Almost a decade after its Netflix debut, Stranger Things is hurtling towards its epic conclusion, with the first four episodes of the eagerly-awaited fifth season dropping on November 26, the next three on Christmas Day, and the blockbuster finale on New Year’s Eve. In her cover interview for British Vogue’s December 2025 issue, star Millie Bobby Brown admits that she began to weep 20 pages into reading the script for the latter. She and her co-stars then “all huddled and cried for five minutes straight.”
Before we get there, given it’s been a gob-smacking three years since our last trip to Hawkins, a refresher is essential. If you can’t quite commit to a full rewatch, however, these are the five unforgettable episodes to stream now—one from each season, plus a reminder of where it all began.
“Dear Billy” (Season 4, Episode 4)
Stranger Things always brings it with its sweeping series finales and jaw-dropping, plot line-colliding penultimate episodes, but this gem, smack bang in the middle of the last season, is truly unparalleled—and even more so because we just didn’t see its impact coming. It features Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and Will (Noah Schnapp) getting caught up in an at-home shoot-out; Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Robin (Maya Hawke) interviewing a tormented Victor Creel; and, of course, Sadie Sink’s Max being brought back with the assistance of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” which promptly went to number one on the charts. It’s heartbreaking, terrifying, and then life-affirming. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
“The Battle of Starcourt” (Season 3, Episode 8)
The neon-drenched mall at the center of the third season is the setting for one hell of a showdown in this gripping closer. As the Mind Flayer prowls the halls in the style of the T. rex in Jurassic Park and Eleven (Brown) finds herself powerless, all hope seems lost. But then the gang come through with an arsenal of fizzing fireworks, as does Dacre Montgomery’s Billy with a tear-jerking sacrifice. The emotional beats are handled masterfully—is David Harbour’s Hopper dead?!—but it’s the eye-popping visuals that keep me coming back to this one, including incredible special effects that demand to be seen on the biggest screen you can possibly find.
“The Mind Flayer” (Season 2, Episode 8)
Kicking off with a possessed Will and a gruesome Demodog lab attack, this second-to-last chapter of the show’s second installment never lets up. The brutal death of Sean Astin’s Bob, as witnessed by Winona Ryder’s screaming Joyce, is genuinely horrific, after which our heroes get to grips with their nemesis and communicate with Will via Morse code. In the episode’s final seconds, the slippery corpse of a Demodog then hurtles through the window of the Byers’ house, and the front door swings open, revealing its killer: a bloody-nosed Eleven. Chills.
“The Bathtub” (Season 1, Episode 7)
The Season 1 finale, “The Upside Down,” is excellent—from Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve (Joe Keery) setting the Demogorgon on fire against the backdrop of twinkling fairy lights, and Hopper and Joyce journeying to the Upside Down, to Eleven disintegrating her enemy—but don’t overlook the episode just before it. In “The Bathtub,” the kids go on the run with Eleven in tow, and through the use of a makeshift sensory deprivation tank, she discovers the fates of both Barb (Shannon Purser) and Will. It begins with one of the most heart-in-your-throat moments of the whole show: as Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) and his cronies pursue and then drive head-first into Eleven and Mike, she causes their van to fly skywards, flip over, and crash to the ground. Cue the opening credits. There’s no bigger flex.
“The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season 1, Episode 1)
To understand how this sci-fi behemoth became the cultural phenomenon that it has, you need look no further than the opening episode. The classically Spielbergian first sequence, the remarkably assured performances from the talented young cast, the eerie abduction of Will, and the introduction of our favorite telekinetic escapee… with totally absorbing, taut storytelling; immersive world-building; and a generous dose of edge-of-your-seat horror, we’re immediately transported to ’80s Indiana. How anyone can see this and not proceed to devour the next four seasons is entirely beyond me.
