The premiere batch of episodes for the final season of Stranger Things has been met with a lot of praise and hype in equal measure, with more hits than misses overall to be excited about. We don’t yet know if the long-running and highly popular Netflix original will stick the landing, but it’s certainly off to a good start. As a major fan of Stranger Things, this is great news for me, because I hate investing years in a series only for it to fall flat at the finish line.
But something about its release structure has reminded me of what I’ve come to detest about Netflix as a streamer. Don’t get me wrong, it still releases quality shows and movies, even if it cancels the former a bit too often for my liking. It’s not the three-year waits between seasons, which obviously didn’t affect Stranger Things, so much as it is how Netflix has decided to break up how it releases episodes now. And I think it’s time for the network to pick a lane.
Stranger Things has reminded me that Netflix is no longer for binge-watching
The good old days are gone
I remember when the first season of Stranger Things dropped on Netflix all the way back in 2016, all at once, and what a cultural phenomenon that was. We all flocked to the episodes, devouring them like we hadn’t feasted in weeks, and then spent the next few weeks unable to shut up about their brilliance and nostalgia. It was a bona fide hit for the streamer, and has continued to be that, and for good reason.
But when the network started splitting episodes of its more popular shows into chunks, released piecemeal on what seemed like arbitrary release dates, it reminded me that a good thing can never truly last. What was once the home of encouraged binge-watching has shifted its priorities. Not into a one-episode-a-week schedule, no, but into strange middle ground territory that just screamed, “Why yes, I would like my cake and I would like to eat it, too.”
Stranger Things 5: The hits and misses of episodes 3 and 4
What happened in the third and fourth episodes of the final season of Stranger Things
And hey, it’s worked out for them so far. Stranger Things‘ final season is going to continue to be popular no matter how they break up the episodes, and the finale episode is even being shown in theaters. It’s a big deal. Even Cobra Kai didn’t suffer from this release schedule, though I definitely waited until it was all out to watch because I refused to engage with content in this way. But on a grander scale, I don’t believe this is a sustainable release model, especially once all of Netflix’s popular shows are finished.
Netflix needs to pick an identity and stick with it
I just want consistency
You may be thinking that I am advocating only for the binge-watching model here, but I promise I am not. While I prefer that in many ways, I would also accept weekly episodes, like in the good old days, and like many other premium streaming networks have adopted. It’s worked out very well for places like Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video. Plus, there’s something nostalgic in its own right about consuming content in this way.
But Netflix insists on releasing episodes either all at once, or in these frustrating batches. And while that will continue to work for shows like Stranger Things, the future is not so certain. It’s confusing trying to keep track of what shows will release at once or what will release in chunks, and then trying to keep up with when those episodes will actually release. So far, it’s been weirdly holiday-focused, but that’s not a guarantee. All I am asking for here is consistency, and I seriously think Netflix will be forced to decide sooner or later. It doesn’t have many shows left that are on the level of Stranger Things or even Cobra Kai.
I don’t actually think this strategy will change
It’s a good way to inflate viewership numbers
You’re probably thinking that I’m fighting against the tide here, and you’re likely correct in that assumption. After all, why settle for one batch of episodes that can top Netflix’s charts when it can have two or three batches that will do the same thing? It’s a fair argument, to be sure. But what happens when that second or third part doesn’t perform like it should? It’s easy to wonder if the viewership overall would have been better as one release, or even a consistent weekly schedule.
But I’m not a fortune-teller. I can’t predict the future. Maybe this strategy will continue to pull in huge numbers for Netflix, and they can continue to inflate their viewership charts in ways that dazzle their stockholders. But there’s something about it that feels fundamentally desperate, like trying to stretch out the run of a show well past its natural end point by giving us just a taste of it before sending us away, with the promise of more tomorrow. It’s more than a little suspect.
And yet I will continue to watch, at least when it comes to Stranger Things
All of this is rather moot at this point in time, because this strategy has worked on me. Stranger Things dropped those first four episodes of the final season, and I pounced on them like a hungry lion. Beyond this particular show, though, it’s difficult to imagine waiting for years for a season, only to then be teased over months for the episodes we already waited too long for.
If you’re in the market for some good horror though, check out these episodes that could be horror movies on their own.
