Stranger Things: Netflix's First Sci-Fi Hit Loses Streaming Traction

1 week ago 12

Closeup of Derek smirking and looking to the side in Stranger Things.

Published Jan 29, 2026, 12:17 PM EST

Denis is a news writer for Collider. He has covered television for several years, starting with writing scripts for YouTube videos before transitioning to articles. He has reviewed shows across different genres. His favorite types of articles to write are exciting news updates about shows and episodic reviews of the same. He might say he doesn't have a favorite show, but he has watched The Wire, Shameless, The Big Bang Theory, and The Blacklist more than once. Find him on X tweeting about something random that occurred to him about a TV show or the industry.

Netflix's first sci-fi hit, Stranger Things, is losing ground on streaming charts, four weeks after the cultural juggernaut dropped its series finale episode. Streaming data from FlixPatrol shows that the series is on its way out of the streamer's global top 10 chart as newer or more popular shows are added to the service. The drama has already dropped out of country-specific charts, including Australia, the United States, and the UK. It's common for shows to be dethroned from their streaming positions, but a quick descent for a show as popular as Stranger Things signals a structural problem.

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things got its own special release schedule, with Netflix timing the release to major American holidays. The eight-episode season dropped in batches of four, three, and one episode. The 8 P.M. ET holiday drop worked well, given its cultural dominance, as the internet lit up with Stranger Things discussions. However, the show's popularity was still plagued by the Binge Model Problem, where interest wanes after a week or so. The fact that the finale was a single episode prevented the show from competing with longer-running shows. Even worse, the last episode was negatively received, affecting rewatchability.

'Stranger Things' Season 5's Finale Created a Divide in the Fanbase

While the finale was fine on paper, many viewers felt it played it too safe. This led to a week-long spiral with viewers waiting for a secret episode that would deliver the kind of end they wanted. Theories arose and were swiftly debunked. However, a documentary released after the finale, along with the Duffer Brothers' own words, suggested that the finale's incompleteness was real rather than deliberate. "We went into production without having a finished script for the finale," Matt admitted. "Laying down the tracks as the train is going," said another crew member.

While some scenes were shot without an endgame in mind, others completely abandoned the show's own lore, and the writers could tell. For example, the show dropped demogorgons at some point, making the battle in The Abyss too easy. "There has to be some monsters in The Abyss, there has to be demogorgon, bat, dog, something, it's crazy if there's nothing in there, I think," Paul Dicther, a writer, said in the documentary.

At 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, Stranger Things Season 5 is the lowest-rated of the entire series. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.