We Caught Up With The "Stranger Things" Cast—Here's What They Want The Viewers To Know

As strange as it may sound, we grew up with Stranger Things. The show was first released in 2016, and now, almost 10 years later, it has finally come to an end.

As we officially and totally say goodbye to the Upside Down (IYKWIM), we've had a chat with the Stranger Things cast, namely, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, and Charlie Heaton! Trust us when we say that they were generous enough to share the bits and pieces of the end of Stranger Things.

The first and second parts of the final season of the hit Netflix series are now officially streaming. If you're wondering whether the episodes are released in one go, they're not. The final season has been divided into three (!) parts, which were sequentially released on December 15 and December 25. While the very last episode of the show (with a running time of more than 2 hours!) was released on December 31, 2025.

"I mean, obviously, it's like, there's so much going on," Joe told Cosmopolitan Philippines in a roundtable interview. The cast agreed on how much the characters have grown and how much their stories have evolved.

Some viewers may have tuned in to the show because of the demogorgons and the thrilling action in every scene, but the truth is, for the most part, it's the characters' growth and relationship with each other that made the audience stick.

Joe elaborated, "I think one thing that the Duffers do really well is always juggling the characters' inner lives, along with the kind of supernatural circumstances that we find ourselves in. [...] The biggest driver of the story is these characters."

As always, the final season of Stranger Things kicked off strong, laying all the cards on the table about where the characters' relationships stand after surviving the upside-down chaos.

And honestly, we couldn't help but wonder how the cast themselves would navigate the tricky terrain of love in Hawkins. Case in point: Steve's seemingly one-sided crush on Robin, Jonathan's lingering jealousy over Nancy, and plenty more complicated feelings in between.

The cast, except Maya, responded discreetly on that part. Maya jokingly exclaimed, "I think they're going to bereally surprised by everything that goes on with Robin and Jonathan. Oh! Sh*t!" as if she was spoiling something to us, LOL!

When Stranger Things first dropped, it tapped into the nostalgia of audiences who grew up in the '80s and '90s. At the same time, it drew in Gen Z—not just by introducing a new generation of actors, but by telling a story deeply rooted in the emotions and experiences that resonate with today’s youth.

With the friendship and family dynamics within the show, it's relatable in the most basic sense. But for Caleb (who plays Lucas Sinclair), Stranger Things tackles the topic of mental health intricately.

"I feel like for Gen Z, we don't talk about mental health enough, and the show represents that in a deep way," he told Cosmo during the roundtable interview.

Caleb pointed out that the Upside Down can be seen as a metaphor for unseen battles. As the characters grow throughout the series, they become more aware of it—and more willing to face it together—much like the reality of navigating mental health.

"The Upside Down represents, like, I feel like our inner thoughts that we struggle with, the battles that we face, the unseen battles. Because the Upside Down is this anonymous world that we don't know about, and then we come in season one, we're kind of figuring it out," he explained. "But then in season four, we're more privy to what that is. And then [with] the fantastical element, it makes it [the show] even better."

The final season of Stranger Things is now up and streaming only on Netflix.