Netflix briefly went offline on December 31, 2025, just as the highly anticipated series finale of Stranger Things Season 5 premiered worldwide.
The final episode, “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”, a feature-length two-hour-and-eight-minute conclusion to the nine-year saga, was released at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET).
Massive viewer traffic temporarily overwhelmed Netflix’s servers, causing many users to see the “Something went wrong” error message, along with buffering issues and limited access to the episode. The outage lasted about one to five minutes for most users.
This is the third Netflix outage tied to Stranger Things Season 5. The first occurred during the November 26 premiere of Volume 1, while the second, during the Christmas Day release of Volume 2, saw record viewership but no major service disruption.
Fans quickly took to social media to share reactions, posting memes and humorous complaints about the timing of the crash. Despite the brief disruption, Netflix confirmed that the issue was resolved swiftly, and the finale is now streaming smoothly for the majority of subscribers.
The finale was also shown in over 500 theatres across the U.S. and Canada on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, contributing to the global excitement surrounding the conclusion of the series.
Stranger Things Season 5 has already broken records. Volume 1 reached 59.6 million views in its first week, the largest opening for an English-language Netflix series. The season’s final episodes continued to dominate streaming charts worldwide.
As millions tune in to follow the concluding adventures of Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Will, and the Hawkins gang, the brief server outage highlights the immense demand for the series’ final chapter. Netflix service has since been fully restored, allowing fans to experience the finale without further interruptions.
