Holly is taking center stage in Hawkins.
Everyone on “Stranger Things” is in a tizzy about Holly Wheeler – prompting many viewers to say, “wait, who’s Holly?”
Spoilers ahead for “Stranger Things” Season 5, Volume 1.
In the first four episodes of “Stranger Things” Season 5, now streaming on Netflix, a major plot revolves around Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher, recast from twins Anniston and Tinsley Price, who played Holly in the first four seasons).
She’s the third Wheeler child. Her parents are Ted (Joe Chrest) and Karen (Cara Buono), and her older siblings are Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer). Because she’s so much younger, she’s never really been involved in the action — until now.
Ever since the Netflix hit first premiered in 2016, it has followed characters such as Mike and Nancy as they deal with sinister monsters from the Upside Down dimension. Holly’s their little sister who appeared infrequently.
One reason why her prominence seems so random is because it wasn’t planned from the start.
Series creators the Duffer brothers told Screen Rant that Holly “being a centerpiece” of this season was “a discovery” that came along as they were working on Season 5.
Matt Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter their reason for it.
“As we were working on Season 5″ he said, “we talked a lot about wanting to recapture some of the spirit of the first season,” which had kids as many of its main characters.
He pointed out that the show’s former child cast – such as Millie Bobby Brown who was 12 in Season 1 and is now a 21-year-old wife and mother offscreen – are, “old now.”
Duffer added, “so we had to find an actual child to bring into the show.”
In Season 1, Holly did see the flickering lights in Will (Noah Schnapp’s) room, and a hint of the monster – as a reference to “Poltergeist.”
In Season 5, we learn that Holly has an imaginary friend named “Mr. Whatsit,” taken from the classic novel, “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle.
Her mom, Karen, is worried that Holly is too old to have imaginary friends and that her behavior is abnormal. As usual, her dad, Ted, is dismissive.
But everything changes in the Wheeler household when a Demogorgon monster comes, attacks the Wheeler parents – leaving them alive but wounded, and in the hospital – and abducts Holly.
It’s later revealed that her imaginary friend was really the villain, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), and he has a sinister scheme to abduct children.
He puts Holly in the old Creel house in the Upside Down, and assures her that her family will soon join her. He also cautions her not to leave the house, for fear of “monsters” in the surrounding woods.
Holly wears a blue dress and a cloak that costume designer Amy Parris told The Post was, “a golden ocher color.”
“That felt right because it’s not too yellowy, it’s not too bright, it’s not too crayon. It has a vintage feel,” she explained. “We liked the old gold color of it, and it really helps her pop throughout the environment. She’s often in green, or she’s outside a lot. So it’s nice to have something that really brightens her up, and shows where she is within the frame.”
Meanwhile, the gang including Mike, Nancy, Eleven, and Will are desperate to rescue Holly.
It’s a weird move for a final season to spotlight a new character – or, in this case, a random character who was so minor, she nearly feels new. Final seasons should be focused on wrapping up plotlines of the main characters we’ve been following for 10 years.
It feels similar to the Dawn plot on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but not done in an ironic self-aware way, like the latter show.
On “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was an only child, until suddenly Season 4 introduced her younger sister, Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg).
All the other characters acted like Dawn had been there all along, leaving the audience feeling gaslit. Who was this random new character that the show was pretending had been there the whole time? We knew she hadn’t been!
Later in the season, it was revealed that the show did that for a reason, relating to the plot. The audience was vindicated that no, Dawn hadn’t been there all along.
“Stranger Things” Season 5 feels similar – as if the show is saying, “You know Holly! Your favorite important ‘Stranger Things’ character!”
Unlike Dawn, Holly really has been there all along. But, between the re-casting and the fact that she was such a minor character who is now in the spotlight, her prominence in the final season feels ridiculous.
“Stranger Things” Season 5 will have 8 episodes, dropping on Netflix in three volumes, releasing at 8 p.m. on Nov. 26, Dec. 25 and Dec. 31.
