Over its five seasons, Stranger Things‘ protagonists have drawn from the lore of Dungeons & Dragons to make sense of the supernatural happenings in Hawkins. The monsters they face become Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer, while their greatest foe takes on the name of Dungeons & Dragons‘ formidable lich Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).
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But Season 5 introduces a new fictional lens through which Stranger Things‘ characters process their bizarre circumstances: Madeleine L’Engle’s classic science fiction and fantasy novel A Wrinkle in Time. Published in 1962, A Wrinkle in Time tells the story of 13-year-old Meg; her brilliant younger brother, Charles Wallace; and her kind classmate Calvin. The trio embarks on an epic adventure to different planets in hope of finding Meg and Charles Wallace’s vanished father.
Given that L’Engle’s novel is a beloved work of young adult genre fiction, it makes sense that it would eventually wind up in Stranger Things, a series whose characters love all things fantasy and sci-fi (and are constantly traveling to a different dimension). As we learn in Season 5, Mike and Nancy Wheeler’s (Finn Wolfhard and Natalia Dyer) younger sister Holly (Nell Fisher) loves A Wrinkle in Time, and it winds up being a key element of how she understands the reality-bending adventure she winds up on. Let’s break it down.
Stranger Things turns Mrs. Whatsit into Mr. Whatsit.
Nell Fisher in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
The first connection between Stranger Things and A Wrinkle in Time is the appearance of Holly’s new imaginary friend, Mr. Whatsit. The name comes from Mrs. Whatsit, one of Meg and Charles Wallace’s three mysterious neighbors. (The other two are Mrs. Which and Mrs. Who.) In the novel, Mrs. Whatsit is a kindly, eccentric old woman who loves a good scarf. But she’s also a supernatural being of immense power: She was once a star who blew herself up in the fight against the forces of evil. Now, her true form is that of a winged centaur.
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Similarly, Holly’s Mr. Whatsit is not what he seems. He’s not just a dapperly dressed young man. He’s actually Henry Creel, aka Vecna. I don’t know about you, but I’d take a flying pegasus over a tentacle monster any day!
As a malicious being, Vecna couldn’t be farther from A Wrinkle of Time‘s Mrs. Whatsit. Yet the two do still have a few things in common. Both live in a mysterious old house — shout out to the Creel House! — and end up transporting children to different realities. In Mrs. Whatsit’s case, that means using a tesseract, or a folding of space-time, to send Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin across the universe. In Vecna’s case, that means using Demogorgons to kidnap children to the Upside Down, then keep them hostage in his own, seemingly idyllic memories of Creel House. Again, I know which one I’d rather choose!
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Mr. Whatsit is just a kindly mask that Vecna puts on in order to entice the children of Hawkins into his frightening schemes. Once Holly learns the truth, courtesy of Max (Sadie Sink), she not only drops the connection to her beloved Mrs. Whatsit, she also thinks up a new Wrinkle in Time connection to better comprehend what’s happening to her.
What is Camazotz, and how does it tie to Stranger Things?
Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin in “Stranger Things.”
Credit: Netflix
When Holly runs into Max in the woods outside Creel House, Max reveals that the two of them are in Vecna’s memory world, which is where her consciousness has been living since she entered a coma at the end of Season 4.
“[We’re] in a memory, which exists within a world of 1,000 memories,” Max tells Holly. “I know it may look nice, but it’s not. This place, this world, it’s a prison. Henry’s prison.”
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Holly immediately draws a connection to Camazotz, the “dark planet” where A Wrinkle in Time‘s climax takes place. When Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin arrive on Camazotz, they discover that it’s perfectly ordered: Houses are cookie-cutter replicas, and everyone acts the same as one another.
Beneath this eerie veneer of perfection lurks a sinister truth. Everyone on Camazotz is under the control of IT, a giant brain with enormous telepathic powers. IT’s powers recall those of Vecna, while the plight of everyone on Camazotz is similar to Vecna’s hive mind of the creatures within the Upside Down. His memory world is also the same as Camazotz: seemingly perfect, but actually evil.
Now that Holly and Max are a team, could the two manage to fight their way out of Vecna’s memory world? Given that one of Season 5, Volume 2’s episodes is called “Escape From Camazotz,” it’s clear they’re going to make an attempt. Expect more Camazotz chaos (and more A Wrinkle in Time references) in the episodes to come.
Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5 is now streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 premieres Dec. 25, and the series finale premieres Dec. 31, both at 8 p.m. ET.
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