Spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, episode 1.
Hawkins is under military quarantine, and the group uses WSQK radio broadcasts to coordinate secret searches for Vecna. Hopper slips into the Upside Down aboard military supply trucks while his friends guide him from Hawkins. A flashback returns to Will's original captivity, showing the Demogorgon delivering him to Vecna. In the present, Will's lingering connection begins troubling him again, even though the searches have failed to locate their enemy.
Eleven trains for a confrontation while remaining hidden from soldiers who are still hunting her. Dustin is grieving Eddie and refuses to abandon the Hellfire Club's reputation, provoking the school bullies who eventually attack him at Eddie's grave. At the Wheeler house, Holly talks to an imaginary friend called Mr. Whatsit. Her conversations alarm her teacher and parents, while Mike tries to reassure his younger sister.
The latest crawl goes wrong when a Demogorgon attacks the convoy carrying Hopper. The truck crashes, communication breaks down, and Hopper is stranded in the Upside Down. Will collapses as he experiences the creature's movements through the hive mind. When he recovers, he recognises its destination as the Wheeler house. The others rush to intervene, but Holly looks up to find her bedroom ceiling splitting open as the Demogorgon breaks through.