Stranger Things season 5 finale release date & time, where to watch, and what to expect

Stranger Things season 5 volume 2 is out and it's going to be the grand finale next - coming very soon. It won't be much longer before the Hawkins squad takes on Vecna in what promises to be the last and most epic battle. 

The first four episodes premiered on November 26 followed by the next three that came out on Christmas Day. The Stranger Things 5 finale drops on Netflix on New Year's Eve to close out the story once and for all. 

What makes the finale even more exciting and immersive to fans is that it's premiering on Netflix and select movie theaters. Find out when and where to watch the Stranger Things season 5 finale below.

Stranger Things season 5 finale release date and time

The final volume of Stranger Things 5 is only one episode. But it's worth two of the previous episodes as it's 2 hours and 8 minutes long. And it drops on streaming on New Year's Eve, December 31, at 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time. 

Find out below what time the finale arrives in different parts of the world:

• Eastern Standard Time (US): Dec 31, 8 pm
• Greenwich Mean Time (Europe): Jan 1, 1 am
• South African Standard Time (South Africa): Jan 1, 3 am
• India Standard Time (India): Jan 1, 6:30 am
• Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Oceania): Jan 1, 12 pm

Where to watch the Stranger Things season 5 finale

Fans have two choices to watch the much-anticipated Stranger Things 5 finale: the small screen or the big screen. It will premiere on Netflix like the previous episodes on New Year's Eve. But unlike the previous ones, it will also get a limited theatrical release. 

Netflix announced that the finale will be showing in over 500 theaters across the US and Canada on December 31 at 5:00 pm PT. It's timed to premiere at the same time as Netflix. Showings will also continue through January 1. 

Fans can check the full list of locations for the screenings via ST5Finale.com. 

What to expect in Stranger Things 5 finale

The finale episode of Stranger Things 5 is titled The Rightside Up, which is a play on the mysterious Upside Down throughout the series. And there's plenty to unpack in the last episode of the series. For one, there remains a looming threat that someone is going to die. 

No one significant died in Volumes 1 and 2, igniting fan questions about whether the finale will bring that big death that has been teased leading up to season 5. Fan theories that Steve is the one going to die were further reignited during the Duffer brothers' guesting on Jimmy Fallon. 

They were asked to arrange the figurines of the main cast to hint at what's going to happen in the finale and they strategically placed the Steve figurine at the edge of the desk. Accident or not, Steve ends up falling off the edge. 

The Duffer brothers also teased ending the series in "a big way." They described the finale to Entertainment Weekly on December 25:

"It's very large in scale, big I think it's more character-focused than any of the other episodes in the season. With the 2-hour runtime, you're able to do both."

At the end of season 5 episode 7, the Hawkins squad reconvened to formulate a plan to break into the Abyss to rescue the kidnapped children and stop Vecna's plans. Having them come together in the penultimate episode set up the climactic events in the finale.

What's left to do is to have them put that plan into action, and that's what fans can expect to see in the finale. 

Watch 7 of the 8 episodes of Stranger Things season 5 on Netflix.