Stranger Things 3 review roundup: Critics laud new season for being 'different', spotlight David Harbour's performance

Netflix’s sci-fi series Stranger Things  scored big (in terms of viewership) in its first season. The second was only a notch up, with multiple fan theories, fan art and parallel story-lines circulating amidst millions of fans online. Though Stranger Things season 3 comes out two years after its predecessor, the new episodes take places few months after the conclusion of the second season. As the streaming giant pushes out the third season of a much-loved franchise, here are a few early reviews of the show. Catch Stranger Things season 3’s early reviews: Comparing it with an “addictive page-turner of an adventure book”, Variety  gave a positive review for the new instalment. Since season 3 bore most of the responsibility to establish the longevity of Stranger Things as a franchise, the publication notes that the new episodes deliver more than enough. Not revealing too many spoilers, the third season is appreciated for attempting something out of the ordinary as compared to several other shows dealing with similar genres. “…by the time the final credits roll on season 3 (plus a post-credits scene you won’t want to miss), it’s made much more of a case for itself than season 2 ever did simply by trying to be something different,” adds the article. [caption id=“attachment_6675411” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Still from Stranger Things 3[/caption] CNet notes that the new episodes are bound to take audiences (even the ones not born in the 80s) down memory-lane owing to the show’s superb production design and narrative. David Harbour , who plays Jim Hopper, was lauded. “Surprisingly, many of the most touching moments come from a hard-drinking and eating Hopper, who turns to Joyce for parental advice. His willingness to move on from everything that’s happened — including the loss of his daughter to cancer — carries his stubborn and bad-tempered police chief beyond his well-established Rambo machine gun-toting territory.” Metro’s  review was a little negative, especially in terms of the show’s execution. The publication states that the depiction of gore has gone up a few notches with Stranger Things this year, _s_o much so that, they warn readers of it in their review. Though it does not possess jump scares, the new instalment is termed “truly horrifying.” The publication goes on to comment that though some crucial moments in the season were funny, they did not really fit well with the narrative and were quite “bizarre.” Stranger Things season 3 premieres on Netflix from 4 July.