The Crawl

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CHAPTER ONEThe Crawl
Season	5
Episode	1
Overall	35
Release date	November 26, 2025
Runtime	1:11:27
Written by	The Duffer Brothers
Directed by	The Duffer Brothers
Episode Guide
Previous	"The Piggyback" (Season 4)
Next	"The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler"

"Chapter One: The Crawl" is the premiere episode of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things and the thirty-fifth episode overall. It premiered on November 26, 2025, being the first episode of the first volume. It was directed by the Duffer Brothers.

Synopsis

November, 1987. The gang evades the military to scour the Upside Down for Vecna - but fails to notice a threat lurking closer to home.

Plot

On November 12, 1983, Will is still stuck in the Upside Down. He is inside of Castle Byers, as he sings “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash to steady himself as a Demogorgon approaches. He fires his gun, runs through the Upside Down, climbs a tree to escape, and then falls. Unconscious, he is taken by the Demogorgon directly to Vecna, who, while infecting him, tells Will their plan can finally begin and that they will do such beautiful things together. In the present on November 3, 1987, the Wheelers and the Byers now live together. The kids listen to the Morning Squawk on WSQK, hosted by Robin and Steve. Robin celebrates her 500th broadcast. Hawkins remains under military quarantine following the Gates opening throughout town. Soldiers outnumber civilians. Residents undergo mandatory health checks, and the authorities describe the event as a natural phenomenon never seen before. Massive steel plates cover the ground cracks. Robin calls them a giant band-aid. Inside [the MAC-Z zone (Military Access Control Zone), known as “Big Mac.” is the open portal to the Upside Down. No one is allowed to enter or leave Hawkins. Robin is also now dating Vickie.

At school, Dustin faces harassment for wearing his Hellfire Club shirt. Andy leads the bullying, but Lucas, Mike, and Will stay at Dustin’s side. Mike believes Dustin is fighting two battles, protecting Eddie’s name and wanting to find Vecna, when Hopper’s rules demand the opposite: stay quiet, blend in, and focus on the next Crawl. Dustin refuses to back down. A missing-person alert circulates for Jane Hopper, last seen in June, 1986. The military searches for her, unaware that Eleven is secretly training with Hopper and Joyce. Eleven pushes herself despite Hopper’s warnings to rest. Nancy manages WSQK. Tension continues among Nancy, Robin, Steve, and Jonathan, especially when Steve and Jonathan slip into competitive behavior around her. Murray still enters Hawkins disguised as a grocery delivery driver. He brings useful supplies: bullets, grenades, Gatorade, peanut butter, and shares intelligence. He reports that the military is preparing a large operation inside the Upside Down. That window gives Hopper time for another Crawl.

Robin uses a coded broadcast, paired with Diana Ross’s “Upside Down,” to alert Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin that a Crawl will happen later that night. The Crawl is the operation Hopper and the others carry out to search the Upside Down one section at a time. It’s their only way to confirm whether Vecna is still alive. Each Crawl targets a new zone reached through the MAC-Z gate, and the group tracks Hopper from the Rightside Up, while he moves through the Upside Down. They’ve completed more than thirty Crawls so far, and each one follows the same pattern: Hopper enters through the burned opening, moves as far as he can into an unexplored area, and searches for any sign of Vecna before returning through the gate. Every Crawl explores a new section of the Upside Down. They’ve completed more than 30, but still have no proof of Vecna’s death. Eleven can’t find him in the bath. Will can’t feel him the way he once did. Some start to wonder if Vecna is already gone. Mike and Nancy refuse the idea. They argue they must keep going until they know for sure he’s truly gone.

At school, Holly speaks to someone only she can see. A teacher notices and notifies Karen. Holly tells Mike that her imaginary friend, Mr. Whatsit, warns her about monsters in Hawkins. Mike reassures her gently and introduces her to Dungeons & Dragons, which has dungeons crawls, to help her feel stronger. Dr. Kay, a government scientist leading the Wolf Pack, oversees experiments on a Demogorgon inside the military’s Upside Down base. Hopper tells Eleven she can join a Crawl only when she completes her training circuit in under 12 minutes and 30 seconds. She hits the mark, but Hopper still refuses to bring her. Soldiers inside the Upside Down remain on the lookout for her, and Hopper won’t risk exposing her until absolutely necessary. Will and Lucas visit Max at the hospital. Lucas plays “Running Up That Hill” for her. Will later sees Robin kissing Vickie after Robin and leaves abruptly. Robin, who got reservations for dinner the following night, realizes he saw them. Dustin cleans Eddie’s old grave, which is often vandalized. This time he finds blood and realizes the snake he put in Andy’s locker in the morning returned dead to Eddie’s grave. Andy and his teammates corner Dustin and beat him, right before the group is supposed to gather at the Squawk for the Crawl. Eleven and Mike talk about their future and imagine leaving Hawkins once Vecna is gone.

