Nancy with a shotgun in Stranger Things season 5 part 1
By
Adrienne Tyler
Published 25 minutes ago
Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.
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Warning: spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, part 1.
The first part of Stranger Things season 5 has arrived, and in it, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) makes a great point about her family. After four successful seasons and many unsolved mysteries waiting for an answer, Stranger Things is ending with its fifth season, which has been divided into three parts.
Season 5 of Stranger Things is set a year after the ending of season 4, and sees Hawkins under quarantine by the military, with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the rest working together to put together the best plan to find and destroy Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). However, it all takes an unexpected turn when Vecna goes after the Wheelers.
In one of the most shocking moments in Stranger Things season 5 so far, the Demogorgon attacked Ted (Joe Chrest) and Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) to kidnap Holly (Nell Fisher), Nancy and Mike’s (Finn Wolfhard) youngest sister – and Nancy made a great point about her family after this traumatic event.
Nancy & Mike Should Have Made Their Family Leave Hawkins
Holly and Karen in Stranger Things season 5©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Although Ted confronts the Demogorgon and Karen fights the monster to try and save Holly, the Demogorgon ends up critically injuring both and taking Holly into the Upside Down. Although the Hawkins crew, thanks to Will’s link to Vecna, learn that the latter was going after the Wheelers, Nancy and Eleven get to the former’s house too late.
Nancy finds her mother bleeding out on the floor, and at the hospital, Ted is put into a coma while Karen undergoes surgery to save her life. While in the hospital’s waiting room, Nancy, Mike, and Lucas try to make sense of what just happened to Ted, Karen, and Holly, and Nancy says it’s their fault, but not for arriving late to the house.
Nancy says they should have told their parents what was happening, no matter how hard it would have been to believe, and they could have done something to make them leave Hawkins and move to a safer place. Vecna’s attack isn’t anyone’s fault but Vecna’s, but Nancy does make a great point.
One of the biggest questions regarding Stranger Things is why the adults of Hawkins (except Joyce, Hopper, and Murray) don’t do anything or even react to the horrors happening across town. Even more alarming is that the parents of all the kids and teens in the crew don’t seem to care what their kids are doing, despite knowing Hawkins has become unsafe.
Perhaps Ted and Karen wouldn’t have believed Nancy and Mike at first, but they had enough proof to probably convince them to leave Hawkins. Unfortunately, Ted and Karen were some of those completely oblivious parents, but they didn’t deserve what happened to them.
How Vecna Warned Nancy What Would Happen To Holly & Her Parents
Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler in Stranger Things season 4
To add to Nancy’s guilt and quest for revenge against Vecna is the fact that Vecna warned her about what he would do to her family. In Stranger Things season 4, Vecna got into Nancy’s mind, where she saw bits of his backstory, but he also tortured her with horrifying visions, such as Hawkins being on fire and with dark clouds over it.
Vecna also showed Nancy her whole family dead, which further motivated her to try and kill him in season 4. This vision now feels like a warning, and even though her parents are still alive, their future is unknown, and Vecna could still come after them.
In just four episodes, Stranger Things has made Vecna a lot more powerful and terrifying, and though the attack on the Wheelers was horrifying, Nancy is now determined to not just find her sister but kill Vecna.
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Stranger Things
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
7 Images
Eleven looking into an opening of the Upside Down with pink light in Stranger Things season 1
Jim Hopper (David Harbour) grabbing Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) shoulders in Stranger Things season 1©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Eleven with cables all over her head in Stranger Things season 4
Vecna looking towards Will in the trailer for Stranger Things season 5 (2025)
Max and Eleven in Stranger ThingsNetflix
Stranger Things season 2, episode 2 "Trick or Treat, Freak".MovieStillsDB
The Upside Down in Stranger Things season 5Courtesy of Netflix Close
Cast
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Millie Bobby Brown
Jane 'Eleven' Hopper
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Finn Wolfhard
Mike Wheeler
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