Stranger Things finale streams on Netflix, ending the original series

Netflix released the last episode of Stranger Things on 31 December 2025, ending the fifth and final season of the sci-fi horror series. The show was created by the Duffer Brothers and first aired in 2016. It follows a group of friends in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, who confront supernatural threats linked to a parallel dimension known as the Upside Down.

The final season was released in three parts. The first four episodes arrived on 26 November 2025, three more followed on 25 December, and the feature-length finale came on New Year's Eve. Netflix also screened the finale in some cinemas in the United States and Canada, an unusual step for a streaming-first series.

The finale mattered because it closed one of Netflix's most-watched and most culturally influential shows, which had made stars of its young cast and revived interest in 1980s nostalgia. Even so, the franchise was not over. Netflix had already been developing spin-offs, including an animated series and a stage production, which kept the Stranger Things universe alive after the original story ended.