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A new season of Stranger Things is almost here — or at least part of it — but depending on where you live, the release date for the season is more complicated than Netflix keeps letting on.
In all of its promotional materials, Netflix has made it clear that Stranger Things 5 Part 1 will release on November 26. The only problem is that’s not the release date for the series globally.
While Netflix typically releases new seasons of its series at 3 a.m. ET, it’s doing something new with Stranger Things 5 and releasing the episodes in prime time. All four episodes of Part 1 will be released at 8 p.m. ET, which means that the new season will technically only arrive on November 26 in a small number of countries (23, to be exact).
Fans in the following countries can indeed look forward to the first four episodes of season 5 arriving on November 26:
- Argentina
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
As for the rest of the world? Well, the season’s new episodes will technically be arriving on November 27 due to the time differences, as Eastern Time is several hours ahead of many other countries. For example, while the new episodes release on November 26 at 8 p.m. ET in the United States, they won’t drop in the UK until 1 a.m. GMT on November 27.
While fans in the US get to enjoy the episodes in prime time or in the late afternoon, based on their location, international fans will see the episodes dropping in the early hours of the morning and even in the afternoon on November 27.
It’s a change that is sure to create a lot of confusion for international fans used to getting the episodes at more optimal viewing times. The release plan also results in Stranger Things 5 technically releasing on varying dates on a large scale, with some fans getting the season on November 26 and others getting the new season on November 27.
We'll have to see if Netflix decides to begin releasing more of its bigger releases in prime time or if this will be a special one-time event. The move to prime time is one that has been praised by fans in North and South America, as it means fans can watch the episodes at a more reasonable hour and not have to stay up until midnight or later to watch the episodes.
Of course, this change does make it harder for international fans, who are likely to find it hard to adjust to the shift when it comes time to watch Stranger Things this week!