{"id":155677,"date":"2025-11-27T12:59:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T12:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/155677\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T12:59:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T12:59:12","slug":"elevens-upside-down-journey-and-mr-whatsit-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/155677\/","title":{"rendered":"Eleven’s Upside Down journey and Mr. Whatsit revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t worry: episode 2 of Stranger Things<\/a> 5 opens up right where the premiere<\/a> leaves off. And with the episode title \u201cThe Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,\u201d it doesn\u2019t end up well for poor Holly.\u00a0The plot moves along in the second episode\u2014some storylines quicker than others\u2014and it ends with the reveal we\u2019ve been expecting. Yes, we find out who Holly\u2019s \u201cimaginary\u201d friend Mr. Whatsit is. And while we had a suspicion of who it would be, the moment we find out is still awesome.<\/p>\n

We recapped and reviewed episode 2 live. <\/p>\n

Attack at the Wheelers\"Nell<\/p>\n

Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler in Stranger Things 5 | Netflix<\/p>\n

The Demogorgon is on full attack mode on the Wheelers, and this sequence is really, really fun. With the song \u201cFernando\u201d by ABBA, the juxtaposition of such an upbeat song with the horrors of the Demo makes for a super entertaining scene that\u2019ll have you bopping your head and on the edge of your seat.<\/p>\n

Holly is able to get her mom, and they hide in the bathroom\u2014until, that is, the Demogorgon catches on. They\u2019re 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\u2019t stop it. The Demo gets the upper hand and, unfortunately, when Karen and Holly try to leave the house, Karen gets badly wounded.<\/p>\n

As the attack is happening, Nancy and Eleven quickly drive to the Wheelers.\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Karen and Ted are rushed to the hospital, while Nancy, Mike, and Lucas wait to hear any news. Nancy feels like it\u2019s their fault for not protecting their parents. Lucas then points out the connection between Holly\u2019s disappearance and Will\u2019s. Could it really be a coincidence that Holly was taken less than three days away from the anniversary of Will\u2019s disappearance? Meanwhile, the military shows up at the Wheeler house to investigate.<\/p>\n

Already, it feels like Stranger Things 5 is a bit more mature than earlier seasons. Not just in the violence, but in the characters\u2019 realizations and motivations. Now that their family is being targeted, Nancy and Mike are confronted with the fact that they haven\u2019t protected their parents, or Holly, and that their actions have serious consequences. Of course, it\u2019s not their fault that there are monsters from a supernatural realm attacking the people of Hawkins, but it seems like they\u2019re rethinking some of their, perhaps impulsive, choices.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, it seems the characters are getting smarter as they age, which is refreshing.<\/p>\n

In the Upside Down, Eleven finds Hopper, and they follow the wounded Demogorgon\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Will\u2019s connection to the Hive Mind\"Winona<\/p>\n

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers and Noah Schnapp as Will Byers in Stranger Things: Season 5. | Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/p>\n

And over at the radio station, Will tells Joyce about his latest vision. As evidenced by what we saw, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s ready to act on their idea, but Joyce won\u2019t let him put himself in any more danger. I\u2019m really happy to see Joyce and Will share more scenes this season. At this point, we\u2019re very invested in their relationship, and it\u2019s easy to connect with their conversations.<\/p>\n

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\u2014and understandably\u2014annoys her. In this episode, we see more tension between them when Steve suggests they should visit Nancy\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

While I love all three characters, I\u2019ve kind of gotten bored with the love triangle. Compared to all of the other things going on, it\u2019s difficult to care about this subplot\u2014especially since it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Keery as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things: Season 5. | Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/p>\n

The mystery of Mr. Whatsit<\/p>\n

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\u2019s happened to her, he\u2019s come to the conclusion that Mr. Whatsit might not be imaginary after all. He agrees that they should\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

But after a failed attempt to convince the doctor to allow them to see their mom, Mike and Nancy have to get creative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s missed. Later, Steve and Dustin argue and agree to stop talking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019ll lose Eleven, too.<\/p>\n

Robin and Will\u2019s adventure\"Noah<\/p>\n

Noah Schnapp and Maya Hawke in Stranger Things season 5. | Courtesy of Netflix \u00a9 2025 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Hopper and Eleven then make a discovery: a huge wall in the Upside Down. (What in the Game of Thrones<\/a>?) They also see one of Holly\u2019s shoes on he ground, and Eleven speculates that this wall somehow took her.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s room. She wakes up, but with her injury, she\u2019s 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\u2026and that his name is\u2014wait for it\u2014Henry.<\/p>\n

Of course, Mr. Whatsit is Henry\/One\/Vecna<\/p>\n

We then cut to a scene of Henry\u2014yes, a.k.a. One, a.k.a. Vecna\u2014bringing Holly to the Creel House. Uh oh. The final scene of episode 2 sees Will and Robin going to Holly\u2019s school, seeing kids in the playground. Will believes he was seeing through Vecna in his vision, meaning these schoolkids are in danger.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t as exciting and feel a bit forced. Even Hopper opening up about Sarah seems a bit unnecessary when we\u2019ve heard the same thing before.<\/p>\n

But, on the other hand, when this episode is good, it\u2019s really good. The action sequence at the start is great, and the unravelling of the Mr. Whatsit mystery is truly thrilling. It\u2019s enough to get me to keep clicking \u201cnext episode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Episode Grade: B<\/p>\n

Stream the first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 right now on Netflix<\/a>. The next three episodes drop in less than a month on Christmas Day, with the series finale releasing on New Year\u2019s Eve. Keep up with us at Winter is Coming for our coverage of the final season, including our live recap\/reviews<\/a>! <\/p>\n

More Stranger Things:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t worry: episode 2 of Stranger Things 5 opens up right where the premiere leaves off. And with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-155677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}