‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Part 1 Review: A singularly superb cast uplifts this show out of the CGI hellscape of the Upside Down yet again

Nine years ago, a little show called Stranger Things debuted on Netflix and captured the attention of the world with its winsome ’80s nostalgia, grounded action, and charming cast of mostly fresh-faced newcomers. Since then, Stranger Things has evolved, almost Pokémon-style, into a souped-up pop culture juggernaut that’s poised to dominate the zeitgeist with its fifth and final season.

Stranger Thing Season 5 Part 1— streaming now — is full of gaudy special effects, nonsensical lore, and insane plot devices, and yet you will still somehow fall under the show’s spell. That’s because it was never the spectacle or super-sized episode run times that won audiences over. No, the best part of Stranger Things is still, as it’s always been, the sheer humanity of its characters and the incandescent talent of its young cast.

**Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5, now streaming on Netflix**

Stranger Things Season 5 picks up a good year and a half after the cataclysmic events of Season 4. Hawkins is now under military quarantine, meaning the residents have to go about their everyday lives cut off from the rest of the world by barbed wire and gun-toting soldiers. Robin (Maya Hawke) and Steve (Joe Keery) now man the local radio station, which doubles as our heroes’ home base. Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) have been training Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in secret to be a literal superhero, capable of not just harnessing her psychic ability, but outrunning any danger. Max (Sadie Sink) is still in a coma and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) is still holding vigil by her bed. Grief has transformed the once innocent Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) into a hardened copy of his fallen idol Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), while the rest of the group — including Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) — is dedicated to finding and finally defeating Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), who is still lurking somewhere in the Upside Down.

Because the military has taken over Hawkins, our heroes have been forced to work in secret to accomplish their goals. The cute kiddos and relatable teens of seasons past have all grown into super soldiers, capable of deeds of derring do that might even leave James Bond flustered. They spend their days deciphering codes and smuggling gear so Hopper can go on “crawls” in the Upside Down to try to hunt Vecna. Stranger Things Season 5 kicks into high gear when one of these crawls goes terribly awry in tandem with the kidnapping of Mike and Nancy’s kid sister Holly (Nell Fisher).

If this all sounds like a far cry from the rather quaint, nostalgia-core show Stranger Things started out as, that’s because it is. Stranger Things creators Ross and Matt Duffer have now fully embraced the torpid maximalism of their long-time partner Shawn Levy (director of Deadpool & Wolverine, The Adam Project, Free Guy, and other visually-busy films). The irony is Stranger Things 5’s biggest faults are tied to this bloated scale. The Upside Down is no longer a liminal space pushing in through the walls, but a vast, murky landscape you can just drive your car through. The season’s biggest action sequences look like they’re set in overstuffed Hieronymous Bosch nightmare-scapes. And yet, Stranger Things Season 5 works because of the humanity still underpinning its increasingly absurd story.

You might not understand the logistics of the crawls or the new rules of Vecna’s hive mind, but you will be dazzled by the evolution of the show’s characters. The best moments in the new season are scenes where the original core group of kids get to put their newfound maturity on display. Eleven has finally assumed the mantle of a warrior, fearlessly hurling herself into battle and tenderly opening up to the people she loves. Mike is now a self-assured leader, physically shielding children from monsters and gifting his sister her own D&D character, “Holly the Heroic,” to lift her spirits. Lucas is the chivalric knight of the group, sage and capable in battle and steadfastly devoted to his sleeping beauty, Max. Will not only begins to better understand his own latent powers, but his sexuality through a newfound connection with Robin (sorry, Byler shippers). But it’s Gaten Matarazzo’s Dustin, who is now at heartbreaking odds with former mentor Steve, who gets to display the most turmoil, pain, and pathos.

These were the moments that touched my heart and that prove that Stranger Things casting director Carmen Cuba pulled off a miracle when she cast the once pint-sized Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo as series leads over ten years ago. All five of them have evolved into real stars, growing in talent in tandem with their characters’ epic journeys.

Stranger Things Season 5 also benefits from a few newcomers bringing some refreshing jolts of energy. Nell Fisher plays the new, “older,” version of Holly Wheeler. Now that she’s longer a toddler attached to Karen Wheeler’s (Cara Buono) hip, Holly gets to be part of the action. Fisher recaptures the wonder that defined the show’s early seasons through her wide eyes and innocence. Meanwhile, Frank Darabont (director of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist, and more tender, creepy films) hops into the director’s chair for Episode 3, delivering the show’s most crisply-lit, gorgeously-blocked shots of the entire final season so far. (It’s not all CGI slop!)

Netflix might be betting big that you’ll tune into Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 out of fear of missing out on the biggest pop culture spectacle in streaming history, but what makes the show worth watching is its tender emotional core. The best parts of Stranger Things have never been the monsters or the magic, but the small personal moments loaded with deep emotional realism. There’s more wonder in these quiet exchanges than in any of the CGI-laden fight sequences.

So, yes, when Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 ends on a character finally embracing who they are, who they’ve always been since the show began, I cheered. I cheered for the epic emotional journey Stranger Things‘s characters have been on and you will, too.

Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.