Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 Release Causes Netflix Crash

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. 

The first volume of Stranger Things 4 has been a massive hit for Netflix, pulling in more than 900 million hours of viewing time in just the first month of release. That easily makesStranger Things 4 is also the #1 English-Language TV series on streaming – and the cliffhanger ending has fans chomping at the bit to jump and finish Volume 2! 

However, completing Stranger Things 4 is no easy task. The final two episodes of Season 4 are roughly 90 and 150 minutes in length. That's about four hours of viewing time total – so you gotta wonder how all those people who started watching in the middle of the night are doing right about now... 

Here's what ComicBook.com critic Patrick Cavanaugh says in his official review of Stranger Things 4 Volume 2:

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.

Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix.