The outage happened around 5 p.m. PT, the exact moment the finale of Season 5 became available. For about a minute, some viewers were unable to load the episode and instead saw an error message featuring an image from Nailed It! that read, “Something went wrong. Sorry, we’re having trouble with your request.” After a few refreshes, service was restored.
This wasn’t the first time the supernatural hit overwhelmed Netflix. Back on Nov. 26, the streamer went down for roughly five minutes when the first four episodes of Season 5 dropped. Even earlier, Season 4 caused technical hiccups in July 2022 when its final episodes were released.
Netflix has also faced issues outside the Upside Down. Last year, the streamer struggled with livestream problems during the highly publicized Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul bout.
Still, the platform has largely weathered the massive demand for the show’s final season. The second batch of Season 5 episodes, released on Christmas Day, rolled out without any technical trouble and delivered Netflix its highest-ever Christmas Day viewership. Between Dec. 22 and Dec. 28, Season 5 pulled in 34.5 million views worldwide, making it the most-watched title globally that week. Its debut week in November was even bigger, with 59.6 million views — Netflix’s best opening ever for an English-language series.
The farewell goes beyond streaming. The series finale is also premiering in select theaters on New Year’s Eve. Co-creator Ross Duffer revealed that 1.1 million people RSVP’d for theatrical screenings, with 3,500 showings sold out across 620 theaters.
“What a way to close out a 10-year journey — together,” Ross wrote on Instagram alongside his brother and fellow co-creator Matt Duffer. “Maybe we’ll see some of you in LA.”
Even with a brief crash, the message is clear: after a decade, Stranger Things is still powerful enough to shake Netflix itself.
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