Stranger Things Season-Premiere Recap: Flipped

by

As a huge fan of Stranger Things, it’s wild to think back to when we first saw Vecna, that creepy villain who really needed a moisturizer, terrorizing those kids and trying to tear Hawkins apart. Honestly, it feels like ages ago, not just a few years! It’s crazy how much the young cast has grown up. If you remember, we last saw Vecna opening four gates into the Upside Down back in the summer of 2022. In the show’s timeline, it’s now November 3, 1987, and Hawkins has been under military quarantine for about a year and a half – everyone’s trying to live a normal life while secretly battling monsters. So, before we jump back in, let’s quickly remember everything that’s been going on and what dangers we’re facing.

At the end of season four, the team suffered their first real defeat against the forces of the Upside Down. While they managed to hurt Vecna – Eleven battled him mentally, Hopper, Joyce, and Murray destroyed demogorgons and Mind Flayer particles in Russia, and Nancy, Steve, and Robin physically attacked him – Vecna still succeeded in his plan. He told Eleven they had already lost, and unfortunately, he was right. Although they temporarily stopped him, his scheme to open four gates and destroy Hawkins came to fruition when Max died. Even though Eleven briefly revived Max, she remained in a coma, and the fourth gate opened, causing the Upside Down to bleed into Hawkins. The season ended with the town covered in eerie snow and a dark cloud, signaling a truly bleak outcome.

It’s been a year and a half since the major events, and anyone who didn’t leave Hawkins immediately has been under military quarantine. This is concerning for several reasons. Naturally, people don’t want to be confined, especially in a town still threatened by monsters. Most residents believe the quarantine is due to a natural disaster, but we know the real reason. Furthermore, the military, particularly Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan, is convinced Eleven is the enemy – remember their pursuit of her in Nevada and the crashed helicopter? – and they’ll stop at nothing to capture her. It’s strange that, after a year and a half, they haven’t found her, even considering her ability to travel through tunnels. Why didn’t they just follow the Byers or Wheelers, who often lead to her? And Hopper’s cabin isn’t exactly a secret; Hawkins isn’t that large. Is Hopper also in hiding? Everyone believes he died at Starcourt Mall in 1985, and his new beard certainly supports that idea, so it’s likely he is, though it’s not confirmed. Ultimately, Sullivan and his team seem incompetent, and I sincerely hope they encounter a Demogorgon soon.

I’m honestly amazed by El. Even with the military wanting to contain her and that terrifying Vecna – who, can we talk about that reveal? He’s Henry Creel, One, and her old ‘lab-mate’ – wanting to make her watch her friends die, she just seems… focused. It’s incredible. Hopper and Joyce are really pushing her, and it’s paying off – she’s leaping over buses now! It’s clear his intense training is working. She’s not scared, though she is clearly frustrated. Vecna’s been hiding since their last fight, and she’s desperate to go back into the Upside Down and finish him once and for all. But Hopper? He’s being so overprotective. He won’t let her go until she can complete his obstacle course in under 12:30 – a completely random time, by the way. She nails it, but he pretends he didn’t see! He just won’t let her join him on his mission that night. It’s infuriating, but you can tell it’s because he loves her so much and wants to keep her safe.

This season begins with a dangerous mission. For the past year and a half, Hopper, Joyce, Eleven, and the rest of the group (excluding Max, who is still recovering) have been carefully searching the Upside Down for Vecna. The main way to get there is through a large gate created by Vecna, formed from four smaller ones. The military has tried to cover these openings with metal plates, but it’s not very effective. This gate is located inside a heavily guarded military zone. Occasionally, the military sends trucks into the Upside Down, requiring them to temporarily reopen part of the gate. This provides the perfect opportunity for Hopper to secretly enter the Upside Down. The group relies on Murray Bauman for information about when these openings will occur, allowing them to prepare for their mission – the ‘crawl’.

First, Murray disguises himself as a Hawkins grocery delivery driver to warn the team at the local radio station, nicknamed the Squawk, about a planned fire. The Squawk, since the town’s quarantine, is now run by Robin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan. Robin’s a natural on the radio – her talkative personality makes her a fantastic DJ, and it’s actually logical! She’ll then share the news from Murray – who apparently delivers everything from grenades to tracking devices and bullets – by playing Diana Ross’s “Upside Down,” along with a special introduction containing all the crucial details about the upcoming fire.

The episode then shows the different teams going over their plan for the mission. It’s probably just for the viewers, since these characters have done this dozens of times before, but honestly, I don’t mind. Stranger Things can take some creative liberties, and I’m happy to go with it as long as it’s entertaining—and this is! I’m hooked.

Basically, everyone meets at a place called the Squawk. Hopper will navigate tunnels to get to the MAC-Z, while Lucas and Mike will act as his lookouts, signaling when it’s safe for him to enter. Once Hopper goes into the Upside Down—or gets “flipped,” as they’re calling it this season—Dustin and Steve will follow his signal in the real world using a tracking tag and a communication system set up in a van. Hopper will search for any sign of Vecna, then return to the van to escape. Sounds simple enough, just like Bob Newby (and now Dustin) would say.

