Days ahead of the release of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, fans appear to be diving back into Hawkins en masse, driving all previous seasons to Netflix’s top 10 TV list.
In a first for any show on the streaming platform, all previous seasons of the hit science fiction horror show are in the top 10 charts at the same time.
Season 5, which co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer say features “the most violent death of any season”, is set to drop its first four episodes on 26 November.
At the time of writing, Season 1 was at No 3 on the list of Top 10 Netflix shows globally, Season 4 at No 5, Season 2 at No 7, and Season 3 at No 9.
The first season, released in 2016, follows the residents of the fictional small town of Hawkins in Indiana after a girl with psychokinetic abilities opens a gateway between the earth and an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down.
Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, and Gaten Matarazzo have led the series since its debut almost a decade ago – back when they were all young teenagers – alongside Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Winona Ryder, and David Harbour.
Sadie Sink joined in the second season and has remained a fan favourite. Describing the emotional experience of filming her final scenes, the actor likened it to “saying goodbye to your childhood”.
The new season features a time jump to make up for the pace at which the show’s stars are out-aging the characters they play.
Stranger Things has been steadily climbing the charts as anticipation has grown for the final season.
This suggests fans are rewatching the story from the beginning, especially with the show’s dense mythology, 1980s references and scattered easter eggs. The timeline itself gives viewers plenty to revisit: season two arrived in 2017, season three in 2019, and season four in 2022.
The fourth season held the spot for the second most-watched English-language TV series on Netflix at 140.7 million views until June this year when it was surpassed by the Emmy-winning UK miniseries Adolescence, with 141.2 million total views.
The final season dives into the backstory of the central antagonist Henry Creel, later revealed to be Vecna, a powerful being who started out as a human before becoming the monstrous force behind the Upside Down.
“We really dive into Henry's backstory before he arrived at Hawkins lab,” Matt Duffer told Entertainment Weekly.
“We definitely explore more about Henry because so much of the show does revolve around Vecna and his relationship with Will.”
Volume One of Stranger Things season five debuts 26 November, Volume Two drops on Christmas Day and the series finale on New Year’s Eve.
The finale will also be released in over 350 theatres beginning December 31. The exact theatres offering the viewing will be announced at a later date.
This will be the first time an episode of a Netflix series will be available to watch on the big screen.
