The 10 Best Moments in Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1

We may have some sorcery in here.

With the release of Stranger Things 5 volume one, we have plenty of rankings to follow it up. The first is going to be my favorite moments. This was a tough one, because these first four episodes were chock-full of incredible, iconic moments. Some of the biggest reveals we've gotten in the show take place in the first half of this season. We also get some amazing character interactions that I had to include on the list. I just loved so much about this season right off the bat, so here are my top ten favorite moments from volume one.

10. Mike Gives Holly Her D&D Character

Chapter One: The Crawl

Season five has seen the reemergence of the Mike Wheeler that everyone knows and loves from season one. Mike has had an angsty, unlikable stretch since then, but this season automatically reintroduces him as the loyal "heart" of the party. We see him interact with his little sister for what may be the first time in the show, and he does a great job of cheering her up. She's clearly struggling with the visions of Mr. Whatsit, so Mike gives her a D&D character that he created for her: Holly the Heroic. He tells her that Holly the Heroic will help her whenever she feels lost or scared. Holly later puts the mini-figure on a necklace and wears it for the rest of the season.

I love seeing this version of Mike back. It felt like he had lost what made him such a great character in the past, so seeing him be a good older brother felt refreshing. It felt like we were being reintroduced to an old friend who we hadn't seen in a while, and that was really nice. Beyond that, Nell Fisher and Finn Wolfhard are just really good in this scene. Wolfhard gives Mike his typical nerdiness, but you can see that he really cares about his baby sis. Fisher does a great job showing that she really is appreciative of this gift and automatically feels better. This is the type of scene that Stranger Things has always been great at: sweet, touching interactions that really hammer home how much you love these characters.

9. Joyce is Protective of Will

Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap

This was actually the first clip we ever saw from Stranger Things 5. The date announcement teaser opened with this shot of Joyce saying "I think about that night all the time. The night it took you." This line opens up a long conversation wherein Joyce explains why she is so protective of Will. You see Winona Ryder really let her son in on some strong vulnerability, and its very powerful. A lot of stuff happens in Stranger Things. It's a very chaotic show. In that chaos, it's easy to overlook character elements like this. It makes total sense that Joyce would feel so guilty about Will being kidnapped. You never really think about the fact that she didn't notice Will was missing until the morning, but when she points that out, you immediately understand this wracking, gnawing guilt that she must have for letting this happen to her son.

Beyond that, it really reaffirms both Joyce and Will's character arcs. Joyce's arc feels like a normal parent arc of having to let your kid go on their own eventually, but the way they do it and the context in which this conversation happens just makes it hit harder. Will, on the other hand, is learning how to accept his own identity, and breaking free of Joyce's protectiveness is a part of that. Their reconciliation and acceptance of the other's opinions and feelings just shows how well the Duffers write relationships. And this mother-son one is just so poignant.

8. Rockin' Robin Announces the Crawl

Chapter One: The Crawl

The introductory episode does a great job of really showing us the group finally being interconnected in Hawkins for the first time in what feels like forever. The pinnacle of this is when Robin announces to the group that they will be performing a crawl through a secret code that she broadcasts from the WSQK radio station. Backed by Diana Ross's Upside Down (yay, Motown!), Robin proceeds to secretly give coordinates and information to the group about the night's crawl. I love how everyone is tuning in and listening. It makes the group feel like some sort of secret spy network working undercover to get into the Upside Down and take out Vecna while avoiding the suspicions of the military.

7. The Turnbow Trap

Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap

The final sequence before the final reveal of episode three is a doozy. After Erica drugs the entire Turnbow family and they are taken to the McCorkle farm, the rest of the group quickly breaks into their house and begins to set up a bunch of Home Alone-style booby traps for the Demogorgon. I love the montage of them setting it all up, because it really does a good job of planting this Rube Goldberg-esc trap that they are setting so that it is extremely satisfying when we get it in action. Also, if you hand Steve Harrington a chainsaw, I am going to love that. That is automatically awesome.

Once you get into the actual action sequence, it is just as incredible. Frank Darabont of The Shawshank Redemption famously came out of retirement to direct this episode, and this is where he really flexes his skill with a camera. Smooth camera movements through this house and exciting, interesting action highlight an incredible sequence that feels like a truly incredible combination of Home Alone and Stranger Things. It ends with Nancy shooting a telemetry tracker into the Demogorgon and it flipping into the Upside Down while Dustin and Steve attempt to follow it in the car. What an action sequence. And what a way to cap off this episode.

6. Max's Near Escape

Chapter Four: Sorcerer

After she was reintroduced in episode three, Max Mayfield decides to tell us (through telling Holly) what happened to her after she was killed by Vecna. We see that she is stuck in Vecna's memories, and it is just heartbreaking to watch. Sadie Sink delivers an absolutely stunning performance, as always. I love the visual confusion and panic as she runs through this mind maze, having no idea where to go and no plan to escape.

What makes it even worse is when she does eventually find her way out. She re-enters Vecna's mind lair and sees a portal open with Lucas sitting at her hospital bedside. Running Up That Hill is playing and allowing this portal to be active. When she says she got so close that she could feel his hand on hers, a part of my soul just broke. She gets so close before the cassette tape stops playing and the portal closes. Ugh. This is truly some of the saddest stuff we get in volume one. Whenever Max does hopefully wake up, that is just going to make the tears flow.

5. Max Finds Holly

Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap

The final battle of The Turnbow Trap is awesome, but the best moment in that episode comes in it's actual final scene. Earlier in the episode, Holly had received a mysterious letter from someone who claimed to be Henry. The letter told her to go through the woods and meet at the X, which was by some sort of rock cave. The ultimate payoff to this mysterious meet up was, of course, Max, who returns in all her messy-haired, ragged adventurer glory.