As soon as multiple people point out that the area Hopper is searching feels dull and lacks the creepy atmosphere of Vecna’s influence, you just know something bad is about to happen. Seriously, don’t criticize the search for a powerful, murderous villain as being boring – you’re practically inviting disaster.

Things quickly go wrong. Though Dustin is a no-show at the Squawk (we’ll explain that later), the initial plan proceeds smoothly. However, the cargo vans carrying Hopper abruptly halt, sending him tumbling around inside. They’re being pursued by a Demogorgon. Gunfire erupts – Hopper sustains a minor injury – and the soldiers attempt to escape, but the Demogorgon attacks them all, crashing the van into a tree. Hopper survives and runs into the woods, but in the confusion, he loses contact with everyone back in Hawkins, leaving him completely alone.

Things are completely chaotic right now, not only because of the Demogorgon and Hopper’s struggles in the Upside Down, but also in the normal world. Will Byers has been feeling increasingly strange all day – it’s more than just his mother being overprotective or his feelings for Mike. He’s experiencing a connection to the Upside Down, specifically to Vecna, giving him a bad feeling, like goosebumps, but much stronger. He’s suddenly having visions through the Demogorgon’s eyes – similar to the brief glimpses he had in season two, but far more intense. Will starts having a seizure, the lights flicker wildly, and then the fuse box blows, cutting off all communication.

When Will recovers, he’s shaking and warns Nancy, “He’s coming after them.” At the same time, in the Upside Down, the Demogorgon is heading towards the Wheeler house, preparing to strike.

It’s not exactly a shock that the Demogorgon is after the Wheelers, considering everything. Remember in season four when Vecna showed Nancy visions of his plan to destroy Hawkins? It included her whole family being killed. Given all the effort they put into creating secret hideouts, you’d think they’d have taken a little extra time to protect the Wheeler house.

Something strange is happening with Holly Wheeler, and it’s not just about Vecna’s influence. She’s been talking to an imaginary friend named Mr. Whatsit, inspired by her reading of A Wrinkle in Time, but his presence feels unsettling. Her teacher notices her having full-blown conversations with no one there. From Holly’s point of view, we briefly see Mr. Whatsit – he’s wearing a suit and has promised to protect her from the monsters in Hawkins. When she tells Mike about this, he tries to reassure her that monsters aren’t real and gives her a Dungeons & Dragons figurine, ‘Holly the Heroic,’ to be brave. Holly speaks about Mr. Whatsit as if he’s truly there, making you wonder if he knows more than he lets on. This suspicion grows when the Demogorgon attacks the Wheeler house and specifically targets Holly.

If the new threat to Holly feels familiar, that’s intentional – Stranger Things is deliberately echoing earlier events, and it doesn’t hide that fact. The first episode of the final season actually revisits the beginning of the story. We already knew Will Byers disappeared on November 6, 1983, but the episode shows us Will hiding in his fort, Castle Byers, on November 12, 1983, before being captured by the Demogorgon and encountering Vecna. It turns out Vecna was involved from the very start, connecting Will to the vines that filled his body with particles from the Upside Down. Vecna had plans for Will all along, telling him, “You and I, we are going to do such beautiful things together, William. Such beautiful things.” Honestly, that’s pretty chilling.

More Strange Things!

Dustin has changed the most since last season, deeply affected by the loss of Eddie. He continues to wear Hellfire Club clothing despite the group being labeled a satanic cult and Eddie being wrongly blamed for Vecna’s crimes. He even seems to invite the harassment from members of the basketball team, retaliating with fights and pranks. However, when Andy—remembered for being kicked by Erica Sinclair—leads an attack on Dustin at Eddie’s grave, Dustin is overwhelmed and brutally beaten, left injured and bleeding.

With the world facing a huge threat, the complicated feelings between Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan are even more intense. Nancy and Jonathan are still a couple – and the way Murray described the tape he gave Jonathan suggests their relationship is solid – but Jonathan is clearly bothered by how close Nancy is to Steve, and Steve still has feelings for her. While I’m rooting for Steve, realistically, neither he nor Jonathan could have survived climbing that radio tower.

Mike and El are incredibly sweet together, even with everything going on. He tells her that if she can defeat Vecna—and he’s confident she will—they’ll find a happy life together, far from Hawkins.

There’s some romantic news: Robin and Vickie are now a couple, though they’ve been having secret kisses – sometimes even in patient rooms at the hospital where Vickie works! They aren’t very subtle, and Will actually sees them kissing while visiting Max. This definitely seems to affect Will, who is keeping his own feelings hidden.

Hopper is hiding a bag in his room and carefully takes it out. He’s preparing for something – a ‘crawl’ – and is determined to keep it a secret.

It looks like the order to find Eleven isn’t coming from Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan, but from Dr. Kay, a new and powerful enemy – she’s a major general. She’s in charge of the lab studying the creatures from the Upside Down, which is actually inside the Upside Down. She’s extremely angry that they haven’t found Eleven, because they need her for their mysterious plans in that dimension.

With Holly’s fondness for A Wrinkle in Time and the arrival of Linda Hamilton (from The Terminator) as Dr. Kay, is Stranger Things hinting at time travel this season? Could we see wormholes? If so, I’d love to see how they’re shown visually.

Read More

2025-11-27 08:57