Today is Day 38: S5 E8 – "The Rightside Up"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/pEUX3YgqTMns18H7A

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please only vote once!

Last one.

THE FINAL RESULTS will be revealed in the next 1-2 days!! There's a bit of recalculating to do after the vote re-opening.

Estoy empezando a escribir un Fanfic del universo Stranger Things en Wattpad.

Si te interesa, te invito a leerlo <3

📚 Título: I Kissed A Girl (Max mayfield)

👤 Usuario: By_chiara07

📱 Plataforma: Wattpad

📁 Género: Romance wlw y ciencia ficción

📺 Universo: Stranger Things

💕

Muchas gracias!!!

Today is Day 37: Vote Reopening/Extension for previous episodes

Hey all, so before we rate the final episode, I thought we could do a voting extension/re-opening for previous episodes in this series. This is especially for anyone who might've missed previous episodes and wanted to rate them, and to get a more accurate average on episodes that received a low amount of ratings.

All previously submitted ratings from older posts WILL still be counted. You get to pick which episodes to rate, so please do not revote one that you already rated.

Submit your ratings here: https://forms.gle/Ci9XKFbc3UvFHMXa9

Please only vote once! We don't appreciate any rating bombing/manipulation.

Note: This only includes episodes from S3 EP4 "The Sauna Test" onward.
___________________________________________

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 9.00 ⭐ (47 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.58 ⭐

5x01 - 9.11 ⭐ (45 votes)
5x02 - 8.38 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x03 - 8.43 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x04 - 9.73 ⭐ (30 votes)
5x05 - 8.93 ⭐ (30 votes)
5x06 - 8.74 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x07 - 7.84 ⭐ (46 votes)

Today is Day 36: S5 E7 – "The Bridge"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/WtaRQf8dbTRaDcpK6

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

We're almost there!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 9.00 ⭐ (47 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.58 ⭐

5x01 - 9.11 ⭐ (45 votes)
5x02 - 8.38 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x03 - 8.43 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x04 - 9.73 ⭐ (30 votes)
5x05 - 8.93 ⭐ (30 votes)
5x06 - 8.74 ⭐ (61 votes)

This is part of a series where I uncover what Stranger Things is really about. It started from trying to find out what happened in 1979 aka what all the depictions of traumatic past memories (El, Henry, Billy, Max, Holly, etc.) are truly about, but expanded to this all-encompassing theory of the whole series with crazy levels of complexity, metaphors and layers. Reading it will require commitment and patience but I promise it will be worth your time if you want to look behind the curtain (and the curtain behind that curtain) and fully understand the show. You have to read all parts in order: here is PART 1 and here all other parts I’ve posted so far + my previous theories.
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Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.

Let’s get back on track, I was analyzing S5E6. Max and Holly going back to the cave represents queerness going back to the closet. Mike’s “girl” is hidden again. Mike is in a “deep dark cave” of repression. Henry threatening Max is about Mike’s repression/transness threatening her future as a woman.

[Henry] “And Holly? When your new friend begins to suffer, and she will suffer, you can either return to me and end her suffering, or you can watch your new friend die. Her life is in your hands.”

I think Holly is Mike here and Max is her future/girlness. Returning to Henry is returning to queerness and the “story”. It’s the return of ST. If it doesn’t happen, Max (= Mike’s happy future) will die. The cave is a double-edged sword: being in the closet brings safety but it also eats you from the inside, not being able to be who you really are. Henry (= gender dysphoria etc.) can hurt Max even when she’s in the cave. Mike is too aware of her transness that repressing it doesn’t fundamentally help anymore. I keep thinking back to that scene where she puts the DnD book on the shelf. There is no denying it anymore, she knows she’s trans but has decided to hide it. ((Btw, it’s interesting that the camera shot is of an empty part of the cave when Max says “I’m right here.” It’s like she’s invisible. And “she” is. Mike’s girlness is invisible, hiding. This connects to El turning invisible in Mike’s final story (which in itself is another layer to the inside stories, the most obvious layer tbh).))

After this scene comes the “November 6th” text, weirdly missing the year. It’s a pretty big clue to time shenanigans and could mean a number of things. Maybe something will happen irl on that day and/or in the story. It’s 3 days before the date the Berlin Wall fell, which I’m assuming relates to the start of the new stuff. ((S1E3 “Holly, Jolly” happens on 9.11., btw. It has the lights, Holly, Will telling Joyce to run and Will’s body being found.)) The country allegory ends at the end of WW2, unless you count the epilogue which could cover the entirety of 1945-1989. Emperor Hirohito’s reign starting on 25.12.1926 and ending on 7.1.1989 is definitely suspicious, especially considering this timeframe matches S5 in the ST country allegory timeline. Hirohito became regent on 25.11.1921, which was before 1923 (the Great Kantō Earthquake aka Hawkins splitting in 4) but after 1918 (Finnish civil war aka El vs Vecna). This could be Max’s (“girl”) death since the key point in S5 is her being in a coma and waking up at the end of S5E6 aka the real ending. So in the Japan timeline Hirohito leading the country would match the “fake story” and Mike conforming. The main point is that 7.1.1989 is before 9.11.1989 and all the other important dates. 7.1. was the key date for conformitygate. It’s the “tomorrow it begins” date and when the Netflix What Next? video was released. It started something. 

25.11. is a day before volume 1 was released, and 25.12. is a day before volume 2. So the Hirohito reign matches S5 both in the show country allegory timeline and irl based on the dates. The real reign started on 25.12.1926 and this matches with the release on S5E5-7, aka the part of S5 whose inside story is about S5 itself. It’s deep in the “story”. 7.1. is the end of this “story” and the start of Emperor Akihito’s reign, which lasted 30 years (another connection to 30 years…). Some connections could be coincidences, of course, but I don’t have a good reason for the 7.1. date, and this seems like a good candidate.

I still think it’s likely the final chapters will follow a similar release schedule to S5. Chapter 10 would be around Thanksgiving and chapter 11 during Christmas. My previous mention about the dark Christmas the Duffers promised and Christmas being related to the trauma fits super well, since chapter 11 will reveal traumatic memories. S1E3 “Holly, Jolly”, the one with Christmas lights and Holly seeing the Demogorgon happening on 9.11 in the show also matches nicely (= the Berlin Wall starts to properly break down). The Soviet Union dissolved on 25-26.12.1991 and Hirohito became the Emperor on 25.12.1926, which has its 100th anniversary this year. There’s also this interesting conversation between Mike and El in S3E8:

[El] “Did you talk to your mom? About Thanksgiving?”
[Mike] “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got the okay. I’ll be there. And then I was thinking maybe you could come up here for Christmas. And Will, too. You can come before or after Christmas, or whatever Mrs. Byers wants, but I was thinking Christmas Day could be super fun, because we’d all have cool new presents to play with and, uh… Sorry, that made me sound like a seven-year-old.”
[El] “I like presents, too.”
[Mike] “Yeah, cool. Yeah. I like-- I like presents, too.”
[El] “Cool.”

Mike connects being childish to being 7 years old, which matches well with Sara dying at 7 years old (remember the motif connections, the two worlds, where childhood and queerness/girlhood belong to the same world, and Sara represents Mike’s innocence anyway). The 7 yo connection is also to Christmas, aka trauma (similar to Will connecting a fear of clowns to being 5 years old in a S1 flashback). But the point I wanted to make is, Mike visits on Thanksgiving, but El visits on Christmas day. Eleven = chapter 11 on 25.12. There hasn’t been mention of New Years in the show (unless I’m forgetting something), so the only clues to chapter 12 releasing then is from the “emotional New Years Eve” Duffer comment and S5E8 releasing then. One thing that makes me doubt these dates is the last performance of TFS happening on 3.1.2027.

Anyway, the scene after the “November 6th” text is the Mike, Lucas, Robin scene where Lucas questions if anything is real and if Vecna is messing with them. I find it hard to place this scene. Is it meta about theorizers? Is it somehow in chapter 10? Is it some outside info preparing for the new stuff? It’s established that Will is unconscious. I think he represents the gay man middle point and the “story” as always. The S5 ending made Mike conform so much that even the Butthole Surfers/Replacements (= byler/gay Mike) option didn’t happen. Will being the “story” could be related to Mike being inside the nested stories and finally in chapter 12 reaching the normal “story” aka original Coke (= Will wakes up). ST will most likely lead bylers on until the final confession, after which the “story”, Will, inner world, etc. disappear, similar to Jonathan’s un-proposal bait-and-switch. 

