So here’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d write in 2026:
All five seasons of Stranger Things are in Netflix’s global Top 10. At the same time. Simultaneously occupying the chart like the Mind Flayer occupying Will Byers.
That’s never happened before.
Season 5 didn’t just top the charts—it obliterated them. 34.5 million views in one week (December 22-28). Volume 2 dropped and the entire internet collectively lost its mind.
And yes, that headline about “running up that hill” is absolutely a Kate Bush reference. Because of course it is.
The Numbers Are Actually Insane
Let me break down what just happened to Netflix’s servers.
Week of December 22-28, 2025:
- Season 5: 34.5 million views (No. 1)
- All previous seasons: Also in Top 10
- Total viewing hours for Season 5: 284.8 million hours
- Episodes counted: 8.25 (thanks Netflix math)
For context? Emily in Paris season 5 came in at No. 2 with 13.3 million views.
That’s not even close. That’s Stranger Things lapping the competition twice while eating Eggos.
Volume 1 Already Broke Records
Before Volume 2 even dropped, Volume 1 hit 59.6 million views in its debut week. Biggest opening for any English-language show on Netflix. Ever.
Then Volume 2 came out and somehow the momentum didn’t slow down. It accelerated.
Christmas week viewing? Netflix reported record numbers on Christmas Day specifically, with Stranger Things leading the charge.
People were literally choosing Hawkins over family time. Priorities.
Why “Running Up That Hill” Hits Different
That headline isn’t just clever wordplay (okay, it’s definitely clever wordplay). It’s a callback to the cultural phenomenon that was Season 4.
Remember Max’s Vecna escape scene? Kate Bush’s 1985 track “Running Up That Hill” became the emotional anchor of that entire sequence. Max literally running from death, powered by music and memories and sheer determination not to let the monster win.
The song exploded.
By 2025, “Running Up That Hill” exceeded 1.5 billion streams on Spotify. A 37-year-old song became Gen Z’s anthem because of one perfect scene in a sci-fi horror show.
That’s the Stranger Things effect.
The show doesn’t just create moments—it resurrects cultural touchstones and makes them relevant again. It reminds us why we loved certain songs, certain styles, certain feelings from the 80s that we thought were gone forever.
So yeah, Stranger Things Season 5 “ran up that hill” to No. 1. It fought gravity, fought odds, fought every other show on the platform and won decisively.
Kate Bush would be proud.
India Went Absolutely Wild
Netflix’s global numbers are one thing. But India specifically?
3.45 crore views (that’s 34.5 million for those not familiar with crore). Season 5 claimed the most-watched spot in India, with earlier seasons also charting in the country’s Top 10.
The international reach of Stranger Things continues to surprise people, but honestly it shouldn’t. The show’s themes—friendship, fighting darkness, kids being braver than adults—those translate across cultures.
Eleven doesn’t need subtitles to be compelling. Demogorgons are scary in every language.
The December 31st Finale Changed Everything
Here’s where things got really interesting.
The finale dropped on New Year’s Eve. Netflix coordinated theater screenings. Over 1.1 million people RSVPed to watch the final episodes on the big screen with strangers who became instant friends through shared trauma.
Social media exploded. Spoilers everywhere. People crying in public. The usual finale chaos but amplified because it’s the final finale.
No more Stranger Things after this.
That finality drove viewership in ways typical seasons don’t experience. FOMO hit hard. Nobody wanted to be the person who hadn’t seen it yet, who couldn’t participate in the cultural conversation happening in real-time across every platform simultaneously.
The show became an event. Not just a release—an event.
The Franchise Numbers Are Staggering
Across all five seasons, Stranger Things accumulated 1.2 billion views.
Let that sink in.
1.2 billion times someone pressed play on a story about kids in Indiana fighting interdimensional monsters. That’s not just popular—that’s cultural infrastructure. That’s a shared language for an entire generation.
New characters introduced in Season 5 gained massive followings immediately. The franchise isn’t ending with the show—it’s extending. Spin-offs are inevitable. The Duffer Brothers created something that won’t die even after the final credits roll.
