‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Volume 1 Recap: What to Remember Before Volume 2

The next wave of “Stranger Things” Season 5 episodes is upon us. Time for a quick refresh on what happened in Volume 1.

For only including four episodes, “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 1 was packed with info, lore and big moments. Vecna ended the batch having acquired his 12 designated kids for the next step in whatever plan he has to push the Upside Down and Dimension X into the Rightside Up world. Meanwhile, Team Hawkins is strewn about both dimensions and on their back foot – despite a major level up from Will.

There are three big moments likely to play the biggest impact when “Stranger Things” Volume 2 lands on Christmas Day – here is what you need to know about them before locking in for another binge.

Will Levels Up

Will’s connection to Vecna and the Upside Down has been the center of the show since the beginning, but it was only in the final episode of Season 5, Volume 1 that he decided to tap into that connection for his own benefit – and this time, he did it successfully.

After Vecna destroyed the MAC-Z and kidnapped the kids he was after, he sent demogorgons to take out Mike, Lucas and Robin. One terrifying face-to-face with Vecna and remembering a pep talk from Robin earlier in the episode, Will leaned into his connection to the Upside Down and was able to stop the demos before they could kill his friends. The monsters rose up into the air and had their arms and necks broken in the same way Vecna killed his victims in Season 4.

One more superpowered kid is likely to be a boon for Team Hawkins come Volume 2.

Kali/Eight and Eleven Reunite

While in the Upside Down, Eleven and Hopper learned that the military had new sonar cannons attached to their vehicles that could attack El mentally and stop her from using her powers. Much of Volume 1 had them distracted from their hunt for Vecna so they could figure out what was happening and how they could stop this.

They became convinced that Dr. Kay and the military somehow already caught Vecna and were weaponizing him against Eleven. They broke in successfully, but things went south, and they were caught by Dr. Kay. Luckily, things turned for them once again and Hop was able to knock Kay out and tell El that he’s going in to kill Vecna one way or another – strapping explosives to himself to ensure he gets the job done.

El was locked outside the room, but shortly after Hop left, the sonar attack stopped, and he opened up the door. He ushered El into the room to show her that the person the military weaponized against El was actually Kali/8 – the girl Eleven met in Chicago in the infamous “Lost Sister” episode from Season 2.

Max is Alive and Dream Walking Vecna’s Memories

To the surprise of nobody, Max did not remain braindead for the first batch of episodes. Instead, she eventually made contact with Holly after she had been brought to the mind prison Vecna made to keep her. She explained everything she knew about the monster and the Upside Down since she got involved in the whole mess back in Season 2 – and then she explained where she had been.

It boiled down to her not really being braindead, but rather lost within a tangled web of Vecna/Henry/One’s memories. She spent the 18 months she’s been in a coma wandering throughout Vecna’s memories, whether they’re bad moments like the Massacre at Hawkins Lab or his time at Hawkins High with younger versions of Joyce, Hopper, Karen, Bob, etc.

Eventually, Lucas’ commitment to seeing her every day and playing her favorite song became a guide for her, and she began traveling through her own past memories – maybe setting up a way for the show to do time travel without the time travel element – and almost got out, but she’s discovered by Vecna before she could make it. She’s forced to flee through memories until she found a cave system that he won’t follow her into for some reason. Max made it her home, and resigned herself to living a life in this prison until Holly arrived, and now she plans to get them both out.

The second half of the final season is supposed to be heavily focused on Max and Holly – with one of the episodes being titled “Escape from Camazotz” – so that coupled with what Max knows about Henry/Vecna/One might be the key to winning the whole thing.

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