One of the weirdest parts of the Stranger Things 5 Vol. 2 is Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Dustin's trip to the Hawkins National Lab in the Upside Down where they encounter exotic matter, melting walls, and certain death.
Remember, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) calculates that the Hawkins National Lab must be the center of the Upside Down if the wall goes all the way around. He couldn't have been more wrong.
After splitting up in Stranger Things 5 episode 5, "Shock Jock," Dustin finds Dr. Brenner's notes from the lab and realizes he's wrong right before Nancy (Natalia Dyer) tries to shoot a hole in what she thinks is some kind of force field that's stopping them from finding Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Holly (Nell Fisher).
Instead, it's a ball of exotic matter that's actually holding the Upside Down together. Nancy disturbs it, and there's a big explosion. Everything starts "melting" around them, but they're unconscious, which leads to one of the best scenes in the whole show in Stranger Things 5 episode 6, "Escape From Camazots."
Why is the Hawkins National Lab melting in Stranger Things 5?
Now, I can't explain why everything is melting, but I think the point is that this exotic matter is changing the chemistry of the world at like an atomic level. The matter isn't necessarily hot, but when exposed for long periods of time, as this lab in the Upside Down has been, it looks like it is melting because its composition is changing.
After doing a little bit of research, there are many theories about wormholes and how they would actually require negative matter, which is not known to exist, so it's wildly theoretical how the negative matter would react, so to speak, with matter or exotic matter.
There are also some theories about wormholes that have to do with matter bending space and time, so the melting could signify the bending of time and space, which is why you see the dead soldiers at the Hawkins National Lab who are from decades earlier.
Look, I'm not a scientist, but that's the best explanation I've got. It's pretty clear that this ball of exotic matter, when it gets disturbed, is changing the properties of the Hawkins National Lab around Nancy, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Dustin, and Steve (Joe Keery).
I think it explains why those characters aren't "melting" when they're exposed to this matter, and it also explains why, when it's disturbed, everything changes more rapidly than when it's at rest.
Had the matter continued to do what it did right after Nancy shot it, our not-so-star-crossed lovers would have drowned in the goopy goop. Luckily, Steve and Dustin are good friends and continued to help search for Nancy and Jonathan when they could have tucked tail and ran.
The melting walls just look awesome
Regardless of whether the scientific stuff happening at the Hawkins National Lab actually makes sense, it's actually just awesome. I'm not opposed to the Duffers manufacturing some drama with some cool practical effects and CGI.
The Hawkins National Lab melting looks super trippy! I was highly entertained watching Nancy and Jonathan try to find a way out of that room. It was awesome to see Dustin and Steve fighting over the next move as the walls and stairs become nothing around them.
Then, we had the moment it all seemed lost with Nancy and Jonathan. As the room filled with goop and they looked like they were about to drown, they finally, after all this time, shared how they really felt about each other and confessed their true feelings. Although Jonathan's criticisms and admissions were borderline psychopathic, this is one of the most powerful scenes in the show. We've seen the shared trauma connect these characters for so long, and now, they've realized that the trauma, the bonds, and even real love can't keep them together. It was beautiful.
And, it was all made possible by some weird melting walls that don't really serve any purpose that I can figure out so far.
Will we learn more about those walls in the finale? We'll see, but it won't be long until we find out.