Critical Condition: Stranger Things (S3)

Stranger Things | Netflix, from Thursday

☆☆☆☆ “After two stellar seasons, Stranger Things has evolved beyond its ’80s-ness being its most defining feature. Even though it feels the most aggressively, intentionally, and bodaciously ’80s of all three seasons by a lot, Season 3 is wildly entertaining on its own from top to bottom because it clearly knows what it does best — it built a world with adorable characters that just so happens to exist in the ’80s — and will easily become the most universally beloved current series.” — TV Guide.

☆☆☆☆ “Except for a few cheesy moments here and there, the new episodes are exuberant and excellent, nearly surpassing the creative heights of the first season and providing a path to keeping things strange for years to come … The series builds upon its Steven Spielberg and Stephen King influences with an homage to alien invasion and zombie films, creating a genuinely terrifying (and really rather disgusting) new threat.” — USA Today.

☆☆☆☆ “Like the family-friendly ’80s horror and sci-fi touchstones they brazenly plunder—er, celebrate—eight new episodes juxtapose coming-of-age arcs and life-or-death consequences, real relationships and fantastical monsters, the sweet and the gross (season 3 favours Gremlins-style body horror). Battling supernatural forces turns out to be the perfect catalyst for various adolescent rites of passage.” — Time.

☆☆☆☆ “As for what actually happens in season 3 … well, it’s almost impossible to say. Literally. The list of ‘do not reveal’ spoilers Netflix sent alongside advance episodes is as long as it is strategic … But rest assured: if I went into season 3 wondering how long Stranger Things can possibly keep this up, I left it assured that as long as the series keeps pushing beyond what initially made it work, it will have more story left in the tank yet.” — Variety.

☆☆☆☆ “I think the third season, which I’ve seen in its eight-episode entirety, is all about recognising the inevitability of growing up and moving forward, while at the same time fighting against that tide. So when I say there’s a repetitious fatigue that sets in through the first five or six episodes, some of that is completely intentional and much of it is still quite entertaining, but this introspection on stagnation and reticence to mature probably could have come sooner and unfolded faster.” — The Hollywood Reporter.