Welcome back to our spoiler-filled thoughts on Stranger Things 5, continuing to cover the episodes released on November 26, 2025, in the run-up to Vol. 2’s premiere on Christmas evening.
Written by Paul Dichter
Directed by the Duffer brothers
Max brings Holly up to speed. Dustin, Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy return to the Upside Down, while Eleven and Hopper infiltrate the military installation there. The rest of the party plots to spirit away the other children Vecna is planning to kidnap, which is easier said than done when the army moves every 9-10 year old in Hawkins to their base, the MAC-Z, in the Rightside Up.
Welcome back Max
We get a lengthy recap from Max about being trapped in Vecna’s memories during her coma, where the only refuge she found once he discovered her presence was a cave he’s visibly too traumatized to enter. This is the first of two major references to the play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the other being the poster for the school performance of Oklahoma!, where we see Henry (who was cast as Curly) was classmates with Joyce, Jim, Karen, Ted, Bob’s sister Patty Newby, and Eddie’s father Alan Munson. (It was scheduled for November 6, 1959, so there’s the day Will was kidnapped again.)
The cave’s significance is revealed in the play, so we won’t discuss it here, in case it spoils the rest of the season, but Vecna’s reaction is certainly striking: what could possibly frighten the most frightening character on the show? It proves he’s an unreliable narrator beneath all his bluster, and given how the show has reminded us time and again that even the worst people are still human, it makes you wonder: could this pain Max has uncovered be the key to finally defeating him?
The redemption of Dipshit Derek
Speaking of redemption arcs, Derek really proves his quality after encountering the Demogorgon in the barn, diligently getting into MAC-Z and wrangling the other kids Vecna’s targeting out via the tunnels the Demodogs burrowed during season two. He even holds the door when the plan falls apart! (Thanks Ashley Klein, you snitch.)
Honestly, Derek’s obnoxious characterization had been concerning, because it could’ve exacerbated any bullying his actor, Jake Connelly, may’ve received online, but the creators thankfully came in with the clutch, already adding him to the illustrious roster of characters like Steve, Billy, Eddie, and even Brenner, who all got off on the wrong foot, but proved there was more to them than that when “reality” hit.
The Children’s Great Escape
Stranger Things has always tipped its hat to other film genres besides its main influences, and we get an explicit tribute to The Great Escape (namedropped by Robin) here with the plot to sneak out the children from MAC-Z. It’s an unexpectedly delightful sequence, between Mike and Will trying to contain the burst water pipe, and the boy who accidentally pokes his head out when Ashley Klein discovers them.
On that note, some might say the emphasis on this new group of younger kids is a cynical attempt to recapture the magic of the earlier seasons, when the main characters were around 12 years old, but there’s frankly something beautiful how they’ve grown up and matured, and have now joined Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin in protecting younger children. That said, it would be rather much if these new kids went on to become the protagonists of the planned live-action spin-off.
Why is this show so spectacular?
This is a rhetorical question, it’s Netflix’s biggest show, and they’ve poured a ton of money into it. However, it’s just amazing to watch Demogorgons come out of the wazoo, attacking MAC-Z’s garrison, pursuing Robin and Murray’s truck, and cornering Lucas and the kids in the tunnels, while Mike tries to get Derek, Mary, and Glenn to safety in a one-shot take, and then to think back to how low-key season one was.
We live in a golden age of cinematic sci-fi and fantasy shows, thanks to how streaming services absorb the required costs, but good god, why do so many of them pale in comparison? If not for the delays they’ve faced, the Duffer brothers would’ve probably landed the job of directing Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars: they’re that damned good.
Lost and found
Before infiltrating Kay’s headquarters, Hopper expresses doubts about Eleven’s theory that Vecna has been imprisoned there. After (once again) the show pulls our heartstrings with the prospect of him sacrificing himself to save everyone, it turns out he was right: Kay didn’t capture Vecna, she had Kali (Eight) imprisoned instead.
It’s great to see Kali, who appears here for the first time since season two’s divisive “The Lost Sister,” as her absence from the end of Brenner’s story in the fourth was a worrying indication that she’d been dropped from the show after the poor response to her storyline. Thank goodness the Duffers chose to salvage her character, instead of simply shrugging their shoulders: as the old saying goes, there are no bad characters, only bad execution.
MegaVecna
As was no surprise to anyone who saw the trailers, Vecna instead reemerges making his way to MAC-Z, now as physically formidable as he is psychically, with a primarily CG body (dubbed Vecna 2.0 by the creative team.) The sight of him detonating a flamethrower’s tank by repelling its fire is awesome, and the shot where he punches through a soldier’s face is easily the most brutal and shocking to date on the show: Joyce is very lucky that he simply chose to fling her aside before taunting Will. (There’s that possible hidden sentiment again.)
Queer identity saves the world
Vecna wins, taking all the children he wanted for his endgame, and departs before his Demogorgons can kill Mike, Lucas, and Robin. As all hope seems lost, Will remembers the kind words Robin said to him earlier in this episode, about his crush on Mike, and how, even if his feelings aren’t reciprocated, he can still be the hero of his own story.
We see him and Mike as very young children, in home movies that have presumably been watched a thousand times, before coming back to the present, where it’s revealed the Demogorgons are now in thrall to Will. Will and Eleven’s destinies have always been intertwined, so it should’ve come as no surprise that he would turn out to be another child Vecna gravely underestimated, but it’s still an awe-inspiring moment: Will the Wise is no longer a victim, and is now (as Mike put it) a sorcerer.
You can’t help but feel proud of how far Will has come, and it’s only bittersweet that it took him this long to emerge from the shadows. Speaking of pride, there is absolutely something profound about this moment of hope and salvation being the result of the queer person accepting himself. This isn’t the first show where queer love saves the world, but it means something to see it on a series as big as this, in a still very homophobic world.
Besides all that, the reveal caused me to literally howl with excitement.
See you all soon for a breakdown of the next episode, premiering tomorrow: “Shock Jock.”