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Netflix was briefly pulled into the Upside Down on Wednesday evening as Stranger Things Season Five finally premiered and triggered a sudden crash on the platform. The global anticipation surrounding the return of one of Netflix’s most successful series proved overwhelming, with the service going down at exactly 5 p.m. PT when the new season became available.
For viewers who had been waiting more than three years for the continuation of the Hawkins storyline, the crash felt like a dramatic twist of its own. Instead of diving into the world of Eleven, Mike, Will and the rest of the characters, many users were met with an unexpected image from the show Nailed It with a message that read, “Something went wrong. Sorry we are having trouble with your request. You will find lots to explore on the home page.” The error appeared across TV devices and affected tens of thousands who attempted to stream the first batch of episodes immediately at release time.
Fortunately for fans, the outage did not last long. By 5:05 p.m. PT the service appeared to be restored for most users around the world. A Netflix spokesperson confirmed that some members briefly experienced issues streaming on TV devices but that the service fully recovered within five minutes. While the interruption was short, it highlighted the enormous demand that Stranger Things continues to generate even after nearly a decade on screen.
This is not the first time the series has pushed Netflix to its limits. During the release of the final episodes of Season Four in July 2022, Netflix also suffered a temporary outage. Other major moments on the platform, such as the Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight which was one of the earliest live streamed events on the service, have caused similar disruptions. Stranger Things, however, remains one of the few shows with enough global pull to stir this level of traffic instantly.
Season Five arrives as the concluding chapter of the franchise. The new episodes follow the Hawkins kids as they regroup to find and destroy the monstrous Vecna once and for all. The town is under strict military quarantine and Eleven remains hidden from the authorities as they race against time. The cast features Millie Bobby Brown Finn Wolfhard Gaten Matarazzo Caleb McLaughlin Noah Schnapp Sadie Sink Natalia Dyer Charlie Heaton Joe Keery Maya Hawke Winona Ryder David Harbour Cara Buono Priah Ferguson Eduardo Franco Brett Gelman Dacre Montgomery Matthew Modine Paul Reiser Jamie Campbell Bower Grace Van Dien Robert Englund Tyner Rushing and Raphael Luce.
Despite the momentary crash the excitement around the premiere only grew stronger. Stranger Things continues to stand as one of Netflix’s most watched and most culture shaping series. The brief outage served as proof that even in its final season the show still has the power to shake not only Hawkins but the entire internet.
