“Perhaps Stranger Things is so popular because of the way it represents total escape from the anxieties of the modern day,” writes streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

When it comes to modern shows that have truly become one with the zeitgeist, it’s hard to beat Stranger Things.

Which is, in many ways, rather ironic considering Netflix’s sci-fi horror blockbuster hit is based around the zeitgeist of another era entirely.

The neon-laden 1980s is the backdrop for the hugely popular series about a group of friends who have to fight an inter-dimensional evil threatening their home town.

This week Stranger Things returns for its epic fifth and final season.

The wait has been long. The hype has built and people have, well, sort of forgotten what the hell happened last season.

The last time Stranger Things was on screens was in 2022, more than three and a half years ago.

That’s almost 10 years after it first appeared on Netflix.

If fans hadn’t done enough waiting, the streaming platform has decided to drag out the final season into three installments, sure to milk it for all it’s worth. 

The first four episodes were released on November 27. The next three come out on Christmas Day. Is that it? Nope. The show’s grand finale is being held off until New Year’s Eve.

It’s exciting to have such an anticipated finale season spaced out a little, but with how long Netflix has made viewers wait already, it does feel a bit excessive.

The cast of once kids are now sporting facial hair and becoming parents themselves. If that’s not a sign to wrap it up I don’t know what is.

The wait between installments has been so long it almost feels like the show is quite literally of another era.

Who’s the bad guy and what do they want again? Unless viewers have crammed a four-season binge in this year they might still be left a bit foggy on the details.

But the plot of Stranger Things isn’t really what has ever mattered anyway.

It’s the vibe.

The bitter-sweet synthesizer notes are nostalgic enough to pull heartstrings in beat with its soundtrack.

The creepy kaleidoscope of neon hues glowing through fog like in Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

And tense, old-school action that can make palms sweaty the same way a good arcade machine once might have. 

Combine all that with a charismatic cast of characters and the show has delivered Netflix arguably its biggest hit of all time.

When season four dropped there were reportedly 52 billion minutes of Stranger Things streamed in the US alone.

I’m writing this column from a cafe waiting for a bus and a group of friends one table over are talking about it right now, speculating on which characters may or may not survive this last season. It’s hard to overstate the sheer pop culture magnetism of it. 

Perhaps why Stranger Things is so popular is the way it represents total escape from the anxieties of the modern day.

The feeling conjures up makes even people who weren’t kids in the 1980s nostalgic for the charms of the decade, an era where memories were made away from the internet.

Once upon a time when people wanted to watch a movie it wasn’t a case of tapping on a screen.

There was a trip to the video store, picking out a tape with a bright, eye-catching cover.

Music wasn’t a subscription, but a cassette tape plugged into a Walkman. A vinyl displayed on a shelf. Is it any wonder record players are making a comeback?

Yes, I am not quite of that generation but I do lay claim to memories of walking the aisles of Blockbuster in its dying days and picking out ‘80s classics like The Terminator and Back to the Future over and over again.

There is something about Stranger Things that conjures up these feelings across generations.

There’s a sheer nostalgic potency to the show’s atmosphere that is tangible. Like a cassette or video tape: graspable. Stranger Things is a show about a generation gone-by that belongs to a new generation and might just go down as the most iconic show of this era. The streaming one.

I take it all back if Steve dies, though.