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There are only a few people who know how Stranger Things season five is going to end. Not even all of the cast knew what lay ahead when filming started earlier this year, but they all found out during the finale’s table read. David Harbour, who has played Jim Hopper in all five seasons of the Netflix show, said that reading through the Stranger Things season five finale with the rest of the cast was a pretty emotional experience – and he hopes we never get to see it.

“We just did a read through of the last episode," David Harbour explained in an interview. "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."

Are we going to get to see those tears? Probably not. "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 you don’t see very much of that, because there was something profound in the sense that we are a family.”

We know that the cast of Stranger Things is particularly close, judging by how much love they share for each other, but Harbour occupies a unique role among them. While most of the cast were kids when the show started, Harbour and Winona Ryder are very firmly on the parental side of things and watched everyone else grow up around them. “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.”

You’ll notice that David Harbour isn’t talking about the actual content of Stranger Things season five; just the cast’s reaction to reading those final episodes out together for the first time. He’s watched these young people grow up and develop as artists and as people before they end up flying the nest for the next stage of their careers. It makes sense he’d be a bit emotional about the moment, especially since we know the final season of Stranger Things is going to emotionally wreck us as well.

As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:

• How to watch Stranger Things in chronological or release order
• Getting to know the Stranger Things season 5 cast
• There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
• The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
• "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"