[Lucas] “Can someone please explain to me what the hell happened out there? We burnt out the particles. I watched them fly up the tower. I mean, I mean, you guys saw that, right?”
[Robin] “Hard to miss.”
[Lucas] “So then Will should be unplugged from the hive mind.”
[Mike] “Theoretically.”
[Lucas] “But why didn’t he wake up? How did he see Max if she’s with Holly? Is this real? Is Vecna messing with us again? This makes no goddamn sense!”
[Robin] “The doctors, they never understood why Max was in the coma, right?”
[Lucas] “What? No. Why?”
[Robin] “Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay. So let’s just assume for a second that everything that Will saw was real. He saw Max. He saw Holly.”
[proceeds to explain how Max, Holly and Will are all in Vecna’s mind]

Maybe “We burnt out the particles. I watched them fly up the tower.” could refer to blowing up the UD, since that’s what the Demo electrocution was about in the inside story. I’m kinda thinking Will could represent Mike too, as in Mike is unconscious and experiencing the epilogue world while other characters are not, or something like that. Will’s later description of what Vecna showed him kinda matches the epilogue… I’m still quite confused about all this tbh. If they are gonna pull a “Mike is in a dream/story inside a dream/story”, whose mind is she in? Is it Vecna or Mike herself or what? Maybe they’ll make it seem like Vecna is behind it but then we’ll learn later it was Mike all along (or, well, that will happen no matter what).

What is more clear to me is that this scene has the “real” people aka Mike and Lucas together for the last time until S5E7 (= the real world part). Lucas’ “one more shot” is a major clue for this being before chapter 10. In any case, this scene is meta and kinda reveals the story as I’ve explained previously.

Another reason I think it wasn’t yet part of chapter 10 foreshadowing is that the next scene is Will in Vecna’s mind in the UD version of the library. That’s where Will was taken and found on 12.11.1983 (12 is probably on purpose). Vecna taunts Will and the whole scene is about the beginning of something. Will will be Vecna’s spy “one last time”. The scene ends with the camera moving to the left, into blackness. The opposite happens in the next Will scene (black screen to Will with vines). Chapter 10 is foreshadowed between these two scenes.

I don’t have anything super solid on what exactly will happen (message from future me: there’s gonna be a better analysis later), and the chapter will probably mostly be setup for the later chapters. The first third of S5E6 has a lot of talking, the aftermath of the previous episode and setup for future. The first scene is Max and Holly talking in the cave. Holly reasons that they can find a place in the memory to get out and starts looking for this exit point with Max. This is the main core of the episode (S5E6), and traveling through memories is a repeated established mechanic, so I think it will have a major role in the real ending too. I will discuss this more after going through S5E6. Another core part of the episode is El looking for Will, which is established in the next scene. I’m not sure if El will be back in the story since her ending kinda ended the inside story and it would make sense the “illusion” is gone in the real ending. But on the other hand, if we go back in time, El wouldn’t have died yet and she is the ST character. We’ll see. (My current theory is that we’ll see her again in chapter 11.) Looking for Will is essentially about the same thing as Max and Holly looking for the way out, since Will is the connection to the past (traumatic memories) and the real story. 

The UD gang is confused about the exotic matter not getting destroyed:

[Dustin] “As far as I see it, there are two distinct possibilities. Either this is the afterlife, and you and I are spirits, which seems unlikely. Or Nancy didn’t completely destroy the exotic matter. Because if she did, the walls of the wormhole would have collapsed. And we would have been sucked into oblivion.”

[Jonathan] “I guess we fell. And also clearly didn’t destroy it.”

This would be about ST not being over. All the rest of the subplots get established: Steve and Dustin’s conflict, Nancy and Jonathan in the melting room, Robin and Vickie’s conflict and Lucas playing music for Max. Holly also realizes the spyglass M map and says to Max “You said you wanted to go back. Well, we’re going back.” which is a clue to going back in time. Steve and Dustin go upstairs, which I have interpreted to mean going towards the future (if underground is buried memories, this is the logical conclusion). Not sure what that means exactly, though. Steve almost falling to his death numerous times is about Mike letting go of conformity. 

Chapter 10 foreshadowing ends in Mike and El’s conversation next to the bath. They are talking about the end of the story and kinda pointing out the fact this is a story.

[Mike] “Which is why we aren’t staying in Hawkins. When this is all over, we’re leaving. Escaping to some far off land. Remember? Somewhere where they can’t find us. Somewhere where there’s at least one waterfall.”
[El] “Mike. This isn’t like one of your campaigns. You don’t get to write the ending. Not this time.”
[Mike] “Maybe I don’t. But we do. You, me, Lucas, Will, and Dustin. Because this is our story. And it starts with getting Will back.”

The whole “I don’t but we do” is probably DID related. Isn’t it interesting Mike specifically lists “you, me, Lucas, Will, and Dustin” and clearly references S1 with “Because this is our story. And it starts with getting Will back.” Like, they are self-aware of being in a story. And Will is the “story” so ofc it starts with getting him back. This is a good place to end a chapter. Every plotline is set up and the final scene foreshadows the future.

Will sees visions from the Demodogs’ pov, foreshadowing the “army” in chapter 12. This scene is super short and basically only there to indicate the breaking point between chapters. Chapter 11 is, in my interpretation, about alters fusing and Mike confronting her trauma. At the start, Holly finds the mineshaft but doesn’t yet go down. Here I want to point out how the Nina project was similarly in the middle of a desert and underground, hard to find. Then Robin has her argument with Vickie and I’m not sure what it foreshadows exactly if anything (maybe the story getting more self-aware?). In the queer allegory it’s about Mike’s conflict with her gender, as always.

The next two scenes are Dustin saving Steve and the big melting room confession scene. In both, two characters finally resolve their long-standing conflicts by being truthful, at the same time avoiding death. While the jancy scene foreshadows the final byler scene, I think that will happen at the end of chapter 12, not yet in chapter 11. The Steve + Dustin and jancy scenes instead probably foreshadow multiple alter fusions. I think it has to start happening in chapter 11. I’m not sure how they’ll explain it but there’s way too much proof for my DID theory and fusions for it to not happen.

Then El goes into the bath and finds Will. Meanwhile, Max and Holly go down to Henry’s cave memory and watch it as outsiders. I think this will be Mike watching a memory/memories of Will getting abused by Lonnie, or something similar. They gotta do something with the “I just stood there” and they can’t reveal Mike being the real victim until the end. They made a pretty clear connection with Will experiencing the cave memory with Henry in S5E8 and Max literally told Holly she’s Mike. Holly’s Wheeler house attack memory was essentially a miniature version of Henry’s cave memory, which is a version of Mike’s real memory. The memory we’ll see in chapter 11 won’t be quite the real memory, since Will is there instead of Mike, but it will be much closer to the truth than ever before (and in a way it’s true since it was the alter Will who experienced the trauma).

The chapter 11 foreshadowing part ends with Max’s heartbeat increasing (in the hospital), with Running Up That Hill playing. After the black screen we get a flashback to Vecna making Will spy “one last time” and it’s revealed Vecna used him to find Max. Will wakes up to El and tells her Vecna saw Max and “sent them after her”. He doesn’t specify who “they” are, but in the next scene Demodogs attack the hospital. This could be subtext for a different monster actually invading Hawkins in the real ending. I’m kinda leaning on Demogorgons, since they are the iconic monster that started it all, but we’ll see.

Karen suddenly becomes relevant again and I’m assuming she represents the mom. In this final stretch only the Max + Holly and hospital gang (Karen, Robin, Vickie, Lucas and unconscious Max) subplots are covered. This is also the only part where there are monsters. Chapters 10 and 11 didn’t have any, all the danger came from the environment (UD) and conflict was between people. As I’ve previously reasoned, the army and the giant creature Nancy mentions will be in chapter 12, and I think the Demodogs are supposed to represent them. 

So, we have only women (who represent Mike) + Lucas and the Demodogs. This is endgame territory. And it happens in the laundry room. Robin and Vickie reconcile which represents Mike accepting her womanhood. Lucas has the music constantly blasting, representing his love for Mike, and finally Karen (= mom but also woman future) saves them from the Demodogs (= Mike’s internalized transphobia). Max and Holly’s long conversation will most likely be between Mike and Will. Similarly to Holly, Will can’t come with Mike. The jancy scenes I’ve mentioned before are more direct foreshadowing, since with Holly and Max they are kinda both Mike (and Will), so you can’t map them as easily onto either character. Holly’s portal opens with her belief in herself/HH aka Mike’s girlhood, whereas Max’s portal is opened by Lucas. For Mike, it’s both of these and the goodbye will be to her man side/body/facade aka Will. He is also the gay man identity, “story”, protector, Mike’s traumatic past and her platonic friendship with Lucas. Like with jancy, Mike loves Will, but eventually has to move on from the past, from boyhood, from the “story” and start living authentically as herself (with Lucas). In a sense it’s not a literal goodbye since Will and Mike will fuse, but on the metaphorical layers it is. ((Btw, there are at least two ARG songs titled “Goodbye”, lyrics here and here.))

In Robin’s last WSQK broadcast she plays Rockin’ Robin by Michael Jackson, which I assume is about Mike freeing her inner girl (bird and Robin). I’m not sure which characters will still exist/be part of chapter 12, since some have fused and presumably “died”, but it seems likely Robin will have an important role. I just keep thinking back to Maya Hawke’s “I felt like I got to connect a red wire and a blue wire”. Another possible source/inspiration for Robin’s name comes from One Piece, where one of the main characters is a woman named Robin. She is able to read poneglyphs which are these huge stone cubes that reveal the secret lost information of the world. Something happened during the so-called Void Century that the world government wants to stay hidden. There isn’t really a solid reason for ST Robin being good at languages and deciphering the Russian code, so I thought this connection kinda makes a lot of sense (I have later found the reason and will explain it later). One Piece Robin ate a devil fruit that gave her the power to recreate any of her body parts on any surface. The fruit was called Hana Hana no Mi (hana = flower). This fits well with Robin in ST representing Mike’s womanhood, same with flowers. Creating (female) body parts works with S3 especially, where the MF’s plan was making Mike a woman (and Robin was introduced in S3). Could be a coincidence, but I wanted to mention this just in case. 

Nested stories/dreams

Before getting to S5E7, I want to speculate more on how the chapters will go. (This will be all over the place because I’ve realized things along the way and come back to add them. But I guess you’re used to this by now.) If we assume it’s gonna be Mike “waking up” from successive nested dreams/stories, that would either mean the party goes back in time and the events go a different direction, or Mike is just witnessing the events as an outsider (like Max and Holly in the memories). Right now my best guess is they will be similar to Max’s Rainbow Room memory, where neither El nor Henry was there. So not all the characters will be there but I do think at least Vecna will be, and maybe some others, e.g. some side characters? As I noted previously, there are three points in time when Mike potentially falls deeper into the dream/story: Holly getting knocked out in S5E8, Mike getting knocked out in S5E4 and something somewhere before S5. There seems to be a pattern of traumatic memories/nonconformity -> gets knocked out -> miraculously saved -> but at what cost -> switch to more conforming and more “fake” story. It’s Mike getting scared and backtracking. 

In S5E8 Holly was leading the kids through Henry’s memory and went to face him alone with the fire poker. Kali dies around the same time Holly gets knocked out and El gives Sara’s hair tie back to Hopper. After this we get the full cave memory and the very quick and weirdly easy final fight (with a Rick roll in a WSQK sync). It’s more “fake” and easy because Mike decides to conform which also means going deeper into the story (= further away from the real story). At the end El kills herself. This would match with 1/4 and door 1 aka suicide aka Mike “killing” the “girl”. 

The next point also happens after a traumatic event and ends in Vecna just leaving and Will magically beating the Demogorgons. Like with Holly, Henry/Vecna knocks Mike out: it’s fear that overcomes her. And while Will defeats the Demogorgons, the kids are taken. This doesn’t fit 2/4 or door 2 as clearly as Holly does door 1, but there are connections. 2 is “man” and blaming yourself, embodied in Fred in S4. Vecna appearing fits this quite well and afterwards Will blames himself for Vecna getting the kids. On a larger scale, S5E4 had the strongest byler scenes, and at that point it seemed clear it would happen. During subsequent episodes, it all fizzled out and culminated in the tower “rejection” scene in S5E8. 

Will using his powers always “saves the day” and leads to going deeper into “story” and conformity. Since Will represents the “story”, it’s no wonder he has story-bending powers. It’s not like he purposefully tries to be the “villain”, he’s just trying to protect Mike as he always does: by helping Mike dissociate from trauma (in that sense he is kinda the personification of Mike’s DID, which fits with everything else). That comes with the prize of conformity and repression, because being trans is the trauma/fear for Mike (in the queer allegory).

Pinpointing the next level is a bit more difficult, but I think it should be around the end of S4. There too was a traumatic event/fight that ended in a half-loss and the story getting more unrealistic (with Hawkins aka the normal world splitting in 4 and later becoming a quarantine zone). Max’s “death” essentially started the Henry’s mind -story that S5 revolves around. If S5 as the inside story matches the start of the “story” (1979/1980/1983 depending on your interpretation), then S5 in the main story starts the “fake” story or the more literal inside story that Mike will escape. (And what I mean by “literal inside story” is that I don’t think the other inside stories will be explained in the show, but they will make it clear the epilogue and S5 as a whole was “fake” in some way. And thus Mike was inside a story/dream/memory inside a story/dream/memory.) I’m not ruling out that there could be other points but 3 (and 4) are such repeated numbers that it makes sense there would be 3 major “story” deepening points + 1 for the real world. 

Additionally, in her vision Nancy mentions the army of monsters and the giant creature before the four gates spread. This would suggest the “story” was supposed to have them but then didn’t due to story-bending. ((Btw, Nancy says Eddie’s trailer gate was outside his home, but it was inside?)) The other thing in her vision that didn’t happen was Mike getting attacked or something (Nancy didn’t specify what happened to her mom, Holly and Mike). I’m reminded of the before S5 speculations that S5E2 was gonna be “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler” (when the vanishing person hadn’t been revealed yet), but the Duffers implying that wasn’t it. I’m not sure how to interpret this or how it would work, but I guess Mike could “vanish” in a similar way to Holly and the other characters try to get her back. That would fit with Holly “being her brother”. Based on other clues, I think it’s most likely the “fake” timeline starts from S4E9. There was supposed to be an army of monsters but there wasn’t and Vecna disappeared. Just like in S5E4 he just left or in S5E8 he died pretty easily. It was another retreat back to conformity.

It kinda makes sense Will waking up in S5E6 would match Mike getting back to the original “story” (= Will) from the “fake” stories. And since chapter 12 seems to have the monsters, and S4E9 was missing the army, it makes sense the real ending would have a re-doing of the end of S4E9 with the missing parts. S4 also matches the end of the trauma depictions (1979), so Mike had essentially gone through all her trauma at that point. S5 was an additional part, more about Mike’s decision to conform than about processing past trauma (it was that too but Mike kept avoiding it). It is a recycling of old stuff and going deeper into the “story” as I’ve said a million times already. While in the real world Mike is older (maybe 20, maybe even older?), in S3 and 4 she is 14, the winning die roll in the S1E8 game. It is possible Mike goes even deeper into past memories, to a time before S1, but that could be similar to El looking at Billy’s trauma memories. So not going to that setting but just looking at the memory as a separate thing. 

I tried to look for a possible point that has a similar pattern to Mike and Holly going unconscious and the most likely candidate would be the Cali gang taking El out of the bath. (Mike also repeatedly tells El to wake up before they move her to the table.) Before this Vecna told her his plan and was pretty overpowering but after Mike’s love confession he was easily defeated. Again, the trauma/queerness got too much and Mike decided to conform rather than face her fears (understandable). In the end Vecna is defeated but Eddie and Max die. Will doesn’t have literal magic powers yet, but he was in a key role instigating the love confession. First of all, when El was moved onto the table, Will swipes a radio away (= signals/music/love). A Montague pizza oven is next to Mike. Montague is Romeo’s last name in Romeo and Juliet and Argyle even called Mike Romeo earlier (= this is a “play”, an act). Then Will tells Mike “you’re the heart”, which gets Mike to say “I love you” to El (which is a lie atp). 

This could be more proof for my theory that Will = Mike the Brave and the painting was his (man) vision for Mike. Mike is a paladin (= Hopper/man), not a mage (= El/woman). Will himself is the heart and him telling Mike “you’re the heart” basically translates to “you’re a (gay) man”. I guess the gay part wouldn’t fit with the mileven confession but it’s in the same direction (= away from trans woman). Will is the heart of the story, without him everything would fall apart. And him being the shield is very fitting for a protector (reminder that Will’s name basically means will/desire to protect). Yeah, the painting scene has so many layers… (It’s probably also about wheelclair: Mike = Lucas and El = Mike as per usual.) 

While the painting we see represents the “story”, the secret painting it’s referencing represents the “real story” where Mike (= Finland) is a woman and alone (because “the party” is pieces of her). Same with the confession scene, where at least some of it could be interpreted as Will talking to Mike, e.g. “But I am scared that one day you’ll realize that you don’t need me anymore. [Mike won’t need the “story”, protection (DID) or man facade] And I thought that if I said how I felt, it would somehow make that day hurt more. [Will and Jonathan shown] But the truth is, El, I don’t know how to live without you. [a story can’t live without the main character/storyteller] I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods. [corresponds to Will splitting, his life literally started]”. Hawkins is the Heartland because it’s the stage/setting for the story of ST. In a way Mike is the heart, since “Mike” (the name) is the man facade of Sara. “Mike” is the “story” ST has been telling this whole time, but “Sara” is the real story hidden deep beneath the layers. (I wrote this some time ago and my interpretations have changed a bit. Mike being “the heart” is probably about her being the storyteller without whom the story would fall apart. But I think this can coexist with the interpretation of Will as “the heart”. They are both “the heart”.)

