Fans of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” were upside down with excitement on Christmas Day as they waited to unwrap three brand-new episodes Thursday night.
Netflix is scheduled to release the second of a three-part drop for the show’s final season at 8 p.m. ET, nearly a month after leaving viewers with an epic cliffhanger. But fans will have to wait another week to the see the conclusion of the science-fiction saga, when the series finale is released on New Year’s Eve.
“Stranger Things” debuted on the streaming platform in 2016 and has grown to be one of the biggest shows for Netflix over the last decade. Across all five seasons, Netflix said, the show has amassed more than 1 billion streams.
It has become a massive cultural phenomenon, with the streaming giant launching pop-ups, immersive experiences and merchandise centered on the hit show.
The first four episodes of the final season gained nearly 60 million views in the first week, the streamer said. It was Netflix’s No. 1 show in the world and the largest premiere week for an English-language show in Netflix history.
The show revolves around the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s as a group of kids discover a paranormal world underneath their own. One of the show’s main characters, Will Byers, was kidnapped and taken to the “Upside Down” in the show’s premiere episode in July 2016.
His group of friends, who make up a Dungeons & Dragons party, also discover a mysterious girl with telekinetic powers who has no identity other than the number 11 tattooed on her wrist. Eleven and the group of boys work together to uncover the mysteries hidden in Hawkins and bring Will home.
And while Will did come back, his connection to the supernatural world didn’t end there. Over the series, the group of preteens grow up fighting against the unknown powers seeking to take over Hawkins while they learn more about Eleven’s origins — and her connection to the “Upside Down.”
The “Stranger Things” world has expanded to include a large ensemble of characters beloved by fans — who worry these characters may not live through the final battle against the forces controlling the “Upside Down.”
Many eagerly counted down the hours on social media as they waited for the show’s latest episodes to drop.
It’s a big day for Netflix, which is hosting “NFL Christmas Gameday” for a second year. The streaming platform cross-promoted the two holiday events on its social platforms.
“Stranger Things” actors Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo were featured in a video promoting the programming on Netflix’s social media accounts.
“It is a big day,” Matarazzo says in the video, while chomping on popcorn alongside McLaughlin.
The streaming platform also posted an image of NFL players biking through the “Upside Down” in a crossover between the two streaming events. The NFL called it a “perfect Christmas Day combo.”
