The time has come. Viewers are heading back to Hawkins for a fifth and final showdown – and Stranger Things is determined to go out with a bang. It's been a languorous three years since season four left us with the temporary defeat of Vecna, the heartbreaking loss of Eddie and Max's fate hanging in the balance. So does the long wait pay off? Yes – once you find your footing again in this monster-filled world.
Vol. 1 (made up of four episodes) wastes no time by throwing viewers straight in with an all-important flashback to November 1983 that reveals the true horror of Will's abduction. After being chased by a Demogorgon – still as gruesome as ever – we see Vecna forcing a vine into Will's mouth, creating the sinister link that has allowed him to slip into the villain's mind. It's the answer fans have been waiting for – even if you might miss the significance at first if, like me, you didn't squeeze in a rewatch before premiere night.
Back in Hawkins circa 1987, the town is literally falling apart under the rifts created by Vecna. Soldiers enforce a strict quarantine while searching for Eleven, who is in training with Hopper while they hatch a covert plan to infiltrate the Upside Down once more. Our core ensemble falls back into place: the Wheelers and Byers are under one roof, Robin and Steve broadcast chaos from their radio station and Dustin quietly buckles under the grief of losing Eddie. Lucas, meanwhile, refuses to give up hope for Max, who remains in a coma.
The emotional stakes feel higher than ever. Will's bowl cut is thankfully gone but his mysterious connection to Vecna continues to take a toll, while Eleven continues to train her powers for the final battle. And in a chilling new twist, Holly – Mike and Nancy's little sister – becomes the latest child drawn into Vecna's lurking darkness.
Despite a slower start that made me briefly regret not bingeing the earlier seasons like the rest of Netflix, the tension tightens quickly and by the halfway point of episode one, the show has its grip back on you. Hopper's cliffhanger moment alone at the end of the first episode had my heart pounding. And Karen Wheeler's fierce warning, "Stay away from my daughter!" to the Demogorgon is a line that would make even Mrs Weasley proud.
Across the four episodes of Vol. 1, the nostalgia is just as rich and deliberate as always. Expect the iconic 80s aesthetic with a wicked soundtrack thumping beneath the classic Stephen King-style horror. And yes, the teens still just about pass for kids – even though their real-life ages are edging well into their 20s.
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