After that cliffhanger ending of Stranger Things 5 episode 5, we’d bet there’s no way anyone watching isn’t clicking “next episode.” Of course, we know not everyone will die because of Nancy shooting at the ball of energy in the sky, but something bad must happen, right?
We recapped and reviewed Stranger Things 5 episode 6, “Escape From Camazotz,” live here at Winter is Coming.
We don’t have to wait long to find out what happens next in the Upside Down. Nancy shoots at the sky, and suddenly, we see a big glowing vortex, followed by an explosion and the emergence of energy bolts that travel across the dimension.
We finally catch back up with Erica and Murray here, seeing the pair pay Mr. Clarke a visit at his home. Though Mr. Clarke is annoyed, once they tell him that Dustin is in danger, he agrees to help them build a new telemetry tracker.
The truth behind the Upside Down
We then get more information about whatever that energy ball is—and what it did. Dustin explains to Steve that he was wrong about the generator. He learned from Brenner’s journal that the key to destroying the wall is in the lab, but it isn’t the ball of energy. That thing, he says, is something called exotic matter, a single source of energy holding the wall together.
So, while he wasn’t totally far off, destroying the exotic matter wouldn’t actually help them. And this is when he makes a major revelation: They’ve been wrong about the Upside Down this whole time. It isn’t an alternate dimension; instead, it’s actually a wormhole, and if the bridge between time and space is destroyed, they’ll die, too.
Hopper, Eleven, and Kali watch the bolts reach the wall, but instead of destroying it, it makes it more powerful. Quickly, the wall sucks up Steve’s car, and then all the objects around, like tree branches, get pulled to it. The trio must hide to avoid being sucked up into the wall, and Eleven uses her powers to get them to a gate to the real world.
Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan are left unconscious up on the roof from the explosion, and everything is melting around them.
After being warned by Will, Max and Holly run from Vecna and retreat to the cave. But this time, Vecna doesn’t seem so scared. Appearing as Henry, he doesn’t enter the cave, but he does confront the girls, telling them that if Holly doesn’t go with him, he’ll kill Max. Max calls him on his bluff, saying if he wanted to kill her, he could just come into the cave and do it.
Henry scares Holly by stating that “things have changed,” and he has other ways to get to them now. He claims that Max’s life is in Holly’s hands.
November 6
It’s now a new day, and that day would be—you guessed it—November 6! It’s the day Will went missing back in 1983, and now, exactly four years later, everything could end.
At the radio station, Will is still unconscious. Lucas, Robin, and Mike try to figure out what happened and how Will was able to see Max. Robin has a theory, posing that maybe Max isn’t in a coma after all, but rather in some sort of trance in Vecna’s mind. And since Max and Holly have been in Vecna’s mind the longest, maybe they could help.
Will and Vecna meet again
We then cut to what Will is experiencing in his consciousness while passed out. He wakes up trapped by the tentacles in Vecna’s lair, and Henry comes to visit him. Turning into Vecna, he reveals to Will that he was his builder all those years ago, and while he was sleeping, he was actually building tunnels for Vecna every night. Vecna claims that Will has a lot of power inside of him, but only because they’re Vecna’s powers, and they’re growing stronger.
Vecna tells Will that he needs him to be his spy one more time, and while Will refuses, it doesn’t look like he’ll have much of a choice.
Holly and Max regroup on what to do next, and Max says she thinks Vecna won’t come into the cave because of a traumatic memory he doesn’t want to relive. Holly suggests that they could escape through Henry’s bad memory, but Max isn’t so sure. Holly follows her hunch, however, and leaves the cave to look for clues.
Hopper, Eleven, and Kali make it back to the real world and reunite with the group at the radio station. Will is still unconscious, and Joyce asks El if she’ll try to find him. She agrees, but it’s not so easy, as he keeps slipping away from her when she tries.
The melting room
Jonathan and Nancy finally wake up with all of the melted matter around them, realizing they didn’t destroy the ball of energy—they only made it angry. And to make matters worse, they’re not able to escape the room they’re in because of everything melting, including the doorknob.
Eleven is still having trouble finding Will, and Kali informs Hopper that she needs help. As Mike watches, confused, Kali and Hopper argue over Eleven and their plans. Kali claims that killing Vecna won’t end all of this, but Hop doesn’t want to hear it. He decides they’ll build a tank for Eleven.
Lucas and Robin go to the hospital to visit Max, but Vickie sees Robin and pulls her away to confront her about stealing the drugs. The hospital knows, and security guards are looking for her. Vickie demands answers, but what Robin tells her is too shocking for her to believe. Lucas starts playing “Running Up That Hill” for Max, hoping he’ll be able to get to her.
While they wait for the tank, Mike asks Eleven what Kali’s been talking about. Eleven doesn’t want to talk about it, but eventually tells him about the lab in the Upside Down. Eleven is clearly frustrated and finally coming to terms with reality, protesting against everything Mike says to make her feel better. She tells him that because she has Vecna’s blood in her, this will never end. Mike assures her they’ll figure it out, but this is, of course, very difficult for him to grasp.
