While it didn’t quite manage to edge out Nemesis, The Boroughs, the new series executive-produced by the Duffer Brothers of Stranger Things fame, landed at #2 after its debut this week. And it has landed some stellar reviews, with dozens of critics chiming in on Rotten Tomatoes.
As it stands, season 1 of The Boroughs has a verified 95% Rotten Tomatoes score from over three dozen critics. That is higher than the Duffer Brothers’ famous effort, Stranger Things, which had a 90%. It’s also higher than every individual season of Stranger Things, minus the 97% of season 1. The final season, season 5, which ended on New Year’s Eve of 2025, had the show’s lowest overall score at an 82%.
The Boroughs is just produced by the Duffers, not created, written or directed by, despite heavily supporting it within Netflix. Rather, the series was co-created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Here’s the synopsis:
“In a seemingly picturesque retirement community, a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.”
Having just finished the entire series, it very much does seem akin to Stranger Things, to the point where you could almost see it existing within the same universe. It has corporate villains, mysterious monsters and to some extent, superpowers, though with a cast of retirees rather than young kids (young kids who were almost 30 by the end of the show). And it features some famous actors from Alfred Molina to Alfre Woodard to Geena Davis to Bill Pullman. I also enjoyed seeing the return of The Wire’s Lester Freeman to my screen, Peter Clarke. I’m not even sure he’s aged.
I’m not entirely sure I agree with the sky-high scores of the series. A 95% seems pushing it a bit to me, even if the show is charming. I think a few of the performances don’t land (sorry Geena Davis), and it feels like the central mystery has a pretty obvious answer by the time the show is halfway done. I practically took one look at the couple running The Boroughs even at the start and figured out where this was all likely to go.
Still, it’s easy to recommend The Boroughs as a fun watch full of great actors. It may not fully scratch the Stranger Things itch, but you can see the shared DNA, and it’s the best we’ve got for now.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.