Netflix Peaked With This 3-Minute Scene That's Now 4 Years Old

While Netflix has a lot of shows with a lot of truly iconic scenes, the streaming service’s output as a whole peaked with a legendary sequence that first aired four years ago. It is tough to name the series that first put Netflix on the map as a cultural force to be reckoned with in the mid-2010s. For some viewers, it will be an early hit like Orange is the New Black or House of Cards, both of which were big successes but began while the streaming service itself was still somewhat niche.

For others, the show that made Netflix what it is today might be a later success, like 13 Reasons Why or Narcos, influential series that still shape their respective genres to this day. Somewhere in between, the Stranger Things franchise started out as a small, self-contained first season in 2016, only to soon balloon into a five-season original series, a two-season animated spinoff, and a string of tie-in comics, novels, and other related media.

Nowadays, Stranger Things can rival The Witcher, One Piece, and Wednesday as one of Netflix’s biggest franchises, and this is due in large part to the show’s scale and scope increasing with each new season. 2017’s season 2 expanded the cast with new characters like Dacre Montgomery’s Billy and Sean Astin’s Bob, while season 3 massively upped the action quotient with a dramatically more cartoony, over-the-top outing. 2022’s season 4 went darker and more grounded, but still became the biggest hit in the Stranger Things franchise to date.

Eddie's Guitar Scene Remains Netflix's Most Glorious Moment

A huge part of what made Stranger Things season 4 so special was the outing’s breakout star. Irish-British actor Joseph Quinn. Until then best known for a supporting role in 2018’s Howards End, Quinn starred as the lovable metalhead Eddie Munson who came to dominate the story of season 4 in a thoroughly unexpected way.

After witnessing Vecna’s horrific murder of his potential love interest, Chrissy, Eddie was forced into hiding as the town of Hawkins blamed him for her death and started a manhunt. Eventually, Eddie joined up with the rest of the Stranger Things crew and learned about the Upside-Down, Hawkins Lab, and the show’s big-picture villain, Vecna.

A surprisingly fearless hero who is unafraid to sacrifice himself to save the town that demonized him, Eddie plays a pivotal role in the group’s plan to take down Vecna in the season 4 finale. In an electrifying scene, he plays Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” on the roof of his RV home in the Upside-Down, luring Vecna’s lethal demobat henchmen away from Steve, Nancy, and Robin’s surprise attack on Vecna’s home.

Netflix's Second-Best Scene Came In The Very Same Season Of The Same Show

While this sequence might end in the tragic death of Eddie Munson, this only cements its status as the most iconic moment in Netflix history. The same season features a close contender for the streaming service’s most legendary scene, as Sadie Sink’s Max attempts to escape Vecna’s lair by focusing on positive memories with her friends and her boyfriend Lucas, sound tracked by Kate Bush’s seminal '80s hit "Running Up That Hill."

Unlike Eddie, Max survives her encounter with Vecna and goes on to make it out of the rest of the show’s run alive. As such, Eddie’s sacrifice is that little bit more heart-wrenching, which makes the sight of Quinn’s reckless antihero playing his heart out all the more invigorating.

The realization that the most hated kid in Hawkins is willing to lay down his life for a community that only ever viewed him as an outcast makes Eddie arguably the most tragic character in the five-season history of the series. As such, his choice to sacrifice himself by using his love of music to defeat evil makes this Stranger Things moment the single most straightforwardly satisfying self-contained scene in Netflix history.