{"id":597411,"date":"2025-11-27T15:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T15:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/597411\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T15:45:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T15:45:26","slug":"stranger-things-season-5-debuts-with-lowest-critics-score-so-far-but-fans-say-otherwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/597411\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger Things season 5 debuts with lowest critics&#8217; score so far &#8211; but fans say otherwise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s finally here. <a data-linked-post=\"2674347709\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indy100.com\/tv\/does-will-byers-die-stranger-things-season-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indy100.com\/tv\/does-will-byers-die-stranger-things-season-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a> was released yesterday (or today if you&#8217;re in the UK), in what is the start of the show&#8217;s big three-part finale.<\/p>\n<p>Since the show began back in 2016, it has been one of Netflix&#8217;s biggest hits &#8211; with the previous Season 4 receiving more than 140 million views, or around 1.8bn hours viewed.<\/p>\n<p>So, can the long-awaited final season live up to the hype, or will it go down as another show with a disappointing conclusion?<\/p>\n<p>Well, we won&#8217;t have that answer until the final episode is released on December 31, 2025&#8230; but until then, we can have a look at how Volume 1 is being received.<\/p>\n<p><strong>*Potential spoilers ahead*<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here is a roundup of what critics and viewers are saying about the first four episodes of Stranger Things 5.<\/p>\n<p>How has Season 5 performed compared to previous seasons?<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, TV and film review aggregate website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/tv\/stranger_things\/s05\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> has Stranger Things 5 on there with the critics&#8217; score currently sitting at 86 per cent and the audience score at 92 per cent.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ee-ul\">\n<li>Season 1 has a 97 per cent critics&#8217; score and 96 per cent audience score.<\/li>\n<li>Season 2 has a 94 per cent critics&#8217; score and 90 per cent audience score.<\/li>\n<li>Season 3 has an 89 per cent critics&#8217; score and 86 per cent audience score.<\/li>\n<li>Season 4 has an 89 per cent critics&#8217; score and audience score.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So far, Season 5 has the lowest critics&#8217; score but the second-highest audience score, only beaten by Season 1.<\/p>\n<p>What have critics said?<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-3x2\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"48db5\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"1790947c578bcd312b5439017a7e77d7\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201200%20800'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764258326_411_image.png\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" alt=\"\"\/> Netflix<\/p>\n<p>All in all, the reviews for Stranger Things 5 have been average to favourable, gaining between 3-4 stars.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/reviews\/stranger-things-review-season-5-will-episodes-b2873434.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Independent<\/a>&#8216;s Nick Hilton gave Volume 1 three stars, writing, &#8220;That familiar tone \u2013 brisk, upbeat, fun \u2013 is maintained throughout these concluding episodes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He added, &#8220;But this final series is also the victim of what I call Marvelisation: a feeling that the drama needs to be set against an interminable fight between humans and extraterrestrials.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No Stranger Things fan is going away disappointed from these episodes, which leave anticipation for the rest of the season at fever pitch,&#8221; said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/culture\/article\/20251126-stranger-things-five-volume-one-review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC<\/a>&#8216;s Laura Martin, who gave it four stars.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/tv\/0\/stranger-things-season-5-part-1-netflix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Telegraph<\/a>&#8216;s Ed Power questioned if the show will follow &#8220;long and tragic history of television mega-franchises botching their final chapters&#8221; like Game of Thrones or Lost.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At least on the evidence of the first solid, if not especially spectacular, quartet of episodes of the farewell series, I think we\u2019re going to get a respectable sign off,&#8221; giving three stars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the enormous stakes come at the expense of the smaller details needed to make them land with appropriate emotional impact,&#8221;  The Hollywood Reporter&#8217;s Angie Han said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;More frustrating, however, is the hit to the characters that have always given the show its heart.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In his four-star review, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2025\/nov\/27\/stranger-things-final-season-five-review-netflix\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Guardian&#8217;<\/a>s Jack Seale said, &#8220;The kids growing up might have changed this show\u2019s appeal, but they manage to go out in a flame-throwing, bullet-dodging blaze of glory \u2013 while still being more moving than ever before.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s classic \u201880s adventure fare, in the best way: kids outsmarting adults, lashings of humour and a surprising amount of heart. I gulped it down &#8212; more please,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/culture\/tvfilm\/stranger-things-review-season-5-volume-1-b1259901.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">London Standard<\/a>&#8216;s Vicky Jessop wrote in her four-star review.<\/p>\n<p>How have viewers reacted on social media?<\/p>\n<p>Since the new season landed, viewers have been sharing their thoughts and reactions online &#8211; and they&#8217;re pretty hyped about the direction the show is going.<\/p>\n<p>One person wrote, &#8220;I think this is objectively one of the most badass motherf***ing scenes in the history of Stranger Things. This is MONUMENTAL.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;UNLIMITED CHILLS FOR THE LAST 25MINS OF EPISODE 4 OF STRANGER THINGS 5,&#8221; a second person said.<\/p>\n<p>A third person asked, &#8220;How am I supposed to wait a month for Stranger Things again AFTER THAT.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Will has powers, 008 is back, Vecna took all the kids, MAX IS ALIVE, Will becoming friends with Robin, military a** kicked, and the Wheeler family parents is on the brink of death. Stranger Things 5 Volume One is bats*** crazy,&#8221; a fourth person commented.<\/p>\n<p>Another person posted, &#8220;THE ENDING OF EPISODE 4 OMFGSSJWHWJWNWNWJENWKWJDKENWKWNWKWNWMWMMWENWJWNWNEKWKWJ.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The wait between volume 1 and volume 2 is going to be ten times worse than the last three years,&#8221; someone else shared.<\/p>\n<p>Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 is now available to watch on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/gb\/title\/80057281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Netflix.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere from Indy100, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indy100.com\/showbiz\/jamie-campbell-bower-vecna-sexy-2674347672\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Stranger Things actor shocked at how &#8216;sexy&#8217; fans think Vecna is<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indy100.com\/tv\/stranger-things-creators-rewatch-recommend-duffer-brothers\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Stranger Things 5: Every episode the Duffer Brothers recommend re-watching before the final season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indy100.com\/news\/indy100-news-updates-whatsapp-channel\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>How to join<\/strong><\/a><strong> the indy100&#8217;s free WhatsApp channel<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/newsletters?itm_channel=native&amp;itm_campaign=footer&amp;itm_audience=prospecting&amp;itm_content=newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Sign up<\/strong><\/a><strong> to our free indy100 weekly newsletter<\/strong><strong\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s finally here. Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 was released yesterday (or today if you&#8217;re in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[94131,77,451,6082,30603,182,18500,382,75686,176503,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-597411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-critics","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-netflix","11":"tag-reviews","12":"tag-rotten-tomatoes","13":"tag-social-media","14":"tag-stranger-things","15":"tag-tv","16":"tag-tv-series","17":"tag-tv-show","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}