After an almost three-and-a-half year wait, the final season of Stranger Things began last week, and Netflix has spared no expense. This season is being released in three drops: the first four episodes premiered on November 26, three more will drop on December 25, and the series finale comes out on December 31. ICYMI, the last episode will also be out in theaters on New Years Eve and New Years Day. No plot spoilers from me, but if you’ve been on Instagram over the last week, Netflix, cast members, the Duffer Brothers, and entertainment news sites have been going HAM with promotion and mild spoilers. Engage at your own risk!

One of the more feel-good, non-spoilery bits of news to come out this week, however, was the casting behind a newly introduced character, teacher Miss Harris, played by Hope Hynes Love. Ms. Love’s casting is particularly notable because she was the Duffer Brothers’ very own high school drama teacher who supported them when they were aspiring filmmakers.

High school, as the Stranger Things gang can attest, is no walk in the park (Upside Down or not). And in a sweet gesture paying homage to their artistic beginnings, co-creators of the Netflix phenomenon, the Duffer Brothers, chose to cast their high school drama teacher in a key role.

“Miss Harris is played by Hope Hynes Love,” Ross Duffer wrote on Instagram in a new post. “She was our high school drama teacher.”

“High school was rough for me and my brother,” the executive producer, director and writer continued. “But Hope saw something in us we didn’t see in ourselves — and she helped give us the confidence to not only survive those four years, but to move to LA and chase our dreams.”

Ross Duffer ended his message with a note about the importance of educators, specifically those that instruct in the humanities: “Shoutout to all the teachers out there making a difference. And please… let’s prioritize the arts in schools. ✌️”

[From Deadline]

I love this! A good teacher can truly make all of the difference in a student’s life. I wish that all teachers could get the credit and salary that they deserve. It’s awesome Matt and Ross Duffer are still in touch with Ms. Love. She was clearly a huge influence on them both. I had a teacher like that in high school and if I was ever in the same position as the Duffers, I would absolutely similarly honor him and his wife, both of whom I still keep in touch with through Facebook. The Duffer Brothers are from Durham, North Carolina. I live in North Carolina, and local news/social media have done a lot of coverage on the show and all of the different NC-based easter eggs they’ve thrown in throughout the years. There have been a lot of ‘inside baseball’ nods, so it’s been pretty neat to be reminded of certain things!

As for how the season is going so far, the first four episodes of season five have gotten mixed reviews. We didn’t watch it on the night that it dropped because we still had a few episodes to go with our series rewatch, but I saw online that the timed drop briefly crashed Netflix. Thankfully, it had resolved itself by the time we were ready to start. We’ve been taking these first four episodes slowly because they’re long and we don’t want to blow through them so quickly that we lose momentum for the last four. Again, *no spoilers* but I’ve liked what we’ve seen so far.

photos credit: Tina Rowden/Netflix, Getty Images for Netflix