!!SPOILER WARNING!!
On Thanksgiving day Netflix released the initial four episodes of Stranger Things’ fifth and final season. Although only releasing four of the eight episodes in the season, three out of the four episodes were over an hour long which meant there was tons of content for viewers to watch. The premier was likely Netflix’s most anticipated release of a show ever, beating out the likes of Squid Game and other highly sought after shows.
The first four seasons of the show ranks as one of my favorite TV series of all time, and this doesn’t change with the fifth season. So far, I have loved watching essentially every second of the incredibly action packed season. The first episode started slow by developing the scene in Hawkins as the military started occupying the town because of the events in season four, while simultaneously revealing the military’s desire to hunt down Eleven. The episode ends with a cliffhanger as the Wheeler household is infiltrated by a demogorgon.
At the beginning of episode two the show gets back to its exciting ways, seeing Karen and Ted Wheeler hospitalized and their daughter, Holly, kidnapped by the same demogorgon in one of the coolest cinematic struggles against the demogorgon in the series so far. Then we are taken into the Upside Down as Hopper and Eleven discover the large wall that will continue to be a problem throughout the season. After those two are stranded in the Upside Down, the main plot of the season up to the point is revealed with Holly’s imaginary friend being Vecna all along which is later revealed to be incredibly creepy.
In the third episode the group comes to the revelation that Vecna is, for some odd reason, targeting young kids as his next victims. Therefore, after figuring out the next kid, the group does the only logical thing and sedates the family to protect them from Vecna. However, this backfires when my new favorite character, Derek Turnbrow, wakes up and fights back against the group. Eventually, the trap lures a demogorgon and they track it into the Upside Down via Steve driving into a portal in one the coolest moments of the season. While this happens we see Max return to make her highly anticipated return to the show, however, she is not out of her coma but rather now living in Vecna’s mind alongside Holly. This storyline of both characters that have been kidnapped by Vecna is very intriguing with hints dropped that they will attempt a highly orchestrated escape plan later on in the season.
Lastly, the fourth episode which, in my opinion, was easily the most exciting of the season saw the military try to “save” the children. However, this plan was ill intended as they were really trying to lure Eleven in because they still think she is the villain. Personally, I think after five seasons this storyline that people are repeatedly trying to come after Eleven is so drawn out. Although it makes sense because she was a lab experiment, she has shown on multiple occasions she wants to be the good guy, so I think they should patch up the whole military plotline sooner than later. On the other hand, a massive fight breaks out in the military base near Hawkins with tons of Upside Down creatures fighting against the group and in what was, in my opinion, the most epic event in the entire series Will finally taps into Vecna’s control of his mind and exploits it to counter him. The cinematography and the feelings of redemption within this scene make Will feel like the ultimate hero and develop his character from an uncertain boy to a confident man.
Overall, the season, up to this point, is absolutely jaw dropping. From the beautiful and creative settings to the introduction of new characters that did not disappoint, the first four episodes have me waiting impatiently for the remainder of the season to release. I enjoyed the start of this season so much that, off the top of my head, my only complaint is that I have to wait another month to see the ending, thus Stranger Things Season Five Volume 1 gets a five star rating from me.
