The show has successfully sparked a lot of conversation with its final season, which is exactly what its creators hoped for. Even two weeks after the season 5 finale aired on December 31, 2025, many fans are still struggling to accept the ending. A new documentary about the season’s production has only intensified the debate by revealing potential alternate endings.
This lengthy documentary explores the making of a pivotal season of a popular Netflix series. Concluding the nearly decade-long story of the characters in Hawkins, Indiana, was a significant challenge, and some viewers felt the finale didn’t quite live up to expectations. Ironically, by revealing the behind-the-scenes process of creating the final season, Netflix inadvertently gave dissatisfied fans even more to criticize about the show’s ending.
As a huge fan of the show, I was completely fascinated by a glimpse into the writers’ room revealed in a recent documentary. They actually showed notes about different ideas for the finale! Apparently, they considered a version where Hopper knew Eleven was faking her death, and another where she wasn’t actually dead, just…gone. It’s wild to see how much changes during the creative process, and you can check out a detailed post about it on X if you’re curious!
‘Stranger Things‘ Finale Has Been One of the Biggest Events on Netflix
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things was released in stages. The first four episodes became available in November, followed by three more on Christmas Day, and the last two episodes, completing the series, arrived on New Year’s Eve.
The first part of Season 5 was a massive hit, reaching 59.6 million views in the last week of November and another 23.6 million the week after. Interestingly, all four earlier seasons also became popular again, each attracting over 5 million views during the final two months of 2025.
The latter half of Season 5 didn’t perform as strongly as the first. While the initial three episodes drew 34 million viewers between December 25th and 28th, that number fell to 31 million the following week, which included the release of the season finale. A week after that, viewership dropped to just under 10 million.
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While the first part of the season attracted about 80 million viewers, the final four episodes saw a slight dip to around 75 million, indicating that interest in Stranger Things was waning even before the season concluded. However, Stranger Things 5 remains incredibly popular, currently ranking as Netflix’s sixth most-watched series. It’s on track to climb to fourth place, surpassing Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Wednesday Season 2. The top three spots are currently held by Wednesday Season 1, Adolescence, and Stranger Things 4.
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2026-01-14 03:36