Biggest Questions Going Into Volume 2 Of ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5

Following the action-packed opening sequence of Episode 2 in Volume 1, “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” viewers may have rushed to connect the dots between Holly’s kidnapping and how she ended up in the reconstructed Creel mansion with Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower). We know the Demogorgon for sure took her because Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) risked her life to defend Holly from the monster that finally invaded the Wheeler house. We’re just not exactly sure her state of consciousness and how or why she goes along with suddenly living in Henry’s house, especially when Will has his vision of her connected to a spire with a tube he knows all too well suctioned to her mouth.

Could Henry be keeping the kids inside that fleshy wall that surrounds the Upside Down or the Hawkins Lab in the Rightside Up? Only time will tell. When prompted, Matt Duffer teased to “click on it and find out.”

“We wanted to bring [the show] full circle. A lot of things are echoing what happened in Season 1. So that’s another reason with Holly, some things are playing on repeat on purpose,” Matt said. “. In some ways, this season was always built as a true follow up to Season 1.”

Speaking of that mysterious wall, which contains the familiar Upside Down vines as well as the gross bulging sacs of mysterious substance that Vecna injected into Will in the first five minutes, what is it, exactly? And what is the significance of its two surroundings?

RELATED: ‘Stranger Things 5’: Duffer Brothers Reveal When They Began Connecting Will’s Disappearance To A “Sentient Being” As Noah Schnapp Reacts To Opening Sequence

As Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven pointed out Lt. Robert Akers (Alex Breaux) peed on this wall. Dr. Kay can also be spotted dissecting a mysterious sac, or lump, which looks to bleed some sort of fluid. Could she know what the wall is or what it’s protecting or hiding? Steve, Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan also tracked a Demogorgon to the wall in Episode 4, as Eleven and Hopper did in Episode 3 after the wounded one left a trail of its blood when it took Holly.

The Duffer brothers have teased that this final season will answer more questions about The Upside Down, but with the newly introduced information gleaned from the first four episodes, this question is still at the forefront of many a mind, especially given the Holly and Max layers of it all not to mention Eleven herself.

Henry’s gift of a Sidestep radio and a cassette tape for “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany to Holly isn’t the first time he’s manipulated music, but it marks a much more significant way that he does it. In the Season 4 finale “The Piggyback,” this ability was evident when Eleven ventured into Max’s mind via Vecna’s invasive ability and watched as Max’s selected Vecna-proof memory of the Snow Ball from Season 2 when “Every Breath You Take” played slowly rotted with bloody balloons and molding decorations. At some point in the memory, the song changed to Ella Fitzgerald’s “Dream A Little Dream Of Me.” This had to be Vecna’s doing or the greater Hive Mind, whatever that means.

It is worth noting that, in Season 2, when this scene originally occurred, the Mind Flayer was shown hovering over Hawkins Middle School, literally watching every move the kids were making. So maybe the Mind Flayer has some influence here too. Does this also mean that music can no longer provide an escape from Vecna? It almost still worked for Max to get out of Henry’s memories, but this seemed to be without Vecna’s attention fully on her.

As viewers will recall, the comatose Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) is in her condition seemingly because Eleven decided to reverse her death and somehow bring her back to life. Doctors at Hawkins General Hospital aren’t sure if Max will ever wake up from her coma, but as discovered by Holly at the very end of Episode 3, “The Turnbow Trap,” Max is alive. She is stuck in the same realm Holly has been transported to, only she has found shelter in some mysterious rocks that seem a lot like the Nevadan caves from The First Shadow, where Henry won’t venture despite the major frustration that Max lingers in his memories.

Could Henry refuse to go into the caves because they remind him of the too painful moment where he gained his gruesome powers in the play? And if Max can walk through his memories, can she somehow tamper with them?

Jamie Campbell Bower told Deadline that Max is absolutely a “catalyst” for a certain event later on in the story when he was asked about how aggravating it must be for Vecna to have her hovering on his mental periphery.

As a reminder, Eleven originally sent Henry to Dimension X, which is where he gained his powers in the first place. So does this mean she sent Max there as well?

The final moments of Episode 4, titled “Sorcerer” show Will coming into his own and harnessing his connection — a blessing and a curse — to Vecna and the Hive Mind to save his friends from some Demogorgons. The sequence of him controlling the creatures and breaking their bodies in a way similar to the graphic way Vecna breaks his victims bones begs the question of how similar their powers might be. Or how different. Brown, in an interview with Deadline, emphasized that Eleven and Will’s powers are very different.

