Derek is an instant Stranger Things icon, but he’s at the centre of a season five plot hole

Stranger Things season five is in the middle of that stage which is the burden it has to bear when splitting the season up by a month: We don’t know if it’s a plot hole or if it’s going to be explained on Boxing Day. Tale as old as time. Stranger Things is just one of those shows that brings out the most diehard theorisers and one of them right now is centred around Derek. Derek has been an invaluable addition to season five and he’s a character with a lot more depth and comedy than we initially misjudged him on and he was at the centre of one of the funniest and most riotous set pieces of season five so far. But now Derek is pretty much one of the more useful members of the hero squad, there is actually a major season five Stranger Things plot hole he’s at the centre of and we need to get into it.

The Derek kidnapping plot

did they just leave derek’s family in the barn btw

— *. mehl ☻ .* 🐛🍉 @STUTTGART CC 10H93 (@melonalemonade) November 27, 2025

So thanks to Erica and her devious ways and how good she was at her espionage, we managed to get Derek and all his family to safety when we knew full well Vecna was going to send demogorgons to attack the house Wheeler style. To save Derek from the fat Holly is currently suffering, the gang ended up kidnapping the entire family and hiding them in a barn.

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The thing is though, Derek woke up early after Erica drugged everyone else and he was obviously very panicked and freaking out when he woke to find a weird bunch of people around him in a barn and his family all tied up.

The plot hole with Derek in Stranger Things comes however when you remember that despite everyone including Derek fleeing the barn to carry on with the saga at the base… His family are just left there. Why? The show never explains it. So for all we know the rest of Derek’s family are STILL tied up in that barn. Nightmare.

Hopefully this Derek plot hole from Stranger Things season five will get resolved when we move into volume two on Boxing Day. But until now I hope they’re doing okay and the barn isn’t too chilly. I fear the heroes have gone on to bigger dramas right now to remember the family in the barn…

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