Five Burning ‘Stranger Things’ Questions Ahead of Season Five’s Premiere

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Stranger Things seasons 1-4.

As November draws to a close, many of us look forward to spending time with family and friends. For some, this means touch football games or leisurely days spent wrapping gifts, but those obsessed with Stranger Things will be spending Thanksgiving in Hawkins, Indiana. The Netflix juggernaut returns this week with Season 5, Volume 1, just in time for the holiday break. With Volume 2 and the series finale set to drop on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, respectively, fans of this throwback sci-fi adventure will have plenty to watch in the coming weeks. But like any family reuniting for the holidays, we’ve got some catching up to do.

It’s been more than three years since we watched that jaw-dropping season 4 cliffhanger and nearly ten years since we first met our intrepid Party playing Dungeons & Dragons in the Wheelers’ basement. Time may function differently in the Upside Down, but showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer will account for this protracted absence — and the ages of their predominantly adolescent cast — with a narrative time jump of their own. In the world of Hawkins, eighteen months will have passed since our favorite Party finally reformed and gaped at the ruins of their beloved town. We will catch up with Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) four years after Will (Noah Schnapp) first disappeared in the woods, though the season’s first five-minute scene will take us back to his harrowing abduction.

With so much time having passed between seasons 4 and 5, many are committing to full rewatches to reacquaint themselves with Hawkins lore. Over these past nine years, Stranger Things has grown up alongside its fans. My own son, Aaron, was not quite two when season 1 first debuted. His father and I watched early episodes after putting him to bed with his baby monitor perched next to the TV. But now, as the series winds to a close, he’s nearly as old as the season 1 tweens we first met riding bikes through suburban streets. Like me, he’s become enthralled with this singular show and is eagerly awaiting its epic conclusion. With our own rewatch now completed, five burning questions loom as we return to the troubled Indiana town.

Will Hawkins Fall?

The final image of season 4 sees our main cast reunited in an Indiana field, surveying the remains of their crumbling home. Since Will’s first disappearance, Hawkins has gained a cursed reputation, and it’s difficult to dispute this claim. Home of the infamous Hawkins National Laboratory, where psychic children are imprisoned and studied, Papa (Matthew Modine) and his egregious experiments have created a rift between realities. Each season sees a new threat arise from the realm known as the Upside Down, from the petal-faced Demogorgon and Demodogs to the grisly monstrosity known as the Mind Flayer.

But now, an ultimate threat has emerged. We learn that while imprisoned, Eleven was forced to battle One (Jamie Campbell Bower) and vanquished him to the nether realm. Unfortunately, this banishment transformed the duplicitous orderly into Vecna, a scarred and tentacled monstrosity poised to drag the entire world into his hellish, crimson dimension.

Each time a monster threatens Hawkins, an unusual defender has risen to the challenge. The most powerful subject in Hawkins Lab, Eleven, uses her telekinetic powers to repel each threat, sometimes aided by her friends and family. But a savage bite in season 3 seemingly drains the teen of her psychic abilities. While Eleven struggles to adjust to a normal life, Vecna’s strength continues to grow. Season 4 reunites El with the sinister Papa, who’s developed a plan to restore her powers. Though he tries to imprison her once again, El emerges stronger than ever and returns to battle Vecna head-on. But will her renewed strength be enough to stop this strangely familiar enemy, and will Hawkins survive the showdown?

Aaron’s Prediction: Hawkins will be destroyed in the battle, but Eleven will defeat Vecna. The town will need a lot of rebuilding, but will eventually be safe to live in again.

Jenn’s Prediction: After four years of heavy damage, the upcoming battle will render Hawkins uninhabitable. Eleven will succeed in overcoming Vecna, but she and her friends will be forced to find another home, one not sitting on an interdimensional faultline.

Will Max Live?

