An era is about to come to an end for the hit series Stranger Things, and it’s really hitting hard, according to David Harbour. While on a live taping of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Harbour opened up about the emotional table read for the series finale of the show’s upcoming fifth season-and it was far from some kind of regular script reading.
“We were all crying—heavy, heavy weeping,”
Harbour described how the younger actors, who started on Stranger Things as children, took an especially tough hit. For many of the cast, this wasn’t just the end of a hit TV show—it was the end of a nine-year journey that began when they were in their childhood and coaxed into adulthood over nine years of filming together.
Harbour reflected on the cast members’ unique connection, likening the experience to a family-like goodbye.
“It’s not just a show for us,”
he said.
“It’s our childhood, our friendships, a chapter of our lives.”
For the young stars- Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, among others- the table read felt like more than finishing their characters. It was also a time to come to terms with the end of an experience that had defined their formative years.
With the very personal vibe in the air, Harbour shared that he hopes the footage of the table read stays private.
“It wasn’t meant for promotional purposes,”
he said.
“It was an intimate moment, and I think it should remain that way.”
While fans may want to glimpse what went on behind those closed doors, Harbour hopes the rawness of such a moment stays inside for the cast.
Although Netflix hasn’t announced precisely when Season 5 will be released, the anticipation of fans for this last season has already kicked in. Harbour took to his social media account to tease that the story would return to where it all started- Hawkins. In this last chapter, the beloved characters will finally go up against Vecna and all of those terrifying mysteries of the Upside-Down while trying to recapture the spirit of the first season, this time with greater risks than ever.
“In my humble opinion, this is hands down the best episode they’ve ever done,”
Harbour gushed of the series finale. After years of onscreen and IRL maturation, the final season promises to bring characters and their fans around full circle.
For the cast, though, Stranger Things is more than a TV show; it’s been part of their lives for nearly a decade. As Harbour succinctly summed up below,
“For the kids, this was their childhood.”
Fans worldwide are ready to say goodbye, but one thing can be certain: scarring emotional effects of the finale will last long after the credits have rolled and the actors and audiences alike have moved on.
