'These kids are like 40 now': Are fans over the excessively delayed Stranger Things season 5 premiere?

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

It's here, and it's as underwhelming as could be.
The sense of disappointment, or worse, non-reactions surrounding the date announcement video for the final season of Stranger Things, actually has nothing to do with its production value. Instead it's got everything to do with the years and years of wait between seasons which has completely zapped people of interest.
The first season had debuted on Netflix back in July 2016 and was charted as one of the biggest hits of the year.
The second season came zooming in the following year in October, doubling the momentum and the craze.
The third season is where the waiting game began, the same rolling in almost 2 years later, in July 2019.
Really testing patience and tenacity, the fourth season released after 3 long years, across May and July 2022.
Now 3.5 years later, season 5 will see through a three-part release across November 26, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Phew.
Now don't get us wrong, of course audiences are pumped for it...for now. But holding out till winter 2025 to give the show the chart-busting ratings it's been getting for the last 4 seasons, seems less likely. Comments expressing the same read, "I loved stranger things but it's so long that I don't even care to engage anymore", "Why so longggg!!! These kids are like 40 now 😂😂", "I've already forgotten the name of the characters", "I'm kinda over it 😭" and"I hate they waited so long ! It lost momentum 😩😩😩" to quote a few.
This one in particular, really captures the essence of what it has been like, waiting for Stranger Things to conclude: "I was 12 years old when the first season came out. All my friends used to watch it together. Now I'm 97 living in a nursing home. Can't wait to see the final season". But this conspiracy theory, which honestly seems pretty plausible at this point, takes the cake: "their main goal is for us to constantly re-watch all the seasons each 2-3 years, IT'S ANNOYING".
It is worth mentioning that the lead cast, comprising of Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo were 11, 13, 11, 14 and 13 years old respectively when the Stranger Things saga commenced. Sadie Sink who joined the key cast later, was 14 at the time of joining. Millie is now 21, Finn is 22, Noah is 20, Caleb is 23, Gaten is 22 and Sadie is 23. What better timeline than this, to gauge, how long the wait has been.
If you feel too strung out to even hit play on the date announcement, know that the parting shot is of Noah's Will screaming 'run' — the very word he used the lights to spell out back in season 1 (kudos if you remember) — will definitely have the hairs on your neck standing, and carries the impact to pull you back into Hawkins. But will you find it in you to tune in during holiday season? Let's wait and watch.