The year 2025 has been an iconic one in terms of additions to pop culture. From a new Taylor Swift album to the widely successful debut of Wicked: For Good following the release of the first film last year.
Yet arguably, no release has been more highly anticipated than the premiere of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. While college students like myself returned home for break, and families gathered together to celebrate the holidays, it seems like everyone ran to their screens itching to watch the first volume of episodes on November 26th.
I was not able to watch all four episodes in one sitting, as my house was full of family and friends throughout the weekend for Thanksgiving. While I was enjoying time at home leading up to the 26th, discussing how my semester was going with family members, I was busy thinking about whether or not Max was going to wake from her coma. Episodes this season being released in volumes, the next two being released on Christmas Day and New Years Eve, is different from a standard release, which involves either a new episode each week or a whole season all at once.
I personally have mixed feelings about this choice of release for the season. This concept definitely makes the hype about the show much more exciting. Rather than only getting to experience the season little by little, dropping four episodes at a time creates more room for discussion among fans, and allows the excitement to be carried out across the collection of episodes. However, I do think releasing episodes weekly allows for more time to be spent watching the show, extending the excitement about the season. I am also saying this because now, the day after finally finishing the first volume, I am in my home wanting to watch more Stranger Things.
For many of us, the Stranger Things series was a largely influential part of our childhoods. The show’s first season was released when I was still in elementary school, and each season following that was released at a completely different stage in my adolescence. Watching Season 5 now at 19, it’s very surreal to observe how massive this show has gotten, and how the characters, as well as their actors, have grown and developed through the years.
At the end of Season 4 we were left with a bleak conclusion, that after a whole season of trying to defeat Vecna, he was only temporarily harmed, and in fact the fight to save Hawkins was to continue into the next and final season.
“Chapter One: The Crawl”
The first episode of season five opens with a young Will Byers being taken by a demogorgon in a flashback to Season 1, revealing that Vecna has been behind all of the show’s events since the beginning. This opening establishes that Will is going to have a more prominent role in this season, which I feel was needed after his character has been more or less untouched the last couple of seasons. The gang does not know where Vecna is, but they are pretty certain he is alive. The name of the episode, “The Crawl”, refers to their elaborate plan to track down and eventually defeat Vecna, which includes all members of the cast searching through designated zones of Hawkins for signs of Vecna, and as of this episode they haven’t had luck in finding him.
This episode, in hindsight of the next three episodes, is very tame, and a “calm before the storm” in terms of intensity. I was glad to see that Lucas still visits Max in the hospital. In my opinion, that is the plot I am most looking forward to in future episodes. I was blown away by Holly Wheeler’s performance in this initial episode. This was clearly a new actor from previous seasons, but I thought she did a great job, and I’m looking forward to seeing where her plot goes. I was sad to see Dustin still grieving Eddie’s death from the previous season, as he is one of my favorite characters for his charm and comedic relief. Another plot I’m looking forward to watching develop is the love triangle between Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan. I go back and forth all the time on which of the two I’d rather her be with, and as of right now I’m not certain either of them deserve her. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to seeing where that plot ends up.
“Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler”
In the second episode, we white knuckle through the opening as Holly and Karen attempt to escape the demogorgon that is trying to take Holly to the upside down. When Karen stepped in and took on the demo with a broken wine bottle, I was once again reminded that she is a certified baddie. Eleven goes to the upside down to try and save Holly, where she meets up with Hopper. It is then that they discover a large, fleshy wall that stretches as far as they can see across the upside down, meaning Holly could be on the other side and they’d have no way to get to her. At the end of this episode, it is revealed the mysterious man Holly was talking to before she was taken, who she called Mr. Whatsit, is actually Henry/Vecna/001. And rather than suffering in the upside down like Will in Season 1, Holly is instead in an idyllic version of Henry’s home, being given the Coraline “other mother” treatment from Henry, while her body is being held somewhere in the actual upside down. We don’t yet know how this is possible, or what his plan with Holly is, but this twist shocked everyone, and expanded the possibilities for what Vecna is capable of.