Max follows Holly out into the desert and, after theorizing that there must be a secret location somewhere to access Henry’s memory, she falls through the ground, and they discover stairs underground.
Steve and Dustin try to find Nancy and Jonathan in the lab, and they have a much-needed heartfelt moment. Dustin gets choked up, telling Steve he doesn’t want him to die. They both get vulnerable and share a hug, understanding that they’ve just been defensive and really do care about each other.
Nancy and Jonathan’s big confessions
The melting continues in the room Nancy and Jonathan are in, and they begin to accept their fate that Steve and Dustin won’t get to them in time. Because of this, they have a very honest conversation, thinking it’ll be their last, starting with Nancy telling Jonathan she actually hates The Clash, his favorite band. This turns into a back-and-forth of confessions, including Jonathan admitting to never applying to Emerson College. But Nancy knew that already.
Nancy and Jonathan discuss their shared drama, admitting the good and the bad about it. Jonathan brings up Steve, but Nancy assures him that she doesn’t feel that way about Steve, despite him being a good person. Jonathan decides to show Nancy the engagement ring he got her, but instead of proposing, he asks if she will “not marry” him, and, in turn, they mutually decide it’s time for their relationship to end.
Suddenly, they realize they were so distracted by their conversation that they didn’t notice that the melting stopped, meaning they’re safe.
The tank is ready for Eleven, and she goes in, finding Will’s physical body and asking him to show her where he is. Tentacles appear, and she’s transported to Vecna’s lair. She sees Will and tries to wake him up, using her powers to cut down the tentacles around him. But he won’t wake up.
Henry’s cave memory
Max and Holly go down the stairs to a tunnel, where they find blood and a pair of glasses on the ground. They remind themselves that they’re just in a memory, not real life, and soon stumble upon an unidentified man with a briefcase and a gun.
Max and Holly watch as a young Henry appears and walks up to the man, and the man shoots Henry in the hand. To retaliate, Henry then picks up a rock and bashes the man’s head in. Max then begins to hear “Running Up That Hill” playing, while Holly watches Henry open the briefcase.
Max grabs Holly, and they begin taking down rocks from one of the tunnel’s walkways, getting closer and closer to the song playing. As they do this, Max’s monitor in the hospital begins beeping faster.
Vecna finds Max in the real world
In Vecna’s lair, Eleven is finally able to wake up Will, but it might be too late. Vecna was able to look through Will’s consciousness to see where Max is in the real world, and he’s coming for her. Cut to the hospital, and a Demodog shows up, killing military soldiers. Vickie and Robin flee, but more Demodogs appear, and they realize they’re not after them. The creatures have a very specific mission there.
Robin uses the loudspeaker to warn Lucas that they’re coming for Max, and he runs to the elevator holding Max in his arms, escaping the Demodogs. Meanwhile, Karen wakes up in her hospital bed.
Max and Holly crawl through a small space from the tunnels and see Vecna’s Mind Lair, ready to follow the music.
Back at the hospital, Lucas, holding Max, finds Robin and Holly, and they hide from the Demodogs in the laundry room. Robin tells Lucas he needs to turn off the music so they aren’t found, but he can’t—he knows Max is close. One of the washing machines makes a weird noise and distracts the Demodogs, followed by an explosion that takes them out. Karen then emerges, having put a can of oxygen in the machine to kill the creatures.
Max and Holly go their separate ways
In the Mind Lair, Max and Holly see the portal to go back to the real world, but Max makes a shocking statement: Holly can’t come with her. She tells Holly that she has to figure out how to make it home, and it doesn’t have to be music; it can be anything meaningful. Uh, this is a little surprising, right? Max is just abandoning Holly?
Holly tells Max about her Holly the Heroic figure that she carries with her, and Max convinces her that she is heroic. Suddenly, another portal opens up for Holly to go home, too. They go their separate ways and begin to run to their respective portals as the episode comes to a close.
Okay… what? What a weird ending, right? First, Max decides she can’t help Holly after all, and then, within minutes, she convinces Holly she can do it on her own, and another portal just magically opens up for her? And the music didn’t even need to be music? I know there’s an extra level of suspending your disbelief when watching Stranger Things because of all of the easy resolutions that conveniently work out, but this is an all-time low on that front.
It’s not that I don’t want Holly to go home, but the show, this season in particular, has proven that things, more often than not, are just going to work out, removing nearly all of the stakes. If we know Nancy and Jonathan are going to be saved, why should we care that the walls are caving in on them? If we know a portal is going to appear for Holly, why should we care that she has to figure out how to get home herself?
There are good moments throughout this episode, but the ending really reinforces a problem Stranger Things has kind of had from the start—but especially in the final season. It’s hard to care when problems are solved so easily.
Episode grade: C+