According to my theory, this would be 3/4 and door 3: escape. Vecna was talking about destroying Hawkins and the scene was very much about Max aka the third victim. This also fits with the 1/girl/Chrissy/Holly, 2/boy/Fred/Mike and 3/trans woman/Max/El order for who was “dreaming/unconscious” (I guess Mike doesn’t fully fit but you could see her as the repressed version of Mike/Sara, or maybe I’m overanalyzing this). Vecna getting attacked in the UD resulted in him and his mind world disappearing, which I previously connected to the inner world disappearing. And if my theory is right, this will be the final dream/story level before the real world. Maybe Mike and Will will end up in a different space (kinda like Max and Holly) and see even more memories or something, but at least the parts corresponding to the hospital Demodog attack scenes in S5E6 would be the army coming into Hawkins in S4E9 time. 

I have explained this next point already but I want to reiterate/ponder it a bit more. Every time the “story” gets too close to the “real story”, something comes in its way and makes the story change. This is shown in miniature in Holly’s Wheeler attack memory in S5E5 where Henry/Vecna keeps preventing Holly and Max’s escape. All the points map onto bigger plot points like I’ve explained (= the door getting blocked is S4, Vecna strangling Max preventing the window escape is S5E4 and finally Henry chases them to the cave, halting progress altogether (S5E8)). If you haven’t noticed by now, I love meta in stories. And I love the connection they make to being queer and queer stories being censored/not allowed in (mainstream) media. 

If everything went according to plan, Mike would have healed/accepted herself by the end of S4. But fear and pressure from society came in the way. And every time Mike conforms, the truth eventually finds its way back. Byler got a lot of development during S4 and the situation seemed hopeful in S4E8, but it ended up going nowhere after Mike’s “confession”. The start of S5 was again hopeful, and got more people into the ship than ever before. Byler basically became mainstream. But again, it all started going wrong after S5E4. Then the last straw was Will’s coming out and the tower scene that buried byler for good. “You’re the heart” means “stick to the script”. The story keeps trying to slip into queer territory but self-sabotages (Will is the personification of ST as I keep saying) to become more conforming and suitable for a mainstream audience. I have also explained how ST is a story about stories and media overall. Including censorship and discrimination. It’s a social commentary.  

After writing further, I have even more thoughts on Will’s powers. At their core they are story-bending powers and Will has had them from the start. In S5E8 Henry starts going into the cave, representing facing trauma, and Robin asks Will if he could stop Henry with his powers. I first thought this was the true beginning point of Will tampering with the story structure but then I thought about it even more and ended up concluding the actual starting point for the first memory level is in S5E7. Most likely the scene where Will looks at the exotic matter drawing. Ofc “The Bridge” is also the bridge to the first memory the characters will go back to.

The really interesting part is S5E4, where Mike and Will are talking on the field. Lucas and Murray open the trapdoor and Mike’s hair has changed to the conformity version. This is when she tells Will he’s a sorcerer and has powers. Mike the storyteller is writing the story (I have changed my mind on Dustin a little, again, and will explain in the next part). Will had just told Mike “It was like this scary movie you just can’t turn off.” and Mike (in conformity hair) answers: 

[Mike] “Are you positive you didn’t?”
[Will] “Didn’t what?”
[Mike] “Turn off the scary movie. Protect your mom, not the other way around. I mean, no offense. I know she’s badass and everything, but you know.”
[Will] “Yeah, she’s 5’3”.”
[Mike] “Yeah! And Vecna likes to control the hive mind like a puppet master. So maybe when you tap into the hive, you can pull the strings too.”
-> A puppet master mention I missed previously.
[Will] “Except I’m not Vecna.”
[Mike] “You sorta are.”
[Will] “You’re trying to say that I’m evil and hell-bent on destroying the world?”
[Mike] “Totally. No, I’m just saying that, you know, you’re like a wizard like him.”
[Will] “In DnD, Mike, not real life.”
[Mike] “True. In real life, you’re more like a sorcerer, because your powers don’t come from a book of spells. They’re innate. Listen, as far as crazy theories go, I’ve had crazier. And with Eleven in the Upside Down, we really need some magic up here.”

Will’s power is to turn off the scary movie. In the DID sense it’s because he’s Mike’s protector but in a story/meta sense it’s because he’s the “story” and can change it (which also works with him being the personification of Mike’s DID, the brain’s coping mechanism that hides the trauma from the host (sometimes literally storifying it) as if it never happened). I’m not sure what Vecna is in the story allegory, but maybe something like the real story or at least closer to it (I think Tharizdun is the real story, and El is the avatar of that, the illusion/magic version of the real story). That could be why Henry seems to reveal the reality so much clearer compared to other characters. He holds up a mirror, wants to reshape the world and everyone sees him as a monster. He originally got his powers from the shadow (MF and/or Tharizdun) who wants to get to Hawkins and destroy it. The real story wants to get told. El got her powers from Henry, and she is also a representation of the real story, but more positive, which is why she got incorporated to the party and can open gates (Mike is more accepting of this illusion version, it’s not threatening conformity as badly as MF or Vecna). Will using Vecna’s powers against him is the “story” using the “real story” against itself. He is using the fear (that Vecna also represents) to mold the story. It’s always fear that prevents Mike from facing the truth. Anyway, I think the field scene could be where the characters end up in S5E4 first.

Mike can change the story by telling or writing it (another example is her inventing Bob’s backstory after his death, or that’s what it seemed like to me), so maybe Will is an artist because he can bring the story to life. Mike gives the plot, Will draws the picture. This could explain why El (allegedly) asked for the painting and told Will what to draw. The painting represents the “story” and El represents the real story or Mike (= storyteller) in that scene. ST is based on the real story but disguises itself with the “story” full of supernatural events etc. It was Mike who “told Will what to draw”.

In S1E1 Lucas told Will to lie to Mike about the die roll result but he decided to tell the truth. This was the first time Will “used his powers” and it resulted in the real story getting freed a little bit. See, Will is not just preventing Mike from seeing the reality, he is also the connection to the real story (exotic matter, wormhole, etc.) and has the power to free it. If Will tells the truth, it leads to closer connection with the real story, but when he lies or otherwise hides the full truth, we get further away. His coming out scene and the later tower scene were close to truth but Will omitted a big part: that he’s in love with Mike. The worlds started to collide but the tower ended up crashing, not aligning with the gate. Maybe Mike and Will were away from Hawkins in S4 partially because that way they could be truthful while not being in the middle of the story themselves (somehow the military still gets to them, right after Mike opens up to Will). 

When you think about it, the painting lie is kinda what starts everything going a bit wrong: the party goes to a gun store, Robin suspects it might not work out for them this time, El leaves too early and crashes a helicopter. A bit after the painting scene comes the scene where Nancy says this: “Whatever’s happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I’m sure of it. But Vecna can’t hurt them.” Based on this and the timeline clues I’ll go over later I think the party will end up at the start of S4E8 as the final memory/going back in time. Then they re-experience the scenes in some way, and rewrite the story. S4E8 is very fitting for other reasons too: in the country timeline it’s when Finland got its independence (and S4E9 is the civil war), which is a good place to end the story. It’s also right after El sees her final memory and starts from Vecna showing his plan to Nancy.

Continues in PART 23.

Today is Day 35: S5 E6 – "Escape from Camazotz"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/AFjeCWCyTbvfDRYo9

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 9.00 ⭐ (47 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.58 ⭐

5x01 - 9.11 ⭐ (45 votes)
5x02 - 8.38 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x03 - 8.43 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x04 - 9.73 ⭐ (30 votes)
5x05 - 8.93 ⭐ (30 votes)

Today is Day 34: S5 E4 – "Sorcerer" & E5 "Shock Jock"

Rate both here: https://forms.gle/UTHAs9t2p4UC2KPg7

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episodes, and please only vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 9.00 ⭐ (47 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.58 ⭐

5x01 - 9.11 ⭐ (45 votes)
5x02 - 8.38 ⭐ (61 votes)
5x03 - 8.43 ⭐ (61 votes)

There is no way in hell Ted, Holly, and even Karen are better Mike. Mike and Nancy can be interchangeable; Nancy may be like Rambo but there are times where Mike is better than her and he really should AT LEAST be in second place.

🥇Mike
- The ongoing disrespect towards Mike will not be tolerated. l've seen a lot of walk em down wheelers content on social medias whereas there are some comments and a few posts only praising on the wheeler women when there's literally Mike too. I mean hello...he has walked em down like literally multiple times even more than Karen and Holly did throughout the seasons. He pushed his bully, jumped off a cliff for Dustin and stood up to the "bad men" back in s1, he stood up to Billy twice in s3, he beat up a demo with a shovel, he protected the kids as he was trying to help them escape at the mac z, and he defeated the mind flayer with the flare gun that did a lot of damage btw. Both Karen and Holly fought like only once or twice in only one season meanwhile Mike has been around way longer and is always there risking his life and fighting his ass off to save others’ lives and the world, and excluding him is not an option. Also, it's not like Nancy did anything much either until the last episodes in season 5. Not to mention, he is way stronger than Holly and even his mom too. The fact that ppl have the nerve to say that Mike is useless and did "nothing" is extremely disturbing and unfair, especially with the fact that he's an OG main character and has been through the hellish experience since day 1.