An aspect of this episode, and this volume in general, that I really enjoyed was the friendship of Will and Robin. I think establishing them as friends was a great decision for their characters, Will especially. I love what having a friend like Robin is already doing for Will’s character development in these early episodes. I very much enjoy where this season is heading so far, I think establishing episodes like these are just as important as the later, action-packed episodes. I also love getting a glimpse into different character dynamics through simple dialogue, such as Steve and Jonathan’s conversation in the van, establishing their building tension over Nancy. A plot I and many others were frustrated by was Steve and Dustin’s ongoing argument. These two have always been an iconic duo, so seeing them bicker in this episode was frustrating. This is another storyline I am hoping gets a satisfying conclusion, ending in them making up in some fashion.
“Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap”
In the third episode the stakes rise significantly. In this episode, we are officially introduced to Derek, who was established as annoying and unlikeable in the first few episodes. While Hopper and El are still in the Upside Down, they discover that the military is not only actively searching for El, but they have some sort of radio frequency they refer to as El’s “Kryptonite” that overrides her brain and makes her unable to use her powers. The gang discovers that Vecna’s next supposed victim is Derek, so they devise a plan to get him and his family out of his house and take down the demogorgon when it arrives. This whole scene was very fun to watch, almost feeling like Home Alone in terms of their elaborate and homemade plan to take down the demogorgon. Meanwhile, Holly is left alone in the Creel house while Henry is off doing “work”, when she receives a note saying to meet him urgently in a spot through the woods, which Henry explicitly told Holly to never do. She travels through the woods anyway, only to find the person who left her the note is none other than Max, who is also mysteriously trapped in this reality.
The pan up shot of this mysterious person revealing to be Max was such a shocking reveal. I loved this episode, from the set up and execution of the plan to defeat the demogorgon, to the reveal that Max is more or less alive. This episode finally picks up the pace in a stressful but exciting way, and watching it felt like classic Stranger Things to me.
“Chapter Four: Sourcerer”
The final episode of the first volume was easily the most eventful and exciting of the four. Derek teams up with the gang after some resistance, when a demogorgon travels to the barn where they were attempting to hide Derek and his family. Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, and Dustin drove through a portal into the upside down chasing the demogorgon, leaving half the crew stuck in the upside down. Max tells Holly where she has been since being in a coma, explaining she has essentially been traveling through Henry’s memories, and the reality they are currently in is within Henry’s mind. The place she has been hiding out is, for whatever reason, the only place in this reality Henry won’t go, which I assume will be explained in a later episode. A group of kids in town, including Derek, were ordered by the military to be transported to the Hawkins military base where they were to be used as bait, ordered by Dr. Kay. Derek, assisted via walkie-talkie by the gang, rounds up all the kids in the base who were also visited by Mr. Whatsit. The gang breaks into the base’s bathroom through the underground tunnels and they get the kids out before the demogorgons arrive. El and Hopper, still in the upside down, were able to break into the base where they came in contact with Dr. Kay, who believes El is responsible for all the missing kids in Hawkins. A mysterious special-authorized room that El believes they are holding Vecna in, is revealed to be holding 008, one of the former children in Hawkins Lab with Eleven, and the main character of the infamous episode of Season 2, “The Lost Sister”. Finally, Vecna himself comes out through the portal, sending all the demogorgons to attack the various characters, as he heads for Will. This moment is chilling, as he has no intention of killing Will, only to tell him his true intentions. Just when it seems like everyone including Mike, Lucas, and Robin are about to meet their demise, all cornered by Demogorgons, all the monsters mysteriously freeze in place, and it is revealed Will has taken control of them all, bleeding from his nose and holding out his hand in true Eleven fashion.
This episode was AWESOME. Whether or not you liked the slow-at-times pace of the first three episodes, this episode brought everything together and made all the buildup worth it. I absolutely love the spotlight Will is getting this season. I think his character has been severely underused the last few seasons. Other than his goosebumps there isn’t a whole lot for him to do. The final shot of him wiping blood from his face was instantly iconic, and now all I want to do is watch the volume again. I can’t wait to see where the next two volumes take us, as there is still so much to wrap up and many questions to be answered.
This season will be an emotional one for sure, but it’s still too early to tell where everyone’s stories will end up. One thing’s for certain though, The Duffer Brothers know what is at stake, and I have no doubt they will make this season, and this show as a whole, an unforgettable moment in pop-culture history.
See you December 25th!