STRANGER THINGS Fans Left Frustrated As Series Finale Causes Netflix To Crash... Again

STRANGER THINGS Fans Left Frustrated As Series Finale Causes Netflix To Crash... Again

Though it didn't last as long as the last crash, Netflix was hit with technical issues on New Year's Eve as fans tuned in to watch the series finale of Stranger Things...

By MarkCassidy - Jan 01, 2026 04:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Stranger Things
Source: Via SFF Gazette.com

The extended series finale of Stranger Things is now streaming, but when "The Rightside Up" premiered at 5 p.m. PT on New Year’s Eve, Netflix was hit with another crash - though this one only lasted for about 60 seconds.

As fans of the long-running sci-fi/horror series logged into their accounts in droves to find out whether the forces of darkness would be vanquished forever, many were met with a message that read, “Something went wrong. Sorry, we’re having trouble with your request. You’ll find lots to explore on the home page.”

Irritated viewers took to social media to complain, but the error sorted itself out after a few refreshes. Still, one has to wonder why the streamer wasn't prepared for this after the last time.

Back in November, Netflix was down for about five minutes when the first four episodes of Season 5 released at 5 p.m. PT. Stranger Things also caused some technical issues in 2022 when the final Season 4 episodes dropped.

Waiting a few additional minutes isn't exactly a huge inconvenience, but with so much anticipation for the conclusion of what is widely considered to be the most popular streaming show of all time, it's understandable that fans will have been left frustrated by yet another crash.

Check out the series finale poster below, and let us know what you made of the finale in the comments (this is not a spoiler discussion post, so please tag any major reveals).

According to the official synopsis: “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding."

“As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”

Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay). New to the cast for Stranger Things season 5 are Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Nell Fisher (Evil Dead Rise), newcomer Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux (Joe Pickett).

About The Author:
MarkCassidy
Member Since 11/9/2008
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.
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Mercwitham0uth
Mercwitham0uth - 1/1/2026, 4:34 PM
I had no issues watching it last night Arrr yarr ha harrr!!

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TK420
TK420 - 1/1/2026, 4:37 PM
I watched Miami vs. Ohio State. No problems there...
Kadara
Kadara - 1/1/2026, 4:46 PM
Salute my Soma.. wait...My American pirates!!
Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 1/1/2026, 5:17 PM
@Kadara - somalí ? I think you aré thinking Minesota
Kadara
Kadara - 1/1/2026, 8:09 PM
@Malatrova15 - I was thinking Venezuela, Amiga
EscapeMySight
EscapeMySight - 1/1/2026, 4:58 PM
No trouble watching it here. Was a cool ending.
I'm glad its over though. I really don't think this show needed to be five seasons.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 1/1/2026, 5:05 PM
I loved it. I enjoyed the ending so much, but I immediately said to myself. I bet people online will find reasons to hate it. You people are dead inside. It's like you forgot how to have fun and nothing is ever good enough. It honestly makes me feel lucky I have a fulfilling life outside of the online world because I think being miserable and insecure in real life carries over into how you post online. Just please take a moment of self-reflection and stop preventing yourself from what's supposed to be time to get away from the stress of the world and embrace the rules of the story completely. I guarantee you will enjoy life more if you do this. Also, have a great 2026.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 1/1/2026, 5:08 PM
@JackDeth - It was definitely an amazing and satisfying ending, and I agree, people do not like anything fun anymore. Everyone's complaining about none of the main characters dying...why would you want that ?
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 1/1/2026, 7:00 PM
@JackDeth - Its a good ending, problem with S5 is it felt like they were just checking boxes so you didn't really have any good character moments as they were just racing towards wrapping it up. Mike & L were the main characters and barely have any lines or interactions with each other or anyone this whole season. Must of had some BTS drama we don't know about as "L" (Millie Bobby Brown) barely has any lines or scenes with anyone this whole season....

It felt like a good ending for now, but not really a definitive end. No spoilers, but not a fan of the cop out ending of 1 of the characters possibly surviving after dying to prince's purple rain song.

