Stranger Things: Season 5

While hiding in the Upside Down in 1983, Will is caught by a Demogorgon and is brought to Vecna, who infects Will with a tentacle. In 1987, 19 months after the Rifts incident, a contingent of the US military, led by Dr. Kay and Lt. Robert Akers, have placed Hawkins under quarantine and created a base camp within the Upside Down while still on the hunt for Eleven, who trains in hiding with Hopper and Joyce. Will, Lucas, and Mike lay low, though Dustin provokes the school basketball team by contin

The Demogorgon attacks and severely injures Mike and Nancy's parents, Karen and Ted, before disappearing with Holly to the Upside Down. Eleven follows the Demogorgon through a gate into the Upside Down and finds Hopper. The two then search for Holly until they encounter a giant wall surrounding the edge of Hawkins. Jonathan accuses Steve of competing for Nancy's attention before a bloodied Dustin finds them, while Lucas continues tending to a comatose Max in hopes she will wake up. As Karen and

Henry targets Holly's classmate and bully, Derek Turnbow, as his next victim. Hopper and Eleven fail to break through the massive wall and are ambushed by soldiers, but manage to overpower them. Hopper and Eleven interrogate Akers, concluding that Dr. Kay is holding Henry at the base. Will, Nancy, and Mike inform the group that Henry lured Holly by claiming he was her imaginary friend, prompting them to devise a plan to use Derek as bait to trap the Demogorgon, and implant a tracker in it to rea

Hopper and Eleven infiltrate the military base, intending to kill Henry. They defeat Dr. Kay and her soldiers, discovering that the captive inside is Eleven's adoptive sister, Kali. Max explains to Holly that they are trapped inside a psychic realm made of Henry's memories, nicknamed "Camazotz" by Holly, where Max has remained ever since her brief death. Will's group is attacked by a Demogorgon until Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan chase it into the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the military detain

In Camazotz, the kidnapped children awaken, and while most believe Henry's claim that he saved them, Holly and Derek do not. Max and Holly traverse Henry's memories of Holly to search for an escape as Derek distracts him. Henry discovers the plan, threatens Derek's family, turns into Vecna, finds Holly, and strangles Max. Will's group reanimates a dead Demogorgon using the radio tower's voltage so Will can reconnect to the hive mind and kill Vecna. Will possesses Vecna's body, breaking his leg a

Dustin explains to Steve that the Upside Down is not an alternate dimension but a wormhole to another realm, held together by a mass of "exotic matter", which they realize is the sphere on the roof. The exotic matter detonates upon being shot, causing the building to begin melting; Nancy and Jonathan become trapped in a collapsing room. Believing they will die, they end their relationship on good terms; the melting eventually halts. Max and Holly find a memory of a young Henry killing a man in s

Max awakens safely in the real world, while Holly awakens inside Vecna's lair and escapes through a gate, falling through the Upside Down before being pulled back by Vecna. Erica, Murray, and Mr. Clarke map Dustin's location in the Upside Down to the lab, and Eleven opens a rift so the group can reunite. Dustin deduces that the Upside Down was created when Brenner forced Eleven to contact Henry, and now serves as a bridge to a separate realm, "the Abyss", which Henry plans to merge with their wo

As the others make their way to the Abyss, Eleven, Kali, and Max enter Henry's mind and stop him from merging the worlds, but he transforms into Vecna, escapes, and tricks Hopper into breaking the link. Akers' forces assault the lab and kill Kali; Eleven kills them in return. Holly leads the other children out of Henry's mind while Eleven enters the Abyss to fight Henry. Will witnesses Henry's past and learns he was corrupted by a fragment of the Mind Flayer, which he fully embraces despite Will