Dear Netflix,

This isn’t the first time we’ve spoken. In fact, I like to believe that we’ve been in something of a ten-year relationship together. Time gets kind of hazy when you’re having all the fun but I remember the days of getting two discs at a time and trying to stream you through my Nintendo Wii. We go way back and there’s not much I would change about our relationship outside of the mental trauma that Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” caused me. Seriously, it’s been a couple of years and I’m still recovering. Usually, I can’t bring it up without wanting to vomit into the nearest trash receptacle but… wait, excuse a minute.

…

That’s not why I’m writing you although my therapist insists that I should speak to someone else about how that episode ruined my life.

You may recall that I at’ed you yesterday…@’ed? Atted? At? @? I reached out to you yesterday on Twitter (@iamgeek32 hiiiiiii) about the upcoming season of Stranger Things. You didn’t respond, it’s okay, we’ve spoken in the past, I know you must be at’ed…@’ed a great deal. I’m not mad about it but considering that I have this wonderful forum with I Am Geek, I felt that it would almost be irresponsible of me to not reach out to you again in a larger format. Let’s be honest, two hundred eighty characters is simply not enough space to properly convey one’s thoughts. Take this letter, for example, it’s already at 253 words and I haven’t even gotten to the point of what I’m trying to say. Really taking advantage of my platform here.

Anyway, you may have heard that Game of Thrones wrapped its eight-season run last weekend. Ignoring the division between the fandom on how the season played out, that’s a massive deal. It seems that Thrones was possibly the last of the “water cooler” shows. You know the kind I’m talking about. The type of show where you have to be there on a specific day at a specific time so you can watch and then discuss with your co-workers the following day. “Did you see Game of Thrones last night? Can you believe that the dragon…”, you get the point. With that being said, I believe that the conclusion of Game of Thrones puts you in a very unique situation with the upcoming release of the third season of Stranger Things.

Hear me out, and if you’ve read this far I imagine you will.

I love Stranger Things. If you take a minute to explore the site you’ll see that there are a number of different columns dedicated to the show. Hawkins, Indiana is one of my favorite places to visit and I have been literally counting down the days until this third season since Halloween… two years ago. That’s a long time but I’m patient. I want the best possible product and I appreciate the time and effort that is being put into the show. No complaints here.

While there may not be complaints on the production of the show, I may have a little, tiny, complaint about its release. Before we go on, I don’t want you getting all defensive. Take this as a friendly suggestion coming from a super fan. If you didn’t help create something so freakin’ awesome people wouldn’t be so passionate about it so there’s that, but I was thinking… is it possible to not season dump the third season of Stranger Things? Perhaps we could maybe make it last the summer? This season is eight episodes long. That’s eight weeks of dominance. That’s more weeks then the last season of Game of Thrones even!

With the “water cooler” show is all but gone, if you were to stagger the release of Stranger Things, Netflix could dominate pop culture all summer long. I told you yesterday in my Tweet, as a writer stretching out the season allows me more time to write about what’s happening in the show. Just look at how many sites, including my own, that made a killing with Game of Thrones theories and reactions. The week between episodes almost forces me to watch and re-watch episodes looking for clues and hatching new theories and character ideas. That’s why many of us created sites like this one right here. Now apply that to Stranger Things during the summer when there typically isn’t anything else on, and man, you’d be sitting pretty.

As a fan, I just want the show to last longer. It’s wonderful to get the show all at once but it’s gone just as quickly as it arrives. I’ve written in the past about the season dump and the positives and the negatives it brings, but I want to hang out in Hawkins as long as possible. I’m not saying you have to release the season one episode at a time either. You can even double up. Two per week still extends the content to four weeks and keeps the show in people’s mouths. You have the potential to own the summer. Who doesn’t want to own the summer?

Granted, you’re Netflix and you don’t need advice or requests from someone like me. You guys have been wildly successful doing what you’re doing and I can not only appreciate that but respect it. I just thought, as a fan/writer that I would maybe plead the case for an extension of the Stranger Things season. What do you have to lose? Maybe you even discover that your subscribers enjoy this for certain shows? Who knows, I’m just spitballing here.

I don’t think of myself as a hero but here we are…

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend by the way! My fiancé and I just finished the second season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and are getting ready for a Stranger Things re-watch along with a first watching of Dead To Me. Big things ahead! Feel free to get back to me at any time with your decision. I trust you’ll give this the proper attention it deserves.

Sincerely,

Kevin/I Am Geek