The Stranger Things: S4 reviews are in - and they all say the same thing
This is what to expect when the show lands this week.
Stranger Things: S4 is nearly upon us. After a longer wait than any of us were expecting, the fourth season of Netflix's biggest show is landing on the service on Friday, 27 May and the reviews are in.
This season is something of a monster. There are a total of nine episodes. seven of these will be shown weekly, then there will be a break and then we will get two super-sized episodes to round the series off.
Interestingly, episode seven will be the length of a feature film, as will episode nine. In short: there is a lot of Stranger Things this season, far more than any season before it.
Is it too much, though? Here's what the critics are saying:
IGN: "Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1 is the show at its most ambitious in every way, and that ambition works far more than it doesn’t."
Empire: "[Stranger Things] has never exactly been fun for the whole family, but this new batch of episodes really dials the darkness and horror elements up to, well, Eleven."
INews: "After three series of fighting the same fight, Stranger Things was in danger of not only becoming stale, but also overly complicated. This refresher revitalises the entire premise, while still managing to tie into – and build upon – the enveloping world creators the Duffer brothers have made."
Den of Geek: "Ultimately, Stranger Things season 4 is more of the same, with emphasis on more. It’s hard to blame the show for wanting to give us more because the formula they’ve created works."
Entertainment Weekly: "The new season gives fans more of what they love — Dustin and Steve's bickering bromance; Priah Ferguson's precocious Erica Sinclair reading fools for filth — but it also throws characters together in amusing new combinations."
Hollywood Reporter: "The three-year absence keeps a lot of Stranger Things‘ familiar nostalgic moves — direct nods this season include WarGames, Altered States and The NeverEnding Story — from coming across as stale and I respect some efforts to evolve. That doesn’t mean I don’t miss the innocence and warmth."
Reading the reviews, it seems the one thing that sticks out most is the running time of the episodes. Whether it is a positive or negative for the watcher, there's no getting around the fact that this season of Stranger Things is a bumper, king-sized season where the shortest episode is still a good hour long.
Stranger Things: S4 is out 27 May on Netflix. You can stream the first eight minutes of S4's first episode on YouTube now.
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