Stranger Things 5: Part 1 Review
Image from Netflix.
As most people that follow social media know, Stranger Things Season Five released its first installment over Thanksgiving break, releasing four episodes totaling about 525 minutes (8.75 hours) out of the 1150 minute (about 19 hours) long season. The season’s parts were set to release on November 26, 2025, December 25, 2025, and December 31, 2025. As the first frenzy to watch Season Five comes to a close, I would like to review some of the content that has been shown, as well as theories, and summaries of the past seasons.
Summary
Dating all the way back to July of 2016, the almost ten year-old show has raked in millions, by strategic marketing, staggered release dates, and enthralling plotlines. Each season focuses on a new type of evil, and starts to connect all of the dots in Season Four, leaving fans on the edge of their seats for the next three years. As one of the fans that started watching just after Season Three was released, I feel that this sufficient ending has been long awaited since the very beginning.
[*Note: The remainder of the article has spoilers for the four seasons predating the release of Season Five, as well as the first part of Season Five.]
Season One
In November, 1983, Dustin, Will, Mike, and Lucas are 11 and 12 year old kids who just like to have fun playing Dungeons and Dragons. On the way home, Will gets kidnapped by what we later come to know as the Demogorgon, who takes Will to the Upside Down. The remaining three boys try to find Will, but instead come across Eleven, who has escaped from Hawkins Laboratories from “Papa,” otherwise known as Doctor Brenner. Throughout the season, new things are found out about the Upside Down, and more are lost to the monster, initiating a cover-up from the lab. Hopper and Joyce venture into the alternate dimension, finding Will and saving him from the Demogorgon.
Season Two
Will begins having flashbacks and visions of the Upside Down, specifically highlighting a shadow figure that seems to be watching him. Eleven is hidden from the world due to suspicion of her being a Russian spy, and she leaves Hopper’s house to find out more about herself. The visions get worse, and the shadow eventually infiltrates Will’s body and mind. The “Mind Flayer” uses Will as a spy, killing many people that were trying to exterminate the Upside Down’s presence within the real world. Joyce and others figure out that they need to close the gate at Hawkins Lab in order to stop the Mind Flayer and also rid Will’s body of the particles. Eleven comes back to Hawkins and closes the gate, sealing the monsters away for good.
Season Three
Season Three incorporates not only the evil from the Upside Down, but also the Russians that have infiltrated Hawkins in order to use the alternate dimension to their advantage. Will’s senses are heightened whenever he feels that the Mind Flayer is present, and he uses this to help figure out when Billy is activated to create the Mind Flayer’s army. The Mind Flayer takes a physical form during the season, killing more civilians and wreaking more havoc, all to find and kill Eleven. The group all separates in order to stop the Russians, stop the Mind Flayer, protect Eleven, and save the world once again.
Season Four
Season Four is held over three locations: Russia, California, and Hawkins. Even as the group is separated, they each find out vital information about the evil forces that they were dealing with, all while Eleven is regaining her powers. The evil reveals himself as somebody that Eleven condemned in the past. The group finds out what his plan is and what the future looks like for Hawkins. Every character in the show fights the evil from the Upside Down, but ultimately fails, splitting Hawkins into pieces and opening multiple gates to the Upside Down.
My Review of Part One
Honestly, I thought Part One was really satisfying, especially after waiting 3.5 years for it to be released. I loved how they kind of left the audience on a cliffhanger with Will getting powers, but also previously explained why he had those powers (tapping into Vecna’s mind, etc). I will say though, I feel like some parts were a little unnecessary, like Eleven training to defeat Vecna, or spending so much time at the barn trying to convince Derek to believe that the monsters were coming for him.
Along with this, I found some parts of the storyline a little less thought-out, like the CGI Will in the first scene of the show. Yes, I realize that Noah Schnapp, a 21 year old, can no longer play an 11 year old, but I feel like they could’ve found an actor that at least looked somewhat like him instead of using what just looked like 2000’s CGI to solve the problem. They also spent way too much time focusing on Eleven’s training scenes; although cool, I feel like one scene showing what she was training for was enough, and they didn’t need to draw it out longer than it needed to be.
