Read this Stranger Things review to see if the episode “Chapter Four: Sorcerer” is worth watching.
About Stranger Things
- Season 5, Episode 4: “Chapter Four: Sorcerer”
- Directed by The Duffer Brothers
- Written by Paul Dichter
- Synopsis: The military tightens its grip on the town. Mike, Lucas, and Robin orchestrate a daring escape. El comes face-to-face with the enemy
- Airdate: November 26, 2025
- Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Brett Gelman, Priah Ferguson, Linda Hamilton, Cara Buono, Jamie Campbell Bower, Linnea Berthelsen, Sherman Augustus, Emanuel Borria, Nell Fisher, and Alex Breaux
If you want to avoid Stranger Things spoilers, skip to the overall section at the end.
Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 4 “Chapter Four: Sorcerer“
Recap Stranger Things (2025): S5E04 – “Chapter Four: Sorcerer”
A Violent Awakening in Hawkins
The episode opens with Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly) waking up in a barn, tied to the wall and desperate for answers. Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) tries to calm him, but he demands the truth about Mr. Whatsit’s warning that monsters are targeting Hawkins. Before anyone can explain, a Demogorgon bursts in. At the same moment, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) experiences another vision that confirms the creature’s arrival.
Joyce attacks the Demogorgon while Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) slam into it with Steve’s BMW—much to his future insurance horror. The creature retreats and tears open a portal to the Upside Down. The group follows, only to immediately crash into the thick, pulsing wall on the other side.
Meanwhile, Will sees events through the creature’s perspective. He watches three kids trapped with Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) and realizes Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) plans to abduct twelve children in total. The connection jolts him, and he senses he accidentally tapped into the Hive Mind. He starts sketching again, this time covering the barn wall with drawings of the kids strapped to a towering spire.
Elsewhere in Hawkins, the military seizes Debbie Miller (Eden Stephens), convinced that the children are the problem. Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) witness the abduction and alert their friends. Inside the Upside Down version of the Mac-Z, Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) insists Eleven is responsible for the missing kids and intends to use them as bait.
Max’s Trauma and the Expanding Mental Prison
While that unfolds, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) tells Holly how she lured her to the cave. It blends her memories with Vecna’s, merging the Creel House, Hawkins woods, and the nightmares that built her mental prison. Vecna’s curse still grips her. Before dying and returning, Max glimpsed events from 1959 inside Henry Creel’s mind and saw horrors that shaped the Upside Down.
She tried to escape those memories, but everything spiraled out of control. The moment “Running Up That Hill” stopped playing in the hospital, she lost her lifeline and became trapped again. Max eventually found a cave that Vecna fears for reasons she still doesn’t understand. She hopes to rescue Holly by using the same emotional leverage Henry once used on her.
At the same time, Eleven/Jane Hopper (Millie Bobby Brown) and Jim Hopper (David Harbour) explore a military facility inside the Upside Down. Steve’s group radios from the Roane Cemetery Church, asking El to pull their truck free, but Hopper keeps them focused on their mission. Dustin believes the center of the massive fleshy ring around Hawkins hides a clue—and he’s right. The core leads back to the Department of Energy and Hawkins Lab.
The Hawkins group sends Derek into the Mac-Z to gather the kids who encountered Mr. Whatsit. Only the ones who know him listen. Even so, Derek manages to get Debbie and the others out before a leaking pipe draws the guards’ attention.
Eleven, Hopper, and Will Face the Tipping Point
Inside the Upside Down base, Eleven and Hopper break into the vault. When El tries to open it, the “kryptonite” speakers weaken her. Dr. Kay arrives, thrilled to see her helpless. Hopper fights off soldiers but becomes ensnared by a tentacle that Dr. Kay controls using hot and cold. The young woman’s powers falter, but Hopper knocks out the doctor and steals her badge.
Afterward, he tells Eleven to find Nancy and the others while he heads off to destroy Vecna alone. He carries dynamite as a last resort, promising to become a suicide bomber. It leaves El devastated, but the melodramatic moment adds little to the plot.
As the group escapes with the kids, Joyce, Mike, and Will are captured by the military. Will suddenly sees another Demogorgon and watches as multiple gates rip open and creatures pour through. The monsters tear through soldiers like an R-rated GTA sequence. Vecna taunts Will, calling him the weakest and the easiest to manipulate.
Back with Eleven and Hopper, we find out the shocking truth behind the door. It’s not Vecna. Did you guess it? Yep, it’s Kali (Kali Prasad), also known as “Eight,” Eleven’s sister, from season 2. You know. The one we haven’t seen for three seasons. A fun reveal.
Then everything erupts. Will screams as he reconnects to the Hive Mind and freezes the monsters in place. It’s easily the most thrilling moment of the season and a reminder of how powerful Will has become. Dustin was right. El was taught to harness her powers. But his powers come from inside. Unexpectedly, he has become a powerful Sorcerer. The episode ends as he wipes blood from his nose—just like Eleven. Absolute insanity.
Overall: Watch Stranger Things (2025): S5E04 – “Chapter Four: Sorcerer”
Watch the Stranger Things episode “Chapter Four: Sorcerer” because it effectively raises the stakes while honoring the past.
“The Sorcerer,” the fourth episode of Stranger Things Season 5, marks a turning point in the series, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses through significant twists. I’m still distracted by watching 20-year-olds playing high schoolers. But Linda Hamilton’s brilliant turn as the evil Dr. Kay helps distract from her awful wig. Sadie Sink delivers substantial exposition, and the episode slows down significantly. It nonetheless captivates and draws us in. The episode’s conclusion, as Volume One’s action-packed finale, showcases a surprising return and a pivotal moment for Will.
I’m giving this episode 4.5 out of 5 stars.
All episodes of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix. New episodes of Stranger Things drop on December 25, 2025. Click the link to read our review of the previous episode, “Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap.“
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