INDIANA, USA — On November 6th, 1983, young Will Byers disappeared from the town of Hawkins, Indiana. That’s how the story of StrangerThings began. Today, fans worldwide celebrate Stranger Things Day on November 6th, and the show is on the verge of releasing its fifth season.
Initially supposed to be released sometime in early 2025, the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strikes brought preparation to a screeching halt. The writers of the show declared their return to work on September 27th. Currently, season five of Stranger Things has no confirmed premiere dates.
What we do know so far:
While we don’t know when the fifth season is coming out, we know it is the show’s final season. The first season of the show came out in 2016. There, we met a bunch of dorky, brave adventurers who will turn their town literally upside down to find their missing friend. Since then, we have come far.
Season four of Stranger Things broke multiple Netflix records. At the time of release, season four of the show set a Nielson record for being the most viewed show. It saw over seven billion minutes of viewing time in the first week alone. Now, the final season of the beloved show is in the works.
Creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer knew this season would be their last. In an open letter to fans, they wrote, “Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale,” they added.
Over a year and a half after they wrote the letter, the writers released the first few lines of the new season to celebrate Stranger Things Day. Chapter one of the new season is creepily titled “The Crawl.” The scene begins in darkness. The script reads, “The sound of cold wind. Groaning trees. And a child’s voice. Singing a familiar song.”
The setting, as usual, seems eerie, and fans have no idea how the story will unfold from that point on, which must be frustrating considering the big cliffhanger season four ended on.
What has happened so far:
The tale began when a young boy, Will Byers, went missing in the sleepy and seemingly unassuming town of Hawkins, Indiana. After a long search, the town gave up on ever finding Will. But his friends refused to let it go. On their quest to discover what happened to Will, the young explorers come across an odd yet astoundingly powerful girl. Only known by the number Eleven, the girl is alone and on the run. The kids give her refuge, only to discover dark and dangerous forces at play.
We find out Eleven, now called Elle, escaped from Dr. Brenner’s lab, where she was being experimented on. Dr. Brenner and his people almost capture Elle, but she fights them off using her telekinetic powers. We also have our first encounter with the Upside Down as the kids, with the help of a few adults, find out Will is trapped there and rescue him. Eleven also has a face-off with the Demogorgon and disappears with it, either dead or trapped in the Upside Down.
Season Two
In season two, we discover that since Will returned from the Upside Down, he has been having eerie visions. Also, Eleven is neither dead nor trapped. She has been living with Hopper in a cabin hidden away in the woods.
When Hopper discovers a substance making pumpkins rot, he confronts the new lab owner, Owens. Meanwhile, Dustin finds an odd creature and names it D’Artagnan or Dart. Will realizes the creature is from the Upside Down, but Dustin still keeps it around. Soon, though, it is revealed that Dart is not an ordinary pet but a baby Demogorgon. After Will gets possessed by the monster from his visions, Hopper discovers another entry to the Upside Down.
He passes out in the entry tunnel, but Joyce, Bob, and Mike find him with the help of Will. The scientists from the lab set fire to the tunnel, causing Will to collapse. This is when we discover that the creatures from the Upside Down share a hive mind. While this happens, Dustin and Steve lure Dart to a junkyard. It arrives with his equally gruesome friends. The monsters attack the people from the lab.
We also discover that the monster from Upside Down, known as the Mind Flayer, is controlling Will. Everyone struggles to defeat the Mind Flayer without harming Will. Eleven — who has spent an entire episode with Kali, another child who was experimented on — makes a glorious return. She finally manages to close the gate in the lab and save Will from the Mind Flayer.
Season Three
Season three picks up less than two years after the disappearance of Will. The children have summer jobs and have almost all coupled up. Many of them have summer jobs. We meet Robin, Steve’s coworker, and she joins the team on their next adventure. A new mall in the area creates problems for local businesses. That’s not the only problem, either. We encounter an underground Russian lab set up to open the gateway to the Upside Down.
Dustin accidentally intercepts their radio communication and finds out about the lab. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer has made a return. It has been possessing rats and townspeople, including Max’s brother Billy. Billy dies so they can finally defeat the Mind Flayer. Hopper is also presumed dead for a while. But we discover that he is being held prisoner in a Russian prison. Eleven loses her powers, and she, Will, Joyce, and Jonathan move to California.
Season Four
Season four was television gold. The entire journey lasts for two and a half hours, almost the length of a proper feature film. This season, everyone’s beloved team of explorers and their trusted guardians took on the dark wizard, Vecna, of the Upside Down.
The story starts six months after the epic battle of last season. The team is separated, with everyone struggling to survive in unfamiliar surroundings. This is when we ultimately witness the final boss of Upside Down. The group took the fight to Vecna or Henry Creel and lost big time. As a result, the dark wizard tightened her grip on the small town of Hawkins. That’s the note season four ended on.
Considering the cliffhanger the last season ended on, fans expect season five to feature an epic final battle where the young explorers and their guardian warriors take on the dark wizard. It will finally lay the story of the eerie, gruesome Upside Down to rest, for better or worse.
This article was produced by Joy and Thrill and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
