The much-anticipated Season 5 (Vol. 1) of Stranger Things has landed, reportedly causing a Netflix crash for some subscribers in different parts of the globe. For those who got to see it without hiccups, the Duffer brothers seem to have delivered exactly what they were looking for. The response is largely positive, with a few critics finding it mixed to totally underwhelming. At Rotten Tomatoes, the show is currently rated 85% based on both critics' and audiences' feedback.
Here's what the top critics are saying:
Jen Chaney of TV Guide says: "Stranger Things remains great at the most important and rare skill it possesses: the ability to appeal to audiences across the age spectrum. Those on the older side will revel in the allusions to books, movies, and music that defined the experience of being raised in the late 20th century. Back to the Future looms large this season, as does Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. The absolutely gangbusters opening of the second episode, like much of the first season, owes an enormous debt to Poltergeist. And yes, the sounds of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill," a track turned into a bigger hit by Stranger Things than it ever was during the actual '80s, continues to echo hauntingly throughout this streaming saga."
Ed Power of Daily Telegraph believes the show is going to do better than Game of Thrones. "Stranger Things remains top-rank comfort viewing and for now, despite a slightly slow start, the signs are promising that it will go one better than Game of Thrones, and deliver a send-off that lives up to audience expectations," he wrote.
Kelly Lawler of USA Today gave a slightly mixed review. She wrote: "It certainly feels like the 'Stranger' we've come to know and love over nearly a decade. But it is a distinctly imperfect final bow; the season seesaws between thrilling and annoying, from emotionally satisfying to logically baffling."
Seattle Times' Chase Hutchinson was not impressed. "Like an increasing number of recent streaming shows, it feels written for an audience that is only half paying attention and ultimately punishes those who are following each stilted sentence," he shared.
Critics at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety didn't warm up to it either. The former's Angie Han wrote that "the enormous stakes come at the expense of the smaller details needed to make them land with appropriate emotional impact... More frustrating, however, is the hit to the characters that have always given the show its heart," while the latter's Alison Herman felt that "by declining to enrich its characters as they age, 'Stranger Things' traps itself in arrested development. When you get bigger without going deeper, you end up stretched thin."
However, Laura Martin of BBC wrote, "No Stranger Things fan is going away disappointed from these episodes, which leave anticipation for the rest of the season at fever pitch."
Vol. 1 comprises the first four episodes. Vol. 2 of Season 5 (with three episodes) will be out on December 25, followed by Vol. 3 (and finale) on December 31.