It’s finished! For those who watched the last episode of the 5th season of Stranger Things (no spoilers here!), the upside down world is no more. And the little band of Hawkins who faced more than one monster said goodbye to the fans by answering (almost) all the riddles posed in a final 2-hour episode. An end awaited for years, but which can leave a slight bitter taste: that of having lost friends, as well as a reason to have fun.
A band that has been with us for ten years
For a decade, Stranger Things was much more than a series. It was a date. A landmark. A familiar universe into which we immersed ourselves season after season, with the certainty of finding Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max… and Hawkins.
Launched in 2016, the Duffer brothers’ series has established itself as a global phenomenon, accumulating audience records and cultural impact. Its retro aesthetic, its references to the 1980s and its deeply human characters have transformed each new season into a global event.
But above all, Stranger Things has taken place over the long term. Ten years is rare.
“When a series like Stranger Things, which we have been watching for ten years, ends, we say to ourselves: “But what are we going to do next?”, “What are we going to watch? We’re never really prepared for that.”
confided Lucie, a fan present at the preview to BFMTV.
Why did we get so attached to the characters?
According to psychologist Amélie Boukhobza, the bond we form with the characters of long series is far from trivial.
“It’s never just finishing a story. It’s separating yourself from characters who have taken a psychic place. Become familiar figures. Regular presences.”
These characters did not remain confined to the screen. They have invited themselves into our lives, into our routines, into our moments of solitude or fatigue.
“They may have, for years, accompanied very concrete moments in our lives. Tired evenings. Complicated periods. Hollow Sundays. They were there. Always available. And entertaining.”
Watching a series means sharing time. A regular, repeated time, full of emotions. And this time creates a bond.
Seeing actors grow: a key factor in attachment
Attachment to Stranger Things is also reinforced by a rare feature for a series: we saw its actors grow at the same time as their characters… and as ourselves.
“We didn’t just follow these characters. We saw them change their bodies, their voices, their faces. Go through childhood, adolescence, losses, fear…”.
Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo… have all grown up before our eyes, season after season. This real aging creates a disturbing continuity between fiction and reality.
“Psychically, this creates a very particular attachment. We are not just leaving a fiction. We are leaving an entire shared temporality”.
Does “post-series depression” really exist?
This sadness felt after the end of a series has a popular name: post-series depression. For Amélie Boukhobza, the term is excessive… but the feeling is legitimate.
It’s more of an emotional void, close to what we feel after a very good book that we wait to finish. “A bit like when you drag out the last pages so as not to finish it. With a series, it’s the same”. But rest assured, this feeling is not pathological. It simply reflects the strong emotional impact of a work.
With Stranger Thingsthis feeling is amplified by the definitive end of something stable. “Knowing that a new season would arrive one day was a reassuring form of continuity. When it stops, something closes. Definitely.” It is this irreversible nature that makes the emotion more intense.
“It’s a little mourning, ultimately” underlines the psychologist. “That of an imaginary bond that mattered more than we thought.”
How to get out of this little post-series mourning?
There is no miracle solution. Above all, we will have to accept that Hawkins will close its doors. But feeling this lack also means recognizing what the series brought us. This is not negative in itself.
Amélie Boukhobza invites us to let time do its work: “So yes, maybe we need to let a little time pass. And then start another one. Who will mark us, otherwise. But just as much.”
Accept the end, remember with tenderness… and open the door to new stories. Because one thing is certain, Stranger Things will certainly not be the last series to thrill you.