Don’t worry: episode 2 of Stranger Things 5 opens up right where the premiere leaves off. And with the episode title “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” it doesn’t end up well for poor Holly. The plot moves along in the second episode—some storylines quicker than others—and it ends with the reveal we’ve been expecting. Yes, we find out who Holly’s “imaginary” friend Mr. Whatsit is. And while we had a suspicion of who it would be, the moment we find out is still awesome.
We recapped and reviewed episode 2 live.
Attack at the Wheelers
The Demogorgon is on full attack mode on the Wheelers, and this sequence is really, really fun. With the song “Fernando” by ABBA, the juxtaposition of such an upbeat song with the horrors of the Demo makes for a super entertaining scene that’ll have you bopping your head and on the edge of your seat.
Holly is able to get her mom, and they hide in the bathroom—until, that is, the Demogorgon catches on. They’re then forced to hide underwater in the bubble bath Karen had set up, which buys them some time. Finally, Ted steps in, discovering the Demo and hitting it with a golf club. But while the creature gets injured, it doesn’t stop it. The Demo gets the upper hand and, unfortunately, when Karen and Holly try to leave the house, Karen gets badly wounded.
As the attack is happening, Nancy and Eleven quickly drive to the Wheelers.’ When they get there, they find Karen, injured on the floor, but Holly is gone. Without taking a beat to think out a plan, Eleven goes through the portal to the Upside Down that the Demogorgon created to go and save Holly.
Karen and Ted are rushed to the hospital, while Nancy, Mike, and Lucas wait to hear any news. Nancy feels like it’s their fault for not protecting their parents. Lucas then points out the connection between Holly’s disappearance and Will’s. Could it really be a coincidence that Holly was taken less than three days away from the anniversary of Will’s disappearance? Meanwhile, the military shows up at the Wheeler house to investigate.
Already, it feels like Stranger Things 5 is a bit more mature than earlier seasons. Not just in the violence, but in the characters’ realizations and motivations. Now that their family is being targeted, Nancy and Mike are confronted with the fact that they haven’t protected their parents, or Holly, and that their actions have serious consequences. Of course, it’s not their fault that there are monsters from a supernatural realm attacking the people of Hawkins, but it seems like they’re rethinking some of their, perhaps impulsive, choices.
Fortunately, it seems the characters are getting smarter as they age, which is refreshing.
In the Upside Down, Eleven finds Hopper, and they follow the wounded Demogorgon’s blood, with Eleven thinking it will lead them to Holly. Hopper is frustrated with Eleven for acting on impulse, but Eleven is confident in her plan.
Will’s connection to the Hive Mind
And over at the radio station, Will tells Joyce about his latest vision. As evidenced by what we saw, it’s different this time, he explains to his mom. Not only was he seeing things as a Demogorgon, but he was also thinking through the creature as if he were one of them. Will believes he was never truly severed from the Hive Mind, because even though the feelings went away in California, they came back as soon as they got back to Hawkins.
Robin overhears this conversation and theorizes that Will is acting as some sort of receiver for Vecna, like an antenna. Will agrees with her and thinks that could be how they can find Holly. He’s ready to act on their idea, but Joyce won’t let him put himself in any more danger. I’m really happy to see Joyce and Will share more scenes this season. At this point, we’re very invested in their relationship, and it’s easy to connect with their conversations.
A big part of Stranger Things 5 is, expectedly, the love triangle between Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve. In the premiere, it becomes evident that Jonathan and Steve are competing to impress Nancy, something that seemingly—and understandably—annoys her. In this episode, we see more tension between them when Steve suggests they should visit Nancy’s family in the hospital, while Jonathan is adamant about sticking to their plan. Here, we learn that Ted is in a coma and Karen is in surgery.
While I love all three characters, I’ve kind of gotten bored with the love triangle. Compared to all of the other things going on, it’s difficult to care about this subplot—especially since it’s been an on-and-off thing since the beginning. It might be cheesy for Nancy to choose herself at the end of the show, but it might also be necessary.
The mystery of Mr. Whatsit
Lucas visits Max in the hospital and tells her that the group needs her, and meanwhile, Mike talks to Nancy about Mr. Whatsit. After his conversation with Holly and what’s happened to her, he’s come to the conclusion that Mr. Whatsit might not be imaginary after all. He agrees that they should’ve protected their parents, and he is now determined not to have any other regrets. They need to find out who Mr. Whatsit is. But who else would know besides Holly? Their mom.
But after a failed attempt to convince the doctor to allow them to see their mom, Mike and Nancy have to get creative.
Dustin finally shows up to join Steve and Jonathan in the WSQK van, looking in terrible shape, and Steve catches him up on what he’s missed. Later, Steve and Dustin argue and agree to stop talking.
Eleven and Hopper take a quick break in their journey through the Upside Down when El notices Hopper is wounded, and she cleans him up. Here, Hopper opens up about his daughter Sarah, clearly afraid that he’ll lose Eleven, too.
Robin and Will’s adventure
Robin and Will are able to sneak out of the radio station without Joyce knowing, and they go to the spot in the woods where Will had his vision. There, Robin brings up the awkward moment they had at the hospital, knowing Will saw her kissing Vickie. But before they can talk more about it, they notice rocks on the ground placed in the shape of a spiral. Will remembers one part of his vision, hearing kids laughing and seeing them playing. This leads them to their next location.
Hopper and Eleven then make a discovery: a huge wall in the Upside Down. (What in the Game of Thrones?) They also see one of Holly’s shoes on he ground, and Eleven speculates that this wall somehow took her.
At the hospital, Mike dresses up as a patient in a hospital gown and Nancy as a candy striper, which is all they need to sneak into Karen’s room. She wakes up, but with her injury, she’s unable to talk. She uses a notebook to communicate with her kids, who ask about Mr. Whatsit. She tells them that he wears a hat and a pocket watch…and that his name is—wait for it—Henry.
Of course, Mr. Whatsit is Henry/One/Vecna
We then cut to a scene of Henry—yes, a.k.a. One, a.k.a. Vecna—bringing Holly to the Creel House. Uh oh. The final scene of episode 2 sees Will and Robin going to Holly’s school, seeing kids in the playground. Will believes he was seeing through Vecna in his vision, meaning these schoolkids are in danger.
Man, this show knows how to end on an exciting note. Is it possible to not binge Stranger Things? Anyway, this is another solid episode. My only issue with it is that it gets a little uneven in the middle as the plot is supposed to advance for each of the groups. Some of the subplots, like Steve and Dustin fighting and the love triangle, aren’t as exciting and feel a bit forced. Even Hopper opening up about Sarah seems a bit unnecessary when we’ve heard the same thing before.
But, on the other hand, when this episode is good, it’s really good. The action sequence at the start is great, and the unravelling of the Mr. Whatsit mystery is truly thrilling. It’s enough to get me to keep clicking “next episode.”
Episode Grade: B
Stream the first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 right now on Netflix. The next three episodes drop in less than a month on Christmas Day, with the series finale releasing on New Year’s Eve. Keep up with us at Winter is Coming for our coverage of the final season, including our live recap/reviews!