There Will Never Be Another Show Like Stranger Things

Spoilers travel for Stranger Things, up to and including the bid finale.

There volition ne'er beryllium different amusement similar Stranger Things. Sure, determination volition beryllium spinoffs that are similar to Netflix’s series, which wrapped up its astir decade-long, five-season tally connected New Year’s Eve with “The Rightside Up.” And passim the past 9 years, plentifulness of shows person aped the Stranger Things style, and volition proceed to bash so. But charting the improvement of the amusement from its astonishment deed premiere connected July 15, 2016, done the finale close astatine the extremity of 2025 shows a decennary of maturation and alteration successful the satellite of streaming that we apt won’t spell backmost to ever again.

It mightiness beryllium hard to remember, but Stranger Things wasn’t ever the all-encompassing taste dominator it is now. In 2016, Netflix wasn’t adjacent astatine precisely the aforesaid level, either. Sure the binge exemplary had already begun to alteration the mode we ticker TV, and the streamer had plentifulness of hits ranging from House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black to its woody with Marvel for Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the remainder of the MCU street-level heroes. But erstwhile Stranger Things debuted, nary existent “Netflix formula” had codified, astatine slightest not the mode we deliberation astir it today.

Stranger Things helped acceptable the stage. An archetypal spot that galore viewers thought of arsenic “that Winona Ryder show” dropped without a ton of beforehand buzz oregon existent knowing of what it was, different than immoderate benignant of homage to ’80s cinema. A ample portion of that deficiency of beforehand connection was thing that would go cornerstone to Netflix’s ambitions going forward: the Duffer Brothers, who created the show, were virtual unknowns. By the clip they started pitching Stranger Things with the assistance of director/producer Shawn Levy, they had 2 credits to their name. The archetypal was a movie titled Hidden, which they wrote and directed, and starred Alexander Skarsgard, Andrea Riseborough, and Emily Alyn Lind. That got a expansive full of six critics reviews connected Rotten Tomatoes, and a worldwide gross of $310,273. The different recognition was penning 4 episodes of Fox’s Wayward Pines, a amusement you apt forgot ever existed.

This is jumping ahead, but what Netflix (slowly) learned is you tin instrumentality unseasoned showrunners with small to nary applicable experience, brace them with idiosyncratic much experienced (in this lawsuit Levy) for caller IP, and the hazard is comparatively low. If it fails, well, the showrunners weren’t experienced, nary harm done. If it works? Bonanza!

Like galore different Netflix hits that became taste phenomena (see Squid Game and KPop Demon Hunters for aboriginal examples of this), the occurrence of Stranger Things was organic, spurred connected by connection of rima that worked despite the streamer’s vaunted algorithm, not due to the fact that of it. The amusement was good reviewed for its pastiche of ’80s tropes and charming kid formed that included stand-out performances including Millie Bobby Brown arsenic the psychic Eleven, Gaten Matarazzo arsenic the nerd genius Dustin, Caleb McLaughlin arsenic the slingshot-carrying Lucas, and Finn Wolfhard arsenic radical person Mike. Also lauded were the big performances by Ryder arsenic strung-out ma Joyce and David Harbour successful a breakout relation arsenic the gruff-with-a-heart-of-gold main of constabulary Jim Hopper.

It’s hard to archer however overmuch of a occurrence Stranger Things was successful its freshman season, arsenic Netflix did not astatine the clip merchandise viewing stats, but 1 autarkic look showed that it grabbed 14.07 cardinal adults successful the 18-49 demo. That enactment it down seasons of Fuller House and Orange Is the New Black, and is obscurity adjacent the December 25, 2025, driblet of Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2 lifting Netflix to (according to its ain reports) the champion Christmas Day viewership ever. But the constituent is, radical were watching, and much importantly telling different radical to watch.

Like the champion taste modifiers, what Stranger Things was doing successful Season 1 wasn’t caller necessarily, but it was remixing erstwhile ideas successful the blender with a dense grounding of fresh, engaging characters with existent affectional journeys. The Duffer Brothers pulled connected everything from Amblin movies to Stephen King and Dungeons & Dragons to make a TV bid that paid respect to its forebears portion ne'er feeling similar an Easter ovum hunt. The kids successful the amusement loved popular civilization of the time. They were nerds. So of people they saw an escapade with a terrifying monster they called the Demogorgon and a small miss consecutive retired of Firestarter done their ain acquisition with movies and books. That’s however they processed the world, and so, arsenic viewers, did we.

Season 2, meanwhile, for each its precocious points, showed a bid grappling with its ain success. Additional characters, a much analyzable mythology, and a wide effort to replicate the astonishment deed of Season 1 moved the enactment from Amblin adventures of the aboriginal ’80s to enactment movies of the mid-’80s. That play besides included what seemed to beryllium a half-baked effort to make a backdoor aviator for a spinoff with the overmuch maligned “The Lost Sister” occurrence featuring Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), a punk psychic kid who, similar Eleven, had escaped from experiments astatine Hawkins Lab.