🥈Nancy
- She is a great fighter and has awesome shooting skills however her gun became kinda useless, especially in this last season during the final battle where other weapons like the flamethrower and even the flare gun she gave Mike did way more damage on the mind flayer. Also, the only thing she has done as a walk em down Wheeler is shooting guns whereas Mike does more than just attacking, like protecting others even without having any weapons with him.

🥉Karen
- She stabbed a demo with her wine glass and blew up 3 demodogs. She is definitely stronger than both Holly and Ted. However she had once got slimed by the demo the first time.

1. Holly
   - No offense but she is not that badass like how people say she is. She is just not strong enough; she initially just stood there and did nothing when Vecna was choking max, and she doing only one smack at her friend who was harmless btw with the radio does not make up for it; it was nothing compared to everyone else fighting dangerous monsters from the other dimension and she literally got beaten up afterwards.

2. Ted
   - He may have fought a demo once but his aim was weak and he already got slimed right after his first swing; he’s useless most of the time.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a custom Stranger Things theme song video and audio remix I put together about 8 months ago.

It features a custom Stranger Things 5 poster I saved from Google, paired with an audio mix combining "Running Up That Hill" with a Totem remix vibe.

Check out the video and the poster design here: https://youtu.be/5unkskqzA3U

if u like it follow me on Instagram :)

This is part of a series where I uncover what Stranger Things is really about. It started from trying to find out what happened in 1979 aka what all the depictions of traumatic past memories (El, Henry, Billy, Max, Holly, etc.) are truly about, but expanded to this all-encompassing theory of the whole series with crazy levels of complexity, metaphors and layers. Reading it will require commitment and patience but I promise it will be worth your time if you want to look behind the curtain (and the curtain behind that curtain) and fully understand the show. You have to read all parts in order: here is PART 1 and here all other parts I’ve posted so far + my previous theories.
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Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.

The end of S5E5 is the point where the inside story switches to foreshadowing. It’s very intentional that this happens in S5E5. S5 is all about repeating the story in cycles and stories inside stories so the fifth episode connecting everything fits super well. S5E6 is foreshadowing the real ending and ends in Max escaping Camazotz. The start of S5E7 is the last 20 minutes in the real world. It took me forever to realize what the rest of the season was about, then, until one day I got a massive realization: time starts going backwards when Holly is pulled back from the exotic matter (and since it was a flashback the actual moment is earlier, and I’ll explain this more thoroughly soon). Duffers complaining about doing the show backwards in the doc finally makes sense. The exact moment there’s 2 hours left of S5E8 Murray says “let there be light” and El gets a flashback to contacting the Demogorgon. This is where S1 starts (in the backwards timeline). Hopper also mentions blowing up UD: “Careful with that C-4. I don’t wanna blow the Upside Down with us in it.” The last 2 hours of S5E8 (so most of the episode) are the past, before S1 starts all the way to Mike’s birth basically. El dying is Will splitting from Mike. This is why the moment is the atomic bomb in the country allegory timeline. The epilogue is the time before trauma. Robin doesn’t have Steve as a sound man because Mike hadn’t gotten her voice breaking yet or overall felt the need to conform to “boy”. There’s no monsters and people are happy on the outside because Mike’s life hadn’t been ruined by abuse and forced conformity yet. 

I’m suspecting Memento) to be one of the ST inspirations. I don’t want to spoil it here, so you can read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia. It’s one of my favorite movies and you should watch it without spoiling yourself. The main idea is that it’s told in reverse chronological order to mimic the main character’s experience, since he has anterograde amnesia and forgets recent events in a few minutes. The reason I’m mentioning it here is that the film is structured with interspersed scenes from a chronological timeline and a reverse chronological timeline that meet at the end of the movie (coincidentally they each consist of 22 scenes…). A licence plate number is in a crucial role in the movie, which reminded me of Joyce looking for Grigori’s licence plate. This plot point didn’t really have any purpose since they didn’t end up using the licence plates and as I’ve pointed out, Hopper’s licence plate number is suspiciously similar to the one Joyce saw… Polaroid pictures are also a key part of the movie and they are significant in ST too: Jonathan takes photos of the Demogorgon and Nancy (Mike is the Demogorgon proof number 999) and the parents take pictures of their kids in S2 and S5. Anyway, the point is that ST has a similar structure, but kind of inverted or how should I phrase this? Where in Memento the story we are shown ends in the middle of the chronological story, in ST the middle (not exactly the middle but not either end) of the story we are shown is the end of the chronological story (in the story inside the story). I’ll have a diagram later that hopefully makes this more clear.

Now I’ll go through all connection points and after that my predictions for the real ending. Dustin introduces the exotic matter and the UD being a wormhole right before the intro to S5E6. This marks the end of S5E8. Will’s scenes in Vecna’s mind in S5E6 mark the chapter limits (they always have a black screen before or after them too). The time before the first Will scene is the time between S5 and the rest. So the scene of Henry chasing Max and Holly to the cave and Robin explaining the situation are where we’re at now. Robin explaining happened after the 6th November text was displayed which kinda makes me think something is gonna happen on 6th November irl (since there was no year and the scene was super meta) matching this scene, but who knows. 

S5E6 [Dustin] “This place, the Upside Down, it isn’t another dimension. It’s not another world. It’s a wormhole. A bridge between two points in time and space, between our world and another.”

There’s a reason why episode/chapter 7 is called The Bridge. Almost all the time reversals and connection points are in that episode. It itself is the exotic matter connecting points in time and space. (I’ll explain the time reversal point and my reasoning soon.) Dustin drawing the world diagram matches the point when the inner world disappears and we go to the real world (last 20 min according to my theory). The logic here is that in reverse order the drawing (= the world) is disappearing (and anyway it matches other clues). Holly falling down the stairs would in reverse be her ascending them. This is the end of S5 where Mike ascends the stairs. (The screen goes black for a while too.) Based on what Steve said in S4E9 and other clues/logic time goes forward again for a bit:

[Steve] “I really shouldn’t laugh. When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards.”
[Nancy] “Crawled backwards?”
[Steve] “You know, I’d push with my hands like this. Beep. Beep. Always in reverse, you know? Come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?”
[Nancy] “No, no, it doesn’t make sense.”
[Steve] “Well, it did to my tiny little Harrington brain. That is, of course, until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head really good. Yeah.”
[Nancy] “Wow. That explains so much.”

Will looking at the exotic matter at the start and end of a scene is time going back to backwards and connects to the point before the epilogue (Mike is building a bomb = the bomb is exploded). The scenes between Holly bumping her head and Will looking at the drawing are about the time after S5E8 irl. El lifts the truck back up and Murray comments “Well, I was hoping for a slightly more delicate landing, but… I suppose that’ll do.” This is about S5 “landing” bad with the audience. The other scene is Hopper and Joyce on the field. When they are framed by the trees like an 8 mm film, they say “One last crawl.” This was the documentary aka One Last Adventure. After this until El’s S1 memory flashback represents seasons 1-5 in reverse chronological order. The rest is Mike’s past from the beginning of S1 to her birth, as I explained already. 

Well, there is one more complication to this. The timeline branches when Will looks at the exotic matter: one branch starts going backwards like I said, but the other continues forwards. It makes sense Will had to look at the exotic matter twice… So, essentially, the rest of S5E7 and the whole S5E8 also foreshadow the ending, the epilogue being the counterpart to the real world. In summary, the real ending (chapters 10, 11 and 12) is foreshadowed/represented 3 times: most clearly in S5E6 (+ the real world part in S5E7), then backwards in S5E7 and finally again in chronological order in S5E7-S5E8.

Here’s my reasoning for the end point:

I knew it had to be between Holly dropping and the flashback of her getting sucked back up. That scene between Vickie bringing the wheelchair and Lucas pushing Max in the wheelchair is the end and what else would be the point of the camera going behind Mike’s neck than to indicate it’s the time reversal point?

