If you caught my latest update on Instagram, you already know I have been absolutely floored by a specific performance in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1. While we all went in expecting big moments from Eleven, Hopper, and the original party, the real scene-stealer has been the youngest member of the Wheeler clan. I’m talking, of course, about Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler. I mentioned in my caption that she is “commanding the screen,” but frankly, an Instagram caption just doesn’t give me enough space to break down why this performance is so pivotal. We need to talk about how a character who spent four seasons as a background toddler just became the emotional anchor of the final season.
When it was announced that Holly was being recast with a more experienced actress, there was a fair amount of skepticism online. Fans were rightfully protective of the core cast, and adding a “new” main player this late in the game felt risky. But Nell Fisher didn’t just step into the role; she reinvented it. From the moment she appeared on screen, she brought a surprising intensity that grounded the supernatural chaos in something deeply personal. Her interactions with “Mr. Whatsit”—Vecna’s terrifyingly manipulative disguise—were chilling not because of jump scares, but because of the innocence Fisher portrayed while being groomed by the ultimate evil. The way she utilizes A Wrinkle in Time to process her trauma, viewing Vecna’s mind prison as Camazotz, added a layer of psychological depth that rivals anything we’ve seen from the older kids.
This performance also completely shatters the existing dynamic of the Wheeler family, a point I briefly touched on in my social post but want to expand on here. For years, Ted and Karen have been the oblivious suburban parents, disconnected from the horror their children were facing. Fisher’s performance forced them into the line of fire—literally. The sequence where Holly is taken, leading to the brutal attack on her parents, is one of the most harrowing moments in the series history. It strips away the “safe suburban” veneer the Wheelers always had. Holly is no longer just the baby sister to be babysit; she is a survivor and a “Cleric” in her own right (shout out to the Holly the Heroic D&D figurine), and Fisher sells every second of that transformation.
I’m not alone in this assessment. The reviews have been pouring in, and the consensus is that Fisher is the season’s breakout star. Critics who were initially confused by the expanded screen time for a “minor” character are now eating their words, with many pointing out that her storyline perfectly mirrors Will’s disappearance in Season 1, bringing the show full circle. It is a massive narrative burden to place on a young actress—sharing scenes with Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna is no small feat—but she went toe-to-toe with him. As we wait for the final episodes to drop later next month, one thing is certain: Holly Wheeler is the key to the endgame, and Nell Fisher has more than earned her spot in the spotlight.