MIllie Bobby Brown as Eleven in “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 1.
Netflix
Netflix’s Stranger Things is back with the first four episodes of its fifth and final season. What are Rotten Tomatoes critics saying about the beginning of the end of the blockbuster series?
The arrival of Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 comes nearly nine and a half years after Netflix dropped all eight episodes of the first season of Matt and Ross Duffer’s coming-of-age sci-fi series on the platform. The wait for Season 5 has been a long one for fans, given that Season 4’s nine episodes were released nearly three and a half years ago in May of 2022.
Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5 arrived on Netflix on Wednesday evening. The official synopsis for this season reads, “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
“As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”
The massive ensemble of stars for Stranger Things Season 5 includes Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington).
Season 5 also stars Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers) and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).
As of this publication, Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 has earned an 85% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus reads, “Stranger Things plays its cards just right in Season 5, solidifying its pop culture classic status with genuinely captivating genre fare.”
In addition, Season 5, Volume 1 of Stranger Things has to date earned an 85% “fresh” Popcornmeter score based on 50-plus verified user ratings. RT’s audience summary for Season 5, Volume 1 is still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5, Volume 1?
Bob Strauss of The Wrap is among the top critics on RT who gives Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 a “fresh” score on RT, writing in his review summary, “There’s a simplicity to Stranger Things’ storylines that somehow allows rich behavioral, cultural and mythically unnerving elements to make their marks without slowing things down.”
Also praising the series is Vicky Jessop of the London Evening Standard, who writes in her RT review summary, “It’s classic ‘80s adventure fare, in the best way: kids outsmarting adults, lashings of humour and a surprising amount of heart. I gulped it down — more please.”
Kelly Lawler of USA Today also gives Volume 1 of Season 5 a “fresh” score on RT, but she has some reservations. Lawler notes in her RT review summary, “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.”
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter is among the top critics on RT who gives the first part of Stranger Things Season 5 a “rotten” score, writing, “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.”
Alison Herman of Variety isn’t impressed with the Season 5 debut either, writing in her “rotten” review summary on RT, “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.”
Chase Hutchinson of the Seattle Times also deems Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 “rotten,” writing on RT, “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.”
All four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 are new on Netflix. Volume 2, which consists of three episodes, will arrive on Dec. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and the series finale will begin streaming on the platform on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.