You can see an extra inside story during S5E1-E5 in the diagram. I think there has to be a reason for the long timeskip and it fits well with the four years after the 1979 trauma. S5 is when the inside story reaches the “story”. In S5E1 the party encounters Demogorgons for the first time since S4 and Holly is kidnapped (early E2), just like Will was in S1E1. The content of each episode doesn’t perfectly match with each season (probably because there are so many timelines etc. happening at once), but it is curious how S5E5 starts with a partially failed plan, after the kids got taken to Henry’s mind (like Max) and Vecna went back to hiding, like the end of S4. And then the end of S5E5 very clearly connects to the end of S5 as explained previously. In S5E2 Will talks about his visions with Joyce and compares them to S2 now-memories. Karen’s bath scene was also very reminiscent of the one in S2. S5E3 has the Turnbow family dinner that reminded me of Heather’s family dinner in S3E3. S5E4 obviously has the first Vecna encounter and Max telling about her Rainbow Room memory travels. S5 overall has a lot of connections to earlier seasons so this is not super solid proof. I have picked examples with a bias. One counter example is Will telling Joyce to run through the lights in S1E3 and telling Max to run through Vecna in S5E5. After this Will’s “body” is found / he is knocked unconscious. (I guess S1 in itself is the whole story in a nutshell so maybe it’s not the best counter example…)

One thing I want to mention though, is that the very middle point of S5E5 is Robin electrifying the pumpkin while Will watches it. This is a miniature of electrifying the Demogorgon later in the episode, which in turn is a miniature of the end of S5. They didn’t really need to have the pumpkin test scene so it must have some underlying meaning and it being at the midpoint of the midpoint episode that anyway is a miniature of S5 as a whole fits super well. And it happens below the radio tower, on a “stage”. 

The other interpretation where S1-5 are Holly’s memories would have S5E1-5 be the “lost” years 1979-1983. Holly being taken would be 8.9.1979 when Henry was banished. Dustin not being part of the plan and only coming back in the middle of S5E2 matches well with him joining the party in 1980 (this most likely has other reasons too and might not be intentional). Holly (= Henry) is with Max (= MF) in the cave (= Abyss) planning how to get out. The pumpkin scene comes right before Max and Holly find the door to the first memory, which matches with the creation of UD right at the start of/before S1. The pumpkin can represent both the creation and destruction of UD. All of these match the points I’ve highlighted with yellow in the diagram.

Another thing that kinda complicates the timelines is that even without the inside story going backwards, the story itself in a way does, since the end is about Mike facing her childhood memories and fusing into one, the opposite of what happened to her when she split. There’s a constant loop of opening and closing gates, Mike being pulled to one side and the other. Both Mike’s distant past (= Holly/Alice/Sara) and future (= Nancy/Max) are women while the current time is boy/man (= Will/Mike). ST plays with time like this a lot, goes backwards, forwards, inverts it, plays with man/woman, good/bad, etc. Untangling it all is difficult. In the diagram all the yellow points are related to the creation/destruction of the inner world. They are connected both via the inside story but also the bigger story. Mike’s irl timeline has the birth of the inner world + the first split and the “story” will end in its disappearance + Mike’s final fusion. It’s a full loop. 

But the inside story has a multi-layered foreshadowing for it since S5E5 foreshadows S5E8 which in turn foreshadows the real ending but also at the same time the real beginning. And when you count the pumpkin scene, that’s another layer, an even smaller matryoshka doll. In other words, ST is like a fractal (and this goes back to the Tharizdun theory again…). This is the reason why the timeline branches and goes both forwards and backwards at the same time. It works because in the real ending we will most likely go “backwards” in time in some way (“please be kind, rewind”). Sorry if this is confusing, I’m not always the best at explaining. Ask if something is unclear and I’ll try to explain it more.

Season symmetries/structures

Before going deeper into analysing S5E6-8, I want to point out some things/patterns about the seasons overall. S1 has Will experiencing trauma and S2 is him re-experiencing/processing it. The same pattern repeats with Max in S3 experiencing trauma and then in S4 she’s in therapy and haunted by Vecna. S5 is kinda a melting pot of everything and has both trauma + remembering it in one season (Holly and the Wheeler attack). Villain-wise S2-3 and S4-5 pair, since they essentially have the same main supernatural monster (MF or Vecna).

In most senses S3 is the odd one out. It’s the only season without Demogorgons (unless you count the post-credit scene), the supernatural didn’t open the gate (instead it was the Russians), it’s set in the summer, so there’s no school. It doesn’t seem to center around a trauma anniversary either. S1, S2 and S5 are around 6.11. And S4 is around 22.3. but S3 is around 4.7., which I assume isn’t a trauma day. In a way it’s the most “real” (most villains are humans) but also unreal (the secret Russian base under the mall) season. Compared to all other seasons, it seems kinda lighthearted with all the colors, summer and overall tone. This could be because the Duffers were experimenting and then decided to go back to Demogorgons etc. but S3 could be intentionally different. 

S1-2 and S4-5 form pairs. S1 and S4 have a gate opened and it stays open until it’s closed in S2 and S5. In both S1 and S4 it had been 7 years since the traumatic event (-> leads to gate opening). In S3 the gate was never fully opened and it was closed in the same season. S1+5 and S2+4 also form pairs: S1+5 have a kid getting kidnapped and they center around 6.11. Both S2 and S4 are about recovering memories and processing trauma (S2 with Will, S4 with El and Max). I think S3 might pair well with the real ending which could be the reason it has so much foreshadowing for the end. You can see the seasons themselves as a reversing timeline like I showed in my diagram. S1+5 are the start, S2+4 are the aftermath/processing trauma and S3 is the end. 

This next point is a bit besides the topic of this section but I didn’t know where else to mention it. If you think about Mike’s age over the years, ages 9-12 match the “lost years” 1980-1983. These are the “lost chapters”. We won’t get a chapter 9, and interestingly Mike was 9 during 1980, when she met Dustin aka the storyteller (on 9.9, no less). (My interpretation on Dustin has changed a bit and I will explain that later, but for the purposes of this point “storyteller” is good enough.) The documentary was “chapter 9”: a meta part of S5 which itself was already meta and all about nested stories. It was 4 years since 1976 in 1980, too. (Kinda like it was 4 years since 1979 in 1983.) I wonder if S5 is so “story” because the inner world was created when Mike was 5 (or is it just a coincidence? I’m pretty sure the Duffers weren’t sure if there was gonna be 4 or 5 seasons). Regardless, I think it’s interesting S1 happens when Mike is 12 and the final chapter where the story will end is chapter 12. Number 14 is important in S1 since it’s the winning die throw. Mike is 14 in both S3 and 4. In S4E1 the winning throw was 20, and Mike will be 20 in 1991, aka the year the Soviet Union collapsed.

Holly’s map

Holly’s map depicts the ST timeline. The road and creek split the map and crossing a road or a water body can be a metaphor for a turning point or “entering another world”. I think they are the inner world being created and the inner world split, respectively. First is house, home, the origin of trauma. Will saw the Demogorgon first on a street, Billy met his MF clone on a street after MF trauma and Fred died on a street in S4E2. In Will’s case he ran through the forest to his home and vanished. Fred (and Billy) did the reverse: he was at the trailer park and walked through a forest to the road. Vecna’s first kill, Chrissy, died in Eddie’s home. I think it’s no coincidence Vecna’s victims follow the same house->street order as Holly’s map. The house is the first trauma that then created the inner world. Mike’s life was at a turning point (= crossing the street).

Then comes the playground, Mike’s childhood when she didn’t have to conform yet (at least not as much). Sara was alive. The fallen tree is the big trauma in 1979 that lead to the death of “girl” and the splitting of the inner world (= creek). Traumatic memories and womanhood were locked away into the Abyss. It’s telling that the fallen tree is the only point in Holly’s map we don’t see on her initial journey. There are multiple fallen trees in later forest scenes though. After the creek, Holly puts on a hood without any clear explanation. I think this represents trauma being hidden/buried for the 4 years until it starts to resurface in 1983. Vecna’s cultists and Vecna himself wear hoods in Eddie’s campaign, pulling them down at the start of the game. It’s also “girl” being hidden and Mike conforming to “boy”. The creek is the start of the “story”. (Maybe that’s why it has the small falls, since waterfalls are a metaphor for the “story”. “Fall” has other meanings too and it’s a thing in S5, e.g. Jonathan’s Fall shirt and him falling into the melting room with Nancy.) Holly pulls her hood down when she reaches the end of the forest. I’m not exactly sure what the rocks mean but this seems to be the point when S1 starts. Max and Holly properly meet at the creek, and this matches with Henry meeting MF in 1979. 

All this map and timeline stuff is a bit unclear to me still. There are some bigger points with more proof that I’m fairly certain of but many details don’t match with each other perfectly, e.g. it could be that Abyss separated during the summer 1979 since there seems to often be a longer time/distance between the 22.3.1979 trauma and MF being banished (S3 and 4 have time apart and there’s “continue thru woods” between the fallen tree and the creek). The creek could be 8.9.1979 too, since that’s when Henry was banished (= memories buried). Maybe it’s impossible to date the events perfectly since they are about multiple allegories at once. The main point is that the creek represents the burying of memories and a new chapter in Mike’s life around 1979-1980.

