Stranger Things is a sci-fi horror series set in the 1980s in Hawkins, Indiana. It follows a group of kids as they face supernatural mysteries, secret government experiments, and dangerous creatures from an alternate universe known as the Upside Down. The main character, Eleven, is a girl who escaped a government testing lab that gave her psychic power. She utilizes her abilities to assist her friends and attempts to save Hawkins as strange and dangerous events unfold in their town.
On November 26, Stranger Things season five premiered, releasing the first four episodes of the new season. The end of episode four left fans shocked, which sparked many questions, theories, and a lot of speculation about what comes next on December 25, when the next three episodes are released.
“I think that Henry doesn’t want to be a bad guy, and he’s trying to go back in time,” Sophomore Chloe Weston said. “He’s taking the twelve kids and building a time machine to go back in time to the night before Will went missing, and then it’s going to end with the four boys playing D&D [Dungeons and Dragons].”
Sophomore Jiya Asher has a different theory.
“I think the Mind Flayer controls Vecna. He doesn’t actually want to be evil,” Asher said.
“I think Will’s dad is Vecna. And another one of my predictions, Vecna is misunderstood, and deep down he’s trying to get people to defeat the Mind Flayer,” sophomore Lizzy Bennett said.
Not all predictions were so hopeful, as some students anticipated a darker turn for the rest of the series.
“I think everyone is gonna die,” sophomore Eva Bulakowski predicted.
“I think that Will is going to turn into Vecna,” sophomore Mackenzie O’Connell speculated.
EHS science teacher Mr. Varga hasn’t watched season five yet, but he still has his own theory.
“We’re gonna have more character deaths because they killed so many in season four, which proves they can do it again,” Varga said. “I wonder if Eleven’s going to die. There will be many deaths. Steve’s death would be a really nice character arc. All these ‘almost’ deaths lose impact the more that they happen, so I think they will have to kill some people to make an impact. I wonder if Will is also going to die. He hasn’t really mattered since the first season.”
“Since Will is connected to the upside down, Eleven is gonna have to kill him to destroy the upside down,” junior Hallie Corneau said.
Freshman Kelsie O’Connell examined the story for hidden clues that might explain some characters’ motives.
“I think that when Max found the paper for the show at the school in his memory, something happened that night at the show that made Henry angry because all the adults who were being targeted went to school with Henry and did something to him to make him angry,” O’Connell said.
“Also, on the paper for the show, the background is the same cave that Max is staying in, with a big hole in the side. So I think that whatever the adults did at the high school play that Henry was in made him target them and their kids.”
With theories ranging from optimistic endings and dramatic plot twists, fans are invested in seeing how the rest of the season will unfold.
Tune in on Netflix at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Christmas Day to see which predictions come true and what surprises await.
