Netflix news: ‘Stranger Things 5’ - Questions to be answered in the final series
On November 26, we will see the end of what many will consider the most iconic Netflix Original of all time.
With the release of Stranger Things 5 comes the beginning of the end for a series that has been breaking records on screen for almost 10 years now.
From the mysterious vanishing of Will Byers in season one to season three’s cliffhanger with the “death” of Jim Hopper, the Duffer brothers definitely know how to confuse and mislead audiences.
Ahead of the first three episodes releasing on Netflix later this month, Film News Blitz’s Charlie Gardner presents three questions that still need answering ahead of our final trip to Hawkins.
1: Why does Vecna still need Will Byers?
Way back in the first episode of the show, a 12-year-old Will Byers raced home in the night after a long game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends. After seeing a mysterious figure in the shadows, he runs home and takes refuge in the shed in his backyard. A light flickers; he vanishes.
Later on in the show, it is revealed that Will’s time in the Upside Down (an almost identical replica world beneath Hawkins) left him with a permanent connection, from where he was still able to communicate/interact with the overworld.
One way Will was connected to the Upside Down was through the Mind Flayer. This spiritual hive-mind-like being uses him as a spy or conduit into the Upside Down, even displaying an ability to feel the same feelings that organisms from the Upside Down do.
In season three, the Mind Flayer returns after being thought to be expelled from Will. This time, Will can sense the presence of the Mind Flayer at times when everyone else couldn’t.
In season four, Will’s connection is shown to be less explicit, as Vecna’s presence in Hawkins triggers his emotions ahead of every attack. The season then ends as Will looks into the distance, feeling a shiver on the back of his neck as he would when the Mind Flayer was present.
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We know from season four that Vecna preys upon emotionally vulnerable victims who suffer from unresolved trauma. With Will suffering from a constant sense of alienation and difference from his peers, combined with a traumatic past and present, this makes him a perfect fit for Vecna’s antics. This could explain why Vecna might have ‘chosen’ Will in the first place, but it doesn’t disprove any ideas that it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s clear from the trailer that Vecna’s work on Will is going to continue, given that he says so over a shot of him lifting Will’s unconscious body from the ground. But what could he be using him for?
One reason could be that Vecna is once again using Will Byers as a way to reopen the gate into the real world. Season four shows that Vecna has used his murders to create gateways into Hawkins before; could he be using him for that? Opening more gateways allows for greater control and freedom within the overworld, perfect for his schemes.
Another theory is that Will could influence the Upside Down to an extent not yet seen in the series. We do know, however, that this world is frozen in time from the moment that Will disappeared in 1983 - could Vecna be taking advantage of Will in order to shape the Upside Down and make it his own? The flaw to this one is that Eleven also opened a portal that same day, so it could be her who did this.
Finally, the answer here may just be the most simple - he’s done it before. It’s been proven before that Will is a strong host for all things evil in the show, and he is close to those who pose the greatest threat to everything Vecna wants to do. He could simply be going for another trauma-ridden host whom he knows for a fact can be manipulated with ease.
2: The Vanishing of _______
Ahead of the release of the latest season, Netflix have blessed fans with the titles for every single episode. One of them, though, is totally incomplete.
Episode two has formally been announced by Netflix as “The Vanishing of …” - but just who is it that could be vanishing this time?
Before jumping into the theories, one thing to note is that co-creator Ross Duffer wrote on Instagram that this episode will have “the craziest cold open [they’ve] ever done”. A big statement to make, but one that’s only going to leave us excited for the next couple of weeks.
Who could this be? Well, fans haven’t held back on the theories, with the most popular one almost being seen as fact at this stage. Many fans note the recasting of Holly Wheeler as a big hint that she’s the one who’s going, combined with an alleged leaked title that had the last name Wheeler in it.
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But Ross Duffer also seemed to mock fan theories in this original Instagram post, saying that fans think they know who it is. There are actually a couple of other options:
First up, Henry, Creel A.K.A. Vecna, the original patient (#001) of Dr. Brenner’s Hawkins experiments. We know that Creel disappeared as a boy after discovering supernatural abilities after moving into Hawkins at a young age and killing his mother and sister.
