We’re officially halfway through Stranger Things‘ fifth and final season. How are you feeling? Happy to be back in Hawkins? Terrified to find out the fates of Stranger Things‘ sprawling cast? Itching to know what happens next? I’m with you!
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 pulled out all the stops, from supersized episodes to massive set pieces involving armies of Demogorgons squaring off against the U.S. military. It is, to put it mildly, a lot. And you know what else is a lot? The number of questions I have for Volume 2!
From Will’s (Noah Schnapp) new powers to Henry Creel/Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) final plan, here are the 11 burning questions I’ll be stewing over until Stranger Things returns on Christmas Day.
1. What is Vecna doing to the children of Hawkins?
Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, and Jake Connelly in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5 ended with Henry Creel/Vecna abducting all of the Hawkins children that our heroes were trying to save. It’s off to the Upside Down with them, where he’ll tie them to pillars in his lair, stick tentacles in their mouths, and feed them the same strange nasty goo he pumped into Will when he first came to the Upside Down.
But why in the world is he doing all this?
In Season 5, episode 4, titled “Sorcerer,” Vecna says that he chose children to “reshape the world” because they make “perfect vessels.” Vessels for what? For his own power? That seems like the most likely option, as Will now has access to Vecna’s powers. But what will Vecna do with a crew of mini-me’s? Send them out into our world to create a new extension of the Upside Down? The last thing this show needs is an army of creepy children. The army of Demogorgons is more than enough!
2. How did Kali/Eight arrive in the Upside Down?
Another bombshell from “Sorcerer” was the reveal that the Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) has been keeping Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) “sister” Kali/Eight (Linnea Berthelsen) in the Upside Down.
Only seen in Season 2, episode 7, “The Lost Sister,” Kali has the ability to create powerful illusions. Following her escape from Hawkins Lab, she devoted her life to hunting down the employees who experimented on and tortured her and her fellow test subjects. What’s been going on with her since the events of “The Lost Sister”?
Apparently, nothing great, since she’s trapped in the Upside Down. But what led to her capture, and how long has she been imprisoned at the military base?
3. What is Dr. Kay’s plan, anyway?
Linda Hamilton in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
Dr. Kay hasn’t had much to do this season beyond threaten her employees and have one showdown with Hopper (David Harbour). None of that explains what she and the military are actually doing in the Upside Down, though. Are they trying to weaponize Kali’s powers for themselves? Are they also hunting down Vecna?
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Whatever it is, why do they need to be in the Upside Down to do it? Building and then maintaining a base in a hostile dimension cannot be easy, so there’s got to be some deeper reason other than cool factor, right?
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4. Can Max and Holly escape Henry Creel’s memories?
The good news: After a few episodes away, Max (Sadie Sink) is back! The bad news: She’s still in a coma in the real world, and she’s otherwise trapped in a prison of Henry Creel’s memories. She’s not alone, though. Nancy and Mike’s (Natalia Dyer and Finn Wolfhard) little sister Holly (Nell Fisher) is there with her. Between the two of them, maybe they could find a way out?
However, following the kidnapping of all of Hawkins’ children, the memory prison might be about to get a bit more crowded. Can Max and Holly save themselves and the rest of Vecna’s victims, all while being trapped within his mind?
5. Why won’t Henry go into the caves in his memories?
Max revealed that when Vecna discovered her and chased her through his memories, there was one place he wouldn’t go: the caves where she ended up hiding. He seemed scared of the memory, and that reaction could clue Max and Holly into a weakness they could use against Vecna.
My red-yarn-on-a-corkboard theory? Vecna’s fear of the caves is somehow tied to the photo of the Creel family, including Henry in his Boy Scout uniform, that Holly found while dancing around the Creel house. From the looks of the photo, the family was on a trip. Maybe something so horrible happened during that vacation that it made Vecna hesitant to even come close to the caves.
6. Will Karen and Ted Wheeler survive?
Nell Fisher and Cara Buono in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
Season 5, episode 2, titled “The Vanishing of…,” saw Karen and Ted (Cara Buono and Joe Chrest) fall victim to the Demogorgon that stole Holly away. It slashed them to pieces, but not before Karen managed to wound it with her wine bottle, making her the ultimate wine mom and ultimate badass.
The Wheelers somehow managed to survive these incredibly brutal injuries and are now at the hospital. But will their conditions remain stable as we head into Volume 2? Here’s hoping so, because Nancy and Mike really don’t need any more trauma.
7. What’s the deal with the big, fleshy wall in the Upside Down?
Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
A new development has appeared in the Upside Down: a massive, perfectly circular wall around Hawkins, with Hawkins Lab directly at its center. The wall by itself is cool enough, all fleshy tendrils and bizarre sacs of fluid. However, by the time we get to Volume 2, I’m going to need more details on this mysterious, totally not Game of Thrones-inspired wall.
8. Is Will going to come out?
Noah Schnapp and Maya Hawke in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
Stranger Things has been building to Will coming out as gay for multiple seasons now, and since this season is the show’s last chance, the question remains, how are they going to do it?
So far this season, Robin (Maya Hawke) has been acting as a kind of queer mentor for Will, giving him pep talks about not being afraid of who he truly is. It’s these words that he remembers as he embraces his Vecna-style powers in the last minutes of “Sorcerer.” In tying together Will’s queer identity and him mangling Demogorgons, Stranger Things creates a jumbled metaphor that doesn’t quite stick the landing. However, it also sets the stage for a new version of Will who accepts all parts of himself, meaning he may finally open up to his friends come Volume 2.
9. What’s going to happen with Will’s new powers?
Noah Schnapp and Jamie Campbell Bower in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
Of course, Will will also have to grapple with the fact that he’s now basically mini Vecna. That could be great news for the fight against Vecna, as an Eleven-Kali-Will team-up would give Team Hawkins some considerable psychic firepower.
However, could Vecna manipulate his ties to Will to force him over to his side? Will seems pretty powerful now, but he’s had all of two minutes to practice using his new abilities. Vecna’s been doing this for years. Can Will really hold his own against the very being that gave him this power?
10. Can we finally put the Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve love triangle to rest?
Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Matt Kennedy / Netflix
Look, I like Nancy. I like Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). And I like Steve (Joe Keery). What I don’t like is Stranger Things constantly throwing them into a love triangle that has been settled since Season 2.
This season does makes moves to get past it, like Steve giving Jonathan some hard truths about how strange he acts when Steve interacts with Nancy. Also, Jonathan is planning to propose, so Jancy is seeming as endgame as can be (even if it’s felt like that for several seasons now). But at this point, I’m burned out on the Jancy/Stancy of it all, even if I appreciate Jonathan and Steve’s budding romance. More of that please! And more of Nancy’s detective skills!
11. Who is going to die?
Look, we’re all wondering it after every episode. With such a large cast and such a formidable foe as Vecna, it’s almost impossible that everyone escapes this season alive. So, who will Stranger Things fans be saying goodbye to in Volume 2 and the finale?
My money is primarily on side characters, as Stranger Things loves nothing more than to introduce a beloved new face, only to kill them in the same season. See: Barb (Shannon Purser), Bob (Sean Astin), and Eddie (Joseph Quinn). This time around, could the show have brought back Kali only to kill her? Are kids like Derek (Jake Connelly) or Holly, who’s taken on a new importance this season, in danger? Will Karen and Ted succumb to their injuries after their (frankly, improbable) survival?
Or will Stranger Things go big and take out some of the members of the main party? I’m always scared for Steve, but things aren’t looking good for Hopper, either. He’s still got the explosive vest on, and he’s clearly ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for Eleven.