My biggest issue for the last episode was that there was no Demi gorgons in the abyss. It literally only had vecna and the kaiju on an empty planet. Kinda sad the iconic demi gorgon monster didn't have an appearance in the final episode besides the flashbacks. the abyss is literally where all the demi gorgons come from and its an empty world?
JackDeth
JackDeth - 1/1/2026, 7:40 PM
@mastakilla39 - You can call it a cop-out ending, but it was left ambiguous on purpose. I've seen arguments why both possibilities could have been real, but ultimately it's left up to you to decide what you think happened. I think it's unlikely to be true, but it's what Mike needed to believe to move on with his life.
Antitrollpatrol
Antitrollpatrol - 1/1/2026, 9:35 PM
@JackDeth - I enjoyed it. I just felt that the villain didn't really have a motive for why they were trying to do what they did. Sorry I'm trying to be vague in case anyone hasn't seen it yet. To me that is where the episode/series struggled. Why was creel trying to bring the flayer's world over to our world.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 1/1/2026, 9:57 PM
@Antitrollpatrol - I think it was well-established that he was influenced by the 'mind flayer' as a kid. When he found that case, he was 'infected' for lack of a better word.
Antitrollpatrol
Antitrollpatrol - 1/1/2026, 10:02 PM
@JackDeth - yeah that's not what I was saying. There literally was no exposition for the purpose of why him and the flayer were trying to destroy our world and create a new one. I get that he was manipulated and influenced but for some reason they had exposition on every other thing except for this.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 1/1/2026, 10:13 PM
@Antitrollpatrol - There was a whole psychic exchange between Will and Henry all about this very subject. Will was trying to get him to understand it wasn't his fault because he was just a kid. Then Henry was all 'I wasn't tricked. I did what I did blah blah blah' but it was pretty obvious he was being used.
Antitrollpatrol
Antitrollpatrol - 1/1/2026, 10:20 PM
@JackDeth - okay bud. I know he was mind controlled. It never explained the mindlfayer's purpose for destroying our world. IT WAS BLATANTLY OBVIOUS THAT CREEL WAS MIND CONTROLLED. It never dove into the reasoning for WHY THE MINDFLAYER WANTED TO DESTROY THE WORLD.
JackDeth
JackDeth - 1/1/2026, 10:34 PM
@Antitrollpatrol - Ohhhh, you wanted to know why the big bad evil guy was doing big bad evil things. I think we can infer it just wanted to cause chaos and destruction or merge its world with ours. Why do bad guys do bad things?

Oh, also, don't call me 'bud' and don't yell. It's not that serious.
TheRevelation
TheRevelation - 1/2/2026, 9:11 AM
@Antitrollpatrol - Why does Aizen want to make a soul pancake? Why can't Freiza invest in timeshares instead? Why do villains do the things they do? All good questions.
TheRevelation
TheRevelation - 1/2/2026, 9:13 AM
@JackDeth - Agree. People need to stop using other things to self-validate...and, same to you.
dragon316
dragon316 - 1/1/2026, 5:10 PM
Never saw any episode of series with complaints glad I never got into maybe I’ll check episode or two out see if I like it one day don’t thinks it’s for me
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 1/1/2026, 5:16 PM
@dragon316 - Watch the first 3 episodes; you'll be hooked.
LenSpiderman
LenSpiderman - 1/1/2026, 8:40 PM
@dragon316 - you don’t have to watch it or like it, and you can let people who spend their days complaining online convince you it’s not worth it, but it’s an international phenomenon that has been must see tv for a decade and now has a bunch of spin off material, so don’t put too much value in the grumps and trolls.

Season 1-3 are great. Season 4 has great moments throughout. Season 4 has some issues but it was a good ending.

But again, if you don’t want to watch it, that’s absolutely fine.
Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 1/1/2026, 5:16 PM
Will ass status pls ....do Vecna did the somalí split?
Huttsbane
Huttsbane - 1/1/2026, 5:22 PM
The show stuck the landing at least
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 1/1/2026, 5:24 PM
Just finished the finale. This season was absolute garbage unfortunately
JFerguson
JFerguson - 1/1/2026, 5:31 PM
I think my main gripe with the finale was that the love between Mike and El was no longer believable unfortunately. It didn’t help that they were primarily separated this entire season. Had to rely on the montage of scenes from previous season to remember that they were endgame with each other.

So when he’s the last person El speaks to was kind of ass to be honest. Had an easier time believing in Rich and Marge’s love story from Welcome to Derry. Dialogue was just leagues ahead despite the short period of time they had.
JFerguson
JFerguson - 1/1/2026, 5:31 PM
@JFerguson - should have given them a similar breakup to Jonathan and Nancy before she offed herself
CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 1/1/2026, 5:50 PM
It worked fine for me. Can someone write an article about that please? An article about it working fine for me?
JackDeth
JackDeth - 1/1/2026, 10:00 PM
@CAPTAINPINKEYE - Interesting idea. Imagine that headline: "FANS FELT SATISFIED WITH THE FINALE' doesn't really get the clicks, though.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 1/1/2026, 6:03 PM
Now Netflix are officially shitting bricks.
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As of today they no longer have a must-see series. I do like Wednesday and Squid Game etc but none of their current or upcoming shows have the drawing power of Stranger Things.

That's why they need Harry Potter, but now Paramount have cockblocked them with a bigger offer so they screwed.
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 1/1/2026, 6:09 PM
@ObserverIO - Give One Piece a chance. Season one was great and season two looks even better. Season three gets to the really good stuff.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 1/1/2026, 7:14 PM
@TheFinestSmack - I'll give it a chance. TheFinestSmack and John Lennon are rarely wrong.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 1/1/2026, 11:41 PM
@ObserverIO - It doesn't seem like WB is interested in becoming part of Paramount, as despite the bigger offers, they keep finding ways to say no.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 1/2/2026, 4:10 AM
@TheJok3r - It's not up to them anymore, the shareholders have been given the freedom to make their own choice.

Zaslav would say no if they offered a trillion dollars, he's biased. And the board are his little yes men. Yet everyone else including the actual experts know that the Paramount deal is better than the Netflix deal.
I mean it doesn't take a genius, it's bigger, safer, more ethical. Anyone saying no would be ridiculed forever.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/2/2026, 8:45 AM
I saw it in theaters two days ago and it was fantastic. It's nice being around a group of people that actually want to see it instead of a bunch of trolls online shit posting, just because it gets clicks.

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