Stranger Things Season 5: The First Five Minutes of Episode 1
The opening of Stranger Things Season 5 delivers chills right from the start. The first five minutes instantly transport viewers back to Hawkins, where darkness and fear quickly take hold.
The Scene: Return to 1983
The premiere, titled The Crawl, wastes no time setting its tone. The story begins on November 12, 1983—the exact night Will Byers disappeared in Season 1. Through digital de-aging, Noah Schnapp once again embodies twelve-year-old Will, alone inside Castle Byers.
He softly sings The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” echoing the nostalgia of the first season.
Moments later, a piercing screech shatters the calm. Will bolts through the woods, his flashlight flickering as panic rises. He climbs a tree in desperation, but the branches give way and he crashes to the ground.
A Sinister Turn
What follows is far more frightening than anyone expects. The Demogorgon seizes Will, pulling him into the Upside Down’s eerie version of the Hawkins Library. There, Vecna awaits, delivering a terrifying promise that signals the final confrontation ahead.
Netflix couldn’t have chosen a more gripping way to begin the show’s concluding chapter.
Author’s Summary
In its haunting first minutes, Stranger Things Season 5 reconnects viewers to its origins, merging fear, nostalgia, and the looming sense of a final epic battle.