Every streaming service has a different take on releasing episodes for its series. Netflix has been known to drop the whole season at once, and it seems to stick to that with the final season of Stranger Things. Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada, spoke to Variety about the mentality of sticking to its established release model.
“For the fans of‘ Stranger Things, this is how they’ve been watching that show, and I think to change that on them would be disappointing,” he said. “To not give them exactly what they’ve been expecting — which is Stranger Things is a seasonal experience, they go through that with them — I think that it would be an abrupt change for the member.”
The idea of weekly releases versus dropping it all at once has people divided. An argument can be made for either method, but to Netflix, having a whole season come out on a single day is the way to go. Friedman explains the benefit of this path.
“We fundamentally believe that we want to give our members the choice in how they view,” he said. “And so giving them that option on these scripted series to watch as much as they want to watch when they watch it, is still fundamental to what we want to provide. And so when you see something like a batched season with Stranger Things, this is our attempt at making sure we can get shows out quicker to the members.”
Leading Up to the Endgame: Stranger Things’ Final Season and Its Current Fourth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQEondeGvKo
Stranger Things may have its fifth and final season on the horizon, but its current fourth has become a huge hit. As the third most popular Netflix season, the show continues to prove itself as a flagship series for the streaming platform.
This season went about its release a little differently. Like the finale of Ozark, it split itself up into two. With season four going for longer episodes, the first part consists of the first seven episodes, with the final two coming on July 1st.
No release date has been set for the final season of Stranger Things. Initially, it was meant to be four and done, but the story the Duffer brothers had in mind expanded, and they needed extra time to do it right. With COVID-19 delaying the fourth season’s production in 2020, they had time to plan what to do for the grand finale.
