Hawkins’ Last Stand: Stranger Things Season 5 Preview

Netflix has released the extended teaser trailer for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. The new chapter will debut later this year, and while the date has yet to be announced, the new trailer shows Hawkins’ best, and the new faces of the Upside Down are about to go to war.

There’s no time wasted in the two-minute extended preview, either. The opening moments quickly set up the tone and show an ominous prologue set to Metallica’s “Fuel.” Unsettling images of the Upside Down encroaching on Hawkins, shadowy corridors, demo-dogs patrolling the night, and an explosion of activity with flamethrowers are just a few snippets shown. Most notable is the heavily armed Linda Hamilton, clad in body armor and guns at the ready, walking in and joining the Hawkins party for the action to come.

As with all of Stranger Things, a look back at Season 4’s ending is helpful for context: Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the villain behind all of the horror in Hawkins since the previous season, opened up the gate between the Upside Down and Hawkins just before Eleven took him out. The Upside Down and its horrors leaked entirely into Hawkins, and the town had officially become a crossover episode from its horror show.

Season 5 will pick up in the fall of 1987, according to the trailer, with some time having passed between Seasons 4 and 5. This places the action coincident with the third anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance from Hawkins. Will’s vanishing was the major catalyst for the events of Season 1, so it makes sense this third anniversary would bookend with major events on both sides of the Upside Down/Hawkins divide.

As promised by the premise, eight episodes will make up the final season of Stranger Things. However, no traditional TV episodes, either. Each of the eight chapters will be feature-length, giving viewers essentially eight Stranger Things movies to look forward to in one final season.

The synopsis, as written, primes viewers for both an emotional and action-packed conclusion to Hawkins’ most popular kids and their allies. Hawkins is forever changed by the Rifts being forcibly opened. The old and new champions of Hawkins have one goal in mind: find and kill Vecna. The question is, where do they find him? Vecna’s plans and movements in the wake of his “death” remain a mystery, and the U.S. government is both quarantining Hawkins with a military lockdown and intensifying efforts to capture Eleven. She’s on the run again, while the party must come together once more.

The nightmarish battles will be in overdrive, as well, as the third anniversary of Will’s disappearance is quickly approaching. Time is running out, and from the clues dropped in the teaser, it’s a safe bet the events of the season will lead to one epic final battle to end all final battles. This time, the enemy is more powerful, more diabolical, and darker than ever. The last hope is all the allies in the full party, all together.

Cast of Old Favorites and New Faces

As per usual, the core group is returning for the final season. And the announcement also notes several key returning faces as well. Amybeth McNulty, who plays Vicki, and Gabriella Pizzolo, who plays Suzie (Dustin’s girlfriend), are back for Season 5. Jamie Campbell Bower is also returning as Vecna.

Several new faces are also announced in the trailer and making their debut in the final season. Linda Hamilton is joining the cast as Dr. Kay, and Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux will all be part of the Stranger Things universe in Season 5.

Hamilton, of Terminator fame, is one of the biggest names in the lineup, but a particular scene in the trailer stands out and is almost bound to raise a smile from fans of big-budget franchise movies. Lucas and his crew take cover from demo-dogs in a way that’s very reminiscent of the original Jurassic Park movie, during the iconic scene where the velociraptors break into the kitchen. Stranger Things being Stranger Things.

It’s a little sad to hear the iconic, groaning “found you” from Vecna. It may not live up to the psychological terror he evoked during the penultimate season, but that’s enough to get the hairs up on the back of your neck.

There is an emotional whammy, though, from the first half of the trailer. Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) has a memorial and gravestone shown, and it’s been defaced with “Burn in hell” spray-painted over the simple plaque. It’s a clear message from a lot of the population in Hawkins that Eddie was a murderer and not the hero that he is.

Eddie was killed in the final moments of Season 4, presumably as a sacrifice to save the rest of the group. The argument for Eddie’s death being the most tragic since Bob Newby in Season 2 is an easy one to make. Eddie’s life, loss, and the perception from the town are going to be a major factor in Season 5 and the final episodes for every character who remains.