Stranger Things Recap: Karen With Her Wine

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There’s a Demogorgon inside the Wheeler house—again! It’s a major emergency, the biggest one the kids have faced in a long time. It looks like season five of Stranger Things is going to be seriously intense.

The story picks up right after the last episode, with the Demogorgon breaking into Holly’s bedroom. Her dad is golfing, and her mom is relaxing with a glass of wine and listening to ABBA, so neither of them hear Holly screaming as the creature tries to drag her into the Upside Down. Holly manages to escape into the bathroom, but the Demogorgon follows close behind. Incredibly, Karen manages to submerge herself and Holly under the bubbles in the bath – which seems physically impossible, but okay! If that were my only option, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Luckily, this buys them enough time for Ted to come inside after noticing the lights flickering. Unfortunately for Ted, he tries to fight the Demogorgon with his golf club and ends up getting badly injured and thrown across the room.

The diversion buys Karen and Holly just enough time to reach the first floor, but the Demogorgon is right behind them, and they’re trapped. However, don’t underestimate Karen – she’s Nancy’s mother, and Nancy definitely gets her courage from somewhere! Grabbing the only thing within reach, a wine bottle, Karen bravely attacks the monster, repeatedly stabbing at it. She even has a heroic moment, yelling, “Stay away from my daughter!” – proving that Karen Wheeler is a true force to be reckoned with.

The Wheeler family faced a terrifying attack. The Demo creature brutally injured Karen, slashing her throat after a fierce struggle, and then escaped back to the Upside Down with Holly. Nancy and El found Karen barely conscious on the kitchen floor. It seemed like both Karen and Ted wouldn’t survive, but the show surprisingly avoids killing off major characters, even this late in the series. El managed to follow the Demo through the closing portal, leaving Nancy distraught and desperately trying to help her mother. Both parents were rushed to the hospital – Ted was put into a coma, and Karen underwent emergency surgery, leaving Nancy and Mike deeply shaken. The entire scene was incredibly intense and emotionally devastating, and it’s a perfect example of why we get so invested in shows over multiple seasons. An attack on the Wheelers wouldn’t have had the same impact earlier in the series, but after five seasons, it really hit hard.

Okay, so there’s some good news: three different groups are actively searching for Holly. I was really glad to see El and Hopper reconnect so quickly after she came through the gate. They’re tracking the Demogorgon by following the blood it left behind after those clashes with Karen – it reminded me of how they found Will in season one, which felt like a nice callback. The trail actually leads them to this huge, creepy wall in the Upside Down – made of vines, gross sacs, and just… everything awful. It’s massive, and they can’t even tell how far it goes. They do find one of Holly’s boots at the base, and that gets El thinking. She believes the reason she can’t locate Holly (or Vecna, for that matter) in the Void is because this wall is blocking her powers. She’s pretty sure the Demogorgon was sent to get Holly to Vecna, and that whatever’s happening, it’s all happening behind that wall.

Meanwhile, the group on the Rightside Up is making some intriguing finds. Back at the Squawk, Joyce, Robin, and Will are recovering from the power surge and Will’s frightening experience with the Demogorgon. Joyce is deeply worried, especially when Will explains that what happened felt similar to the visions he had in season two, but far more intense. He felt as if he was the Demogorgon. He’s somehow reconnected to the hive mind, but this time it’s much stronger. Robin compares Will to a radio receiver – he has a kind of antenna in his head, and Vecna uses Mind Flayer particles like radio waves. The closer those waves get, the stronger the signal, which explains why Will gets stronger feelings when Vecna and his creatures are near – it’s like an alarm system. Joyce insists Will stay with her and avoid any danger, even though everyone else is taking risks, and Will is understandably frustrated. He wants to use his connection to help. He suggests returning to the place where he had the vision of the spinning sky, hoping to reconnect with the hive mind and find a signal that could lead them to Holly. Joyce immediately rejects the idea, stating they’ll wait until they can reach Hopper before doing anything.

Everything changes when Robin gets involved. She deceives Joyce, who doesn’t seem familiar with the movie Back to the Future, by imitating Doc Brown and claiming they need two people to repair the flux capacitor. This allows her to take Will. She agrees with the plan to connect his brain to the monster, hoping to save Eleven. They head to the woods where Will first experienced the strange visions, forming a new partnership.

