Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 recap: Eleven and Hopper fight back while Hawkins prepares a bold counterattack

In Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3, The Turnbow Trap, Hawkins faces new threats.

The dangers are strange and mysterious, and the Upside Down affects the real world. The characters face hard challenges, so they must be brave and work together.

Meanwhile, new clues and discoveries appear, making the season’s mysteries bigger. Secrets start to come out as viewers become more drawn into the story. Suspense grows around what the characters will do next.

Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 has action, emotions, and mystery. It sets up the events to come and keeps viewers guessing what will happen.

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Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 recap: The Turnbow Trap

Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 starts in the Upside Down. Hopper and Eleven try to break a huge wall tied to Vecna’s growing power. Suddenly, car lights reveal that military vehicles are coming.

The vehicles have machines that hurt Eleven with sound waves. These waves are designed to incapacitate her, her weakness, like kryptonite. Eleven tries to stay quiet, but the pain is too much. She cries out, giving away their location.

Hopper acts quickly, stops some soldiers, and turns off the device hurting Eleven. Once she feels better, Eleven uses her powers and defeats the remaining soldiers easily.

After the fight, Hopper and Eleven escape in a stolen Humvee. They try to hide the vehicle to avoid being seen. They have also taken Sergeant Akers hostage.

However, Hopper and Eleven have different goals. Hopper wants to know when the next supply convoy comes. Eleven wants answers about the mysterious wall. So, they make a deal: Hopper asks about the convoy, and Eleven focuses on the wall.

When Akers wakes up, Hopper asks him about the wall and Dr. Kay, but he refuses to answer. Hopper knows Eleven can read minds, so he asks her to look inside Akers’ subconscious.

Eleven sees Akers’ memories: Dr. Kay goes into a locked lab with a big metal door, like a vault. Eleven senses that someone very powerful is inside. It is probably Vecna, but she cannot see the face.

Akers passes out when Eleven tries to go further. Hopper ensures Eleven is okay. She realizes Dr. Kay is hiding Vecna, which shows how big the threat really is.

Back in the Right Side Up, Joyce finds Robin and Will, who had gone out without telling her. Will says his powers let him see through Vecna’s eyes, which could help the group a lot.

They learn that Derek Turnbow, one of Holly’s classmates, is Vecna’s next target. Meanwhile, Holly stays at Creel House with Henry. He tells her her parents will come once they recover and warns her never to enter the woods because of monsters.

However, Holly gets a letter with a map and a compass. It tells her to go to a marked spot for help. Inspired by a Holly figure from Mike, she goes into the woods. There, she encounters Max at a hidden rock wall. Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 ends on a suspenseful note.

Meanwhile, the group makes a plan to protect Derek and trap a Demogorgon. To move Derek and his family safely, they need someone the Turnbows trust. Hence, Erica agrees to help. She first gives a pie with drugs to put the family to sleep, but Tina refuses to eat it. So Erica gives the drugs by injection instead.

The family is tied up and loaded into the Squawk van. Joyce, Robin, Erica, and Will take them to a safe place. The rest of the team prepares the Turnbow house as bait. They set traps like in Home Alone for the Demogorgon.

At night, Steve and Dustin watch the tracker. They see streetlights flicker, signaling that the Demogorgon is coming.

The creature opens a portal in Derek’s bedroom and starts moving toward him. The group attaches the tracker to the Demogorgon and guides it away from the house. Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Dustin follow it, moving through yards as the signal disappears and reappears. Will realizes Vecna knows what they are doing. The Demogorgon heads toward the barn where Derek is, making the group’s rescue mission even more dangerous.

A big theme in this episode is mental powers. Eleven uses her ability to enter other people’s minds. She has used this before with her mother, Terry Ives, and with Billy and Max. Here, it helps her get information from Akers. She learns about the military’s secret experiments and how they try to stop her, giving the group important knowledge about Vecna and the threat to Hawkins.

Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 mixes action, planning, and emotions. It shows Eleven and Hopper working as a team in the Upside Down and the group carefully setting the Turnbow trap.

Holly becomes more independent and curious, leading to a suspenseful meeting with Max. Every part of the story builds excitement and prepares for the fight with Vecna and more Hawkins mysteries.