David Harbour Describes the Table Read for the Final Episode of STRANGER THINGS: "The Amount of Crying..."

Fans are anxiously awaiting the final season of Stranger Things to hit Netflix. After the long wait, and what is looking like it will be a two year gap between the fourth and fifth seasons, we are ready to see how this story, and its beloved characters will wrap up.

Season 4 saw the character Hopper separated from Eleven, Joyce, and the rest of the crew as he withstood the Russian prison, ultimately making his escape. Now he’s reunited with everyone, but they have a formidable foe and battle ahead of them.

Hopper actor David Harbour recently sat down with ComicBook to talk about the final season, first diving into the table read: "No, the interesting thing is...there was some cameras there, but we didn't do it for the publicists or the Instagram people.

“There was something intimate about the way they structured it that I'm hoping that you don't see very much of that, because there was something profound in the sense that we are a family.

“There is the deeper level, it is about us as individuals who've worked together for nine years since they were kids, and that really came through. There was a real deep kind of honesty and heartbreak and bittersweet quality to all of it."

He went on to talk about the challenges of the fourth season, namely the toll the pandemic took on the cast: "[Season 4] was a challenging season for a number of reasons. The biggest being COVID and just the ripples that that sent through our industry, because we are an industry of intimacy. I mean, we are close.

“We are about humanity. We're about engagement and we had masks and face shields and we were just very afraid of each other. So that was really tough. I also had to do a lot of weird weight loss stuff, that was really tough.

“The being alone thing is it was kind of OK, because I had to.I mean, we've been together a long time, it's like it's like a family, sometimes you need a vacation. So I think that was in a way sort of fun, and I had guys like Tom (Wlaschiha) and it was it was a cool storyline. So I enjoyed it."

In Season 5, the cast is all back together in Hawkins, Indiana, fighting off the forces of Vecna and the Upside Down together. This final go-around is a bit strange for Harbour, though, because it's easy to see just how much has changed since production on the very first season started nearly a decade ago.

"Getting back to the OG crew of this final season has been wild in a way because we have come so far and it is not the show that we started in Season 1. I think that's a wild experience for all of us. I mean, those kids were 11 years old when we started, 12 years old. Now they're 20 and they're shaving and they aren't kids anymore.

“Finn (Wolfhard) just directed a movie. I think to have it all come back full circle...We just read we just did a read through of the last episode and the amount of crying... like the episode is very beautiful. But there's also a deeper level of that, this was actually their childhood.

“They were 11 years old and grew up and fought this monster. And I've never seen so much heavy, heavy weeping from teenagers or young adults in my life."

I’m sure this was a very tough chapter for these young actors to close. They grew up together, they became famous together, and they made something great together. I can’t wait to see how this story ends. Stay tuned for more info as the final season gets closer.