Things get apocalyptic (again) as the Duffer Brothers’ dark fantasy epic draws to a close.
And so it’s all come down to this. And arguably it should have all come down to this a lot sooner – some of those kids are going grey at the temples. Nonetheless, the final, hopefully thrilling, season of Stranger Things is imminent. Well, the first part is, as they’ve split it into three chapters, as is the current custom.
We have so many unanswered questions! Will the gang prevail against Vecna? Will our suspension of disbelief survive the fact that everyone’s now a good five years old than their characters? What ’80s banger will be thrust to the forefront of the pop culture like Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was last season? Let’s roll the tape…
Stranger Things Season 5 Teaser Trailer
What’s the plot?
In the last season of the Duffer Brothers‘ ’80s-set small town sci-fi, all hell broke loose. Quite literally, as portals have been torn open between our world and the hellish dimension the kids call The Upside Down. Hawkins is under military cordon, monsters stalk the streets, and metalhead Dungeon Master Eddie Munson, the real hero of this whole mess, is still dead.
Or, as the official synopsis tells us:
Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.
Who’s in it?
- Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, mum to Will and Jonathan.
- David Harbour as top cop Jim Hopper.
- Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler.
- Millie Bobby Brown as psychic waif. Eleven/Jane Hopper
- Gaten Matarazzo as goofy delight Dustin Henderson.
- Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair.
- Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Mike’s older sister.
- Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers.
- Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, the kid who went missing way back in Season 1 and kicked all this off.
- Sadie Sink as moxie-filled Max Mayfield.
- Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, the perfectly-coiffed MVP of this whole mess.
- Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, giving Dustin competition in the “goofy delight” stakes.
- Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman
- Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair
- Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay, yet another in a long line of shady scientists.
When’s it out?
Okay, so we’re getting the first four eps on November 26, then the next three for Christmas on December 25, before the big finale on New Year’s Eve, December 31. Netflix is looking to absolutely dominate the holiday season. That might be a coup, but it could backfire, given many folks, like me and presumably you, have more pressing shit to deal with ’round Christmas time.
What’s the vibe?
With the obvious caveat that, Jesus Christ, they’ve been flogging this horse to the absolute brink of death for far too long, I’m keen to see how it all wraps up. Much to my shame, I’m not wholly immune to nostalgia-bait. I was… uh… 11 in 1987, so I was on deck when all these retro signs and signifiers were new. I saw Ghostbusters in the cinema on first release, for crying out loud, which puts me one up on the Duffers, who were 114 days old when it premiered. Which is a long way to say I’ll be tuning in, but for reasons largely beyond my ken.
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