Others also pointed out the advancing ages of the central characters.
The Hollywood Reporter, external‘s Angie Han said: “It’s time to let these adolescents do as adolescents are meant to do: grow up and move on with the rest of their lives.”
Variety, external‘s Alison Herman wrote: “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.”
IndieWire, external‘s Ben Travers declared that season five “leaves you wanting less”, while Nerdist, external‘s Michael Walsh agreed that less could have been more.
“The start of Stranger Things 5 is a lot,” he wrote. “A lot, a lot.
“While very little from these four overly long episodes is outright bad on its own (with one major exception), too much story, too many characters, and too many complicated/convoluted developments keep Volume One from being great.”
The next three episodes will be released on Christmas Day in the US and Boxing Day in the UK, and the finale will arrive on New Year’s Eve in the US and New Year’s Day in the UK.