We’re first introduced to the sinister Vecna as a nightmare plaguing the waking world. Targeting troubled teens, he begins infiltrating the mind of a cheerleader named Chrissy (Grace Van Dien), exploiting her unresolved trauma. When she reaches out to drug dealer Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), desperate for something that will help her sleep, the sinister Vecna goes in for the kill. Pulled into the Upside Down, Chrissy finds herself unable to resist Vecna’s persuasive dread. Eddie watches in horror as she slowly levitates, her arms and legs mangled by unseen hands. Her corpse is discarded on the floor, where it creates a portal between worlds. We learn that Vecna needs to create four such gates to permanently merge Earth with the Upside Down.

The fourth of these pivotal victims is Max (Sadie Sink), first introduced to the Party in season 2. Though initially hesitant to accept her new friends’ unbelievable tales, she becomes an integral member of the team, using her skateboarding prowess and lack of fear to help support El in fighting each monster. But season 3 ends with a devastating loss. After becoming possessed by the vicious Mind Flayer, Max’s older brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) is finally able to eject the beast and sacrifices himself to save Eleven. Max watches in horror as he’s impaled by the monster’s grisly tentacles and dies in the epic Battle of Starcourt.

Wracked with the trauma of his demise, Max has grown distant from the Party, making her vulnerable to Vecna’s control. We watch as he exacerbates this guilt, slowly drawing her into his dangerous lair. Throughout the season, Max has been able to resist Vecna by reconnecting with her friends and repeatedly listening to her favorite song, which helps to ground her in our reality. But a dangerous plan leaves her vulnerable to the monster, and even a mental piggyback from Eleven cannot save her from his powerful grip. Lucas watches in horror as Vecna delivers the telltale blows, Max’s arms and legs snapping before his eyes. But all is not lost. Having also infiltrated Max’s mind, Eleven is able to keep her alive with newly amplified telepathic abilities. Lucas brings her to the hospital, but season 4 ends with Max in a coma from which she may not recover.

Trailers for season 5 show Lucas struggling to protect his unconscious girlfriend as Demodogs swarm the hospital. But will she return to the world of the living or eventually succumb to Vecna’s attack?

Aaron’s Prediction: Max will still be in a coma when we return to Hawkins later this week, but Vecna’s inevitable defeat will release her from his mind control.

Jenn’s Prediction: Max will awaken with Eleven’s help near the end of Volume 1. With first-hand knowledge of Vecna’s mind, she will become a powerful warrior in the fight to save Hawkins.

Which Couples Will Last?

Should Max survive, she and Lucas will almost certainly mend their fractured relationship, but Hawkins is filled with tumultuous love. We last left Robin (Maya Hawke) flirting with her crush while making sandwiches at a Hawkins relief shelter. Perhaps we will also see an in-person scene with Dustin’s beloved Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo), whose assists have now saved the world twice over. But three other couples hang in the balance, including a love triangle five seasons in the making.

Upon first meeting in the rainy woods, Eleven and Mike only have eyes for each other. They finally share a kiss at the idyllic Snow Ball in the decorated Middle School gym. But no adolescent relationship is without its flaws, and the two often struggle to communicate. After several devastating fights, they finally profess their true feelings and realize that their connection is based on more than El’s extraordinary powers. But can their love survive the upcoming battle?

Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) has had a similarly rocky relationship with El’s adopted father, Police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour). After growing up together, they reunite when Joyce implores him to help rescue her missing son. They’ve made plans for a tentative first date when Hopper is seized by Russian soldiers and transported to a Siberian prison. Season 4 follows Joyce’s desperate mission to save his life, and they finally share a long-awaited kiss, but this tender moment is interrupted by Vecna’s attack. Will season 5 give these long-suffering parents some much-needed peace, and will they be able to blend their families?

In addition to these fan-favorite pairings, one romantic question looms: which suitor will Nancy (Natalia Dyer) choose? We first meet Mike’s older sister as she’s inducted into the popular crowd via her relationship with “King” Steve (Joe Keery). Wealthy, popular, and attractive, this playboy pushes Nancy away with his admittedly crass and cruel behavior, but ultimately has a change of heart. Unfortunately, Nancy ends their relationship and falls for Will’s older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), after joining forces to fight the Demogorgon. Nancy and Jonathan remain strong throughout season 3, but with college looming, the moody teen hesitates to follow his girlfriend, reluctant to leave Joyce and Will alone. Separated by miles and emotional distance, Nancy once again grows closer to Steve, who battles Vecna by her side. They share a few tender moments in season 4, and Steve essentially professes his love just before the final showdown. When last we saw Nancy, she was still with Jonathan, but an unspoken decision hangs in the air. Will she choose Steve or Jonathan?

