After over three years of waiting, Stranger Things is finally back. The smash hit is heading into its long-awaited fifth and final season, bringing the show to a close nearly a decade after its humble beginnings.
If you are ready to carve out part of your Thanksgiving weekend for one of the biggest TV shows in recent memory, here is everything you need to know before you press play on season 5.
When does Stranger Things season 5 come out?
Netflix is dropping season five of Stranger Things in three separate chunks. The streaming giant took a similar approach to Season 4, which hit the streaming service in two volumes in 2022. The first three seasons were released all at once in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Chapters 1 through 4 will come out first, dropping on Netflix on Wednesday, November 26 at 8 p.m. ET. Here is a complete episode list for season five, featuring titles, runtimes and release dates:
- S5E1: Chapter One: The Crawl (1h, 8m) – November 26, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E2: Chapter Two: The Vanishing of … (54m) – November 26, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E3: Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap (1h, 6m) – November 26, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E4: Chapter Four: Sorcerer (1h, 23m) – November 26, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E5: Chapter Five: Shock Jock (TBD) – December 25, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E6: Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz (TBD) – December 25, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E7: Chapter Seven: The Bridge (TBD) – December 25, 8 p.m. ET
- S5E8: Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up (TBD) – December 31, 8 p.m. ET
(Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things Seasons 1-4 ahead).
Who will show up in Stranger Things season 5?
At this point, some major Stranger Things characters probably won’t make it out alive. But for the time being, here is the main cast for the start of season 5:
- Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven
- Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
- Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
- Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
- Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
- Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield
- David Harbour as Jim Hopper
- Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
- Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler
- Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
- Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
- Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley
- Amybeth McNulty as Vickie
- Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair
- Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler
- Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler
- Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler
- Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman
- Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel
- Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay
- Alex Breaux as Lt. Akers
Check out DraftKings’ breakdown of the Stranger Things Top 10 Characters, Ranked.
Where did Stranger Things season 4 leave off?
It’s been a while since Stranger Things last hit the airwaves, since season 4 wrapped up back in July 2022. As a result, a refresher is probably in order for fans who didn’t commit to a full rewatch.
Mike and Dustin joined the Hellfire Club, Hawkins’ Dungeons & Dragons group led by Eddie Munson. Lucas, meanwhile, made the basketball team and is no longer dating Max. When a cheerleader named Chrissy died in gruesome fashion, panic took hold in the town and Eddie became the No. 1 suspect. In reality, people dealing with personal trauma were being targeted by an entity trying to open portals from the Upside Down, who the kids named Vecna. Nancy investigated the murder and found ties to Victor Creel, a former Hawkins resident who was accused of killing his family in the 1950s. Victor’s son, Henry, actually killed his mother and sister with his psychic powers before Dr. Brenner took him in.
Vecna took out a few more teens, all while the kids teamed up with Nancy, Steve and Robin to try and stop Vecna from overrunning Hawkins with the Upside Down. Max was one of Vecna’s targets, but she escaped by listening to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” The kids tried to use Max as bait in one last effort to stop Vecna, which also involved Eddie distracting bat-like creatures in the Upside Down with an epic guitar solo, only for the plan to fail.
After appearing to die at the end of season 3, Hopper actually wound up in a Soviet prison camp along with a Demogorgon. Joyce and Murray flew up to Alaska, then over to Russia, to break him out and bring him home. Joyce left Will, Jonathan and Eleven at home in California, right when Mike was coming to visit. Dr. Owens took Eleven to a secret lab in Nevada run by Brenner while Mike, Will and Jonathan escaped from agents who thought Eleven was to blame for the deaths back in Hawkins. Eleven regained her repressed memories from when she was growing up in Brenner’s original lab, honing her powers along the way. She learned that Henry Creel was One, who she banished to the Upside Down when he turned on the other kids. Over time, he transformed into Vecna and created the Mind Flayer.
While Eleven used her powers to stave off Vecna and bring Max back to life from afar, he was still able to open the final portal to bring the Upside Down into the real world. Max wound up in a coma, but Eddie wasn’t as lucky, considering he died saving Dustin.
What should we expect in Stranger Things season 5?
Season 5 takes place in the fall of 1987. Season 4 happened over spring break in 1986, so it will have been about a year and a half between episodes in-universe.
The plot of season 5 will revolve around the kids’ final showdown with Vecna, but the specifics are still up in the air. Hawkins is recovering from the earthquake that hit when the portals opened, and there appears to be some new military presence in the area. There will be Demogorgons, mysterious red energy beams, machine guns and 80s nostalgia galore, at the very least. Based on the trailers, Vecna seems to have special plans for Will, who he kidnapped all the way back in season 1. Some fans have theorized that the final season will feature some element of time travel, although there isn’t any concrete proof of that yet.
Netflix actually released the first five minutes of season 5 on YouTube, featuring a flashback to Will’s time in the Upside Down. Take a look here:
