Stranger Things
I watched the Stranger Things finale yesterday midday in a packed theater with my family, and honestly—it was a moment. People in merch everywhere, buzzing energy, everyone ready to see how this thing finally ends. It was obvious the room was with it. Big cheers. Big laughs. A lot of tears.
I was genuinely moved by how rare the whole experience felt. An original idea that somehow became a global phenomenon, pulled people together for years, and then actually stuck the landing. I didn’t have to wonder if this kind of thing has ever happened before—I was around when MASH* ended, when J.R. was brought back to life on Dallas, when it felt like the whole country paused to say goodbye to Cheers. There have been plenty of impactful moments in TV history. I’m grateful to the Duffer Brothers for giving this generation theirs.
And then… I checked Twitter.
Immediate regret.
Just waves of negativity from people who seem to treat hating as a personality trait. And that’s when it clicked.
Twitter is the Upside Down.
It looks like real life, but darker.
Trolls are demogorgons.
And the rest of us are just trying to hang out with our friends and survive.
And maybe this is the reminder: art doesn’t exist to be perfect. It exists to reflect our shared humanity and to stir something in us. If this show made you feel anything at all—joy, sadness, nostalgia, connection—then the art did what it was meant to do.
But here’s the thing that really got me.
I had heard there would be a song at a pivotal moment in the finale that had never been licensed before. I’d been excited about it—anticipating it for weeks. I’m a huge music fan. What I was not prepared for was what happened when “When Doves Cry” started playing—on vinyl, no less.
I had a visceral reaction. And sobbed.
I was instantly nine years old again, sitting on my bedroom floor with that same record spinning, the vinyl sleeve in my lap, completely absorbed. It didn’t just hit emotionally—it time-traveled me.
So yeah. Gen X—this one was for us.
Thank you, Duffer Brothers, for somehow keeping everything that was great about our childhood alive without turning it into a parody.
In conclusion: Stranger Things was a really fun show. I’m grateful for the memories and the good times it gave our family. Huge shoutout to everyone who helped make it—including myself, as part of the core 100 who got their hair permed for Season 3 and appeared in every episode of that season. What a gift.
Now if you need me, I’ll be avoiding the Upside Down and putting that Prince vinyl back on—because yes, I still have it.
Be well x Laura
P.S. I believe. I believe El lives. I feel she got her ultimate gift: freedom. She spent most of her life in service to others in some way. She now gets to live on her terms, in complete freedom.