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Stranger Things – Season 5, Episode 1 Chapter One: The Crawl

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Stranger Things – Season 5, Episode 1

Chapter One: The Crawl

Aired Nov 26, 2025

Drama

Sci-Fi

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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6 Reviews

The gang evades the military to search the Upside Down for Vecna but overlooks a threat closer to home.

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Stranger Things: Season 5 Episode 1 Sneak Peek - First Five Minutes

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Maggie Fremont

New York Magazine/Vulture

Dec 1

4/5

Stranger Things can make silly choices and I will look the other way as long as it’s fun. This is fun.

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Alan French

Sunshine State Cineplex

Nov 28

8/10

"The Crawl" is a nice way to ease us back into Stranger Things while still jumping into the action.

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Lyra Hale

Fangirlish

Nov 28

A

I was really skeptical that a lot of things wouldn't work. For example, the time jump, the age difference with our core group, and how they were going to actually tackle destroying Vecna. I’m glad to admit that I was wrong after "The Crawl."

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Randy Dankievitch

Processed Media

Nov 27

B

Though certainly not a perfect hour, "Chapter One: The Crawl" is a solid (thought stagnant) opening for Stranger Things 5, as it explores a town and people left in figurative purgatory for the past eighteen months and prepares for its own endgame.

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Jonathon Wilson

Ready Steady Cut

Nov 27

3.5/5

Stranger Things Season 5 kicks off impressively in "Chapter One: The Crawl", which can’t escape an overlong runtime, but settles into its usual rhythms with surprising ease, despite the long gap between seasons and the increased age of the cast.

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Kara Hedash

Screen Rant

Nov 27

6/10

While it's exciting to return to the world of Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers make several risky story decisions in the first four episodes of season 5 that may even change the perception surrounding the entire series.

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Synopsis

The gang evades the military to search the Upside Down for Vecna but overlooks a threat closer to home.

Executive Producer: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen
Network: Netflix
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date: Nov 26, 2025

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