THE RUNDOWN
- Stranger Things season 5 is here, meaning we’re guessing which main characters we might say goodbye to.
- The season 2 trailer gave us a showdown between a Demogorgon and Holly and Karen Wheeler.
- The gruesome episode left fans worried that Karen and Ted Wheeler may have been killed in the showdown.
Warning: This story contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5
We’ve just wrapped the first episodes of Stranger Things Season 5, and we’re shaken. The Duffer brothers have historically reserved deaths for newcomers — Maxine’s brother Billy Hargrove, Eddie Munson and Chrissy in Season 4. But with Season 5 marking the final chapter, we expect to see some losses among the characters we’ve come to know and love over nearly a decade of television.
And, by the second episode of Season 5, the Hawkins gang seem to have experienced a shocking loss: Karen Wheeler (played by Kara Buono).
Karen Wheeler is Nancy, Mike and Holly Wheeler’s mum and has been a background character since the beginning. The Wheeler family have always brought an injection of normalcy to the plot. Karen’s death wouldn’t just be heartbreaking for Nancy and her sister (and for an audience that will miss her blue eyeshadow) — but with the finale approaching, it would show Stranger Things fans that all bets are off. Even original characters we’ve come to love over almost ten years aren’t safe anymore. Below, we unpack exactly what happened to Karen Wheeler.
Image: Netflix
What Happened To Karen Wheeler?
Unlike Will Byers’ mum Joyce, Mrs Wheeler has never been involved in the front lines of the fight against Vecna. In fact, she and her husband Ted are pretty much clueless about the goings-on in Hawkins.
But in Season 5, the Wheeler family are far from idyllic. Holly Wheeler (played by Nell Fisher) is Nancy’s little sister, has an imaginary friend who’s alarming her school teachers. Tensions are mounting between Mr and Mrs Wheeler as the pressure of the Hawkins gang hiding out in their home starts to wear thin — and Karen is hitting the wines.
Karen is called in to school after Holly is seen talking to someone who isn’t there. We get a glimpse of the figure from Holly’s POV — a man’s hand, emerging from a suit. Then we cut to Holly listening to her parents fighting. Mr Wheeler heads out, and Karen stands at the sink, skulling what looks like her fourth or fifth glass of wine for the evening.
Meanwhile, as Holly’s parents enjoy their respective hobbies, she’s fighting for her life. Her lamp starts flickering, and we know what that means. Sure enough, a Demogorgon bursts through the ceiling.
Episode Two opens as things are kicking off at the Wheeler house (all while Mr Wheeler enjoys a peaceful game of nighttime golf). Karen is settling in for a bath. The Demogorgon is trying to drag her daughter to the Upside Down.
Holly manages to lock the Demogorgon in her bedroom and runs to alert Mrs Wheeler, who tries to comfort her daughter.
Drawing her hand away from Holly’s head, Karen sees blood. With nowhere to hide, Karen and Holly plunge into the bathtub. Ted bursts in to defend his family with a golf club, but is swept aside by the Demogorgon pretty quickly. Holly and Karen attempt to flee, but Karen’s feet are still wet, and she slips — what’s a suburban mum to do? Ted has his golf club. Karen has her empty wine bottle.
She faces down the Demogorgon, yelling “Stay away from my daughter!” and stabs it in the mouth with the broken shards.
Nancy bursts in with a rifle (handier than a golf club) and sees her mum on the floor — and quickly realises her sister has been spirited into the Upside Down.
The good news? Later in the episode, we see that Karen and Ted Wheeler are alive, if not totally well, at the hospital. But that doesn’t mean we’re not short a main character. The bad news? Eleven has plunged into the Upside Down in hot pursuit of Holly Wheeler, whose fate remains unknown.
Ruby Feneley
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