{"id":2179689,"date":"2025-11-28T10:57:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2179689"},"modified":"2025-11-28T10:57:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:57:05","slug":"netflix-has-a-stranger-things-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/netflix-has-a-stranger-things-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix has a Stranger Things problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-10wlkbs-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"base\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveIndyArtsAndEntertainmentNews\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM fafQAy\">Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM fvWmZq\">Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter <\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM hkVmms\">Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter <\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 hKcUSR sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/indyArts1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"IndependentCulture\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"big-letter\">I<\/span>t\u2019s the beginning of the end for <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-5-volume-2-plot-explained-b2874135.html\" title=\"Stranger Things creators warn fans what to expect from Volume Two\"><em>Stranger Things<\/em><\/a>. Netflix\u2019s expensive, bullishly popular TV series \u2013 a coming-of-age story mixed with sci-fi horror and weren\u2019t-the-1980s-cool nostalgia \u2013 has made it to its <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-season-5-volume-1-episode-4-ending-b2874086.html\" title=\"Stranger Things season 5 viewers hail episode 4 ending \u2018wildest\u2019 in years\">fifth and final season<\/a>. It\u2019s been over nine years since the first series of <em>Stranger Things <\/em>came out, and an interminable three-and-a-half-year wait since the end of its fourth; within five weeks, it will have wrapped up entirely. For fans, it\u2019s a sad farewell. For <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/reviews\/stranger-things-review-season-5-will-episodes-b2873434.html\" title=\"Stranger Things review, season 5 volume 1: Netflix juggernaut has gone full Marvel\">Netflix<\/a>, it must be like staring down the length of a sheer cliff face. <\/p>\n<p>The impending conclusion of <em>Stranger Things <\/em>represents not just the loss of the streamer\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/netflix-stranger-things-5-merchandise-marketing-b2872683.html\" title=\"Netflix gives Stranger Things a sendoff befitting of a Hollywood blockbuster\">most marketable property<\/a>, but the end of an era. In some ways, the show<em> <\/em>already feels like a relic from a different time: in 2016, when it debuted, Netflix was a scrappy interloper in the world of television, still looking to prove the legitimacy of original streaming content as a concept. <em>Stranger Things <\/em>wasn\u2019t its first success \u2013 <em>House of Cards <\/em>and <em>Orange is the New Black<\/em> were already deep into their runs at that point \u2013 but it captured the public\u2019s attention like no Netflix series before it. <\/p>\n<p>Over the next several years, Netflix\u2019s reputation fluctuated drastically. First, it managed to ossify its credentials as a bona fide TV juggernaut. Then, it gradually backslid \u2013 to the point where, with some noteworthy exceptions, the words Netflix Original are now generally agreed to connote a certain type of forgettable, second-screenable dross. (The phrase \u201cNetflix slop\u201d is uttered widely and often.) Throughout these shifts, <em>Stranger Things <\/em>has remained a constant; a reminder of the power Netflix once had to attack the zeitgeist.<\/p>\n<p>Significantly, <em>Stranger Things<\/em> is also one of the few Netflix series to have actually increased its audience on a season-by-season basis. Recently, this is something the streamer has struggled with: the first seasons of shows such as the Korean thriller <em>Squid Game<\/em> or the Addams family adaptation <em>Wednesday <\/em>rank among the most widely seen TV programmes of the decade, but both experienced so-called \u201csecond season syndrome\u201d, in which they saw a marked decline \u2013 in audience figures and overall enthusiasm \u2013 when they returned for seconds. Some of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/features\/emmys-2025-winners-adolescence-the-pitt-bear-severence-b2826549.html\">Netflix\u2019s other big recent hits have essentially been one-and-dones<\/a>: the British miniseries <em>Adolescence<\/em> and <em>Baby Reindeer <\/em>were hugely popular, but both were short and self-contained stories. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s telling, too, that Netflix is releasing <em>Stranger Things<\/em> season five in eight episodes split into three batches (four now, three at Christmas, and a film-length finale around New Year\u2019s Day). The appeal of this strategy is obvious, and time-tested: staggering the release of a TV show is a way to prolong its relevance, its presence in our lives, and therefore its audience. But this approach flies in the face of Netflix\u2019s once-obstinate release strategy, and speaks to a fundamental conundrum the streamer now finds itself in. <\/p>\n<p>Since its inception, Netflix has typically opted to release original series whole cloth, inviting audiences to \u201cbinge\u201d, rather than <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/features\/the-traitors-mr-bates-gladiators-b2485234.html\">parcelling out the content on a weekly basis<\/a>. It\u2019s an approach that\u2019s more attuned to the mindset of the DVD box-set era than that of broadcast television, and it was a tactic that loudly affirmed Netflix\u2019s \u201cdisruptor\u201d status. But of course, there are good reasons \u2013 financial and logistical \u2013 why television\u2019s traditional one-episode-a-week format lasted so long. In recent years, ascendent rivals to Netflix, such as Apple TV and Disney+, have enjoyed considerable success with a more traditional weekly release model, with shows such as <em>Severance<\/em> maintaining a place in the cultural conversation for months at a time. The fact that Netflix has, with <em>Stranger Things <\/em>and elsewhere, begun dabbling with a sort of hybrid release model could be read as a tacit admission that maybe the traditionalists had a point. <\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-2 cbpRGD sc-awdjp1-3 image align-center\">\n<figure class=\"sc-1cbdeug-0 cXcwgU\">\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-0 kgPxcs\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2025\/11\/28\/9\/39\/StrangerThings_S5_0112_R.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2025\/11\/28\/9\/39\/StrangerThings_S5_0112_R.jpeg?quality=75&amp;width=320&amp;crop=3%3A2%2Csmart&amp;trim=108%2C934%2C482%2C851&amp;auto=webp 320w, https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2025\/11\/28\/9\/39\/StrangerThings_S5_0112_R.jpeg?quality=75&amp;width=640&amp;crop=3%3A2%2Csmart&amp;trim=108%2C934%2C482%2C851&amp;auto=webp 640w\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Stranger danger: Millie Bobby Brown in \u2018Stranger Things\u2019\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sc-1cbdeug-1 sc-1cbdeug-3 gtVitN hgzWpY\">Stranger danger: Millie Bobby Brown in \u2018Stranger Things\u2019<span class=\"sc-1cbdeug-7 exGSyR\"> <!-- -->(<!-- -->Netflix<!-- -->)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>As <em>Stranger Things <\/em>lurches towards a finale, Netflix faces a number of questions: what will be the \u201cnext <em>Stranger Things<\/em>\u201d? Does it even <em>need <\/em>a \u201cnext <em>Stranger Things<\/em>\u201d? Where does it go from here? It\u2019s particularly apt that <em>Stranger Things <\/em>is a coming-of-age story: its run has coincided with Netflix\u2019s own maturing arc. No longer the debutante, the world\u2019s biggest streaming service must now find a way to endure \u2013 or else, risk a fate worse than Vecna: obsolescence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.independent.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter It\u2019s the beginning of the end for Stranger Things. Netflix\u2019s expensive, bullishly popular TV series \u2013 a coming-of-age story mixed with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1948653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2179689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Strictly-2025-BBC-loses-professional-competitor-for-new-series.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2179689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2179690,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179689\/revisions\/2179690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1948653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2179689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2179689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2179689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}