Back at the hospital, the Wheelers and Lucas are struggling to understand what’s happening. Nancy feels terrible, knowing Vecna warned them he’d target her family, and they didn’t act. But Lucas points out something important: if Vecna wanted them to suffer, why didn’t he finish the job himself? Why send the Demogorgon? And why kidnap Holly instead of killing her? It doesn’t seem like punishment is the main goal. Plus, the situation feels eerily similar to when Will disappeared back in ’83 – there are just too many coincidences. Mike also notices something strange: on the very day Holly’s imaginary friend, Mr. Whatsit, warns her about monsters wanting to take her, she is taken by a monster. It sounds unbelievable, but after everything these kids have been through, what doesn’t? Mike wonders if Mr. Whatsit isn’t imaginary at all, and if he somehow knows what happened to Holly. They realize they need to talk to someone who might know more about Mr. Whatsit – their mother.

Back in the woods, Robin hints at his feelings for Will, which is a relief for Will to hear, even if Robin doesn’t fully understand why it means so much yet. Seeing a colorful mandala built by Mrs. Harris’s fifth-grade class triggers a memory for Will: he recalls hearing children laughing during his strange vision. He rushes to the elementary school, and when he sees the merry-go-round, everything falls into place. He realizes everyone connected by the hive mind – even Vecna – is linked. Vecna attacks by entering people’s minds. Will suddenly understands that his spinning vision wasn’t from the Demogorgon, but from Vecna, and Vecna was inside the mind of his next target – a child named Holly, who was spinning on the merry-go-round. Will now knows exactly what Vecna is planning.

Mike and Nancy need to go undercover at a hospital, pretending to be a patient with a noticeable limp and a volunteer nurse’s aide, and they end up encountering their mother. While the show features many strong partnerships, the bond between Nancy and Mike is particularly memorable. Their mother, unable to speak, communicates by writing, revealing that Holly described her friend as a tall man who always wore a vest and pocket watch, and that his name was Henry. This instantly makes Mike and Nancy realize their younger sister’s imaginary friend was actually a real person – Henry Creel, who they now recognize as Vecna.

As children walk to school, Will experiences a familiar, chilling sensation – he knows Vecna is preparing to target someone new. The scene cuts to Henry Creel, looking presentable in a suit, leading Holly into the Creel House. But this isn’t the dilapidated house we’ve seen before; it’s beautiful and well-maintained. He assures Holly he’ll bring all her friends there to protect them from the monsters, and then her family, promising there’s enough space for everyone. It quickly becomes clear that Vecna’s plans extend far beyond just Holly Wheeler.

More Strange Things!

El was left with no options. Hopper was right to be furious with his daughter for sneaking over to the Wheelers’ house in disguise – now the military has footage of her, and Dr. Kay realizes El is in the Upside Down. Dr. Kay is now closer than ever to finding and capturing her.

While tending to Hopper’s injury after a shootout, Eleven and Hopper have a touching conversation. Hopper confesses he isn’t doubting Eleven’s ability to defeat Vecna, but he’s deeply afraid of losing her, especially after experiencing so much loss already. This emotional vulnerability, combined with flashbacks to his deceased daughter, leads viewers to wonder if Hopper might not survive the season, despite previously surviving a Russian prison. Many fans feel it would be unfair to kill him off now.

Dustin finds Steve and Jonathan in the van, looking as battered and bruised as expected. Surprisingly, instead of telling Steve what really happened, he starts a fight. It’s hard to watch Dustin and Steve argue, but I keep hoping they’ll eventually make up and talk things through. Right now, though, they’re not on speaking terms.

Steve wants to visit Nancy at the hospital, but Jonathan angrily accuses him of trying to get back together with her. Steve pushes back, saying Nancy is a friend and Jonathan should worry less about what Steve is doing and more about his own relationship. He points out that, in his opinion, Nancy seems just as unhappy as Jonathan is. Steve confidently defends his position.

The scene with Nancy breaking down, desperately trying to wash away her mother’s blood while struggling with immense grief, guilt, and fear, was incredibly powerful and emotionally devastating. Natalia Dyer consistently delivers a fantastic performance and deserves more recognition for her work on the show.

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2025-11-27 11:56