This would be a great way for the Duffers to establish a strong backstory to Vecna, going into a deeper context of his former life, while also creating strong parallels between his story and Will’s.
Then there’s the other option - what if this is Will Byers all over again? Revisiting his disappearance brings audiences back to where it all started. There’s still plenty we don’t know about his disappearance, so why not revisit and give us more context? It would certainly be a brilliant way to surprise audiences and bring answers to questions that have been around from day one.
3: Who are we losing this year?
Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones. Final seasons always have stakes. In a show where we can lose the hero that was Bob in such a heartbreaking way, there’s no chance that everyone’s going to make it out alive.
We see in the trailer a manic Dustin being embraced by an equally distraught Steve Harrington. A scene that’s already uncomfortable to watch, it feels as though the emotions of this moment will be one of the lasting images in viewers’ minds once the series concludes. It’s clear that something has happened here.
The trailer is also partnered with the Queen ballad Who Wants to Live Forever - a song that (unsurprisingly) deals with themes of mortality and sacrifice. Brian May even said that the song refers to (and was written for) the film Highlander, specifically involving a man who grows old with his wife until she dies in his arms. The song has themes of death and love being intertwined, all centred around a film that was released the year before this season is set.
Someone’s definitely going, someone who is probably well-liked in-universe. There’s certainly a feeling this season will kick off immediately, with a real chance that we might lose someone early on.
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Here are some names around who it could be, and why they might have to be the ones to go:
Let’s get the more obvious ones out of the way. Will and Eleven - the series’ most influential characters. We know from the trailer that Will Byers will return to the Upside Down and be captured by Vecna to some extent, and sacrificing himself through his deep connection to everything going on in Hawkins might be the only way to put a stop to Vecna.
The same goes for Eleven, arguably the most iconic character in the show, whose psychic abilities have proven throughout to make her one of the most valuable weapons that the protagonists have. Dr. Owens even says to her in season four that he sees her as the cure for the failed experiments of the past. She’s gone toe-to-toe with Vecna multiple times before and emerged victorious, but now that he’s more powerful than ever, can she exert herself enough to stop him without any risk?
Steve Harrington is a character who’s faced turmoil around his responsibilities and place within life at Hawkins. Over the years, Steve has gone from a stereotypical high school bully to one who finds purpose through his care for Nancy, her brother and his friends, as well as an unlikely bromance with the eccentric and cheery Dustin. This powerful relationship between the two is clearly pointed out in the trailer, and it could be for a reason.
Steve’s character has now found purpose through his newfound responsibility, going from a lost soul to one who has finally found a place. To kill off Steve in a valiant way, perhaps a form of sacrifice, would be a good way to highlight the stakes and pull on the heartstrings of everyone watching.
Max Mayfield also enters the season in a coma, with the trailer showing her boyfriend, Lucas Sinclair, watching in fear as he holds her limp body, waiting for the elevator doors to shut as a monster quickly approaches. This scene, I’m sure, will not be the moment where Max dies purely out of the fact that it’d be pretty annoying to have it spoiled in the trailer.
Max is also entering the story incredibly vulnerable; her blindness and state of incapacitation leave her in a state of vulnerability this time around. She would surely be most susceptible to attack from the get-go. Or could it be her boyfriend, Lucas, who pays the ultimate sacrifice to protect her?
As mentioned before, there are, of course, going to be some big stakes this year, but with great stakes often come great sacrifice. There are several not even mentioned above. Is your favourite character safe?
Closing remarks
Stranger Things is a show that will undoubtedly be remembered for decades, a show that many will probably look back on as one of the best of its time.
It’s wild that it’s been nearly 10 years since it first started, but time and time again, the Duffer brothers have brought out something that exceeds expectations and works its way into modern culture in a multitude of ways. I expect they will do this again with the final season, one that I think will comfortably be their best.
Stranger Things 5 releases its first three episodes on Netflix on November 26.
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