly hit me when I watched Mike leave the basement. We often feel emotional during scenes we can’t fully relate to, simply because we’re human and we try to. But this time, it clicked. He wasn’t just leaving the basement,he was leaving his childhood behind. Just like we are. Endless games, adventures, and moments spent together eventually have to be left behind so we can move forward.
When the kids sat around the table at the end, they represented a new generation. Everything begins again, just like it did before and just like it always will. Generations replace one another. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max will have their own lives. Who knows if they will meet often? Or if they will ever play D&D in that basement again? No one knows, just like we can’t know who will stay in our lives and who won’t.
What matters is what we do now. Hold your loved ones closer. And when it comes to friendships – even if you live far away, even if it’s inconvenient – meet up. At least once a month. Because in those few hours together, it will feel like no time has passed at all.
Mike closing the door symbolized them leaving their childhood behind. And, honestly, it symbolized ours too. From 2016 to 2026, nearly a decade has passed. And somewhere along the way, we grew up.