Derek Turnbow in Stranger Things: who is Holly's classmate, the second child targeted by Henry
Season 5 · Character · Derek Turnbow
Derek Turnbow is the boy who bullied Holly at school. He is also the second child Henry takes, and the bait of a plan that bears his name: the Turnbow trap, in the third episode. Here is who he is, what happens to him, and why the show gives him an episode.
The essentials
- Who: a classmate of Holly Wheeler, about eight
- Role: second child targeted by Henry, bait in the episode 3 trap
- Fate: taken, held in Camazotz, freed at the end
- Played by: Jake Connelly
Contents
Who is Derek Turnbow
Before he is a target, Derek is a problem: the boy in Holly's class who shoves her, mocks her books and her imaginary friend. The show presents him through Holly's eyes, as a little playground tyrant. That is what makes his fate ironic: the bully and the bullied end up in the same prison.
His family, the Turnbows, is an ordinary family in town, caught in the quarantine like the others. It is Erica who looks after him when the group understands Derek is next.
The Wheeler T-shirt, for Holly.
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The Turnbow trap
After Holly's kidnapping, Will, whose visions grow clearer, sees the next name Henry has chosen: Derek. The group decides to make him bait: protect the boy, let the Demogorgon come, and follow it to the place where Henry is holding Holly. The third episode bears the name of that plan, “The Turnbow Trap.”
The trap fails. The creature goes through the house, the device collapses, and Derek is taken in turn. But the group spots a passage, and Will discovers that he sees through the eyes of the Demogorgon.
| Step | What happens to Derek |
|---|---|
| Before the season | Bullies Holly at school |
| Episode 2 | Will sees him as the next target |
| Episode 3 | Serves as bait; is kidnapped despite the trap |
| Episodes 4 to 6 | Held in Camazotz; diverts Henry's attention |
| Episodes 7 and 8 | Freed with the other children |
In Camazotz
Abducted, Derek joins the mental space where Henry holds the children, which Holly has named Camazotz. He is not a hero there: he is afraid, he does not understand, and his presence mainly serves as a diversion, which leaves Max and Holly the room to explore Henry's memory to find a way out. Holly, whom he was bullying, ends up guiding him toward the exit with the others.
Why DerekHenry picks his children the way he picked his victims in 1986: by what they carry. Derek, a schoolyard bully, is for him a vessel like any other. The show does not make a monster of him; it makes a child of him.
Jake Connelly
Derek is played by Jake Connelly, a young American actor for whom this is the first major role, announced with the rest of the season's newcomers, Linda Hamilton, Nell Fisher, and Alex Breaux. He was chosen to stand up to Nell Fisher, whose Holly is the center of the season, and to make credible in a few scenes the passage from bully to victim.
Why the character matters
Derek shows what season 5 does with childhood: it is no longer the 1983 group, it is the children after, Holly, Derek, and the others, who become the monster's material. He also gives the show one of its rare moments of mercy: the bullied girl who saves her bully.
The Demogorgon figure, the one from the trap.
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Derek, episode by episode
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Episode 2
Will understands that his visions come from Vecna's eyes, who is watching the children. The new face he sees there is Derek's.
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Episode 3
The Turnbow family is put to sleep by Erica's pie. Derek travels blindfolded, so Vecna will not see the barn. When he takes the blindfold off, the creature changes course.
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Episode 4
Sent to the military base to identify the children who saw Henry, he is arrested with Joyce, Will, and Mike, then taken by Henry with seven other children.
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Episode 5
In Henry's mind, he admits he followed Max and Holly and invents a diversion in the woods. Henry catches him and threatens his family to ensure his silence.
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Episode 7
When Henry turns the children against Holly, Derek stays silent. He knows, but the threat to his family paralyzes him.
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Episode 8
Holly leads the children into the mine and hides them with Kali. Derek comes back out of the Abyss with the others.
Why Henry chooses children like Derek
Henry explains it himself to Will, at the end of episode 4: the children are “perfect vessels,” which he can remodel in his image. He is aiming for twelve, and Will sees in a vision eight empty places next to the first four abducted. Will's abduction in 1983 taught him what was possible; the students in Holly's class, who read A Wrinkle in Time at school, are an easy target for a “Mr. Whatsit” who claims to protect them from monsters.
Derek is therefore not chosen for what he is but for what he has: an age, a credulity, and a link with Holly. It is that link the group turns into a trap, then that Henry turns in his turn by threatening Derek's parents.
Derek's silence, and what it says about the character
Derek's most revealing moment is also the most discreet. In episode 7, Henry convinces the other children that Holly has been manipulated by Max. Holly tries to warn them; they refuse to believe her. Derek, for his part, knows she is telling the truth. He says nothing. The threat against his family, spoken in the woods two episodes earlier, still holds.
The show does not judge him. Derek is an eight-year-old child, terrified, who has been promised his parents will be killed. His courage in episode 5, the diversion, and his cowardice in episode 7 are two faces of the same fear. Jake Connelly, in his first major role, plays both with the same restraint, which makes the character credible where a heroic child would not have been.
Holly and Derek: two children, two answers to fear
The season sets Derek as a mirror of Holly. Both are the same age, the same class, the same “Mr. Whatsit.” Holly, once in Henry's mind, refuses his promises, allies with Max, explores the forbidden memories, and ends up leading the children into the mine to buy time. Derek, for his part, obeys the threat, then stays quiet.
The show does not make Derek a coward and Holly a heroine. It shows what fear does to two children according to what they have been promised: to Holly, a place with Henry; to Derek, the death of his parents. Nell Fisher and Jake Connelly, both new to the show, carry that contrast without a word too many, and that is probably why the children's line, which could have been the weakness of the season, is one of its strengths.
The last-season poster.
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TakeawayHolly's bully, become Henry's target. The bait of the episode 3 trap, which fails. Held in Camazotz, where he creates a diversion. Freed at the end; played by Jake Connelly.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Derek in Stranger Things?
Derek Turnbow, Holly Wheeler's classmate who was bullying her, and the second child Henry abducts in season 5.
What is the Turnbow trap?
Episode 3's plan: use Derek as bait to follow the Demogorgon to Henry. It fails, Derek is kidnapped.
Does Derek survive?
Yes. Held in Camazotz, he is freed with the other children at the end of the season.
Who plays Derek Turnbow?
Jake Connelly, in his first major role.
Why does Derek stay silent when Holly is accused?
Because Henry threatened his family in the woods, in episode 5, to make sure of his silence. He knows Holly is telling the truth, but fear wins.
How many children does Henry abduct?
Eight in all, taken at the end of episode 4; Will had seen twelve places in his vision. All of them come back out of the Abyss at the end.