Stranger Things season 5 episode 3: recap of "The Turnbow Trap," the trap that turns
Season 5 · Episode 3 · Volume 1
The third episode, 66 minutes, directed by Frank Darabont, is a plan episode: the group knows who Henry is targeting next, a boy in Holly's class, and mounts a trap to follow the Demogorgon to him. Like every plan in the show, this one goes wrong, because of a blindfold. Here is the recap of “The Turnbow Trap.”
The essentials
- Original title: The Turnbow Trap
- Period: November 1987
- Volume: 1, released November 26, 2025; 66 minutes
- Last scene: Holly meets Max in a cave
Contents
Eleven, Hopper and Lieutenant Akers
In the Upside Down, Eleven and Hopper cannot break through the wall. A military truck approaches and deploys a sound emitter that neutralizes Eleven's powers; they still get the upper hand and capture Lieutenant Akers. Eleven searches his mind and sees Dr. Kay enter a secure vault in her lab: she concludes that Kay is hiding Vecna there. On the army's side, Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan launches the search to find Akers.
The Max T-shirt, for the prisoner of the cave.
In the shopKids' Max Running Up That Hill T-shirt24,90 €See the product
The plan: Derek as bait
Joyce catches Will and Robin, who have sneaked out. Will owns it: he sees through Vecna's eyes, knows his plan to take more children, and has seen Derek Turnbow, Holly's classmate. He proposes a trap: put the Turnbow family to sleep, get them to safety, and shoot a tracker dart at the Demogorgon that comes for Derek, to locate Holly, Hopper, and Eleven in the Upside Down. Looking for sedatives at the hospital, Will asks Robin how she knew Vickie loved her; Robin, in so many words, reassures him about himself.
Murray delivers the gear, Nancy preps the tracker, and Jonathan tells Murray he plans to ask Nancy to marry him. To get close to the Turnbows, they need someone they trust: Lucas talks Erica into it, reluctantly.
| Step of the trap | What happens |
|---|---|
| Erica's pie | The whole family falls asleep, except Tina, Erica's former best friend, who has to be injected |
| The transfer | Joyce, Will, and Robin load the Turnbows into a van and hide them in a barn |
| The blindfold | Derek is blindfolded so Vecna will think he is asleep and not see the trap |
| The house | Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan set their traps |
| The tracker | Nancy hits the Demogorgon before it slips through a portal |
| The reversal | Derek takes off his blindfold; the creature changes course toward the barn |
What goes wrong
The Demogorgon comes, Nancy hits it, and it pulls back toward a gate. Then Dustin sees the tracker change direction. At the barn, Derek has woken and taken off his blindfold: Vecna, through his eyes, knows where they are, and the creature charges them. The episode stops on that chase. In the meantime, Joyce has made peace with Will: her fear of protecting him from everything is useless, you have to take risks, and she still blames herself for having let him be taken in 1983.
Frank DarabontThe episode is directed by Frank Darabont, the director of “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile”, out of an eleven-year retirement to direct two chapters of the last season. It is his first directing credit since “The Walking Dead”.
Holly, the Creel house and the cave
In Vecna's mind, Henry, in his human form, tells Holly that other children will join them. He leaves for the day, leaves her the house, on one condition: do not go into the woods. Holly feels she is being watched, then finds in the mailbox a note signed Henry, a map, and a compass, which lead her to a cave. A silhouette comes out, she flees, the silhouette catches her: it is Max Mayfield.
Why this episode matters
"The Turnbow Trap" launches the volume's two threads: the Max-Holly duo in Henry's mind, and the discovery, by Eleven, of Dr. Kay's vault. The plan fails because of a child who takes off his blindfold, which is very true to the show: monsters there are beaten by plans, and plans by details. The next chapter, "Sorcerer," closes the volume.
The Lucas figure, running the trap.
In the shopLego Max Mayfield mini figure on a skateboard14,90 €See the product
Behind the scenes: Frank Darabont comes out of retirement
The episode is written by Caitlin Schneiderhan, her second script for the show, and directed by Frank Darabont, the man behind The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and the first seasons of The Walking Dead. Darabont had not directed anything since the series Mob City in 2013. A fan of the show with his wife, he had had lunch with the Duffers before production started; they called him back to offer him an episode.
He was originally only supposed to direct episode 5, “Shock Jock.” He agreed to add this Chapter 3 when Dan Trachtenberg had to step away because of the Predator: Badlands shoot. Ross Duffer summed up the result in one sentence: “the most classically Stranger Things of the season,” with “all our favorite things” in it.
The pie scene, where Erica faces her former best friend Tina, went viral from the release. Priah Ferguson described it as very funny to shoot, but hard to play underneath: Erica is not doing it for a laugh, she betrays a friend to save a family that does not want her.
Max: what Sadie Sink knew from season 4 on
The last image of the episode, Max bursting into the cave, had been prepared well before the season was written. Before handing Sadie Sink the script of the Season 4 finale, where Max is declared dead for a minute, the Duffer Brothers told her she would come back “obviously.” They did not tell her how; they only knew Max would be trapped in Vecna's mind.
Holly was not yet a central figure in the story at that point. The Max and Holly pair, two prisoners years apart, was built in the writers' room across versions. That detail lights up the season's structure: the Holly line was grafted onto an older idea, that of a Max locked inside Henry's memories.
The episode's traps, one by one
-
The Upside Down trap
Eleven and Hopper capture Lieutenant Akers. Searching his memory, Eleven sees Dr. Kay go into a secure vault and concludes, wrongly, that Vecna is hidden there.
-
The pie trap
The Turnbow family is put to sleep by Erica's pie. Tina refuses to eat it, and Erica has to inject the sedative by hand.
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The blindfold trap
Derek is transported blindfolded so Vecna, who sees through his eyes, will think he is asleep and not spot the barn.
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The house trap
Nancy hits the Demogorgon with a tracker just as it heads back toward a portal. Dustin then sees the creature change course.
-
The letter trap
In the Creel house, Holly finds a letter, a map, and a compass. The message is not from Henry: at the end of the path, it is Max.
The last-season poster.
In the shop6 cm chibi Max Mayfield keychain12,90 €See the product
TakeawayEleven reads Akers and finds Dr. Kay's trunk. Erica's pie puts the Turnbows to sleep; Derek is blindfolded. Nancy plants the tracker; Derek takes off his blindfold, the creature changes course. Holly follows a map to a cave: Max.
Frequently asked questions
What happens in episode 3 of season 5?
Eleven and Hopper capture Lieutenant Akers and discover Dr. Kay's vault; the group puts the Turnbows to sleep and sets a trap for the Demogorgon, which Nancy tags with a tracker; Derek pulls off his blindfold and the creature charges toward the barn; Holly meets Max in a cave.
Who is Derek Turnbow?
A classmate of Holly's, whom Will saw in his visions as Vecna's next target.
Does the trap work?
Halfway: Nancy tags the Demogorgon with the tracer, but Derek takes off his blindfold and Vecna locates the barn.
Who directs episode 3?
Frank Darabont, come out of retirement to direct two episodes of the last season.
Who writes episode 3 of season 5?
Caitlin Schneiderhan, for whom this is the second script for the show. Frank Darabont directs it, coming out of retirement for the occasion.
Why does Eleven think Vecna is in the vault?
Because while reading Akers's mind, she sees Dr. Kay go into a secure vault. The vault in reality contains Kali, as episode 4 reveals.