Given Netflix’s binge-watching model, viewers may already have seen the ending of Stranger Things season 5, volume 1. The reaction so far, on popular audience rating websites like IMDb, seems to be positive. However, when looking at another review metric for the show, Stranger Things season 5 seems to be continuing a somewhat worrying Netflix trend.
Stranger Things’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Has Been In Steady Decline
Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna looking intensely while coming out of a portal in Stranger Things season 5
The trend in question relates to Stranger Things‘ critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. With the release of season 5, Stranger Things‘ Rotten Tomatoes score continues its steady decline, at least among professional critics. The audience scores remain strong, but there is no denying that each season of Stranger Things has been increasingly negatively reviewed by critics.
Stranger Things Season
Critical RT Score
Audience RT Score
Season 1
97%
96%
Season 2
94%
90%
Season 3
89%
86%
Season 4
89%
89%
Season 5
87% (as of November 27)
92% (as of November 27)
The first season of Stranger Things received almost perfect reviews across the board, debuting to 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Stranger Things season 2 followed this up with 94%, before seasons 3 and 4 dropped to 89%. Finally, Stranger Things season 5 was released to a critical rating of 87%, the lowest of the show’s run.
It is worth noting that 87% is still a very good score, meaning almost nine out of every 10 critics gave the new installment of Stranger Things a positive review. Even still, the show’s slight decline is evident, perhaps proving Stranger Things is ending at the perfect time so as not to outstay its welcome.
Why Stranger Things Season 5 Has The Worst Critical RT Score Of The Show
With Stranger Things‘ steadily declining Rotten Tomatoes score in mind, it is worth exploring why season 5 has the lowest rating thus far. In Screen Rant‘s own review for Stranger Things season 5, volume 1, the show’s ambition was labeled as a double-edged sword. The scope, scale, and twisting story of Stranger Things season 5 were praised, but this also meant the show felt exceedingly convoluted.
Characters were split apart into smaller groups again, each of them uncovering their own massive secrets about the looming war with the Upside Down, leading Stranger Things season 5’s story to feel more unfocused than usual. Comicbook.com agreed, stating that the pacing suffers from splitting the show’s characters once more, with several of them suffering repetitive arcs.
Slate‘s review was one of the few outright negative ones, stating that the show wraps itself up in “stagnant characters and snarled lore.” Several other negative reviews follow a similar pattern, claiming that the show’s increased scale and story result in the characters being left behind, rendering season 5 a story with a smaller emotional impact.
Regardless, these bad reviews are only a small handful. Moreover, most of the “negatives” found in Stranger Things season 5’s critical reviews are part of positive write-ups overall. This is not to say that Stranger Things is doomed to repeat the conclusional issues of Game of Thrones, for instance, but merely to note that critics are becoming ever-so-slightly less invested in the former over time.
Will Stranger Things Season 5 End On A High Note?
Will with nosebleed in Stranger Things season 5Image via Netflix
Whether Stranger Things season 5 will avoid the aforementioned issues of shows like Game of Thrones remains to be seen. Volume 1, released on Netflix in November, only consists of four episodes out of a planned eight. Three more are set to be released on Netflix on Christmas Day of 2025, with the feature-length finale of the show coming a week later on New Year’s Eve.
The critical reviews counted so far only relate to the first four episodes released as part of Volume 1. Given that the main issues highlighted in those reviews include a stunted emotional impact, an unfocused narrative, and underwhelming character arcs, it stands to reason that future volumes of Stranger Things season 5 will rectify them.
As the show reaches its conclusion, the characters are likely to come together to face Vecna, with the final battle featuring more stakes and loss than ever. This will mean that both the bloated, fractured narrative of volume 1 will become more cohesive, with a larger focus placed on the characters at Stranger Things’ center.
If the Duffer Brothers have managed to stick the landing with such aspects in Volumes 2 and 3 of Stranger Things season 5, there is no reason to believe that the show will not end on the high note people expected it to. In fact, even if the last two volumes are met with a similar critical reception as the first, the show’s finale will still be one that was liked by almost 90% of critics who saw it.
Release Date
2016 – 2025-00-00
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Directors
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
Writers
Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
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