As soon as Holly got the letter, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was Max. I had honestly expected Holly to run into Max during her time in what we now know to be Camazotz, and it was just as satisfying as I expected when they ran into each other. Even if I did predict it, it was still so much fun to see one of my personal favorite characters on the show make her return.

4. The Final Battle of Volume One

Chapter Four: Sorcerer

I know it's not the "final" final battle, but I had no idea what else to call this, because it feels just as big as any epic ending fight scene. This is, for my money, the best action sequence in all of Stranger Things. We start off with the group being captured by the military, their plan foiled and everyone now being split up. Robin has taken some of the kids into a truck with Murray. Lucas is helping some of them escape through the tunnels. And Mike, Will, and Joyce were all discovered by the military. And then the Demogorgons show up.

What ensues is an absolutely insane fifteen minutes of glorious carnage and epic action. The visuals in this show have come so far since the shadowy Demogorgon of season one. Now, we have epic fight sequences with multiple Demogorgons chomping and slashing soldiers all over the place. The highlight of this sequence is an absolutely stunning long take that puts you right in the middle of the action. We follow Mike as he tries to guide the kids he's protecting through the carnage, and it is one insane freakin' shot.

The final incredible capper to this incredible final battle is Vecna's first true appearance in season five. Yes, we've seen him as Mr. Whatsit and in his Henry Creel form or in flashbacks, but this is a newer, more terrifying version of the character that just wipes the floor with the military. He now has Groot-like powers which he uses to stab a soldier through the face with. The Duffers have said that they took inspiration from the iconic Darth Vader hallway sequence from Rogue One here, and that makes sense, because Vecna just goes ham on the military, and it is so much fun to watch.

3. Robin's Speech to Will

Chapter Four: Sorcerer

Robin and Will are one of my absolute favorite parts of this season thus far. I have always loved Robin, and her character really brings out the best in Will, because she starts to recognize that he may have feelings for Mike. You can tell that these two trust each other, and that really pays off when Robin dumps this absolutely fantastic speech on Will. Maya Hawke kills it here, with a cathartic, resonant delivery of this incredible monologue about accepting yourself for who you are. The feeling of not belonging or not accepting yourself is such a universal experience, and the way Robin describes her overcoming of that is just beautiful. What makes this speech even better is the way in which it is used as a catalyst for a moment that will come later in this list.

2. The Demogorgon Takes Holly

Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler

For months, all of us speculated that the unrevealed person who vanishes in episode two would be Holly Wheeler. And all of us were correct. But the Duffers did not disappoint, giving us a thrilling ten-minute cold open to The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler that shows a vicious, terrifying Demogorgon attack in full. I love that it moves seamlessly from the cliffhanger of The Crawl to the insane cold open of this episode. Holly, who has been doubted by her parents because of her seeming hallucinations of Mr. Whatsit, begs her mother to believe her that there is a monster trying to attack her. Karen does not believe her until she sees that Holly's head is bleeding.

From there, we get an edge-of-your-seat masterclass in building and releasing tension. Ted Wheeler notices something strange going on in his house and tries to protect his family, but stands absolutely zero chance against the Demogorgon and is slashed across the chest. After this, Karen and Holly make a mad dash for the door, but Karen slips, allowing the Demogorgon to block them from the exit. Cara Buono harnesses her inner mama bear and protects Holly with all her might, but there's only so much a wine bottle can do against a monster with the power of the Upside Down behind it. The creature mauls the crap out of Karen before taking Holly and adding a personal layer to the already massive stakes. Wow. What a way to immediately kick season five into high gear.

1. Will Unlocks His Powers

Chapter Four: Sorcerer

The moment that everyone is talking about from Stranger Things 5 comes at the end of the fourth episode, and it is glorious. You know, nothing is ever going to top the perfection that the Running Up That Hill sequence in Dear Billy is...but, man oh man, does this come close. Since the very first episode, Will Byers has been a victim. He had a verbally abusive father who left them when he was a child. Joyce, although a good person and a great mother, was just not always able to provide for them after Lonnie left. All of these difficulties were before he was kidnapped by a monster from an alternate dimension. When he came back, he was changed. Not only was he bullied for being the "zombie boy", but he was once again possessed by a creature from the Upside Down. After that, he has struggled with his identity and self-loathing. Season three sees him not being able to grow up because his childhood was stolen from him. Season four sees him start to struggle with his sexuality and, as he puts it, feeling like a mistake.

And, in this season, we see him start to come into his own. Little by little, Will starts to gain his confidence. He starts to stand up to Joyce. His friendship with Robin encourages him to fight back a little more. And, of course, her speech about accepting her identity leads into this incredible flashback where we see the most important moments of Will's life that have previously been described to us in this Super 8 montage. After being taunted by Vecna for being weak, Will is tossed to the ground while the Demogorgons all leap at his friends to strike killing blows. And Will Byers accepts his identity and uses his connection to the hive mind to harness his previously undiscovered superpowers. He then raises the Demogorgons up in the air and kills them by twisting up their limbs in the same way as Vecna.

The themes that tie into this character are universally understood by everyone. Accepting your own identity is one of the most important keys to leading a happy life. Will, who has been beaten down by constant trauma and bullying and things not going his way, finally is able to accept himself for who he really is and gets one of the most badass moments I have ever seen in a show as a reward. This is how you cap off the first volume of your epic final season. This sequence, this moment, this episode, this season, this show...it's all just perfect.