At the end of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 sci-fi fantasy novel A Wrinkle in Time , the witch/interdimensional being called Mrs. Whatsit compares human life to a sonnet, the poetic form defined by its strict 14-line structure. The correlation annoys Calvin, a teen from a troubled family who finds meaning in an adventure across time and space with neighbor Meg Murry and her family. When Calvin takes exception to having such restrictions on his life, Mrs. Whatsit offers an explanation. “You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself,” she points out. “What you say is completely up to you.”

In its fifth and final season, what Stranger Things wants to say comes from A Wrinkle in Time , at least in part. In the season premiere, we see the novel in the hands of Holly Whe

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