Netflix has defended its decision to release the latest instalment of Stranger Things all in one go rather than on a weekly basis after receiving backlash from fans.
Many viewers think if a new episode dropped every seven days then the hit sci-fi show could have ‘owned the next nine weeks of conversation’.
This never happened of course, instead we got the first seven episodes available all in one go, with fans having to wait until July 1 for Netflix to release the penultimate and final episodes of the season.
One tweeter said a weekly drop "would have generated more theories and discussions over the nine weeks and absolutely shrunk the impact Obi-Wan & Ms Marvel will have. Instead it’s dead".
And more than 100,000 people agreed with him.
Delivering episodes on a weekly basis worked well for shows such as Marvel’s WandaVision, Euphoria and Game of Thrones.
But conversely, all episodes of the phenomenally successful Squid Game – the most-tweeted about show in 2021 – were all released in one go, which certainly didn't hamper its success.
To Netflix's credit, they were quick to address the fans’ pleas for weekly instalments.
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Peter Friedlander, the streaming service's head of scripted series for US and Canada, told Variety: "For the fans of Stranger Things, this (the series drop) is how they’ve been watching that show, and I think to change that would be disappointing.
“To not give them exactly what they’ve been expecting—which is Stranger Things is a seasonal experience, they go through that with them. I think that it would be an abrupt change for the member.”
He continued: “We fundamentally believe that we want to give our members the choice in how they view. And so giving them the option on these scripted series to watch as much as they want to watch, when they want to watch it, is still fundamental to what we want to provide. And so when you see something like a batched season with Stranger Things, this is our attempt at making sure we can get shows out quicker to the members.”
Friedlander noted the streaming platform has done weekly releases for its unscripted or competition series, but said this strategy would not extend to scripted content - which is ‘really about servicing Netflix’s subscribers in more expedient ways’.
“That’s what you see (with Stranger Things ) and that’s what you see with Ozark,” he said. “So we have had some experimentation in that space. But also, you’re giving multiple-episodic-viewing experiences, it isn’t a standalone. So it really does, what we think, honours our relationship with our members and what their expectations are.”
Would you have preferred to get a new episode week by week? Let us know in the comments