Jenn’s Prediction: El and Mike have already weathered their emotional storms and will fight Vecna as a united front. Joyce and Hopper will remain close friends but will find romance impossible. Nancy will ultimately choose Steve as his rehabilitation arc comes full circle.

Aaron’s Prediction: Joyce and Hopper will stay together, along with El and Mike. Nancy will choose Jonathan while remaining friends with Steve. (My boy believes in true love.)

Will Hellfire Club Be Redeemed?

Ever since its opening scene, Stranger Things has been steeped in D&D lore. Our mainstay party uses game logic to defeat a string of increasingly dangerous villains, each referencing the game’s extensive guides. Season 4 opens with a more official gathering: the Hawkins Hellfire Club. Led by stalwart senior Eddie Munson, it’s an established D&D chapter dedicated to extended campaigns and serious gameplay. Though technically a member, Lucas abandons the group to play in an important basketball game, making the winning shot just as his younger sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) steps in to complete Eddie’s treacherous campaign — foreshadowing the season’s upcoming arc. But the 80s-era Satanic Panic rears its ugly head just as the interdimensional Vecna appears in Hawkins.

When Chrissy dies in Eddie’s home, he becomes the town’s number one suspect. Ill-informed residents lean into hysteria, and each subsequent murder becomes more proof of his villainy. Chrissy’s grieving boyfriend Jason (Mason Dye) amplifies this misconception and leads the basketball team on a quest to hunt down the long-haired rocker. Though Eddie will ultimately sacrifice his life by creating an essential distraction that allows the Party to subdue Vecna, his heroic actions remain a secret. Dustin must watch as his friend is maligned by the town he died to save. Not only this, but Vecna’s fiery fissures appear to corroborate suspicions of demonic activity, and members of the Hellfire Club are poised to become pariahs. Can anything repair Eddie’s unjustly tainted image or redeem his beloved Hellfire Club?

Aaron’s Prediction: Based on Dustin’s bruised face and torn Hellfire Club shirt in the season 5 trailer, members of the group are not safe yet. Though Hawkins will eventually find out the truth, it won’t happen until the last episode.

Jenn’s Prediction: The 80s were not kind to D&D fans, and I worry that nothing short of a public sacrifice will negate the club’s reputation as a dangerous cult. While Eddie’s heroic death may come to light, his club will remain synonymous with the Hawkins curse and four frightening years of death and destruction.

Who Will Die?

By far the biggest question as we approach the series finale is who will live and who will die? It’s perhaps not surprising that a show centering tween and teen characters — which draws inspiration from 80s adventure films — has thus far had a low body count. But as our main characters mature, the show has steadily grown more horrific. From Barb (Shannon Purser) and Bob (Sean Astin) to Chrissy and Eddie, each season accrues its share of casualties, increasing in brutality with each passing installment. Yet aside from Max, whose fate hangs in the balance, our main cast has remained remarkably safe. Unfortunately, as we near the final chapter, all bets are off, and anyone could die. Who will survive the final season and who will fall to save their friends?

Aaron’s Prediction: Season 5 trailers show that Will’s connection to Vecna puts him in danger. He and Eleven will die to save Hawkins from the threat they accidentally created.

Jenn’s Prediction: Dustin will die to protect the Party, possibly redeeming Eddie and the Hellfire Club. After continuously stepping into the line of fire, Hopper will make the ultimate sacrifice to save his adopted daughter and reunite in death with the child he lost. Joyce will also die to save her boys, and the new generation will move forward as a chosen family.

What questions do you have as season 5 approaches, and who will survive the final chapter?