“Stranger Things ”Season 5 Premiere Causes Netflix Crash Despite Co-Creator Saying Streamer ‘Increased Bandwidth’

Netflix crashed amid Stranger Things season 5’s premiere on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Viewers were suddenly locked out of the Upside Down when the first four episodes of the sci-fi horror show’s final season dropped on the platform at 5 p.m. PT.

“NETFLIX FIX YOURSELF RIGHT NOW BRO, IVE BEEN WAITING THREE YEARS,” one person wrote on X. “OH MY GOD NETFLIX PLS FIX YOURSELF I WANNA WATCH,” another commented.

The crash didn’t last long, though. “Some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TV devices, but service recovered for all accounts within five minutes,” a Netflix representative told PEOPLE.

Hours earlier, Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer of the Duffer Brothers claimed in an Instagram Stories post that “Netflix increased bandwidth by 30 percent to avoid a crash.”

In November 2024, Netflix’s first season 5 teaser revealed that the new episodes will be set in the fall of 1987. This was a less significant time jump than fans expected, given that season 4 was set in the spring of 1986 and was released three years ago.

The show’s epic final season will see the beloved characters face off against the mysterious Upside Down for one last time. Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, and more will reprise their roles.

The Duffer Brothers teased in an interview with TheWrap that season 5 would be shorter than season 4, which runs at about 13 hours long.

“I don’t think it’ll be as long,” Matt Duffer told the outlet. “The final few is going to be more like a Return of the Jedi in that … they’re going from the beginning. There’s going to be less ramp up. And I think people will understand what I’m talking about when they see the end of this season. It’s like, we’re just going.”

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Season 5 will consist of eight episodes, Tudum announced in November 2024. In an Instagram post last month, Ross shared the runtime for the first four episodes.

The season premiere will run for one hour and eight minutes, with episode 2 clocking in at 54 minutes. Episode 3’s runtime is one hour and 6 minutes, and the fourth episode is one hour and 23 minutes.

Episodes 5, 6 and 7 will be released on Dec. 25, with the series finale following on Dec. 31.