Stranger Things offering shorter episodes in season 5 is a good sign for what comes next. Following the release of Stranger Things season 4 part 2, it was announced that season 5 would be the end of the road. According to the Duffer brothers, the plan for the show’s final season will call for episodes with smaller runtimes.

Being on a streaming service like Netflix has its perks for Stranger Things, with one of the biggest being episode lengths. Not being forced to trim the story for an episode down to a specific runtime allows for a formula that’s obviously much less restrictive than the situation with network and broadcast shows. One of the hundreds of TV shows that takes advantage of this is Stranger Things. In the first two seasons of the hit science fiction horror series, episode runtimes ranged between 42 minutes and 62 minutes. Episodes were consistently longer in season 3, which wrapped up with a season finale that clocked in at a surprising 78 minutes. Such a high number then became the norm in season 4.

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The Duffer brothers’ assurances that Stranger Things season 5 episode runtimes won’t be as “extreme comes as a major relief. On the surface, extra-long episodes have an epic feel to them that would normally be welcomed. And while that feeling certainly applied to season 4, particularly the unprecedented 150-minute finale, it’s become apparent that longer isn’t always better. There were several scenes in season 4 that slowed down the progression of events. The Russia arc with Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Enzo, and Yuri, for instance, could have been trimmed without hurting the story. The same was true with some of the personal conversations that Steve and Robin had.

Why Shorter Episodes Make Sense For Stranger Things 5

Steve driving his car hand on the wheel, mouth open in a scene from Stranger Things.

Dropping down to episode runtimes reminiscent of what it did with its first two seasons – or even season 3 – is a move that makes perfect sense for season 5. Most importantly, the setup provided by the finale erased the need for season 4’s super-sized format to be repeated. In season 4, at least, the number of major storylines playing out at once made the longer runtimes understandable to a certain degree. Stranger Things was trying to allocate a fair amount of screen-time to Hopper and Enzo, Murray and Joyce, the kids in Hawkins, the group in California, and lastly, Eleven. By telling a more streamlined story set entirely in Hawkins, Stranger Things season 5 won’t share the challenge of having to pack so many stories into a single episode.

Plus, going with episodes that don’t extend over an hour is sure to make the viewing experience easier on viewers, especially when binge-watching. In delivering much shorter episodes, Stranger Things can still tell the stories it needs to while also avoiding bloat. Having a tighter focus will go a long way toward making Stranger Things season 5 a fitting and enjoyable ending to the saga.