5 Biggest Moments from ‘Stranger Things: Season Five’ (Volume One)

In November 2025, the first four episodes from the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” dropped on Netflix. Ever since the premiere, fans have been raving about the first four episodes and are speculating about what comes next.

With Volume Two coming out very soon, let’s go back and take a look at the top five moments from Volume One that left quite an impact on us.

Spoilers for Volume One of “Stranger Things: Season Five.” If you haven’t seen episodes one through four yet, then don’t read any further.

#5: Mr. Whatsit is Henry

In the first two episodes of this season, there’s a mini-mystery involving the character of Holly Wheeler, the younger sister of Mike and Nancy. It seems that she’s been seeing this mysterious man that nobody else can see but her. This is her ‘imaginary friend’ that she calls “Mr. Whatsit.” Mike and Nancy are curious about this and try to figure out what’s going on. They find out that “Mr. Whatsit” is none other than Henry Creel, AKA Vecna, the villain of the show.

There are two reasons why this is shocking. First, the overall fact that this mysterious character is the villain. Second is how the little sister of two major characters is involved with the villain, which means trouble. Let’s just hope that Mike and Nancy can save Holly in time. 

#4: Max is alive

At the end of season four, Max ended up taking some serious hits, figuratively speaking, and winds up being comatose in the hospital, which carries on in season five. In episode three, when Holly spends her time hanging out in Henry’s childhood home in the mindscape, she supposedly receives a letter from Henry asking her to meet at the rocks. Once Holly gets there, an unseen person pops out and runs after Holly. It turns out that this person is none other than Max herself. 

What happened to Max at the end of season four was heartbreaking to say the least. Not only was she a targeted victim of Vecna but the rest of our main characters were trying to protect her. It wasn’t until the season four finale that Vecna finally got her. Luckily, Eleven managed to bring her to back life, but remained comatose. This end result left many viewers wondering what was going to happen to her with season five. Once it’s revealed that she’s still alive inside “Camazotz”, the world inside Vecna’s mind, there’s an immediate joy that one cannot help but feel from this nice surprise. Hopefully, she makes it back home.

#3: The attack at the Wheelers’ house

Episode two immediately picks up when a Demogorgon chases Holly and her mother, Karen. Karen is now seriously injured, and the Demogorgon accomplishes what it set out to do.

A complaint fans have towards the show is how none of the main characters are killed or injured, yet they turn out fine by the end. This has been an issue with fans since season two and many assumed that it would continue to be an issue in this season. However, by the beginning of the second episode, that doesn’t seem to be the case. By having a character like Karen getting attacked by a Demogorgon, it shakes things up and shows that things are getting serious this season. We’ll just have to see whether she makes it through or not.

#2: Eight returns

The last moments of episode four is something to behold. With action and cool sequences, it’s a thrilling experience that’ll leave you exhausted by the end. However, something is revealed during these last moments that nobody expected to see this season. As Eleven and Hopper are breaking into the military base in the Upside Down, they find a captive inside. This captive turns out to be Kali (or Eight), who’s Eleven’s “sister” and one of the kids from Hawkins Lab.

The reason why the appearance of this character was surprising is that she’s never been seen or mentioned since season two. Due to this, many people wondered what her point even was in that season. Now that she’s showing up near the end of this episode, it’ll be interesting to see what this season does with her. Who knows? Maybe she’ll win over plenty of people by the end of this season.

#1: Will unlocks his powers

Here it is, the moment many of you were probably hoping to see me put on this list. At the end of episode four, after Vecna tells Will (Noah Schnapp) what he’s going to do, he then sees three Demogorgons going after his friends. Once Will goes back and thinks about some of his happiest past memories with his loved ones, he unlocks psychic abilities that are within him and saves his friends, ending the entire episode on a close-up tracking shot of Will breathing heavily and wiping his bleeding nose. 

Ever since this episode came out, everybody has been talking about and praising this scene, even more than the ones that I have on this list. Truth be told, it’s not hard to see why. Will has been the underdog of this show. Whether before he got taken to the Upside Down or after, life has been throwing many obstacles at him. His father was a bad person; other kids would call him “zombie boy.” Upon his unexplained return, he was possessed by a creature from the Upside Down; he’s had a difficult time growing up, and so much more. So, to finally see him get a chance to do something like save his friends using psychic powers is great. It makes you excited and intrigued to see what’s coming up next for this character. We’ll just have to wait and see. Either way, it’s a great scene to end Volume One.