Karen Wheeler just wanted to enjoy a nice, relaxing bubble bath at home, cradling a glass of white wine in the tub. And what better way to set the mood than with “Fernando,” the wistful ABBA hit from 1976?
Of course, that’s not how it goes down in Episode 2 of Stranger Things 5, the final season of the beloved series, which debuted its first four episodes on Nov. 26. (Volume 2 arrives on Christmas Day, followed by The Finale on New Year’s Eve.)
In the episode titled “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” all hell breaks loose when a Demogorgon tears through the ceiling of young Holly’s (Nell Fisher) bedroom. As she tries to flee the monster, the camera cuts to Karen (Cara Buono) sipping her wine to the soothing, honeyed sounds of ABBA:
“Can you hear the drums, Fernando? / I remember long ago another starry night like this.”
But that spa-like moment is soon shattered: Holly bursts into the bathroom to warn her mother, and the melody of “Fernando” suddenly sputters and turns sour as the Demogorgon hunts them down. “Fernando” is an especially inspired needle drop — even for a series so famous for its soundtracks — one that lulls the viewer into a false sense of calm just before an incredibly vicious attack.
“I particularly enjoy how ABBA’s ‘Fernando’ not only feels so perfectly Karen as she preps for her bath time, but it also builds in a unique way that heightens the accelerating terror that plays out through the horrific scenes that follow,” says Nora Felder, Stranger Things’ award-winning music supervisor since the first season.
Felder and her team originally had another iconic song in mind for the scene, but when they couldn’t secure the rights for it, they cast a broad net to find the perfect track.
“Once we found out, the creative deep dive began to find another song for the moment. I believe Matt and Ross Duffer’s main directive was to shoot in all directions — my favorite kind of search — but to try songs with some energy,” Felder says. “With that in mind, we tested a rather significant number of songs before landing on ‘Fernando,’ which also happened to be among the very first of the extensive batch that I had submitted. Although we went incredibly deep on this one before a decision was made, I honestly think that everyone was having so much fun testing such a wide range of various song ideas that we just couldn’t stop ourselves.”
“My running joke with music editor Lena Glikson-Nezhelskaya is to playfully tease her from time to time and ask if we should go back to finding more Karen-in-the-bathtub songs,” Felder adds.
After “Fernando” fades out, it’s clear the only bath Karen Wheeler will be getting is a bloodbath in the kitchen when she breaks a wine bottle and uses it to beat down the Demogorgon trying to snatch her daughter. Already, Karen’s hero moment has gone viral among fans of the series. Even Buono was shocked when she first learned about the scene.
“I was so surprised when I read the script and saw that Karen takes her wine bottle and cracks it against the counter. I thought, ‘This is a beautiful full-circle moment,’” Buono says. “I always joked about Karen and her wine, and now it actually comes in handy.”
The first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 are streaming now on Netflix, followed by three more episodes on Christmas Day and The Finale on New Year’s Eve. Click here for a deep dive into how Volume 1 ends, find out when new episodes arrive in your part of the world here, and test your knowledge of Stranger Things with our superfan quiz.
