Rooting for the Hawkins kids might reflect audiences' hunger to understand the darkness and anxiety around them. We see ourselves in them. Opinion contributor

As we near the end of the show " Stranger Things ," it’s worth wondering why the retro-nerdy, satanic panic, sci-fi/horror mashup has such a huge appeal. When the show debuted in 2016, my Generation X friends and I fell instantly in love.

Perhaps there was some fan service, we judged, but that was no fault in a show so filled with invention and heart and thrills. And yet the show quickly became a cross-generational smash. There’s even a float in the upcoming Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade .

It’s not just those of us reared in the 1970s and ‘80s who love watching teens in Little League T-shirts ride banana bikes, use walkie-tal

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