In just a few weeks, the first of three parts of the final season of “Stranger Things” will be available to stream. Season five arrives nearly a decade after the show premiered in July 2016 — over nine years for only five seasons.
To put that into perspective, the first season came out the summer before I started seventh grade, and now I am a senior in college. In that time, the show’s child actors have grown into adults. In fact, Millie Bobby Brown, once the young face of the series, is now a wife and mother.
Believe me, I am excited about this long-awaited conclusion. But I can’t shake the feeling that television, as we once knew it, is slowly and painfully dying and the killer is a loss of weekly rhythm, severed audience connection and a prioritization of profit over art.
It wasn’t long ago that shows released 20 or more episodes every year. Now, we’re expected to wait years for a new season, only to receive a mere eight episodes — if that.
Additionally, streaming platforms often divide those short seasons into multiple “parts,” releasing only a few episodes at a time and stretching the rest out over months. This has become a trend with series like “Wednesday,” “Bridgerton” and now “Stranger Things” itself, splitting an already short amount of episodes into two release dates. And in one last twist, the series finale of Stranger Things won’t even debut on Netflix, but in theaters between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
At that point, one has to wonder when a show stops being television and starts becoming a drawn-out, serialized movie franchise.
In film, sequels are often unnecessary and only exist to satisfy audience demand. Television, however, depends on sustaining momentum and intrigue to secure additional seasons. When years-long gaps interrupt that rhythm, the connection breaks down. The story feels disjointed and the audience’s connection becomes weakened, even if they eventually return to watch it.
The Duffer brothers — creators of “Stranger Things” — have defended the long gaps in between seasons. Matt Duffer stated, “If TV shows come out every year, it’s diminishing return. I like the buildup.” However, what they fundamentally don’t understand is that we, the audience, actually don’t like the “buildup.”
It’s also unrealistic to expect that every viewer who fell in love with the show nearly a decade ago will still be emotionally invested today. Fans like me aren’t tuning in because we admire the nine-year wait, we’re tuning in because, after all this time, it feels less like anticipation and more like obligation. As annoyed as I am, I still want to know what happens. It’s too late to turn back now.
But this issue is not unique to “Stranger Things.” Other Netflix shows such as “Bridgerton,” “Wednesday” and “Squid Game” have also taken significant gaps between their seasons. Additionally, other streaming services have faced similar problems. Sometime in spring 2026, the third and final season of HBO Max’s “Euphoria,” which started in 2019, will allegedly be released. As someone who was an original viewer of season one, I just cannot bring myself to care. Will I watch it? Probably, but the emotional investment I once had is no longer present.
Of course, with recent TV shows, one must factor in the COVID-19 pandemic and the various industry strikes. My grievance is not due to exceptional circumstances like these, but rather because this trend is becoming the norm, permanently altering the form of television we once loved.
This popular complaint continues to be brushed aside because producers and streaming services make money regardless. “Stranger Things” is one of the highest-grossing shows of all time, generating over $1 billion for Netflix since 2020. They’re not losing money by waiting, so why not go at a slow pace?
Thankfully, not every show has fallen victim to this growing trend. Hulu’s critically acclaimed chef dramedy, “The Bear,” for instance, has delivered four celebrated seasons in just three years. Granted, a series like this doesn’t require the extensive effects and post-production work of a sci-fi like “Stranger Things.” But still, I was 12 when “Stranger Things” premiered, and I am now 21, waiting for its conclusion. The delay for five seasons with eight or nine episodes is, for lack of a better word, ridiculous.
When all is said and done, the long waits, shorter episodes and drawn-out parts make the whole thing feel like a studio cash grab. This frustration is only amplified by the constant price hikes across streaming platforms. Services like Netflix, once praised for being ad-free, now charge extra just to remove commercials.
The very appeal of streaming was that it offered an escape from the ad-saturated world of cable TV. Now, it feels like we’ve come full circle, but with shorter seasons, inconsistent release schedules and none of the reliability that cable once offered.
Our culture is shifting in a troubling way — we now prioritize fleeting moments of interaction before retreating into our own isolated worlds, and this pattern is increasingly reflected in television. It’s a deadly cycle — we binge, forget about the show until the next release, then binge and forget again.
I miss the camaraderie of gathering with loved ones every week, anticipating a new episode on cable. I even miss the early days of streaming, waiting alongside my friends for a new season of our favorite show to drop, without the years of growth that have come between us and actors whose faces I hardly recognize anymore.
People are only willing to wait so long before they become uninterested, and creators need to start listening to us before they lose their audiences.
Jordan Ori, a senior majoring in English, is Pipe Dream’s assistant opinions editor.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.