With the final season of Stranger Things about to be released – Volume 1 on Thanksgiving, Volume 2 on Christmas, and the finale on New Year’s Eve – the promotional content releases have been in full swing. Specifically, on November 6th, Stranger Things Day, they released a trailer entitled “Stranger Things 5: First Five Minutes,” predictably including the first five minutes of the new season. And I’ve got to say- it was rough (in the best way possible). Whether you’ve watched it yourself yet or not, here’s the lowdown on what happened and what it might mean.
For anyone who hasn’t watched it yet, a quick summary (and, quick warning if you decide to watch it yourself: there is pretty graphic imagery near the end). The first five minutes are a flashback to the time in season one between when El uses her powers to find Will and when Joyce and Hopper venture through the Upside Down and find him in the library.
We start with Will in Castle Byers, singing to himself, when a demogordon suddenly attacks. Will is able to use the gun from the shed to shoot the demogordon, distracting it long enough to run away and climb a tree to escape. Only, it turns out demogordons can climb trees, and Will ends up falling, knocking himself out. (And now, here’s where it gets interesting.) The demogordon then takes Will to the library, where Vecna is waiting. Vecna traps Will against a wall with vines and, for lack of a better phrase, shoves a vine down his throat, which starts moving something into Will. As this goes on, Vecna says, “You and I, we are going to do such beautiful things together, William.”
In only a little less than 5 minutes, we get a lot of information that is definitely meant to set up ST5 and tie up loose ends from previous seasons. First of all, we are finally seeing watch happened in the Upside Down with Will, specifically how he ended up from Castle Byers to being trapped in the library. Then, like many people previously predicted, it seems that Will was specifically targeted the night he went missing and that Vecna had been behind everything since the beginning. Even further, it seems as though there is something about him that Vecna deems useful enough to go through the effort of kidnapping him rather than killing him.
While the trailer did provide a lot of information, it also elicits a lot of questions, such as: Why target Will specifically? How is this setting up season 5? And what does it mean for previous seasons?
My personal theory is that Will has powers of some sort. How, you might ask? I honestly have no idea- that’s the writers’ jobs to figure out. But, even so, this could explain why Will was targeted in the first place, and why, outside of his possession, he continues to have a connection to the Upside Down. Plus, with how much he and Henry parallel each other, it could be a definite possibility.
Another theory I’ve seen a lot of is how this might mean that Will has been possessed the entire time. While I’m less sure about this theory, I do think it could be another explanation for Will’s connection to Vecna and the Upside Down, as well as how he went between dimensions in season 2, where the Mindflayer possessed him.
Whatever might happen, the Duffer brothers are known to take care of the little details that truly make their show extraordinary. There was a reason they decided to release the first five minutes, and only time will tell. In the meantime, I’ll be binge-watching the rest of the seasons and stocking up on tissues to prepare for the next season. I can’t wait!