Warning: This article contains spoilers for Volume 1 of Stranger Things season five, and spoilers for the stage play The First Shadow.
It’s been a few week since the first part of Stranger Things 5 dropped on Netflix, and now fans are desperately searching for any hints as to what we might expect from the next batch of episodes – Volume 2 – landing on the streaming service on 25 December (for US fans, though, as UK viewers have to wait until 1am on Boxing Day to watch it).
Especially after that cliffhanger…
But away from all the excitement about Will harnessing Vecna’s powers, some viewers are focusing on the Oklahoma flyer a young Joyce Maldonado (aka Joyce Byers) is seen handing out to fellow Hawkins students in a flashback scene from episode four.
This volume saw us learn that Max (Sadie Sink) - currently in a coma in the real world - is trapped in Henry Creel’s memories with Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher), and that Creel won’t come after her when she hides herself inside a cave.
Those who have seen the canonical stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow will know that Creel’s fear of the cave may well point to the moment as a child – revealed in the show – when he was in the Nevada desert and was transported to Dimension X for a short period of time.
They’ll also know why the Oklahoma flyer is significant (besides it name-dropping a younger Hopper, Creel and Ted Wheeler).
For those not in the know but want to find out anyway, the flyer also gives the names of Karen Childress (that being Karen Wheeler - mother to Nancy, Holly and Mike - who we saw violently attacked by the Demogorgon in the second episode), Alan Munson (the son of the late Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn in the fourth series), and more importantly, Patty Newby.
Yes, that’s the sister of the beloved Bob Newby from season two, who was played by Sean Astin, was the love interest for Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers and ended up being killed by the Demodogs in Hawkins Lab in the final episode of that series.
We see both Bob and Patty Newby in The First Shadow, and the latter has a relationship with a young Henry Creel, only for an accident to occur during the performance of Oklahoma (actually a cover for a different play called The Dark Side of the Moon) with Creel assuming Newby has died when she hasn’t.
Fans have already speculated as to whether guidance counsellor Ms Kelley from season four might actually be Patty Newby (what with Vecna’s clock having a keyhole, and the teacher having a key necklace), but now there’s questions around whether Patty could make an appearance in Volume Two as Max continues to poke around in Creel’s memories.
In a video posted on 30 November, TikTok user @fayecwhite said: “I’m assuming this origin story and how they all knew each other at high school is going to come up in Volume 2”:
@fayecwhite
Did you notice this detail in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1? When Max explains to Holly that she’s been stuck in Vecna’s memories, a poster for a play is shown to us the audience, featuring some very familiar names. This play is a large part of the plot of the prequel West End and Broadway show The First Shadow @NetflixUK @Netflix @Stranger Things On Stage #WhatToWatch #StrangerThings #StrangerThings5 #vecna #henrycreel
Only time will tell…
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