Netflix did a good job starting Stranger Things and we hope to do so with more series

Netflix’s motto has always been “We want to give our members a choice in how they watch shows.” This involved premiering all episodes of the season in one day and then the viewer decided whether to watch all episodes on the same day, if they lasted over the weekend, for an entire week or if they chose to watch them weekly like the old use. But, as we have pointed out on more than one occasion, this model is no longer clear: Stealing money s Ozarks They aired their final seasons in two installments, and in the case of Weird thingsThe fourth season is divided into two parts. More importantly, it was a success for Hawkins’ children.

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The reasons for releasing the Duffer Brothers series in two installments seem quite clear, even if Netflix directors didn’t quite put it that way. The contents of the platform are burned at an extraordinary speed. So, if you have a phenomenon on your hands with commendable viewer interaction, why would you want to spend about $270 million for one season to air it in its first weekend?

By airing the first seven episodes on May 27 and the last two on July 1, the platform has been trying to mitigate the fall in user numbers this quarter: those users who had planned to come back to meet Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) wouldn’t have enough of a monthly payment but had to Subscribe to it for at least two months.

How long will the gossip about the series last if it was launched at once? Would it have made an impact after two weeks of conversation?

But, as we said, the most important thing is that the decision Weird things Hawkins kept in the mouths of the media and the public for many weeks. How long will the gossip about the series last if it was launched at once? Would it have made an impact after two weeks of conversation? Instead, we lived this way for five weeks Running over this hill In the background, the actors’ faces on screen and with an attentive audience on the arrival of the last two episodes, causing a second effect (and more days with Netflix in the popular conversation).

That’s possible, for the record, due to the quality of the show and also because of the wit of Netflix and the Duffer brothers to coherently start Season 4: Episode VII left the plot red-hot but completely shutting down the second chapter of the season, giving explanations about the villain’s origin, and putting the pieces on attack. The audience was thirsty for more adventures from Eleven, Max (Sadie Sink) or Steve (Joe Keery) without feeling robbed. In short, the season has started well, taking advantage of this division to raise expectations. The marathon model can increase the vice, yes, but it also decreases the ability to anticipate, to wait, and to accrue benefit when the work is well produced.

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Division Paper House, Ozark s Weird things It led to controversy over the series airing on Netflix. Does that mean indirectly that the platform is aware that its emission model has cracks? Yes, and should they consider the weekly broadcast to try to lead a TV conversation and cook up songs like HBO with titles like tranceAnd the Succession or back to its golden age, game of throneyes? not necessarily.

Because, let’s be honest, Weird things You probably wouldn’t have taken full advantage of the weekly broadcast, at least at the start of the season. The first episode, for example, lacks the Duffers’ distinctive sense of adventure, at least in a few of its plot lines (necessary, for example, to understand Eleven’s frustration and social incompatibility). Eddie Monson’s character is unusually lazy in his presentation. And, in fact, the plot doesn’t end until episode three (which is typical of the franchise, on the other hand, although it goes unnoticed precisely because of the marathon).

Stranger Things may not have taken full advantage of the weekly airing, at least at the beginning of the season, because it doesn’t start until episode three.

Thus, the comments of Peter Friedlander, director of the novel in the United States and Canada, make sense, when he said that it would be a “disappointing” change for audiences. Weird things to weekly mode. This phenomenon depends in part on the number of hours that can be invested in it, with the pioneering 10-hour film-film model. Independent hours, although it would ensure Netflix increased consumption of the product, could reduce the effectiveness of the story.

But this highly effective clip after Episode VII puts on the table the need to take care of production and viewership to make the most of them commercially and creatively, as well as improve the viewer’s experience. According to Netflix’s logic, this split was supposed to make the user’s viewing worse by not giving them full power and forcing them to wait for the final episodes. But sometimes improving a viewer’s experience also means giving him what he doesn’t know he wants or needs.

In the case of Weird thingsThis isolated broadcast of the two episodes, which is the third act and nearly four hours of footage, only added to the feeling that we’re finding ourselves in front of a blockbuster movie. Only Peter Jackson dared with him Lord of the Rings For the height of excitement and drama throughout the last episode. Let’s see if Netflix’s no-burning philosophy is established with other productions but with the same grace as with Weird thingsgiven the location where they are using the hack to increase user interest and expectations without feeling like they are playing it.

This highly effective storytelling brings to the table the need to care for production and scenes to make the most of them commercially and creatively, as well as to improve the viewer’s experience.