Summary
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the other memorable residents of Hawkins, Indiana will say goodbye whenStranger Thingsseason 5 premieres onNetflixin 2025. There’s a lot that needs to happen, includingthe main characters hopefully preventing more evil from infiltrating their town (and the world). If The Party is successful, then maybe Eleven and her friends can think about a future that doesn’t involvethe Upside Down, which fans have theories about.
While there’s a lot to think about asStranger Thingsseason 5 gets closer,fans are focused on one significant part of the final season. Since this part of the season is so subjective, viewers can’t agree on what would be best for Eleven and the other memorable characters.
What Did Maya Hawke Say About Stranger Things Season 5 And Why Are Fans Torn?
On June 27th, 2024, Maya Hawke was interviewed on the podcast “Podcrushed” andHawke talked about the length of theStranger Thingsseason 5 episodes. According toThe New York Post, she said:
“We’re making basically eight movies. The episodes are very long.”
SinceStranger Thingsseason 4 had nine long episodes and packed a lot of plot and character arcs into them,fans are debating the episode length forStranger Thingsseason 5. Although The Duffer Brothers said season 5 won’t be as long, it does seem like each episode might be at least an hour. According toDeadline, Matt Duffer said on the podcast Happy Sad Confused, “The only reason we don’t expect to be as long is, this season, if you look at it, it’s almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery." Matt said that’s not necessary in season 5 but added thatfans can expect theStranger Thingsseries finale to be long.
Some fans are perfectly fine with long episodes sincefans hope thatStranger Thingsseason 5 ends well. Several viewers have discussed that if there were 10 episodes, then maybe the episodes would be a bit shorter. But since there are only 8 episodes, it would make sense to make them longer sothe Duffer Brothers can tell the story that they want to tell. Fans are also feeling nostalgic since it’s the last season, and they want to spend as much time in Hawkins as they can.Redditor @LilyMarie90wrote:
“Each of them can be 1.5 hours long if you ask me. It’s the last season of my favorite show. The last thing I want is foranythingto feel rushed or any character not get their proper ending.”
However, as fans shared in apost on the television SubReddit, some aren’t so sure that they want to see a longStranger Thingsseason 5. One Redditor wrote:
“Season 4 dragged way too long for me personally. Every episode didn’t need to be an hour. Every scene with Eleven was the exact same thing.”
The problem with long episodes is that while some parts are interesting, there’s also the opportunity for storylines that aren’t quite as engaging. While one fan didn’t love watching the characters in California as much as the other parts of the season, theypraised Max Mayfield’s (Sadie Sink) plotline involving Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). This plotline was so well-crafted that fans wonderif Max will surviveStranger Thingsseason 5and hope for a real conclusion to this arc. The fan wrote:
“Season 4 had some of the shows best stuff in the flashbacks and the Max stuff. Max’s story was as good as anything the show has done. But it dragged a lot in the other areas and the groups being completely isolated from one another really hurts it.”
The consensus seems to be that if theStranger Things5 episodes are very long, then the focus needs to be on wrapping up every main character’s arc, answering questions, and making the final season feel well-done and cohesive. Fans won’t be happy if there is “filler” content that doesn’t add anything to the overall story and feels boring.
How Long Were The Episodes In Stranger Things Season 1-4?
Seasons 1, 2, and 3 ofStranger Thingshave much shorter episode lengths that are similar to other TV series. Season 1 has episodes that are around 42 minutes, season 2’s episodes are between 45 and 60 minutes, and season 3’s episodes are around 60 minutes.
Stranger Thingsseason 4 is known as being the season with the longest episodes. TheStranger Thingsseason 4 finale, “The Piggyback,” is 2 hours and 19 minutes. While it’s full of action and an overall enjoyable watch, some might argue that it lags in some places and could have been shorter. Others, of course, are such big fans ofStranger Thingsthat they were glad to have such a lengthy episode. Since it seemslikely that theStranger Thingsseries finale will be two hours or more, as long asthe ending of the popular series feels right, then fans will be happy with the longer runtime.
