Recently, Netflix dropped a behind-the-scenes video from Stranger Things to give us a hint about what we can expect in Season 5. While the details shown in the video have led the fans to make several theories, the topic of time skip has raised most discussions as the cliffhanger shown in the Season 4 finale did not seem to permit such a concept.
Stranger Things has been one of the flagship shows for the OTT giant and has progressed over the years to be a significant pop culture phenomenon. But over time, the show has also faced certain issues, most notably the age gap between the on-screen characters and the actors playing them. While every season of the show presents a brief time jump, it looks like we can see a significant skip in time with the final season.
Stranger Things‘ new behind-the-scenes video hints at a time skip
In the new video, the cast and the crew came together to share several details about Stranger Things Season 5. While it felt good to get many glimpses about the four core members of the group working together, the new additions to the cast also raised some theories.
Linda Hamilton is undoubtedly the biggest addition in Season 5 of the sci-fi horror series. Besides her, this season will also feature Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux in side roles. Among all of them, the casting of Nell Fisher as the youngest Wheeler child, Holly Wheeler, has raised massive online chatter.
The previous seasons saw the twins Anniston and Tinsley Price in the minor role of Holly. It seems like the showrunners plan to elevate the importance of Holly as we can see an older version of the character in a shot from the video. A user @Nat has theorized that we may see a timeline of 1989 in the fifth season as Holly looks no younger than 10.
I feel like this makes it more clear there’s gonna be a time skip to 1989 because Holly is 3 or 4 in 1983, and this actress playing Holly likely isn’t meant to be only 8 years old (as she would be in 1987), she’s probably meant to be 10!
— Nat (@caterpillerclub) July 15, 2024
For those who have forgotten, Season 1 showed a Holly of 3 or 4 in 1983. Following that, Season 2 takes place in 1984, Season 3 in 1985, and Season 4 in 1986. But with the rising age of the cast members, it looks like the makers wanted to show a time skip, and thus cast a more mature face for the role.
Additionally, Nell Fisher has an experience in horror with Evil Dead Rise. It is a possibility that the Duffer brothers may have planned to bring the third Wheeler child, after Nancy and Mike to the forefront as well. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that this has also led to a series of complications regarding the Season 4 cliffhanger.
A time skip may affect the Season 4 finale
Last time when we spotted our favorite group of kids, they were overlooking Hawkins from a hillside. The audience was shocked to witness that the Upside Down was somehow seeping into Hawkins, suggesting an impending war between the kids and Vecna. Such a high point in the show suggested that the Season 5 events would kick off immediately from the Season 4 ending.
But things have gone the opposite way, as we understood that there would be another massive gap between the fourth and the fifth season. Earlier, Season 3 and Season 4 also saw a gap of three years. By the time Season 5 is out, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and the entire core group will be in their 20s, while their on-screen characters are still 15.
Stranger Things has always struggled to keep up with the rising age of its cast members. But now with the age difference between the on-screen and off-screen versions so significant, they may implement a time skip so that the cast doesn’t look comically misfit. But it also makes it difficult to figure out how the kids could afford such a big interval after Season 4’s finale showed that Vecna’s Upside Down was rapidly seeping into Hawkins.
It may also be a possibility that the process was not as quick as we were shown. Vecna’s process may have involved gradually affecting the residents of Hawkins instead of unleashing Demogorgons on them or we may see something even “stranger”. It will be interesting to see how the Duffers answer everything in the show’s final outing.
Stranger Things Season 5 is expected to drop on Netflix sometime in 2025.
