The wait is finally over for fans of Stranger Things, though many may struggle to remember exactly where the story left off. Volume 1 of the fifth and final season begins streaming Wednesday, November 26, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, more than three years after season 4 concluded in 2022. Volume 2 arrives December 26, with the series finale streaming December 31 and showing in select theaters nationwide.
For viewers who lack time to revisit all previous episodes, the show’s creators recommended rewatching four essential installments that set up the final confrontation. These include season 2’s Will the Wise and The Spy, plus season 4’s The Massacre at Hawkins Lab and The Piggyback. These episodes contain crucial information about the Mind Flayer’s connection to Will Byers and the origins of Vecna, the primary antagonist.
Where it all began in Hawkins
The series launched in November 1983 when 12 year old Will Byers vanished after encountering a Demogorgon monster in the woods. His mother Joyce desperately searched for him, discovering she could communicate through flickering lights in her home. Police Chief Jim Hopper investigated and uncovered that authorities had planted a fake body at the morgue to cover up the boy’s true disappearance.
Will’s friends Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson met Eleven, a mysterious girl with telekinetic powers who escaped from Hawkins National Laboratory. Dr. Martin Brenner had raised her as test subject 011 and trained her as a potential weapon. Eleven accidentally opened a gate to the Upside Down, a parallel dimension, while following Brenner’s instructions to locate a Demogorgon during sensory deprivation experiments.
The group discovered Will trapped in the Upside Down and eventually rescued him, though Eleven vanished after destroying the Demogorgon. Will returned home haunted by visions and coughing up creatures from the other world, while Hopper left food including Eggo waffles in the woods, suggesting Eleven survived.
The Mind Flayer emerges
Nearly a year later in October 1984, Will continued experiencing visions of a colossal dark shadow the group named the Mind Flayer. This entity violently possessed Will, using him as a spy while gradually spreading toxic vines through underground tunnels beneath Hawkins. Eleven survived in hiding with Hopper, who became her protective guardian while she learned to control her abilities.
The season introduced Max Mayfield and her volatile stepbrother Billy Hargrove, while Dustin accidentally adopted what he thought was a pollywog but turned out to be a baby Demogorgon. Steve Harrington transformed from high school antagonist into beloved protector of the younger characters. Joyce and Jonathan eventually expelled the Mind Flayer from Will by subjecting his body to intense heat, while Eleven sealed the gate to the Upside Down using her strengthened powers. Hopper officially adopted Eleven by season’s end, though the Mind Flayer still loomed over Hawkins from the parallel dimension.
Russians infiltrate the mall
Summer 1985 brought teenage normalcy at the new Starcourt Mall, where romantic relationships blossomed between Mike and Eleven, Lucas and Max, and Jonathan and Nancy. Murray Bauman, initially dismissed as a conspiracy theorist, correctly identified Russians who built a secret base beneath the mall and reopened the gate to the Upside Down.
The Mind Flayer returned seeking revenge by possessing Billy and creating a physical form by liquifying possessed humans. Steve bonded with coworker Robin Buckley at Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop while investigating the Russian conspiracy with Dustin. Joyce infiltrated the underground base and destroyed it to close the gate, apparently vaporizing Hopper in the explosion. Eleven freed Billy from possession moments before he sacrificed himself to stop the Mind Flayer. Three months later, Joyce, Jonathan, Will and Eleven relocated to California.
Vecna declares war
The 1986 season revealed that Hopper survived and was imprisoned in a Soviet camp, prompting Joyce and Murray to rescue him. In California, Eleven was arrested for assaulting a school bully and taken to a facility where Brenner and Dr. Sam Owens attempted restoring her powers.
Back in Hawkins, supernatural killings targeted traumatized teens through Vecna, eventually revealed as Henry Creel, Brenner’s first test subject whom Eleven had banished to the Upside Down years earlier. After the group battled Vecna while Eleven intervened psychologically, he opened massive gates throughout Hawkins, setting the stage for total war in the final season.