Before it’s too late, check out The Boroughs on Netflix.

A limited series (Netflix has already cancelled it after its freshman season), The Boroughs was executive-produced by The Duffer Brothers, who spent years telling the story of supernatural shenanigans on the hit series Stranger Things. The Boroughs, similar in tone, had only 8 episodes.

But The Boroughs’ brevity may be the reason it’s so good. Rather than drag out a complicated mythology over several years, with a massive cast of characters (some of whom have aged at a rate that outpaces the timeline of the story), Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews have created a show which deals with one central mystery, with a tight cast of actors whose aging is the point of the story.

Alfred Molina plays Sam, the central character through whose eyes we are introduced to The Boroughs, a mid-century modern community nestled into the scenic New Mexico desert, built for elderly people of varying levels of ability. There are spacious houses in suburban-style neighborhoods for those who are more self-sufficient, and The Manor, a care facility for those seniors who need more attention.

Sam is one of the former – physically, he’s able to take care of himself. But after the death of his wife Lilly (played in flashbacks by Jane Kaczmarek), he just doesn’t want to. Sam’s daughter Claire, played by Jena Malone, doesn’t have space for him in her home, and so she and her husband Neil (Rafael Casal) arrange for Sam to take up residence in a home that was recently made available by the death of another resident, Grace. (We see what happens to her in the cold open, which teases what is going on here.)

Sam is not thrilled to be here, and even less thrilled when his neighbor Jack (Bill Pullman) ropes him into going to a house party where he can meet the other residents in his cul-de-sac. In addition to Jack, there’s married couple Judy and Art (Alfre Woodard and Clarke Peters), free-spirit Renee (Geena Davis), and former doctor Wally (Denis O’Hare), who is dying of cancer. Sam tries to socialize, but is haunted by visions of his wife, and ends up running back home. After the party is over, he goes back to see Jack, only to find something attacking him. Sam scares whatever it is away, but the damage is done. Jack is dead.

After this inciting incident, the gang find themselves embroiled in a mystery that they’ll have to solve themselves. Blaine (Seth Numrich), the omnipresent CEO of The Boroughs, and his head of security Hank (Eric Edelstein), dismiss their concerns, but it’s soon revealed that there is something more sinister at work here. One security guard, Paz, (Carlos Miranda), does believe them, though, and joins the elder Scooby gang to get to the bottom of what’s attacking the residents.

To say more about the plot would be to spoil a great story, but the story is only the second-best thing about The Boroughs. What’s great about the show is the characters. In the capable hands of this terrific cast, the writing explores not only what’s lurking beneath the homes in the retirement village, but what it’s like to be less physically able than you once were. To go from being respected in your job to being retired, with a skill set that is no longer needed. To explore the contours of a long-standing marriage and what must be sacrificed to maintain it. To be treated like a child by people half your age.

Clarke, Woodard and Molina are especially good in this, and their performances alone are worth the watch. Fans of Stranger Things should like The Boroughs, and anyone with a parent approaching retirement age (or themselves about to hit that milestone) to will appreciate it even more for the writing that explores the realities of aging so well in a show about the fantastical.

Every episode of The Boroughs is currently available on Netflix, which recently announced the show would not get any more seasons.