“They’re just two completely separate abilities. Eleven can go into people’s minds and obviously move things and fly, and she’s also more used to her abilities because she’s had them, but, it’s so useful this season, seeing what Will’s able to do,” she said.

Noah Schnapp also told Deadline that Will’s abilities show in a different way later on in the series, specifically in Volume II.

Knowing what we know about Will’s feelings for Mike and combining that with his epic moment at the end of Episode 4 as well as Mike’s encouragement that led to this moment, what will come of Will’s feelings for his best friend? Does Mike have any idea? Robin noticed Will’s flirty little shove of Mike before they went into the tunnels to rescue the kids Vecna was targeting.

Mike has commented before on Will not liking girls, but with the realization that he could be the object of Will’s affection, how would Mike take the confession and furthermore respond to it?

Following its Season 3 dominance, The Mind Flayer has been largely absent from any mention or The Upside Down itself. Season 4 showed Henry molding the Mind Flayer from its particle dust into more of a spider-like shape in what looked to be Dimension X. Thus, it seemed Vecna asserted his dominance over the creature, but many are still wondering whether it’s the Mind Flayer controlling him.

Those well-versed in the world of Dungeons & Dragons certainly have their theories about how Season 5 could end with numerology and key figures not yet addressed in the show, such as Kas the Bloody-Handed and the Thessalhydra. Many theories around Eddie Munsion (Joseph Quinn) somehow coming back as Kas, who is a vampire, have taken flight, and many are also speculating that the Thessalhydra may make an appearance as a big bad in Season 5 because it was introduced in Season 1 AND Will painted the creature in Season 4.

Meanwhile, Holly’s love of A Wrinkle in Time has introduced a new lens through which to examine the supernatural goings-on. Episode 6 of Season 5, titled “Escape from Camazotz” and directed by Shawn Levy, is bound to explain more about the place Max and Holly have found themselves in, which Holly compares to the planet Camazotz from Madeline L’Engle’s best-seller. In the book, Camazotz is a dark planet where no light shines that serves as home to the disembodied IT, an evil force that wants to impose its darkness upon all. Sound familiar? Solid connection to Vecna wanting to create “his world” for everyone to live in.

Thanks to Murray’s not so subtle hints and a cassette tape hiding an engagement ring, viewers learn that Jonathan is hoping to propose to Nancy, although this doesn’t occur in Volume I. We can’t help but worry with the way things are escalating as of Episode 4, will the opportunity even present itself for Jonathan to achieve this?

And what would Nancy say? She had a noticeable reaction to being in close proximity to Steve in the first episode of Volume 1, and both Robin (Maya Hawke) and the late Eddie Munson noticed that there were still sparks between Nancy and Steve (Joe Keery).

Does Nancy still need closure with Steve? He made it pretty clear in Season 4 that he still has feelings for her when he told her about his dream to have a bunch of kids and vacation in the summers. She didn’t get a chance to respond when he told her that she was a part of his vision because he told her in The Upside Down. Steve’s competition with Jonathan for Nancy’s attention adds to the hunch that he may still be trying to win her back at Eddie’s advice from last season. Deny as he might when Jonathan confronts him about it, the spark has not died.

As revealed by the Duffer brothers, Linda Hamilton’s Dr. Kay serves as a replacement for Matthew Modine’s Dr. Brenner, the head scientist who is one of the main reasons Hawkins is in this mess. She blames Eleven for the whole thing, even the kidnapping of the kids, and she seems fascinated by what Eleven can do. This begs the question, if Kay sees Eleven as a weapon and wants to harness her abilities, what could she possibly want to do with them?

Following the big reunion between long-lost sisters, an explanation for the satellite technology, or “kryptonite” as Hopper (David Harbour) describes it, that hinders Eleven’s powers is in order. It seems that Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) somehow fuels the machines unwillingly. Of course many will also be wondering how Kali can help Eleven now that she has returned to the show. The Duffer brothers teased that bringing her back is a “big swing” they are excited for.

Day one viewers of the show know that Will Byers went missing on Nov. 6, 1983. This date transcended the show and became Stranger Things Day. Holly’s kidnapping occurred Nov. 3, 1987, but as Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) pointed out, this doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Eagle-eyed watchers may have noticed as well that the opening night of Joyce’s Oklahoma production in which Henry Creel starred, was also November 6, 1959. The Duffer brothers told Deadline that in addressing questions about The Upside Down, they will address the time freeze aspect.