S5E1
Chapter One: The Crawl
⚠ Spoiler alert This recap gives away what happens in this episode.
Episode Summary & Review
Summary
November, 1987. The gang evades the military to scour the Upside Down for Vecna, but fails to notice a threat lurking closer to home.
Our Take
A slow burn opener that spends most of its runtime reassembling the gang and reestablishing the stakes, which is fine if you like catching up with these characters but frustrating if you wanted momentum. The Upside Down sequences look great and there’s a genuinely unsettling final stretch that hints at where the season is headed. Worth it for fans, just don’t expect the fireworks yet.