Stranger Things season 5 part 2 was certainly putting the science in science fiction. The latest batch of episodes does a lot of heavy lifting in explaining the true nature of the Upside Down and the mystery wall that was such a talking point in the first episodes of season 5… the fun part is that we get answers, but those answers come with a lot of science to process.
I don’t know about you, but I could have seriously used a Bill Nye video between episodes helping to explain some of the more technical terms and explanations about the mythos of the Upside Down. There is a lot of information thrown our way in episodes 5 through 7 of the show, which creates a lot of questions.
Thankfully, I was able to view the episodes early and process the science behind the wall, exotic matter, and Upside Down to help give a bit o clarity for those watching the episodes for the first time! Warning, there are going to be mild to major spoilers ahead.
What is the wall in Stranger Things?
As we learn in the first four episodes of Stranger Things season 5, there is a mysterious circular wall surrounding the Upside Down. In episode 5, Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan head to the Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down which is at the center of this wall.
Upon arriving at the lab, Dustin theorizes that the circular flesh wall is Vecna’s version of an energy shield, except it’s not sci-fi, it’s supernatural. He believes the wall has been created by Vecna’s dark magic, and that this dark magic shield is what is preventing them from reaching Vecna and saving Holly. If his math is correct, the generator for the shield has to be in the lab.
Dustin later comes to discover his theory was incorrect. After finding one of Dr. Brenner’s old journals, Dustin discovers that Vecna didn’t make the wall: science did. There is nothing on the other side of the wall, and that’s not where Vecna has taken the other kids. As Dustin makes clear to Steve, on the other side of the wall is death. This is because the wall that surrounds Hawkins is essentially the exterior of a wormhole that connects Hawkins to another dimension.
What is exotic matter?
Initially, Dustin believes that a shield generator is what is responsible for creating and maintaining the wall within the Upside Down. He, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan set out to find this shield generator in order to destroy it and bring down the wall.
Upon investigating, Nancy and Jonathan find what they assume to be the shield generator hovering above the roof of the Hawkins Lab. When Jonathan throws a piece of a broken pipe at the sphere, they notice it seems to react and we see blue clouds that almost seem electrified flash above them. They assume this is Vecna’s dark magic; however, it turns out to be a ball of exotic matter.
When explaining to Steve that Vecna didn’t make the wall, Dustin explains that it was science which created the wall as he pieces together that the Upside Down is a wormhole and the mysterious orb of energy Jonathan and Nancy found was exotic matter, which is the single source of energy holding the wall together.
As explained by Space.com, matter is essentially stuff with three forms of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. In scientific terms, “exotic matter” refers to theoretical or rare forms of matter that don’t follow everyday physical rules. In real science, exotic matter is largely theoretical or exists only briefly under lab or cosmic conditions and has long been theorized to be the key ingredient in making a wormhole, which is what occurred in Stranger Things.
The Upside Down is the bridge to Hawkins and The Abyss
In the simplest terms, a wormhole is something that connects two places within the universe by bending space. The Upside Down is not another dimension, but rather a wormhole or a bridge that connects two worlds: Hawkins, Indiana, and the world where the Mind Flayer, Demogorgons, and other creatures originated from which Dustin coins The Abyss.
More specifically, the Upside Down is an interdimensional bridge that rips through space-time. This bridge is wildly unstable, but held together by exotic matter, which they found dead center right above the lab in the Upside Down. This is because the bridge was formed by Brenner when he forced Eleven to make contact with Henry in the other realm.
When that contact was made, the wormhole formed that connected the two worlds via a bridge. This bridge is what has allowed Henry and his monsters to crossover into Hawkins via the Upside Down.
It’s likely that the Upside Down mirrors Hawkins due to the nature of the wormhole being created within the Hawkins lab. When the bridge was formed, it’s as though it was formed in mirroring aspects of both worlds with a backdrop that resembles Hawkins, but with the Demogorgons, vines, and other nasty creatures from The Abyss bleeding into the world as well.
How can the Upside Down be destroyed?
As is made clear in the show, exotic matter is very unstable, as is the bridge aka the Upside Down. If the team is able to pull off Dustin’s plan of dropping a bomb near the exotic matter, it will result in the bridge collapsing, thus severing the connection between the Abyss and Hawkins once and for all.
With the bridge destroyed, the Upside Down will essentially cease to exist. This means there will no longer be rifts in the worlds of Hawkins and the Abyss, with the two realms separating again, this time from a point of no return.
Stranger Things season 5 parts 1 and 2 are streaming now on Netflix.