When I covered the battle for City No. 1 on Netflix’s Top 10 list, I’ve never been more confident about a prediction than what we just saw on the service.
Just a few hours after being released online, the last two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 have already jumped to the top of the charts, which is no surprise considering that the first seven episodes of Season 1 are already the top-grossing English-language episodes . series of all time for Netflix, and everyone who watched it will apparently be watching part 2 a month later.
This is an unusual release format for Netflix, but this was allegedly not done to increase attention to the season by spreading the hype over a month, but rather it was such a massive season that they needed extra time to complete production. working on the final two FX-heavy episodes, which total four hours, are practically movies in themselves. Netflix has already confirmed that this isn’t a prequel to Stranger Things season 5, making a weekly release model, or anything like that.
As for The Umbrella Academy, season 3 has predictably done well in terms of ratings, although fan ratings seem to be a bit lower this time around compared to other seasons. And currently, Netflix has yet to renew Umbrella Academy for Season 4, even though it seems inevitable. Perhaps the showrunner has talked in interviews about always having four seasons mapped out in his mind, so it seems like the series could end if Netflix picks it up again. Despite Netflix canceling a number of shows that should have been renewed, I’d be stunned if they didn’t give a hit like Umbrella Academy another season to wrap things up, especially since it (once again ) ended at a clear precipice.
Stranger Things, meanwhile, is aiming for Squid Game’s 28-day viewership record with 1.6 billion hours watched in its first four weeks, as these two new episodes will add to the 900+ million that the first seven already have. Unless fans make a dedicated effort to watch these last two episodes multiple times, it might not make it, but the fact that it could even come close to Squid Game , considering how untouchable it seemed, really shows how strong this series is , and how big Season 5 could have been if the ratings trend continued to move in that direction before the series finale.
The real question now is how long these two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 will keep the show at the top of the list. I’d guess for a while, and you know I’ll be watching.
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Take my science fiction novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