With Dustin missing, Steve needs someone to track Hopper from the surface while he drives. Will volunteers, but Joyce refuses. Jonathan goes in his place. Steve and Jonathan monitor Hopper’s movement from the right side up while Joyce coordinates. Mike and Lucas watch MAC-Z, waiting for the gate to open. The burn distracts the guards, the trucks move in, and Hopper enters the Upside Down through the portal. Holly hears her parents arguing about her imaginary friend and retreats to her room. Steve and Jonathan follow Hopper’s signal from the Rightside Up, as he travels deeper into the Upside Down. Inside, Hopper’s truck crashes. At the Squawk, Will collapses, sensing Vecna again. Hopper sees a Demogorgon, gets injured, and falls from the vehicle before escaping into the woods. Will tells the group the creature is heading toward Nancy’s house, which prompts Nancy to rush home. At the Wheeler home, Holly notices the lights shifting and the cracks on her ceiling spreading as a Demogorgon breaks through her room.

Cast

Starring Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers David Harbour as Jim Hopper Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair Noah Schnapp as Will Byers Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers Joe Keery as Steve Harrington Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair (credit only) Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel/Vecna Also Starring Sherman Augustus as Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan Emanuel Borria as Sergeant Luis Ramirez Alex Breaux as Lieutenant Robert Akers Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler Amybeth McNulty as Vickie

Co-Starring Luke Kokotek as Young Will Byers Clayton Royal Johnson as Andy Hunter Romanillos as Chance Tennison Bryan Barry as High School Jock #1 Deric Replogle as High School Jock #2 Calista Craig as Mary Hope Hynes Love as Miss Harris Alyse Elna Lewis as Wendy Eden Stephens as Debbie Miller Olive Abercrombie as Valerie Gianlucca Gazzo as Glenn Kingston James as Benji Liam Montgomery as Roger Jamari Benton as Sledder #5 Jesse Gavin as Military Base Scientist Jada Keche Howard as Teen Girl Ethan Rosero as Teen Boy Ben Vandermey as Lead Soldier Carson Zone as Guard - Quarantine Fence

Music

Soundtrack

• "Rockin' Robin" by Michael Jackson - This song plays while Robin hosts her radio broadcast show.
• "Pretty in Pink" by Psychedelic Furs - .
• "Upside Down" by Diana Ross - Robin plays this song to deliver a coded message to her friends through her radio broadcast.
• "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush - This song plays when Lucas puts a cassette of the song into a radio as he visits a comatose Max at the hospital.

Notes

• The episode title was revealed on November 6, 2022, as part of Stranger Things Day 2022. For Stranger Things Day 2023, the first few lines from the script were revealed by @strangerwriters:

DARKNESS The sound of COLD WIND. GROANING TREES. And… A CHILD'S VOICE. Singing a familiar song: — The very beginning of "The Crawl"

• According to the Duffer Brothers, the script for "The Crawl" was completed in late September of 2022.
• In an interview with Collider, Matt Duffer hinted towards the opening scenes of Season 5:

“

Season 5 is going to start pedal to the metal. We're not going to do the ramp-up. There's no time. There's no normalcy, obviously, once you've reached the end of four. It's not like there's going to be time to explore our characters' love life, and how is Steve’s dating going? There's going to be none of that, it's just going to be going 100 miles an hour from the beginning. We have the opening scene for five mapped out. I don't know if it'll stay like that, but it's pretty wild. It's going to be intense from beginning to end with not so much ramp-up. — Matt Duffer

”

• The French, Portuguese and German versions of the episode title, revealed on November 6, 2024, slightly deviate from the English version. The French and Portuguese versions translate to English as "rescue mission" (Mission de Secours and Missão de resgates) while the German version translates as "the search" (Die Suche).
• The opening of this episode follows on from the final scene of "The Bathtub."
• On August 3, 2025, Ross Duffer posted on Instagram, revealing that the episodes "The Crawl" and "The Vanishing of ...." were complete while providing the following episode description: “ "The Crawl" is our favorite, most eventful first episode since Season 1".
• The episode's title "The Crawl" is a reference to a dungeon crawl, from fantasy role-playing games.
• This is the first episode where Max appears without any dialogue as she became comatose in "The Piggyback".

Gallery

For this subject's gallery, see The Crawl/Gallery.