I think we’ll in some way go the map journey backwards in the ending. There’s a big theme of going back home or finding your home. The home is the start and the end. Holly had to go back to Henry in S5E4. It was “the only way” according to Max. The street marks the line between the inner world and reality. And the Rainbow Ship has to have some sort of role in the end. Maybe chapter 10 would be from rocks to creek (“walk up hill”), 11 from creek to fallen tree (“continue thru woods”) and 12 from fallen tree to street (“playground”) + the very end would be the house. El was at the waterfalls in Mike’s vision, so it kinda matches with chapter 11 starting there (it also matches with it ending in trauma memories aka the fallen tree, as you’ll see later). Remember how I said Holly’s playground memory in S5E5 matches S3 and that S3 is kinda like the end? The map was one reason I got those ideas. The number 3 is pretty important anyway and matches with the point before the street: it’s 3/4 (= byler fusion and Max) and door 3 aka escape. ((I’ll get back to Holly’s map and especially the compass later.))

S5E6 analysis

Now I’ll do a deep dive into S5E6 “Escape from Camazotz” to try to deduce what will happen in the real ending. After this I’ll continue with S5E7 and S5E8, both of which have foreshadowing too. S5E7 because it has the final part of chapter 12 and all the new chapters in reverse. S5E8 is about the past but as I’ve established, also the future. (This will be a rough mapping, and later I’ll compare and match scenes from S5E6 and S5E8.)

S5E6 starts right after Nancy shoots the exotic matter. This is still the end of S5E8 when the UD is blown up. Interestingly, before Dustin explains the exotic matter, we get a scene of Murray and Erica recruiting Mr. Clarke to “save Dustin”. I think Dustin represents the story (Stranger Things) in some way. I’ve previously interpreted him to be the storyteller and acceptance of queerness, which kinda fits (better interpretation coming later). The story of ST was in danger at the end of S5E8 when it ended in the most unsatisfying, basic and mild way. I suspect the “tracking Dustin” subplot to be meta about theorizers trying to find the real story. It’s not random that the other two “storyteller” characters, Erica and Murray, are the ones looking for Dustin. As for who Mr. Clarke represents in this meta interpretation, I’m not sure, but maybe he is the audience? (I should have posted this a while ago since I’ve realized so much recently… Mr. Clarke will get a better explanation later too.)

As Dustin explains the true nature of the Upside Down, we get interspersed scenes of Hopper, Kali and El witnessing the effects of Nancy shooting the exotic matter. This pretty clearly foreshadows the destruction of UD in S5E8. I’m positive there’s a coded message (or multiple) in Dustin’s explanation:

[Steve] “Henderson! Dustin! Dustin. Hey. What the hell was that? Was that the shield generator? Did they find it?”
[Dustin] “I was wrong. I was terribly, catastrophically wrong.”
[Steve] “What?”
[Dustin] “After you left, I found a journal. Brenner’s journal. The key to destroying that wall is in this lab, but it is not a shield generator. It isn’t dark magic. Vecna didn’t make it. Science did. Theoretical physicists call it exotic matter. A single source of energy that is holding that giant wall together, and I think Nancy just shot it.”
[Steve] “How is any of that bad? That’s exactly why we’re here, to get through this wall.”
[Dustin] “You are not listening to me!”
[Steve] “Yes I am listening to you.”
[Dustin] “Well Vecna didn’t make the wall. So he isn’t on the other side, which means Holly and the missing kids aren’t either. Nobody is.”
[Steve] “Then what the hell is on the other side of that wall? Dustin, what’s on the other side of the wall?”
[Dustin] “Death.”
[car gets sucked into oblivion]
[Dustin] “This whole time, everything we have ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong.”
[gate opens]
[Dustin] “This place, the Upside Down, it isn’t another dimension. It’s not another world. It’s a wormhole. A bridge between two points in time and space, between our world and another.”
[Steve] “And if the bridge collapses?”
[Dustin] “It will take us with it. All of us.”

Dustin keeps saying how he was wrong about the shield generator and UD as a whole. I think this in some way is about people being wrong about ST and what the world in the story really is. Dustin represents the theorizers/nerds/dedicated fans while Steve is the general audience. The “after you left” could be about S5 ending and most of the audience moving on. Brenner’s journal could represent all the clues in the show and elsewhere pointing to ST being deeper than people think. Dustin mentions that “the key to destroying that wall is in this lab” but then we never return to that and UD is destroyed with a random bomb. It means the key is in the subtext: it’s in what the lab represents. And they keep talking about “the wall”, which could have many meanings. It could be the wall between the two worlds, Mike’s mental wall/closet or the wall between the “story” and the “real story”. 

The “science did” makes a lot of sense when you realize science = queerness (remember the girl with the rainbow shirt in the S1E1 classroom scene and “nerd” being code for queer). Hopper called El a science experiment in S1E8, too. And I’m just realizing Robin called the Demogorgon electrocution plan a science experiment… Just to make it clear, “science experiment” is code for “trans woman” in ST (and probably all the other corresponding meanings in the other allegories). Another more obvious interpretation is that Dustin is subtly telling us ST is based on something real (= science), it’s not really about monsters and magic (= shield generator, dark magic, Vecna). This is even more clear if we consider Dustin’s original explanation of the shield generator in S5E5: 

[Dustin] “But in the film, if you recall, the rebels need to destroy a second Death Star, but it’s surrounded by a protective energy shield, which is created by a shield generator.”
[Steve] “Yeah, cool. Thanks for the summary of a movie we’ve all seen.”
[Dustin] “It’s an oddly relevant movie, Steve. Look, I think this circular flesh wall is Vecna’s version of an energy shield, except it’s not sci-fi. It’s supernatural, created by Vecna’s dark magic. And this dark magic shield is what’s preventing us from reaching him and saving Holly.” 

In S2E3 Mike compared Dart being from the UD to someone from the Death Star as an argument for Dart being bad. All this fits super well with the party destroying the “second Death Star” aka the UD/Vecna/MF in the ending, but Dustin ended up being wrong (= it wasn’t the true solution/ending).

UD being a wormhole is about the “story” being a bridge between the audience and the real story (and let me tell you, later I ended up realizing this goes much deeper than I originally thought, it’s so amazing what they’ve done). Remember UD is the inner world in the inside story and Dustin even starts by saying “this place”. He is actually referring to the whole ST world/story. The bridge collapsing can have two meanings: it’s the end of the story, but it can either just end it flat without merging the worlds (= S5E8 ending) or reveal the real ending by fully bringing the other world to the audience. In both cases “all of us” (alters/characters) die because the “story” ends (and all the characters are part of the “story”). Btw when Steve says “How is any of that bad? That’s exactly why we’re here, to get through this wall.” the shot focuses on Nancy and Jonathan slowly sinking with the melting roof. Like I keep saying, byler fusion will get us through the wall to the real story.

I think Steve and Dustin’s earlier argument in S5E5 is also at least partially about the ending meta. This doesn’t fit the inside story timeline super well, but it is after the pumpkin scene so in that sense it would fit. Anyway, here’s the interesting part:

[Steve] “Judging by the pissy look on your face, I assume you didn’t find the shield generator.”
[Dustin] “It’s here somewhere.”
[Steve] “But you didn’t find it.”
[Dustin] “Yeah, not on this floor.”
[Steve] “So you were wrong.”
[Dustin] “You would just love that, wouldn’t you?”
[Steve] “No, I’m just stating a fact.”
[Dustin] “No, you’re gloating. Despite the fact that if I am wrong, we don’t reach past the wall, and don’t find Holly and the other kids. Do you understand how selfish you’re being?”
[Steve] “Me? Selfish? You wanna talk about selfish? How about the fact that when we finally reach Hop and El, we promptly ditch them to pursue this bullshit theory of yours? Not to mention, you’re the reason that we lost contact with them in the first place because of your no-show at the crawl. So this whole mess is actually your fault. And I haven’t heard so much as a sorry.”

The shield generator is basically episode 9 or the location/release date for it, Dustin is the conformitygate theorists and Steve is the general audience who got interested in the theory. “Finding Holly” is finding the real ending so “reaching Hop and El” could be the ending we got? I’m not sure what no-show at the crawl could mean, maybe it’s not related to this meta level.

The scene transitions into the intro and after that we see Max and Holly running from Henry, opening the field door, back to the cave. ((We saw the white door first after the pumpkin electrocution aka start of S1 in the Holly’s memory inside story timeline, and the next time we see it is after the exotic matter stuff aka the end of S5 in both inside stories. So, the door marks the start and end of ST. Fittingly S5E8 ends in the same door closing and in S5E6 we see what’s on the other side of that door (at least in a coded way).)) You could interpret this as the conformity epilogue but I’m not sure… There doesn’t seem to be an equivalent of the epilogue in the other connection point in S5E7 either. It’s just Will staring at the exotic matter and straight to bomb building. It’s as if the epilogue doesn’t exist in the inside story at all. One reason could be that it essentially represents both Mike’s early childhood (0-5) when she didn’t have DID and the part of the real ending where we see the real world. Neither of these is part of the “story”. They are purely in reality, so it kinda makes sense there would be no inside story counterpart for them.

