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Iit’s almost the end stranger thingsNetflix’s expensive, hugely popular TV series – a coming-of-age story mixed with sci-fi horror and 1980s nostalgia – has made it to its halfway mark Fifth and final seasonIt’s been over nine years since the first series of stranger things came out, and an endless wait of three and a half years since the end of its fourth; Within a week, it will be completely gone. It’s a sad farewell for fans. For NetflixIt must be like staring down the length of a sheer cliff face.
imminent conclusion of stranger things It not only represents the dreamer’s loss Most Marketable AssetBut the end of an era. In some ways, the show Already feels like a relic of a different time: In 2016, when it debuted, Netflix was a useless interloper in the world of television, still looking to prove the validity of original streaming content as a concept. stranger things Was this not its first success – House of cards And 15-20 They were already deep into their show at the time – but it captured the public’s attention like no other Netflix series had done before.
Over the next several years, Netflix’s reputation fluctuated wildly. First, it managed to establish its credentials as a bona fide TV stalwart. Then, it slowly slipped back — to the point where, with a few notable exceptions, the term Netflix Original is now generally agreed to denote a certain kind of forgettable, second-screen worthy filth. (The phrase “Netflix slop” is widely and often uttered.) During these changes, stranger things remains stable; It’s a reminder of the power Netflix once had to attack the zeitgeist.
Noteworthy, stranger things It is one of the few Netflix series that has actually increased its viewership on a season-by-season basis. Lately, this has been something the streamer has struggled with: the first season of shows like the Korean thriller squid game or the addams family adaptation Wednesday Ranked among the most widely watched TV programs of the decade, but both experienced the so-called “second season syndrome”, in which they saw a significant decline in viewership and overall enthusiasm – when they returned for seconds. Some? Netflix’s other big recent hits have essentially been one-offs:British miniseries adolescence And baby reindeer were extremely popular, but both were short and self-contained stories.
It’s also telling that Netflix is releasing stranger things Season five consists of eight episodes divided into three batches (four arriving in November, three on Christmas Day and a film-length finale on New Year’s Day). The appeal of this strategy is obvious, and time-tested: punctuating the release of a TV show is a way to increase its relevance, its presence in our lives, and therefore its audience. But this approach flies in the face of Netflix’s once stubborn release strategy, and speaks to a fundamental conundrum in which the streamer now finds itself.
Since its inception, Netflix has generally opted to release original series in their entirety, inviting viewers to “binge”. Parceling content on a weekly basisIt’s an approach that matches the mentality of the DVD box-set era more than broadcast television, and it was a strategy that loudly confirmed Netflix’s “disruptive” status, But of course, there are good reasons – financial and logical – why television’s traditional one-episode-per-week format has lasted so long, In recent years, Netflix’s emerging rivals, such as Apple TV and Disney+, have found considerable success with shows such as a more traditional weekly release model, separation Holding a place in the cultural conversation for months. The fact that Netflix has stranger things And elsewhere, it has begun to work with a kind of hybrid release model that could be read as a tacit acknowledgment that perhaps the traditionalists had a point.
As stranger things Heading into the finale, Netflix faces many questions: What will be “next” stranger things“? Does something like this also happen need A “next.” stranger things“? Where does it go from here? This is especially appropriate stranger things It’s a coming-of-age story: Its performance coincides with Netflix’s own maturing arc. Not for the first time, the world’s biggest streaming service must now find a way to endure – otherwise, risk a fate worse than Vecna: obsolescence.