Netflix's Stranger Things season 5 is back for seconds, and it's picked Christmas Day of all days to do it. Regardless of the family commitments, dinners, regularly-scheduled programs, you can rest assured that the longtime fans of the show will be there to watch some of the last adventures that the beloved series has to offer.
That's right, Volume 2 premieres in primetime for US audiences on December 25 (while also arriving around the world simultaneously), and we will all be there to get some much-needed clarity after that Volume 1 cliffhanger sent the internet into a meltdown - which is really saying something considering everything that this show has put its fans through over the course of the past decade.
If you're ready to tune into what Stranger Things season 5 Volume 2 has in store for us, here's our guide of what you need to know, including episode runtimes.
Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 episode runtimes are quite varied
The Duffer Brothers have confirmed the runtimes for Stranger Things 5 part 2, and they pretty much line up with the first half of the season. If you're planning on checking out the episodes and would like to know just how long they are, here's what you need to know:
- Episode 5 - Chapter Five: "Shock Jock" – 1 hour and 8 minutes
- Episode 6 - Chapter Six: "Escape From Camazotz" – 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Episode 7 - Chapter Seven: "The Bridge" – 1 hour and 6 minutes
The episodic runtimes of Stranger Things have varied over the course of its five seasons, but one consistency in them is that they have grown over time.
Ever since the Stranger Things season 3 finale showed us that this show wasn't afraid to run over time, it has been playing fast and loose with its runtimes. Season 4, in particular, was very long, with episodes that ranged between an hour to over 2 hours. Season 5 opened with slightly more varied runtimes (even featuring one under the hour mark) and it's clear that the second installment plans to do the same.
The Stranger Things finale is the longest episode of the season (and the second-longest ever)
Although Volume 2 does not feature the Stranger Things season 5 finale, it has been confirmed that episode 8, "The Rightside Up" has a runtime of 2 hours and 8 minutes. This episode will be released on Netflix (and in select theaters in the US) on Wednesday, December 31 (New Year's Eve) at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT. and it will look to bring the story - of the both the season and the overall show - to a close.
With a runtime of over two hours, the finale is now the second-longest episode of the show's entire run, surpassing the season 4 episode "Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab" (which is 1 hour and 38 minutes / 100 minutes in length) and coming in just behind the season 4 finale "Chapter Nine: The Piggyback" (which has a staggering runtime of 2 hours and 30 minutes / 150 minutes).
Although some fans have criticized the fact that Stranger Things' episodes have gotten longer as the seasons go on (particularly because the first season had extremely strong pacing with much shorter episodes), the finale having such a long runtime makes sense here. After all, the Duffer Brothers aren't just wrapping up the season 5 storyline, they are wrapping up the whole series stories. explaining the last remnants of the lore that have yet to be given to us, and likely featuring a battle sequence that fans will undoubtedly consider epic.
So, while Stranger Things season 5 part 2 will have slightly shorter runtimes, the finale is understandably longer to allow the show to wrap it all up one more time.