And connected the Netflix end, the monetizing of Stranger Things had begun. While Marvel had its ain products, it’s hard to ideate fans going gaga for Orange Is the New Black jumpsuits, oregon Bloodline… Well, thing from Bloodline. Stranger Things, connected the different hand, with its younger assemblage obsessed with the mythology of the series, and relating hard to the charming young formed (including fashionable canon and non-canon ‘ships), was primed for a merchandise bonanza. That facet is technically outer to the show, but it’s intolerable to abstracted consequent seasons' caller costumes, caller characters, and caller settings – Scoops Ahoy crystal cream? The Starcourt Mall? Even the last season’s WSQK inspiring its ain finale-spoiling LEGO acceptable – from a upland of Funko POP!s. Theme parkland fearfulness houses connected Halloween, pop-up experiences, comic books and novels, shirts and jackets and hats astatine Hot Topic, a frickin’ Broadway show… Even the just-opened Netflix Houses would not person happened if the streamer hadn’t been capable to usage Stranger Things arsenic a trial lawsuit for however to make alternate monetary streams different than measly streaming subscriptions.

None of that is of interest to the viewer, but arsenic noted it runs parallel to the spiraling standard of the TV series. Each consequent season, by its precise nature, needed to up the ante of the spectacle from the erstwhile one. A singular Demogorgon led to Demodogs led to the monolithic goop heap of the Mind Flayer, and yet the uncover of Henry Creel/Vecna/One (Jamie Campbell Bower), the large atrocious down the curtain the full clip (sort of). But astatine slightest up until the last season, the amusement ne'er mislaid way of these being mean kids successful intolerable situations (even arsenic the kids grew up, got married, and had kids of their ain successful the existent world).

And that’s apt portion of the occupation fans person been having with these concluding episodes, different than the specified thought that a finale is astir intolerable to instrumentality the landing for, and has lone seldom been universally lauded. The contented is that Stranger Things began by lovingly homaging the media that came earlier it successful a mode that felt caller and new, adjacent erstwhile it was acceptable decades successful the past. Meanwhile, the last play of Stranger Things is paying tribute to… Stranger Things. Yes, determination are inactive plentifulness of references throughout, from Return of the Jedi to Labyrinth and everything successful between. But dissimilar the much spontaneous-feeling nods of erstwhile seasons, Season 5’s references mostly consciousness Scary Movie-level, done retired of owed diligence and to supply fodder for TikTok sleuths, alternatively than due to the fact that the characters successful the amusement emotion these things.

Nowhere is this navel-gazing much prevalent than successful the preponderance of flashback scenes successful the finale, “The Rightside Up.” There’s an statement to beryllium made that they are necessary, but they are besides a reminder of better, much fondly remembered seasons. It’s hard to, for example, ticker the depressed, deadly superior Hopper of the finale close adjacent to a flashback of the funny, dancing Hopper of Season 2. Who wouldn’t privation to ticker the second implicit the former?

Is this bad? Or wrong? As I’ve been saying, Stranger Things came from nothing, and became everything. So possibly a triumph thigh for the amusement that helped alteration Netflix is good deserved.

And since Stranger Things debuted, Netflix has been little palmy astatine creating the next Stranger Things (see Locke & Key, Fate: The Winx Saga, Shadow & Bone and others) than continuing to cultivate the Stranger Things fandom and play catch-up erstwhile thing unexpected breaks out. The 1 objection to this regularisation is apt Wednesday, which is based connected a pre-existing spot (The Addams Family), features a large prima (Jenna Ortega) and comes from showrunners with a past of hits down them. Since Netflix has been incapable to recreate Stranger Things done magic oregon science, possibly that’s the streamer’s mode forward: disregard the “newbie” regularisation established by the Duffers, and alternatively spell for thing with much imaginable reward. Or possibly the 1 chill instrumentality Netflix volition effort is buying HBO and letting them grip this going forward, portion the location that reddish envelopes built volition absorption connected world amusement spinoffs (The Wire: The Challenge, anyone?).

Regardless of what Netflix does adjacent – portion of that strategy includes the animated bid Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, and astatine slightest 1 live-action spinoff, truthful they’re not letting spell of the bid rather yet – Stranger Things helped thatch the streamer however to beryllium a taste behemoth, a elephantine spider monster that crawls done the godforsaken of contented to devour everything successful its wake. And 10 years ago, erstwhile we archetypal recovered a clump of kids playing D&D successful Mike Wheeler’s basement, who could person imagined that? After all, Stranger Things was conscionable “that Winona Ryder show.”