Stranger Things Just Jumped the Shark — Season 5 Makes It Official

Stranger Things 5 barely hits play before it lights a fuse. By the end of the premiere, the show leans into a choice that has fans arguing about whether the big bad monsters are still, you know, scary.

The scene everyone is arguing about

End of episode 1: Vecna sends a Demogorgon to the Wheelers' house with a clear mission — take Holly. Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), who has had a rough night and is fairly deep into the wine, is home when the thing shows up. She does what any mom in Hawkins might do: grabs a bottle and goes at it. She actually fends the Demogorgon off long enough to fight it back with nothing but that wine bottle.

She does not walk away unscathed — Karen is seriously injured — and the Demogorgon still succeeds in kidnapping Holly. But the fact that she survives the encounter at all is the part hitting nerves.

Why this rubs fans the wrong way

Demogorgons have been the franchise’s signature nightmare since season 1. We’re talking inhuman strength, razor teeth, and a track record of rinsing fully armed characters. Historically, if one locks onto you, your odds are basically zero.

Now we have Karen Wheeler, a suburban mom with a wine bottle, not only lasting more than five seconds but actually putting up a fight. Netflix even posted the clip with the caption: "KAREN WHEELER VS. THE DEMOGORGON ?"

"An unstoppable force of carnage and terror becomes an unthreatening, boring goon."

That’s the vibe of a lot of reactions: accusations of plot armor for Mrs. Wheeler and complaints that the Demogorgon has been nerfed the second it runs into a main character’s family. One viewer joked that the creature politely stood there while Karen slowly got out a 'stay... away... from... my... daughter...' speech — not exactly consistent with the feral, blitz-attack behavior we’ve seen before.

The in-universe defense (and the problem with it)

There is a counterpoint: this Demogorgon was sent for a snatch-and-grab, not a massacre. If its orders were strictly to take Holly and avoid extra noise, you can argue it wasn’t trying to kill Karen. Fair. But Demogorgons have always read as barely controllable beasts — weapons you point and pray. Having one freeze up long enough for a monologue feels off compared to earlier seasons.

Quick refresher on what Demogorgons have been up to

From the start, the show positioned these things as nearly unstoppable: brute force, speed, and those lovely face-petal jaws. The whole point was that even with guns, traps, and flamethrowers, you were lucky to slow one down, let alone survive an up-close brawl. That’s why this scene lands as such a head-tilter.

Release plan

• Episodes 1-4: streaming now on Netflix
• Episodes 5-7: drop December 25
• Finale: arrives December 31

We’ll see if the rest of the season restores the Demogorgon’s bite — or if this is the new normal where household glassware is suddenly a viable build against Upside Down wildlife.