Why This Success Feels Different
I’ve covered plenty of hit shows. Watched plenty of finales break records.
But Stranger Things feels different because it earned this moment.
The show maintained quality across five seasons. That’s rare. Most shows peak in season 2 or 3, then coast on brand recognition. Stranger Things kept swinging for the fences, kept taking risks, kept trusting its audience to follow wherever the story went.
Season 5 didn’t play it safe. The final battle was ambitious. The character endings were earned, not convenient. The epilogue gave fans closure while leaving just enough room for imagination.
That respect for the audience? That’s why all five seasons charted simultaneously. People weren’t just watching the new season—they were rewatching the entire journey. Introducing friends to the show. Experiencing the complete story as one continuous narrative.
The Kate Bush Connection Proves the Point
“Running Up That Hill” becoming a generational anthem wasn’t an accident. The Duffer Brothers chose that song specifically because it fit Max’s emotional state perfectly. Because the lyrics about making deals with God and swapping places resonated with her guilt over Billy.
They trusted the audience to feel that connection without explaining it.
And we did. We felt it so hard the song charted 37 years after its original release.
That’s the kind of creative confidence that built Stranger Things into what it became. Not talking down to viewers. Not over-explaining. Trusting that the emotional truth would land.
It did. Every single time.
What This Means for Netflix
Netflix needed this win.
Streaming wars are brutal. Every platform is fighting for attention, for subscription renewals, for that spot in viewers’ rotation. Shows come and go. Algorithms push content nobody asked for.
Stranger Things reminded everyone why Netflix became a cultural force in the first place. Because when they commit to something, when they let creators create without excessive interference, magic happens.
34.5 million views in one week during the holidays—when people are supposedly too busy with family—proves audiences will make time for stories that matter to them.
The record Christmas Day viewership wasn’t about convenience. It was about priority. People chose to watch Stranger Things on Christmas. Chose it over everything else competing for their attention.
That’s not algorithm-driven success. That’s genuine cultural phenomenon.
The Historic Top 10 Sweep
Let’s come back to this because it deserves emphasis:
All five seasons in the global Top 10 simultaneously.
Netflix has been tracking these charts for years. That’s never happened. Not with any show. Not with any franchise.
It’s not just about Season 5’s quality—though that certainly helped. It’s about the cumulative weight of five seasons building on each other. Each season making the previous ones more valuable. The story gaining resonance as it progressed.
New viewers binged from the beginning. Old fans rewatched for Easter eggs and foreshadowing. Everyone wanted the complete experience, not just the finale.
That’s the opposite of how most TV works now. Usually shows are disposable. You watch, move on, forget. Stranger Things became something people returned to. Something they lived with.
The Top 10 sweep proves it: this show became home for millions of people.
My Take (After Five Seasons of Watching)
I started watching Stranger Things when Season 1 dropped in 2016. Nine years ago.
I was younger. Different life. Different world.
But every summer (or whenever Netflix decided to release a new season), I came back to Hawkins. Checked in on these kids—then teens—then young adults. Watched them fight monsters, fall in love, lose people, grow up.
The show grew with its audience. That’s rare.
Season 5 running up that hill to No. 1 feels right. Feels earned. The Duffer Brothers stuck the landing, which is so much harder than it sounds. They gave fans the ending the story deserved while honoring everything that came before.
34.5 million people agreed in one week.
1.2 billion views across the series agreed over nine years.
And Kate Bush’s song—37 years old, revived by a show about the 80s in the 2020s—became the perfect metaphor for what Stranger Things accomplished.
It ran up that hill. Made deals with God. Swapped places with shows that should’ve dominated. And reached the top through sheer force of storytelling, heart, and refusing to give up even when the odds seemed impossible.
Just like Max. Just like Eleven. Just like every kid in Hawkins who faced the darkness and chose to fight.
Roll for initiative one last time.
The party earned this victory.
About It’s Netflix Nerd
Want more Netflix coverage? Check out It’s Netflix Nerd for our latest reviews, ending explanations, and recommendations.