After a long and anxious wait, the first chapter of the end has arrived. Stranger Things Season 5: Volume 1 does not ease viewers back into the chaos of Hawkins; it violently shoves them headfirst through a rift, delivering four episodes of relentless tension, heartbreaking character moments, and shocking revelations that fundamentally raise the stakes. This isn’t just a final season; it’s an all-out war, and the opening salvos have already left our heroes battered, bereft, and facing a threat more intelligent and personal than ever before.
FULL SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST FOUR EPISODES OF STRANGER THING SEASON 5
Episode 1: “Chapter One: The Crawl” – A Town Under Siege
The season opens not in the present, but with a crucial piece of the past: a flashback to 1983 reveals the true nature of Will Byers’ abduction. He wasn’t just taken; he was specifically chosen and infected by Vecna, a chilling retcon that positions Will as Patient Zero in Vecna’s long-game plan.
We then jump to 1987, 18 months after the gates tore through Hawkins. The idyllic town is now a militarized quarantine zone, with the U.S. Army establishing a shocking presence inside the Upside Down itself. Our heroes are scattered and scarred. Eleven and Hopper are in hiding, with Hopper training El to control her powers for the final confrontation. Will, Mike, and Lucas navigate a hostile high school, while Dustin’s public mourning of Eddie provokes a vicious beating from the school basketball team, a stark reminder that human cruelty persists even during an interdimensional crisis.
The core plot mechanism is established through Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan, who operate a clandestine radio station. They organize dangerous “crawls”—missions to sneak Hopper into the Upside Down to locate Vecna’s lair. The first of these crawls goes catastrophically wrong when a Demogorgon ambushes a military convoy, forcing Hopper to retreat deeper into the nightmare dimension. The episode’s final, terrifying moments cross-cut between Will having a telepathic vision of the attack and the very same Demogorgon tearing open a new gate in the most personal of spaces: the bedroom of Mike and Nancy’s little sister, Holly. The war is no longer at the town’s edges; it has invaded the Wheeler home.
Episode 2: “Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler” – A Personal Attack
The horror escalates immediately. The Demogorgon attacks Karen and Ted Wheeler, leaving them severely injured, and abducts Holly, dragging her back into the Upside Down. This single act proves Vecna’s strategy has evolved; he is no longer just targeting traumatized teens, but striking at the most vulnerable to inflict maximum psychological damage on his true enemies.
Eleven, demonstrating her growth, fearlessly follows the creature through the new gate to rescue Holly. She finds Hopper, and their reunion is a brief moment of warmth in the chilling landscape. Together, they discover a terrifying new geographical feature: a colossal, seemingly impenetrable wall surrounding the edge of Hawkins, a physical manifestation of Vecna’s fortified domain.
Back in the Rightside Up, the personal dramas simmer. Jonathan’s insecurities boil over as he accuses Steve of trying to win back Nancy, while Lucas maintains his heartbreaking vigil at Max’s hospital bedside. The investigation into Holly’s disappearance leads to a critical breakthrough. Nancy and Mike recall Holly’s imaginary friend, “Mr. Whatsit.” Their mother, Karen, from her hospital bed, delivers the crucial clue: his first name is Henry. The realization hits them like a physical blow: Vecna has been grooming Holly, posing as a friendly entity to earn her trust before the abduction. Simultaneously, Will understands that his recent visions weren’t his own, but Vecna’s—he was seeing through the villain’s eyes as he stalked his little sister. Will’s connection is not just a curse; it is now their only window into Vecna’s intentions.
Episode 3: “Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap” – Baiting the Beast
The chess match between Hawkins and the Upside Down intensifies. Will’s newfound ability to access the hive mind reveals Vecna’s next target: Derek Turnbow, Holly’s schoolyard bully. This choice confirms Vecna is methodically dismantling Holly’s world.
Meanwhile, Hopper and Eleven’s attempt to breach the massive wall fails, and they are ambushed by military soldiers. After overpowering them, Eleven deduces the unthinkable: the military isn’t just studying the Upside Down; they have captured Vecna himself and are holding him at their base camp. This reckless act of arrogance positions the army as a dangerous third faction in the war, one that has no idea what it is truly dealing with.
The group formulates a daring, multi-pronged plan. Using Derek as bait, they will trap the Demogorgon and attach a tracker to it, hoping it will lead them to Holly’s location before Vecna claims more children. In a mission that echoes the show’s classic ensemble teamwork, they convert Derek’s house into a fortress with weapons smuggled in by the ever-reliable Murray, and enlist Erica to expertly sedate the Turnbow family. The plan, however, begins to unravel the moment Derek wakes up prematurely. The tension skyrockets as Will, connected to the hive mind, chillingly announces that the Demogorgon now knows exactly where his group is. The hunters have suddenly become the hunted.
Episode 4: “Chapter Four: Sorcerer” – Unleashing Hell
The fourth episode is a masterpiece of converging storylines and explosive payoff. Hopper and Eleven, believing they can end the war with one decisive strike, infiltrate the military base to assassinate the captive Vecna. After battling through soldiers, they make a staggering discovery: the prisoner is not Vecna, but Kali (Eight), the only other surviving test subject from Hawkins Lab. The military’s hubris has been their downfall; they captured the wrong psychic.
In the mindscape of “Camazotz” (the name Max gives to Vecna’s memory prison), Holly finds herself in Henry Creel’s childhood home. There, she encounters Max, who explains she has been trapped here, conscious but powerless, since her brief death. This reunion is a beacon of hope, confirming that Max’s spirit is still fighting.
Back at the Turnbow house, the trap springs. Will’s group is attacked by the Demogorgon, leading to a frantic chase into the Upside Down involving Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan. As the military rounds up all of Hawkins’ children as “potential victims,” Will has a devastating vision: he sees Holly and three other children restrained, with eight empty spots waiting to be filled. Vecna is building a collection.
The episode culminates in a sequence of pure cinematic terror. The heroes infiltrate the base to rescue the children, only for all hell to break loose. Demogorgons erupt from the Upside Down, swarming the compound. And then, Vecna appears. Freed from whatever illusion held him, he unleashes his full power, single-handedly slaughtering the entire military force in a display of brutal, vengeful force. He then turns his attention to Will, taunting him as a “failed spy,” before the Demogorgons snatch the children and retreat. In a final, desperate stand, as Demogorgons corner Mike, Lucas, and Robin, Will—in an explosive surge of latent power—unlocks his own psychic abilities and disintegrates the creatures.
Volume 1 ends on a note of catastrophic failure and newfound hope. The military is decimated, the children are taken, and Vecna has proven himself unstoppable. But Max is alive in the mind, Kali is back in the fight, and Will Byers has finally transformed from a victim into a warrior. The battle for the Rightside Up has only just begun, and the fate of everything now rests on a desperate rescue mission into the heart of Camazotz.
