Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Horror
Like last time, Netflix decided not to drop the entire season at once. The first four episode dropped, another three will be available on Christmas, and the long awaited finale will be airing on New Year’s Day.
The first episode, “The Crawl” opens to when little Will was captured and stuck in the Upside Down. Every fan still remembers this. Weakly humming to “Should I Stay or Should I Go” in the Upside Down. Although this seems to be his only safe place, a Demogorgon soon finds him. After a blood-curdling chase, Will is dragged away, taken to Vecna. At the end of season 4, it became clear that Vecna was the one who created the Upside Down and had been present from the beginning. It was Vecna all along.
Then we flash-forward to the present. Vecna has blurred the line between the Upside Down and Hawkins, by opening giant portals that split Hawkins in two. The army decided to quarantine Hawkins.
Of course our beloved Hawkins crew adapted to this situation. Robin started a radio show. Dustin wants to restart Hellfire Club, honoring his late friend Eddie, much to the dissatisfaction of some of his class mates. Eleven is actively training to stay out of the hands of the army, but Hopper won’t let her take actual action yet. The urgency to defeat Vecna seems to have disappeared, but not for long. It soon becomes apparent that Robin is sending clues to the crew via cryptic radio messages, and they develop a plan for a “crawl”: a mission to bypass the army and find out where Vecna is. Hopper will try to get into the Upside Down.
Apocalyptic urgency is mixed with everyday problem. Dustin is bullied because he wants to bring back the Hellfire Club, Robin has a new romance, and Holly has an imaginary friend. Will, Mike and Lucas notice that Dustin is bullied, and try to remind Dustin of the shared goal: find Vecna.
In the second episode, “The Vanishing of….” Will gets a vision that Holly is the possible target of a Demogorgon. Nancy and Eleven race to the house, but find only seriously injured Karen and Ted, while Holly has disappeared. Holly is taken to the Upside Down, just like Will in season 1. But the question is, why Holly? Will tries to understand what his visions mean, with Robin’s help. A new friendship between Will and Robin starts here, something we didn’t know we needed. But this newfound bond between the two feels so sweet and pure. I love these two together. And Eleven has entered the Upside Down, to go after Holly.
Mike realizes that Holly imaginary friend, who she calls Mr. Whatsit, may be a clue to her whereabouts. And Will realizes that he can see through Vecna’s eyes and can see what he sees through his targets.
“The Turnbow Trap”, the third episode, brings a surprising twist. Holly is not in a wet, dark environment, but in the Creel house. She gets her favorite foods, toys and clothes, where Mr. Whatsit aka Henry Creel, is trying to manipulate her. And he has already found his new target, which Will is trying to figure out who, but overprotective mom Joyce doesn’t want Will to face any danger.
The crew comes up with the perfect plan to protect the next target, Derek Turnbow, a classmate of Holly. What follows is a blood-curdling action scene in which the crew tries to defeat the Demogorgon before it reaches its target. Flickering lights, 80s synthpop, and strong acting give the scene and almost Spielberg-like quality. The crew manages to rescue Derek and finds an entrance to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Hopper and Eleven find each other in the Upside Down, and search for Holly. Their search hits an impenetrable wall, while the army is still active. And Holly is joined by Max, who is still in a coma, but seems to be stuck with Holly as well.
The final episode of volume 1, “Sorcerer”, brings the storyline to an absolute boiling point: Max devises a plan to escape Vecna’s dream world, Hopper and Eleven reach the army base and Will and Vecna have a confrontation. What follows is an episode that feels like a finale, but isn’t. It makes sense now, why the Duffer Brothers decided to split the season like this. Because volume 1 ends in a massive, epic cliffhanger. An absolute magnum opus of the series. And Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, shines in these final minutes of the episode. I always knew he was the heart of the show somehow, and this episode is the proof.
Ending on such a high note, I’m so excited to see what else the Duffer Brothers have in store for us. It will be difficult to surpass that final episode. Fast forwarding to Christmas….
