I wish Stranger Things season four was released weekly
After a three-year break, Stranger Things returns for its fourth season – or volume one of its fourth season – on Friday. And Netflix being Netflix, all seven episodes in volume one will be dumped on the service at the same time.
I have never been a great binge-watcher and I will always prefer a weekly model to a whole season being dropped all at once. It feels easier to stay on top of one episode per week and you don’t have to dedicate an entire weekend to racing through a show to try and beat the spoilers.
I’ve done this with Stranger Things in the past and was mentally preparing myself to try and do it again on Friday – but then I saw the runtimes of the episodes. They are chunky! Some of them are basically mini-movies and I would rather not have to digest all that so quickly.
In case you haven’t heard, here’s a breakdown of the season four runtimes:
- Episode one: 1hr 16
- Episode two: 1hr 15
- Episode three: 1hr 3
- Episode four: 1hr 17
- Episode five: 1hr 14
- Episode six: 1hr 13
- Episode seven: 1hr 38
That is beefy! And a whole lot of content! I would prefer to watch one episode, think about it, talk about it and watch the next one the following week. It keeps the conversation alive for longer too. Instead, we’ll blast through it, talk about it for a few weeks and then everyone will move on to the next thing and it’ll be forgotten.
Admittedly, Stranger Things S4 is a little bit different than usual. After the initial seven-episode drop on Friday, we’ll get two more – which are 1 hr 25 and then TWO HOURS AND 30 MINUTES – on 1 July. I really thought that epic bumper episode was the series finale but nope, there is a fifth and final season coming!
It’s just too much TV to consume with all the other content coming out then too (such as Obi-Wan Kenobi). Streaming services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ have returned to the classic weekly models and I wish Netflix will follow suit. The viewing experience is so much better.
There is no way I’ll finish all seven episodes of Stranger Things this weekend so nobody spoil it for me, please. I’ll be going as fast as I can!