Everything We Know So Far About "Stranger Things" Season 5

Every ending has a beginning, but I'm just not ready.

Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2 dropped over the weekend, and it was nothing short of EPIIIIIIIIIIIC.

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The finale of the new season not only made Stranger Things the second show in Netflix history to hit 1 billion hours viewed, it also set up the the series' final season.

So here is everything we know about Season 5 so far (and a picture of me absolutely refusing to say goodbye to this series).

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****MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD****

Season 5 is the END.

The first thing we know about Season 5 is that THIS. IS. IT. I know it's hard to accept, but the fifth season will serve as the series finale, and from what the Duffer brothers say, it is almost a continuation of Season 4. 

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Matt Duffer was recently quoted in an interview with Deadline saying: "Season 5 is more really like part two of Season 4." This makes sense since the season's tagline was "Every ending has a beginning." They needed to properly set us up for all the craziness that's yet to come, AND I'M ALREADY SO STRESSED ABOUT IT! But also really excited. Haha.

Season 5 is "gonna start pedal to the metal."

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The Duffer brothers said in that same interview that when Season 5 premieres, "we're getting right into the story." Which, after ending on such a major cliffhanger, THANK GOD! I need answers! What is gonna happen to Hawkins?? How are we getting out of this one, gang?? Anything could change from now until the new season, but the Duffers did tease a pretty epic opening scene. 

There is likely going to be a time jump.

Even though this seemingly goes against what I literally just said (lol), the Duffer brothers were quoted saying, “I’m sure we will do a time jump.”

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Now, it doesn't mean that we can't still pick right back up where Season 4 left off in the first episode or two. They didn't specify when a time jump would happen, but given the fact that the stars of the show have aged considerably since the show started in 2016, aging the characters up a bit makes a lot of sense. And the battle against the Upside Down isn't going to be won in a day. They need some time to prepare and also WAKE MAX UP PLEASE! GOD, PLEASE! :')

Season 5 is going to take place in Hawkins.

On a recent of the podcast Happy Sad Confused, the Duffer brothers said that they anticipate the whole season taking place in Hawkins, much like the first season. Taking it back to where it all began, baby!

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While we had so much fun watching our beloved characters in California and in a Russian prison ("fun" feels like the wrong word there), we can't wait to have all the main action taking place back in Indiana like God intended. And while the Duffer brothers want to pay homage to Season 1, they promised it will be "...much more massive in terms of the stakes and the scale." SIGN ME UP!

We'll be returning to Season 1 character groupings.

In Season 4, our Hawkins pals spent most of the episodes split up, which, while it was great for storytelling purposes, WE WANNA SEE ALL OF OUR BABIES BACK TOGETHER! 

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This means Mike and Eleven and the gang back in action, Nancy and Jonathan with a little side of Steve, Joyce and Hopper hopefully going on their date once they save the world (if this doesn't happen, it will destroy me) — all the greatest hits! 

Vecna is THE big bad.

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We know that despite everyone's best efforts and Nancy's sawed-off shotgun that Vecna is still alive, and the Duffer brothers have confirmed that he is the series' big baddie. And Will sets things up perfectly at the end when he says, "Now that I'm back in Hawkins, I can feel him. ... He's not gonna stop, ever, not until he's taken everything...everyone. ... We have to kill him." *CHILLS* And speaking of sweet, little, gay Will...

Will is going to be a "primary focus" of Season 5.

Will started this whole thing off in the very first episode of Stranger Things, "The Vanishing of Will Byers." And it's only fitting that we let this boy have his moment after all he's been through (and IMO, kinda being kept on the sidelines for Season 4).

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In an interview with Collider, the Duffer brothers said, "Will's going to be a big part and focus...of Season 5. ... We're starting to see his coming of age, really. Which has been challenging for a number of reasons." Beyond Will continuing to figure out his sexuality, which was a big part of this season, I hope we get to see him doing some badass shit! Like, I want Will to get superpowers! He was in the Upside Down for so long, maybe it's a side effect! Let me dream!

We're going to learn why the Upside Down is a replica of Hawkins on the day Will went missing.

I don't know about you, but ever since Nancy looked at the Upside Down version of her diary and saw that the last entry was November 6, 1983, this question has been taking over my thoughts in such a way that I can barely do anything else! So I am SO HAPPY that we are going to find out why.

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The Duffers talked about all the exciting questions they set up in this new season, saying, "The biggest one being we set up in the Volume 1 finale, how the Upside Down is stuck in time on the day of Will’s disappearance. That’s something we don’t answer in Volume 2, and that is really the key plot point, the key question that is going to drive our final season." KEY PLOT POINT! Give it to me nowwwww!

Eddie is going to play a big part in Season 5.

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It's hard to even write about Eddie's death. Siiiiiiigh. Such a dream of a character, it was so hard to lose him, but I'm glad at least that his spirit will be felt in the final season. (Unless maybe resurrection?? El?? We saw them powers! Where is the body?!) In that same Happy Sad Confused episode, the Duffer brothers said, “Eddie’s death is gonna have HUGE repercussions on Season 5.” Justice for our boy! (Also feel like I need to acknowledge that his death was very effective TV writing, but I'm still sad, ok?)

We're going to learn how the experiments at the Hawkins National Laboratory started.

This has been a huge lingering question, hasn't it? How and why did these experiments on children start? Where did they find these little telekinetic babies? 

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The Duffers explained that this is "...something we will get into in 5. What happened to that program once Henry became involved and how Brenner evolved it into including multiple kids. We’re going to go back and see some of that in Season 5." I love a show that gives us proper answers!

The episode runtimes will be shorter — except for the finale.

Some fans had trouble with the length of the episodes this season (*personally* I wish every episode was five and a half hours long, but that's just me). The show's creators have noted that Season 5 will likely not "be quite as long, both in length and narratively as Season 4 was."

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They did, however, mention that the series finale will likely be over two hours long, which allows me to sleep easy at night. I need as much time with these characters as I can possibly get! And I guess this brings us to our final item on the list:

The finale is going to be EPIC!

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“It’s going to be Return of the King-ish with, like, eight endings,” the Duffers said. And I am HERE FOR THAT! They followed up with, "You can’t end on a cliff hanger anymore. Who’s going to end up with who, you can’t leave something unfinished. We have to tie up all the bows and all the loose ends or as many as we can because it really is the end of this story, and these characters." Ok, I'm already sobbing at the idea of saying goodbye to this show, but knowing they're going to tie everything up gives me peace (at least a little) as I wait for the final installment.

We don't have an official release date for Season 5, but it's expected sometime in 2024. And until then, you can keep rewatching the series until your TV breaks like I am.