On another note—I would like to mention that the Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy love triangle needs to come to an end at some point. They keep dragging this out, and I honestly forgot that Jonathan and Nancy were together after Season Four with them not being the best for each other anymore (not taking the chance to visit each other on Spring Break, when a healthy couple would never miss an opportunity like this). I do have to say, and I don’t know many people that disagree, but Steve and Nancy belong together, especially since they have both changed so much and are finally ready for a mature relationship.
My first impressions of some of the characters this season were not how I like them to be, usually expecting them to be their same, funny, ordinary self that they were in the last seasons, and when I say this, I’m talking about Dustin and Robin. Dustin obviously has some major emotional baggage following Eddie’s death in Season Four, and I do not doubt that losing one of your closest mentors and idols would take a toll on your mental health, but I honestly think that Dustin’s grief is causing him to be irrational, and therefore not helpful to the fight against Vecna. If he is going to keep acting this way towards his loved ones and endangering himself so recklessly, like getting beat up, maybe he should sit out the fight. I also mentioned Robin as somebody that didn’t seem the same, and I personally think it was the actress (Maya Hawke)’s character that she voiced in Inside Out 2 showing a bit in her dialogue. In other seasons (more specifically four), Robin’s character seems a little kooky, but not as over the top as she sounded this season. I truly wish that she could separate the Anxiety babble from the Robin babble, because all I hear this season is an animated character.
Okay, moving away from the preexisting characters, I would just like to touch on Holly and Derek. As we know, Holly is very important this season as she is taken by Mr. Whatsit (Henry), and she is locked in Henry’s mind with Max, which will probably prove to be vital in the second part. At first, I was confused why she was getting so much screentime, especially since the Duffer Brothers decided to change the actress for their peak season. I understand now that she will be very important to taking down Vecna from the inside, but the one thing I can’t get over is how much older Holly is in this season compared to the last season. All of the confusion about her age is lost on me, especially considering that her classmate, Derek, seems so much more immature than Holly (whatever age they are). I know that the popular opinion is that Derek is a funny, iconic character for this season, but his level of immaturity and how annoying he is really doesn’t make me want to join the fan club. While I understand that young actors, such as Jake Connelly, don’t have the experience to be great actors like other stars of the cast, his constant screaming and forced laughter (which will improve with his acting experience) made me want to rip my ears off a little bit. I will say, I love how hard he was smacking those kids with the ruler.
The plot of the first installment is very good to me, although I’m a little lost on Vecna’s chamber and why he needs 12 children, I have some theories until the next part is released. Did you notice how Will painted the chamber? Looks pretty similar to a Mind Flayer if you ask me, so I think that the Mind Flayer will be directly connected to whatever Vecna is planning. Did you notice who was included in the play from Henry’s 1959 high school memory? Henry is in the play, and I think something scarring happens that he wants to go back and change. People are saying that the night of the play is the same night he kills his family, which I might agree with, but the age difference of Season Four Henry does not seem like he was in high school at the time. Going off of this, like I said, Vecna wants to go back to this night for some reason, and with his obsession with clocks, I don’t think it’s going too far to say that time travel could be involved in this season. Also, many people noticed this, but the night of the play? November 6th. The night Will gets taken (which is explicitly stated by Lucas in episode 2)? November 6th. If we know anything about the show, they love using connections, so I believe that this day is significant enough in Henry/Vecna’s life that he has centered his entire evil plan around it. Obviously, there is still so much to unpack with Henry’s life, and I think we’ll get this with Holly and Max being able to go into his memories. I really hope that all of these points are connected back to the story, as they all seem very important right now.
One final note that I will include is this: if time traveling was not important this season and for the show, why mention loopholes, why reference Back to The Future more than once? The Duffer Brothers are very intentional with their clues, so I hope that they reveal what all of this means.
References
Peterson, S. (2022, September 30). When Did Stranger Things Come Out? Full Guide (2024). Toynk Toys. Retrieved November 25, 2025, from https://www.toynk.com/blogs/news/when-did-stranger-things-come-out
Rudolph, C. (2025, November 22). 'Stranger Things' Season 5 Release Schedule: Episodes and Time. People Magazine. Retrieved November 25, 2025, from https://people.com/stranger-things-season-5-episode-release-schedule-11853209