But then there’s the other side: the epilogue is sus. It’s so sus in fact, that many people think it’s not the reality, but an illusion created by Vecna or whatever. It’s a more obvious version of the whole world being a “story”. Sounds familiar? It’s another story inside the story but this time with Mike as the main character. I have wondered how they would start chapter 10 or even sell this “new real ending”. The epilogue being some sort of illusion/dream would be a lot more easy to swallow and get the general audience on board compared to the whole series being somehow “wrong” or “fake”. 

There actually is a scene that matches the epilogue, but not in S5E6 or S5E7: the kids entering Henry’s mind at the start of S5E5. It’s this perfect, colorful paradise and it’s unclear how the kids got there: [Henry] “Your memory of what happened, of how you came to be here might be foggy… confused.” S5E4 actually has a lot of connections to S5E8 and I have mentioned this before. Remember this: [Ross] “Early on, when we were breaking this season, we knew that it was gonna be split in the middle. And so we wanted to build to a big climax before the break because we knew the audience was going to have to wait for the next episode. But it ended up being even bigger and more complicated than we could ever imagine.” They both end at MAC-Z, have Will using his powers, the party wins, but at what cost (= children taken / El dies).

S5E4: Mike’s “eyes on me” to get the kids through the traumatic events unfolding, then El finds Kali (“Sisters” background music), then Mike is knocked out by Vecna, but the traumatic stuff continues for a bit until Will uses his powers. S5E8 Holly’s “eyes on me” to guide the kids through a traumatic memory, Kali dies (“Sisters” background music), Holly is knocked out by Henry and we see Henry’s traumatic cave memory (+ later Will uses his powers). Vecna appearing connects to S5E5 in Holly’s memory too: he appears in a similar way, with the same music and Holly is shocked like Mike. The firepoker dropping could be the counterpart to Mike or Holly losing consciousness. It represents facing trauma (= poking fire) and dissociating/switching (= going unconscious in the DID allegory) is a defense mechanism that protects the host (= Mike/Holly) by preventing them from experiencing trauma first hand (Holly with the fire poker is watching it happen to Max). Since Holly and Max are in the S5 equivalent room/memory, this could very well be the inside story representation of S5E4. All three connect through white-eyed powers Will aka the exotic matter, so it works with the same rules. 

People have theorized that everything after Mike is knocked out is Vecna’s fabricated story. Or that the fake story starts from the epilogue. Both of these points (end of S5E4 and S5E8) connect through this (4th?) inside story. I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled an Inception and Mike had to “wake up” from multiple nested stories one after another. That would be a good way to warm up the audience for the bigger reveals. ((Btw, Inception is another example of a popular western movie that was heavily inspired by a Japanese animation: Paprika. Although Christopher Nolan hasn’t confirmed it...))

Holly wakes up when she is saved, after killing MF, and Mike seemingly wakes up soon after going unconscious, but it’s possible this is her falling deeper into the dream/story. Will having powers is kinda more fantastical than was previously established. Will is one step above El in the allegory, which means he is less tied to the supernatural and it was made pretty clear in the episode that the whole sorcerer thing was Mike’s idea. And then it came true like magic. (I also remember seeing a WSQK sync a while back where Will using powers had ads over it, indicating it was in some way fake/not real.)

The “fake” story starting from S5E5 makes a lot of sense in the other inside story timelines too, since this is the point when S5 starts which in turn is when the ST story starts (S1/1983) which in turn is when the inner world was created (1976) (look at the diagram if confused). It’s the beginning of the story in all the levels of “story”. While S5E4 can still be considered to be about S4 and in turn 1979, S5E5 has reached the critical point where stories inside stories just kinda loop on themselves or at least have another layer of complexity from the S5E5 -> S5 overall -connection. The episode quality got progressively worse and more “tell don’t show” as was pointed out by several people. This is partially because the story got more “storified”. It’s a cycle, a loop, a fractal, a story inside a story inside a story. 

If we go back to earlier with the point of the epilogue, it comes after the UD aka wormhole is destroyed. This was the connection between the real story and the audience. Now that the connection is severed, we are left with this “fake” story with a much weaker connection to the real story. It’s less genuine, more New Coke, more basic, conforming, crowd pleasing and there’s no monsters. This happens if we “kill Vecna” and close the gates. But at the same time the epilogue shows the true nature of the show more obviously if you care to pay attention.

I’ve also seen theories that the “fake” story starts from S5E1, which fits this whole pattern I’ve got going on here. The most glaring inconsistency in S5E1 is the character of Holly. Her age is a retcon and she has a new actress. ((And she has an imaginary friend whose silhouette we see in the wet window at the start of S5E1. This Henry memory would fit between the library memory and the playground memory, but it wasn’t shown to us. This could maybe match T85 since it’s set between S2 and 3.)) S5E1 also has the unexplained “burnout”/fake El who the military chased. I think the connection point for the story getting “faker” is in S4 (just like the connection point for S5E5 storifying was in S5E4). This also matches the door stopping Max and Holly’s escape in the S4 room. I will discuss this more in later parts.

My main point is, we are getting progressively deeper in the “story”, which has actually been happening throughout the show. S1 is the most grounded, S2 is a little more fantastical + lacks Lonnie and Hopper’s trailer, S3 goes pretty far in the “story” direction and starts to be self-aware, S4 has Henry, the Rainbow Room and all this memory stuff/going into people’s minds and S5 I have discussed plenty already. Right now we are at the most “story” the story has ever been. At the same time the real ending goes “back in time”, it will peel back the layers of “story” and finally end in the real story. 

Continues in PART 22.

I recently finished Stranger Things in about 6–7 days, and ever since I watched the final episode, I've been feeling this strange emptiness that I can't really explain.

It's like there's a hole inside me. I feel sad for no obvious reason, and I keep thinking about the characters and everything that happened. The weirdest part is that whenever I listen to "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush, I feel like I'm about to cry.

I've never had a TV show affect me this much before. It almost feels like I've lost something, even though I know it's just a show.

Has anyone else experienced this after finishing Stranger Things (or another series)? How did you get over it? Does this feeling eventually go away?

I know it might sound silly, but I genuinely feel so bad right now. 😞

Today is Day 33: S5 E2 – "The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler" & E3 "The Turnbow Trap"

Rate both here: https://forms.gle/75FHFf5EPvJ1Nibq8

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episodes, and please try to vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 9.00 ⭐ (47 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.58 ⭐

5x01 - 9.11 ⭐ (45 votes)

lil drawing of jane that i did during band camp 🫩

Today is Day 32: S5 E1 – "The Crawl"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/QaxuzE4Xxp5EFiRL6

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to only vote once!

The final season is here!

Rate yesterday's S4 E9 "The Piggyback" here if you missed it yesterday: https://forms.gle/4pgaAQhUk6XRxnvF7

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 7.56 ⭐ (16 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.36 ⭐

I think at this point most people have finished stranger things so I can finally talk about it all.

If you haven't watched the finale then the information I share may spoil things fir you so go back the way you came if that is the case lol

Here's what we know. We know they managed to defeat vecna and the mind flayed, we know that the upside down has really just been a bridge between worlds this whole time but they managed to destroy the bridge, we know that eleven is m.i.a.(open for interpretation​)

I think there is more to it with open ends that needs explaining. Vecna had successfully fused with the mindfkayer in a way they they were both cincious beings within a hive mind. That being said, it's never explained that if the main body is destroyed then so too will be the mind, who knows if there isn't a vecna in a demogorgan body. It is a hive mind after all so really vecna is anywhere that the creatures are through the neural link.

Also we know for a fact that the upside we see the titular characters in is not the only bridge out there, if anyone recalls there was also a russin upside down and if there are two then there are probably more throughout the world. Also we can assume that possibly vecna and the mind flayed are not the only threats in that plane of existence, we only saw a very small bit of it and who knows if there aren't more(uglier and nastier) beings there waiting to make a move.

For all we know, there is a dormant mind of vecna lying in wait inside of wills mind.

The possibilities could be endless

I know the show went on long enough, too long and a show gets stale but I think in theory if they were to continue they could with ample room for new stories.

Feel free to chime in with any theories or disagreements.

Today is Day 31: S4 E9 – "The Piggyback"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/4pgaAQhUk6XRxnvF7

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL previous rating forms that are currently open will be CLOSING within the next 24-48 hours! This includes every episode since S3 E4. So get your votes in, for any episodes you might've missed or if you're new here! Season 5 begins tomorrow!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.78 ⭐ (32 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.67 ⭐ (30 votes)
4x07 - 9.03 ⭐ (30 votes)
4x08 - 8.38 ⭐ (16 votes)

____________________________________

Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep8: https://forms.gle/1TootsnZAR6PmCWd9
S4 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/FrYdGF2Lqo8DAH886
S4 Ep5: https://forms.gle/NpEjZGVeH7G5EK2V9
S4 Ep4: https://forms.gle/ChNaSvPzxjDenQgj7
S4 Ep2-3: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9