Stranger Things Season 5: Inside Vecna’s Mind Trap — How Max Opened the Portal and Why It Slammed Shut

Stranger Things just pulled the rug out again: that now-iconic Kate Bush track isn't just a vibe, it's a literal lifeline. The Season 5 Volume 1 finale reveals Max isn't in some generic void — she's stuck inside Vecna's memories, and the only breadcrumb trail out is music. Specifically, the same song that saved her once before.

The short version: Max is lost in Vecna's head, and Kate Bush is the map

Over at the hospital, Lucas keeps playing Running Up That Hill on loop, hoping it will guide Max back. It works — kind of. She follows the song through Vecna's memories until a portal opens, and she can literally see Lucas sitting by her bed. Then the worst possible thing happens: the tape stops, Lucas rewinds, and the portal starts closing. Without the music, Vecna catches up, and Max is back on the run.

So yes, it looks like the song doesn't just open the door — it also keeps the monster away. And Episode 4 drops another thread: Max has started cooking up a plan to break out, not just for herself, but for Holly and maybe other people trapped in there too. As bleak as it looks, the show is planting hope that she might actually make it to the end.

How Max ended up there in the first place

Max explains it to Holly after Holly finds her inside this mental maze. When Eleven brought Max back at the end of Season 4, Max didn't wake up in the real world — she opened her eyes in the Hawkins Lab Rainbow Room, surrounded by the kids Henry murdered. She chased a faint sound through shifting scenes and realized she was walking through Henry's past, forced to relive every awful thing he did to her, including the moment he almost killed her.

Eventually the sound resolves into Running Up That Hill again. Max treats it like a lifeline and follows it right to an opening, where a portal appears. Then the song cuts off, the portal snaps shut, and Vecna reappears. She bolts and finds a cave — yes, a cave that Vecna fears — and that's where she's been hiding.

Holly doesn't buy it at first, then she does. Max asks her to head back to the Creel House so Henry won't get suspicious, and tells her she has a plan to escape. Holly even gives this place a name: Camazotz. If that rings a bell, you've read a certain classic sci-fi book. The show is not being subtle about the reference, and I love it.

• Running Up That Hill both opens a portal out and protects Max from Vecna while it's playing
• The music has to be continuous — when Lucas rewinds the tape, the portal begins to close
• Max can see the real world through the portal (Lucas at her bedside), but can't cross without the song
• She's hiding in a cave Vecna is afraid of, which is… a very intriguing detail
• Max is planning to free herself, Holly, and maybe others trapped in this memory prison

What Volume 2 is setting up

We don't know how Max pulls it off yet, but all signs point to Volume 2 digging in. Episode 6 is titled "Escape from Camazotz" — the exact nickname Holly gave the place — so expect that to be the hour where this plan finally goes from theory to jailbreak.

Max and Lucas, in the actors' words

Caleb McLaughlin has been pretty blunt about where Lucas' head is at.

"He would die for [Max]. He really would."

He says Max is the person who truly gets Lucas, and he'll do anything to protect her. Sadie Sink echoes it from Max's side: even while she's trapped, Max can still feel Lucas nearby. She isn't sure how much of the song she actually hears, or which moments she can sense him, but she feels the gap between them and the closeness at the same time — which is very this show.

The trailers are not reassuring

Footage teases Lucas holed up with Max as Demogorgons hit the hospital, so whatever rescue is coming won't be clean. There's clearly more to dig up about how she fights her way out of this memory prison — and what it costs both of them.

Stranger Things Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.