We're just over a month out from the premiere of the final season of Stranger Things, so it's no surprise that news is beginning to get out about what's in store. One of the latest bits of tasty information came last week via Puck, which claimed that every episode of Stranger Things 5 would run between 90 minutes and two hours.
That was a jawdropping claim, but not totally out of line for Stranger Things. Episodes in its fourth season ranged from 65 minutes to 142 minutes for the stunningly long season finale. That episode was longer than plenty of movies, including the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Who's to say that, being the final season, Stranger Things 5 wouldn't try to top it?
Well, creators Matt and Ross Duffers would be the ones to say, and now they have. After these rumors took hold, Ross Duffer popped onto his Instagram to dispel them by sharing a clip that reveals the actual runtimes for the first four episodes of the season. And surprise: not a single one of them is longer than 90 minutes (though the fourth episode comes close at 83).
Stranger Things 5 episode runtimes
"ACTUAL runtimes," Duffer wrote, before panning the camera over to a Netflix queue that shows the work-in-progress episodes. Here are the runtimes for all four episodes in Part One of Stranger Things 5:
- "Chapter One: The Crawl" — 68 minutes
- "Chapter Two: The Vanishing Of..." — 54 minutes
- "Chapter Three; The Turnbow Trap" — 66 minutes
- "Chapter Four: Sorcerer" —83 minutes
Stranger Things 5 will feature the shortest episode since season 3
This confirmation from Ross Duffer is surprising, because it confirms the exact opposite of the rumors: rather than being filled with oversized episodes, at least a third of Stranger Things 5 is shorter than the previous season. Of the episodes listed, only the Part One finale, "Sorcerer," is longer than "The Monster and the Superhero," the third and shortest episode of season 4 at 65 minutes.
In fact, the second episode of season 5, "The Vanishing Of..." is the shortest episode Stranger Things has had since season 3!
Stranger Things 4 felt like it was almost closer to a bunch of movies than television episodes, with numerous episodes clocking in at over 70 minutes long. It seems like rather than bloat out the final season, the Duffers are going for a (slightly) tighter-paced experience.
But I wouldn't let that fool you. "Sorcerer" is up there among the longest episodes in the show's run, right alongside the final three episodes of season 4. We still have no idea how long Part Two or The Finale will run. I'm expecting that final episode at the very least to be a movie-length affair; after all, Netflix is releasing it on its own for New Year's Eve, and I doubt they'd do that if it was a short 50-minute epilogue or something.
We'll have our ear to the ground for more. In the meantime, mark your calendars! Stranger Things 5 premieres Part One on November 26. Part Two will follow on December 25, with The Finale releasing a week later on December 31.