Stranger Things has arrived at its much-awaited finale at last! The last episode of Stranger Things Season 5, after a long journey of supernatural mystery, friendship, and emotional development in Hawkins, was released on December 31, 2025 (with international time zone releases going on until January 1, 2026).The series finale, which is now officially streaming, not only ended the legendary saga of Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and their friends, but also the actors themselves have openly shared their feelings about this goodbye.The global fan base has all been along for every twist and turn and fight that went down throughout the season’s three-component release strategy, volume one in November and volume two in December, all the way through to the massive finale. It was more like an emotional journey for the actors who had practically grown up with their characters for nearly a decade.The final scenes were something that the stars had discussed in interviews, reflecting on the experience of filming it, the closure it provided, and how it was to have to end such beloved characters. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler) said,"I felt pretty good about Nancy’s ending. I personally felt very satisfied. I also felt heard by the Duffers. We don’t get final say, but we get some sort of input on those situations, and the ending felt right to me. [...] When we wrapped the final scene, it was surreal. My last day is definitely a core memory of just being so, so, so present and trying to grasp everything that’s happening — and everything that’s happened and everything that’s going to happen in one moment.”Cast reactions to their final scenes of Stranger Things View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe closure of the plot of Stranger Things caused some cast members to share their reactions to the last scenes. As per the latest news, the cast, which includes Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin, among others, discussed the emotional burden of the finale and how hard it was to say goodbye to their characters.Wolfhard, talking about the finale, said, "My mind was pretty blank when they called ‘cut’ on my final scene. I didn’t have many thoughts. I knew that I was around a lot of the cast, and we wanted to spend as much time as possible taking as much time for ourselves as possible. Experiencing these feelings together was really important. When I first read the ending, I felt sad. It was a melancholy way of reading, because I thought it was the perfect way to end. But at the same time, I was sad to say goodbye to the show.”Director Shawn Levy, who was associated with the show throughout several seasons, mentioned that the final act was “epic and intimate” and emotionally reacted to the final days of shooting.Actor Noah Schnapp, who is part of the main cast, gave a very revealing hint when he said he asked for and also contributed to a certain ending scene around his character Will and Mike (played by Finn Wolfhard), which would render their relationship a pleasant closure.In relation to his final table read, Schnapp stated, "I remember crying a lot at the final table read. They had us read it for the first time all together and I just think it was perfect. They really left nothing more to be told. Once I wrapped, I felt it was time to let Will go."Following Schnapp’s suggestion, the rooftop scene was added in the finale, and it is indicative of how some of the cast influenced the unfolding of their characters’ last moments.Ending full circle in Stranger Things View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIn the interviews that were made available through Netflix’s official Tudum platform, the Duffer brothers, who are the creators of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross, said that the finale was built to feel like a genuine ending: a tale that starts and finishes in the same place symbolically.For them, taking the journey of the characters was the main point in the very process of the series, i.e., cheering them as they grew up together and eventually the arrival of the end of childhood.The Dungeons & Dragons game is played by some characters in the last seconds at the Wheelers’ dungeon; this is a conscious artistic choice that reconnects the closing to the very first moments of the series. The Duffers maintained that this cycle mirrored the transition from shared childhood to separate futures that was both sweet and bitter.They also clarified the reasons behind some narrative decisions, such as character choices and the timing of the story’s emotional peaks, adding that the finale was crafted to provide a different sense of closure to each protagonist as their story arc came to an end.What went down in the finale of Stranger Things?The final episode, “The Rightside Up,” is a source, as well as official word from the studio, for the following major happenings:The Hawkins team faces the ultimate threat to their world, which results in a showdown that is the climax of the ongoing conflict in Stranger Things throughout the five seasons that have been defined by it.The characters have their last get-together, sharing their stories, remembering the past, and realizing how much they have changed during their journey.The endings of the different plots related to friendship, romance, and personal growth are quite emotional and sometimes even ambiguous, leaving the viewers to interpret the ending as they like.It is the case that the plot points leading to a character’s fate interpretation, for example, have led to heated discussions among the fans, but the creators have pointed out that the open-endedness of the finale is intentional, to mirror the toughness of growing up and moving on.Heartfelt and reflective moments and cast maturing through the yearsThe young actors of Stranger Things have visibly matured through the years, both on and off screen. In different types of encounters with the public (for instance, through interviews, cast panels, and press appearances), the majority of the actors have shared their thoughts about the significance of participating in the last season.After some time, Sadie Sink (Max) said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she had a personal interpretation of the finale’s ambiguity and talked about what her feelings were regarding the character’s fate. As per Decider, she said,“I think, like, Mike’s story is just one last story, And then they say goodbye to childhood. But that’s just one final tale, and that’s it… I think it’s just like a coping thing.”Even if such opinions are personal interpretations, not plot facts, they nevertheless reflect the very strong connection between the actors and their roles.The cast reflections through media reports and official interviews have collectively expressed a feeling of gratitude, friendship, and closure, thus explaining the reason why the finale was right for them after so many years of shooting together.The last episode for the cast and creators of Stranger Things was not only the end but also the start of a new chapter; it was a thoughtful apex that corresponded to the show's main characteristics of development, transition, and maturity.The actors have told how strongly they experienced those last moments together on the stage and how significant it was to have the characters’ stories finished off. Now that the finale can be watched online and the tale is over, one can say that this part of Stranger Things has allowed the audience to take their goodbyes, not just to Hawkins and its wonders but also to the character-to-character emotional rollercoaster ride, which was common to both the audience and the cast!Also read: Will Vecna return? Here's what Stranger Things' latest Conformity Gate Theory suggests