New Stranger Things 5 Clip Has Fans Fearing Sadie Sink Won’t Wake Until the Finale

Stranger Things just dropped a new Season 5 clip, and it is not a feel-good moment. It aired on The Jennifer Hudson Show, and it centers on Lucas talking to Max, who is still in a coma after Season 4. It is raw, it is heavy, and it has fans spiraling about what that means for the rest of the final season.

The clip everyone is stressing over

Lucas sits by Max's hospital bed, filling her in on Eleven's plan and the now-inevitable final fight with Vecna. Then he goes for the gut punch:

"The final battle, I feel like it started tonight. And Max can't win this without you. My theory is right. We're running out of time. So, if you're planning on resurrecting anytime soon, now is the time."

It is pretty clear Hawkins is in full crisis mode, and Lucas is basically begging her to come back. That tone is echoed elsewhere too: in a trailer for the finale, Max is shown not just unconscious in the hospital, but being hunted by Demodogs. Yes, a comatose Max being stalked by Upside Down monsters. That is a choice.

What fans are saying (and fearing)

As soon as the clip hit, the predictions started flying. A lot of viewers now think Max will stay in that coma for most of the season and only wake up right at the end — maybe the final episode, maybe even the final moments. Others are bracing for a darker outcome. Social posts on November 9, 2025 ran the gamut from hopeful ('please let her wake up before the finale') to resigned ('so she is in a coma all season, huh?') to full-on panicked ('this show is going to break me'). There is also a flash in the footage of Lucas trying desperately to protect her, which is not helping anyone's blood pressure.

So... is Max actually important this season?

Short answer: yes, according to the people making the show. The Duffer Brothers told Variety that Max will play a major part in Season 5 — they just will not say how that works while she is unconscious. Matt Duffer also teased that they recently shot a scene with Sadie Sink that he called absolutely heartbreaking, and he praised how precise she is in those moments. Sink herself said filming the final season is the kind of grind you forget until you are back in it, and that she is focused on doing what is best for the show as a whole. Translation: Max matters, and Sink is in the thick of it.

• Stranger Things basics: created by the Duffer Brothers; stars Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Sadie Sink
• Network: Netflix; series Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
• Season count: 5 total, with Season 5 as the endgame
• Season 5 premiere date: November 26, 2025

The read on all this

Between the new clip, that finale trailer shot, and the Duffers talking up Max's role without giving away the how, it feels like her story is designed to sting — and to matter — right up to the finish line. Whether she wakes up early enough to swing a bat at Vecna or cuts it dangerously close, the show wants you chewing your nails about Max Mayfield.

What do you think happens to Max in the finale? Call your shot in the comments. We find out when Season 5 hits Netflix on November 26.