Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix – and its arrival caused the entire streaming platform to crash! Downdetector.com reported a spike in Netflix user issues at 3 a.m. EST – the exact moment when Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 first premiered on the service. Errors reportedly peaked at 13,000 around that time – but to Netflix’s credit, things were resolved within a half hour’s time.
Stranger Things Season 4 is undoubtedly its biggest and most ambitious season yet, with these final two episodes being tasked with sticking the landing of a sprawling narrative. Were all nine episodes to have debuted all at once, the stakes would have been reduced and audiences would have been overwhelmed. To debut these final two episodes apart from the rest of the season, we’ve been given some time to catch our breath, yet by feeling like the final act of a massive movie, the delineation of these episodes and how they connect with what came before it feel relatively arbitrary.
Even though Netflix has been committed to delivering Stranger Things in a binge-watching model, delivering new episodes on a weekly basis might have ultimately suited the material better, especially given the success of Netflix’s release of their Fear Street trilogy last summer. Regardless of the release strategy, Stranger Things Season 4 – Volume 2 delivers the series’ most jaw-dropping action sequences, heartbreaking reveals, and compelling teases of looming darkness yet. The breadth of the adventure can be daunting at times, but it’s still a journey worth taking, so long as you have your friends from Hawkins by your side.
