Stranger Things season 5 Vol 1 review: Netflix show delivers a thrilling return to Hawkins, packed with emotions

The wait is finally over! Season 5, aka the finale of Stranger Things, is finally here! Divided into three volumes, the first volume premiered today in India on streaming giant Netflix. The season has been produced by the show's creators, the Duffer Brothers, along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. With a return of a star-studded cast that includes Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, and many more, the show is more gory, thrilling, and filled with suspense.

Plot of Stranger Things season 5 Vol. 1

Season 5 kicks off where it left off in season 4. The opening scene of the first episode begins when Will is trapped in the Upside Down (although the makers had previously given a sneak peek before the actual premiere). Dating back to November 12, 1983, Will, who is being chased by the Demogorgon, later encounters Vecna, who needs Will to implicate his plan. He tells Will, “We will be doing such beautiful things together,” as the tentacles insert into Will's mouth and feed on him.

Also Read: Stranger Things’ David Harbour seen with 29-year-old rumoured girlfriend amid divorce controversy with Lily Allen

Now, the scene switches to November 3, 1987, where the Byers are living with the Wheelers temporarily, while Robin and Steve are doing new jobs, i.e., working at a radio station called WSQK. Several pieces of information are dropped, whatever was missed, i.e., military base setup, mandatory military check-ups. Unbeknownst to the townspeople, the military are busy searching for Eleven, as they believe she is responsible for everything that's happened.

At school, Dustin is dealing with Eddie's death in his own way and dealing with the bullies. In another scene, it focuses on a missing poster of Eleven being displayed on a board. While all this time, she has been training herself with Hopper and Joyce. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Doctor Kay, who is the new entrant in the show, oversees the mission of bringing back Eleven. The scene shifts to the military base, where she is working on a Demogorgon's face to learn more, maybe about the new world that has opened.

Also Read: Stranger Things season 5: Here’s the exact release time of volume 1 in India

The second episode shows Vecna's (by becoming Henry – his human form) new way of targeting kids and taking them by sending his ‘pets’, the Demogorgons, to receive the kids, in which Holly Wheeler disappears. In the third episode, Eleven realises in a scene that Vecna might have been captured and says the word ‘kryptonite’. Later, at the end of the episode, Max is revealed to be present where Holly has been taken by the villain. With Will able to see through Vecna, everyone is trying to decipher what will be the next move of Vecna.

Meanwhile, Hopper and Eleven are in the Upside Down and trying to find Vecna and uncover more mysteries hidden inside the parallel world while dealing with the military. On the other hand, Steve, Jonathan, Dustin and Nancy enter the same world while tracking a Demogorgon. Being said to be Henry's prison by Max, she reveals all the details to Holly about how she woke up suddenly and found herself in a strange place amongst kids in the school.

With Vecna revealing why he takes kids and later ordering Demogorgons to take down the rest. Will turns out to be the surprise booster in the end, in which he is seen able to control the Demogorgons and kill them in the exact way that Vecna had killed kids in previous seasons. What will be Will's role in the next two volumes, and how is he going to be support for Eleven? That is the main question now!

Is Stranger Things season 5, Vol. 1, worth watching?

With Stranger Things fans who were eagerly waiting for the show's release, this was a definitely thrilling return to Hawkins. With four episodes, each of one hour, the emotions and the performance by the cast have definitely struck a chord. The background music in the show definitely is the cherry on the cake! Definitely makes it eerie and gives you a spooky feeling if you watch it alone.

Also Read: Stranger Things season 5: Netflix unveils first five minutes from show | Watch

When you begin to adjust to the scenes, just then you begin to notice a pattern and all the dots being joined, in which several hints were dropped in previous seasons. With a blend of modern technicalities and the 80s, the sci-fi series is not hard to notice.

The show, which began in 2016, has definitely catapulted everyone with their storyline and the performance by the cast. The spooky, eerie story of monsters in a suburban American town and how it takes an apocalyptic turn has left everyone wanting more. The whole season will probably be about saving the Hawkins and the world from Vecna, but what will be intriguing is the process. Every scene of every episode is engaging and has left many more hints, which might be for the next two volumes of the finale season.

The major twist is when it is revealed who the other person, aka ‘kryptonite’, is!! The story definitely takes a major turn.

Also Read: Stranger Things 5: Meet the new faces joining the Hawkins cast

All about Stranger Things season 5

Stranger Things season 5 was released on the streaming giant Netflix. The season consists of eight episodes released in three volumes. The first volume premiered on November 26 and in India on November 27. The second volume is slated to release on December 25, while the finale is on December 31.

The cast reprising their roles are Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Cara Buono, and Jamie Campbell Bower. Joe Chrest and Amybeth McNulty, among others. While Linda Hamilton, Jake Connelly and Nell Fisher are the newcomers to this current season.

After the events of the fourth season, in the fall of 1987, the group seeks to find and kill Vecna after the Rifts opened in Hawkins. The mission becomes complicated when the military arrives in Hawkins and begins hunting Eleven. Now Eleven is training so she can end this once and for all while others try to figure out a plan to give her a hand in her final battle.