India, Dec. 3 -- The fifth and final season of Stranger Things arrived on Netflix with numbers that pushed the streaming giant to its limits. Season 5 logged 59.6 million views in its first five days, the highest opening for any English-language show on the platform, and the third-biggest debut overall behind Seasons 2 and 3 of Squid Game.

The new season dropped its first four episodes together. That batch drove a sharper spike than analysts expected, especially when compared with the Season 4 launch in 2022. Back then, Netflix counted hours viewed instead of total views. Its 287 million hours translate to roughly 22 million views - meaning Season 5 opened at more than double the number, as per Variety.

Ahead of the release, all earlier...