What time is the Stranger Things season 5 finale out tonight? New Year's warning for UK fans
Don't expect to watch the Stranger Things finale on New Year's Eve...
Stranger Things season 5 officially ends tonight, with episode 8 bringing the series to an epic, emotional close – and this is exactly what time it will be released on Netflix.
It’s hard to believe that one of the biggest and best Netflix shows is about to air its final episode.
Stranger Things is arguably responsible for the streamer’s success: it popularised binge-watching, it’s garnered repeated acclaim, and its viewership speaks for itself.
However, the end of season 5 volume 2 was met with a more divisive reception. With Eleven and the crew heading into the Upside Down and Vecna beginning his masterplan to bring both worlds together, the stakes couldn’t be higher. So, make sure you know what time the finale drops.
Stranger Things season 5 episode 8 release date and time
The Stranger Things season 5 finale will premiere at 1am GMT on Friday, January 1, on Netflix.
Sadly, if you were hoping to watch the last episode on New Year’s Eve, you’re out of luck.
The finale is being released at exactly the same time across the world. That means it’s dropping on December 31 for viewers in the US and Canada (at 5pm PT/8pm ET), but fans in other territories will need to stay up late.
You can check out when it’ll be released in other time zones below:
- 5pm PT
- 7pm CT
- 8pm ET
- 10pm Brazil
- 1am UK (January 1)
- 2am Central European Time (January 1)
- 3am Eastern European Time (January 1)
- 5am Dubai (January 1)
- 6:30am India (January 1)
- 9am China (January 1)
- 10am Japan (January 1)
- 12pm Australia (January 1)
- 2pm New Zealand (January 1)
Luckily, there’s a good chance you’ll already be awake for the bells. So, you could force everyone at your New Year’s party to watch the finale at 1am, or you’ll need to get up and avoid spoilers in the morning.
How long is the Stranger Things finale?
Stranger Things season 5 episode 8, titled ‘The Rightside Up’, as a two hour and eight minute runtime.
It was previously announced to be 125 minutes long. However, while it has a feature-length runtime, it’s still not the longest episode in the show.
Season 4’s finale, ‘The Piggyback’, was a mammoth 149 minutes long, and the entire season ran for over 13 hours.
It may still have longer episodes than typical TV, but the fifth season is significantly shorter. If you were to binge it start to finish, it’d take just over 10 hours. So, if you want to rewatch the whole thing before the finale, you’d better clear some time on New Year’s Eve.
What happened in volume 2?
Stranger Things season 5 volume 2 ended with Eleven, Mike, and the whole group entering the Upside Down.
Before we got there, Max and Holly fled Vecna’s mind prison after finding an abandoned mine shaft – a gap in his memories that allowed them to escape.
However, while Max woke up in the real world (and narrowly survived a demogorgon attack), Holly found herself somewhere even scarier than the Upside Down: the Abyss.
In short, the Upside Down was revealed to be a wormhole (also referred to as the “bridge”) connecting Hawkins to the Abyss, an alternate dimension. This is Vecna’s homeworld (where Eleven first sent him), and it’s why Eleven has been unable to track him.
Vecna wants to cause a collision between Earth and the Abyss and reshape the world. That’s why he took the kids: they’re “weak” and the perfect “vessels” to amplify his power.
By the end of the season, the crew has a plan to stop him. Rather than trying to access the Abyss by flying thousands of feet in the air, they’ll allow Vecna to begin his plan. However, when the Abyss is reachable via the Upside Down’s radio tower, they’ll climb in and stop him before it’s too late.
Also, two other big things happened: Jonathan and Nancy broke up (don’t worry if that wasn’t clear to you – it was confusing), and Will came out to everyone and revealed he “doesn’t like girls”.
Will there be any other episodes after the Stranger Things season 5 finale?
The Duffer Brothers have already confirmed that a Stranger Things spin-off is in the works, but the season 5 finale will fully conclude the main show.
Matt Duffer told Screen Rant: “We tried as much as possible to answer all the questions as it relates to the characters and mythology of Hawkins in the Upside Down. We’re really closing the door and all that.
“And the spinoff, it relates in some ways, but it really is a completely different story and a completely different location with completely different actors and characters.
“So, it’s its own. It’s really its own entity.”
Tales of ’85, an animated spin-off set between seasons 4 and 5 following Robin as she investigates the fate of a classmate, is also in development.
Read more: Predictions for the Stranger Things season 5 finale
