Quick! Someone call Dustin and Steve. We need the team from The Squawk to fix Netflix!
Unfortunately, Netflix just crashed again immediately after the release of the Stranger Things 5 finale.
It happened with Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1 on Wednesday, Nov. 26. It happened again with Stranger Things 5 Vol. 2 on Christmas Day. And, it just happened with the Stranger Things 5 finale release on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 8 p.m. EST.
Third time seemed like it could be the charm for Netflix, but let's be real: Netflix crashing was always going to happen. This is the biggest Netflix show ever, and Netflix just doesn't have the capacity to handle millions of people all over the world clicking play on Stranger Things at one time.
UPDATE: It still looks like users are still reporting that the Stranger Things 5 finale is not loading on Netflix.
Thankfully, the crash only lasted a short time for me, but just a quick glance around social media, and you'll see other fans complaining that the Stranger Things 5 finale is not available on Netflix. There's no timeline on when Netflix will remedy the situation and fans will be able to watch, but we'll be sure to share more information about the situation as we find out. Unfortunately, when these things happen, there's just not a lot out there from the companies involved until they are able to work out the kinks and get things straightened out.
I remember the days when we would be waiting hours for the Love is Blind finale or even further back than that, the Game of Thrones episodes that would be inaccessible via HBO GO for hours and hours and hours.
This is, hopefully, not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it likely means that Stranger Things fans have a little bit of a head start on the rest of the fandom as we all watch the series finale and see how it ends for all these great characters.
Ultimately, I think we have to cut Netflix some slack here. There's no way the network wants to keep viewers on the sidelines for such an important episode. It's just the name of the game for these kinds of things. I'm sure they've prepared all they can, but even with all the massive leaps and gains in technology, these strange things are inevitable.
This is a developing story. We'll share more information as it comes up!