By Harshit
LOS ANGELES, NOVEMBER 28, 2025, 8 AM EDT
If you watched all four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5’s first volume over the Thanksgiving holiday, congratulations—you’ve survived nearly five hours of supernatural chaos, emotional gut punches, and the most cinematic opening stretch the series has ever delivered. If you haven’t, turn back now; Hawkins has never been more dangerous, and this article is filled with spoilers.
Volume 1 ends with a massive twist involving Will Byers, but the road to that moment is layered with terror, nostalgia, dark humor, and unexpected character turns. Here are the moments that defined this first installment and what they suggest about the final season’s trajectory.
The Attack on the Wheelers: The Show’s Most Terrifying Sequence Yet
Season 5 wastes no time raising the stakes. The end of Episode 1 and the beginning of Episode 2 contain one of the show’s most brutal sequences as a Demogorgon attacks the Wheeler household. Little Holly Wheeler—aged up and played brilliantly by Nell Fisher—is abducted after witnessing her parents torn apart in slow motion.
The visceral horror of Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) finally seeing the “monsters” she had always dismissed as childhood imagination evokes classic ’80s films the show loves referencing, from Poltergeist to E.T.. Karen and Ted survive, but their injuries are severe—and their daughter remains missing, trapped in an eerie dreamlike landscape introduced later in the volume.
The Wheelers have long been comic relief in the show’s suburban tapestry; now, they’re symbolic victims of a world collapsing at its seams.
Mr. Whatsit Revealed: A Sci-Fi Callback With Real Emotional Weight
Holly’s imaginary friend “Mr. Whatsit” felt suspicious from the start, but the reveal hits hard when Mike and Nancy discover he is actually Vecna—Henry Creel in disguise. The nod to Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, which Holly is shown reading, adds a literary layer to the mythology. The show continues to weave the novel’s concepts—especially Camazotz—through multiple storylines this season.
Vecna’s manipulation of Holly adds a chilling emotional angle. For the first time, a younger sibling of the main cast is at the center of a season-long threat, raising the emotional stakes for Mike and Nancy in ways we haven’t seen since Will’s disappearance in Season 1.
Season MVPs: Erica Sinclair and the Surprisingly Redeemed Derek Turnbow
Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson) has always been a scene stealer, but Season 5 catapults her into full MVP status. Her benzo-laced pie ambush at the Turnbow house—followed by her iconic line to Tina, “And I told you to eat your damn pie!”—is one of the most shockingly funny moments in the entire series.
On the other end of the emotional spectrum sits Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly), who begins the season as an abrasive bully but transforms into an unexpected ally by Episode 4. His guided meditation sequence—intended to help the group reset before their next move—offers rare comedic levity amid the season’s relentless dread.
The Duffers often introduce new characters who resonate deeply (Eddie, Max, Bob, Murray). Derek appears to be Volume 1’s breakout addition.
Holly’s Tiffany ‘Sidestep’ Montage: Nostalgia With a Dark Edge
Episode 3 delivers one of the most stylish sequences of the season. Holly dances, bakes cakes, and twirls in pastel dresses to Tiffany’s 1987 hit “I Think We’re Alone Now,” gifted to her by her mysterious “friend” along with a Sidestep stereo.
It’s pure Stranger Things—the glittering nostalgia of childhood joy colliding with creeping dread. The colorful montage slowly dissolves into tension as an insistent knock interrupts Holly’s carefree escape. She’s given instructions to “head into the woods,” reminding viewers that this idyllic interlude is part of Vecna’s manipulation.
The sequence will almost certainly become one of the most replayed moments of the season.
‘Sorcerer’ Will Byers: The Most Shocking Transformation of the Series
Volume 1’s climax in Episode 4, titled “Sorcerer,” is its most explosive development. Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), who has spent four seasons as a recurring victim of the Upside Down’s influence, finally steps into agency—channelling something dark and powerful as he fights the Demogorgons.
For the first time, Will appears to possess abilities mirroring those of Eleven… or possibly even those of Vecna himself. The nosebleed. The eyes. The unspoken terror in his friends’ reactions.
Is Will becoming like Eleven? Is he becoming a conduit for Vecna? Or something entirely new?
The series has long foreshadowed that Will is more deeply linked to the Upside Down than any other character. Volume 1 just kicked that door wide open.
With Volume 2 arriving on Christmas, the waiting may be the hardest part.