Reflecting on the first five minutes of Stranger Things 5

Content Warning: This article contains discussions of child abuse within the plotline of Stranger Things, as well as spoilers for Stranger Things season five. 

On November 6th, 2025, Stranger Things celebrated its last—and biggest—Stranger Things Day, which celebrates the day in which the first episode of the show takes place: November 6th, 1983.

The fan event was especially interesting this year, as it came 20 days before the first four episodes of season five were set to release on Netflix. As a way to celebrate the momentous occasion, Netflix gave the public a sneak peek at the first five minutes of season five episode one, titled The Crawl. 

While fans were able to correctly theorize that the first scene would be about Will Byers’s time in the Upside Down due to a script snippet that the Duffer brothers posted two years prior, the scene that followed was not only shocking, but also disturbing for a show like Stranger Things: One we have come to love as the show with Eggos, Steve Harrington, colorful malls, and the earworm chorus of “Chrissy, Wake Up!” 

But was it only that? Or have the Duffer brothers truly decided to crank it up to “eleven” for the show’s final season? After all, the show’s rating recently changed from TV-14 to TV-MA.

In truth, Stranger Things has never just been the fun-loving kids-on-bikes-in-the-1980s show that so many desperately want it to be. Describing it as such is a disservice to the complex themes that the show presents. In season one, for example, Eleven (or “El”) was kept in Dr. Martin Brenner’s (or, as she calls him, Papa’s) lab. While she was there, “Papa” abused her, took away her autonomy, and treated her as a lab rat rather than a human being. Then, in season four, it was revealed that Martin Brenner was not only experimenting on Eleven, but other children as well—subjecting them to the same abuse that Eleven had to go through, all right under the U.S. government’s nose.

The implications of this lab that experiments on children run by an older man who makes them call him “Papa” cannot be buried by El’s sweet love of Eggos and Mike Wheeler. Just because something was not shown on screen does not mean it was not meant to be there as a theme. It is not a reach to take notice of the disturbing ways in which Dr. Brenner treats a twelve year old El and the younger children he experiments on, and how that treatment may have contributed to her quiet and emotionless personality when Mike, Lucas, and Dustin first encounter her.

In the first five minutes of season five, a twelve year old, CGI de-aged Will is shown to be trapped in an equally awful situation. He’s running away from the dreaded Demogorgon and scaling trees in a desperate—and oftentimes futile—attempt to survive. However, this is not where the horror of the scene ends. After being knocked unconscious from falling out of the tree that he climbs, Will is dragged by the Demogorgon to the Upside Down version of the Hawkins Library. It is there where the big reveal happens: The series’ main villain, “Vecna” also known as Henry Creel or 001, emerges from the shadows. Using his telekinetic powers, he wraps Will in Upside Down vines and brutally shoves one down Will’s throat, all while drawling that “at long last…we can begin.”

The scene came after a mostly lighthearted red carpet premiere—one chalk full of cast interviews, merchandise giveaways, and fan questions. It served as a shocking reminder of Stranger Things’ most disturbing themes: such as the cycle of abuse, trauma, and having one’s autonomy taken away at such a young age. 

This is, undoubtedly, what happened to Will in this scene. At twelve, he was kidnapped and forced to absorb the Upside Down’s power through the vine in his throat. He had no choice in the matter, and this is further emphasized when he is shown for an uncomfortable amount of time suffering within the grip of the vine.

What shocked many fans about this scene, however, was how explicit it was. Before, the sexual abuse subtext had remained as just that—subtext. It was something that viewers could wave off as an accident or something that one could interpret on their own, but not say was fact outright. Now, the disgusting way in which the vine attaches itself to Will’s mouth and suctions out his life force is there, out in the open, and serving as a reminder to the viewer that this show is not afraid to tackle uncomfortable themes.  

The scene exists to sicken and disgust, but it also exists to inform the viewer of the extreme traumas that Will endured in the Upside Down. If it makes you uncomfortable, then that is the point. The show has been alluding to these themes since season one, and wants their viewers to understand the brutality that comes with them.

With season five’s mature rating and higher stakes, it is not surprising that the Duffer brothers have decided to go this route. Stranger Things was never meant for younger audiences, even if that is what it tends to attract due to its bright colors and once-young cast. If you are planning on watching the new season, then I would recommend you prepare for more scenes like this, as it is clear that the Duffers have no intention of holding back for their show’s finale.