Episode Review: Stranger Things 5x8 - "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up"

Welcome back to the blog readers. Ladies and gentleman, we have finally made it to the end. The series that has become a cultural phenomenon over the last near decade has finally come to an end, and that show is of course Stranger Things (2016-25). We have come to know and love these characters, and we have basically watched our core kids grow up before our very eyes. This is also a momentous occasion for my blog since this is the first time I have ever reviewed an episode of television specially noted as a series finale, and at a runtime of 2 hours and 8 minutes, this is the longest episode of television I have ever reviewed on this blog. Now, enough blabber from me. Let's talk about the series finale of Stranger Things, titled "Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up," written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer. Would it end the show on a high note? Stick around to find out.

NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode (but let's face it, who hasn't seen the episode at this point besides me?)

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This has been a very interesting time to be a Stranger Things fan. On one front, there is the "Byler" crowd that is ravenous in their belief that a Will and Mike relationship is in the cards, something I said would NEVER happen. On another, there were a bunch of people that were convinced we were getting a secret ninth episode. And those people were just coping that they did not like how the series ended. That being said, I personally did like how the series ended. Was this a perfect finale? Not at all, but it was pretty darn good. The performances (especially from Finn Wolfhard, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Winona Ryder) were all stellar, and the story is jam-packed with nostalgia and finality.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Finn Wolfhard. I praised Wolfhard in last week's review for his character Mike Wheeler becoming the quiet MVP of this season and taking on more of a leadership role, and he exceeds in that endeavor in the series' final episode. But not only does he take on more of the leadership role with an exuberance and a confidence that he developed over this series' ten years, he delivers some of the most raw emotion I have seen in this entire show. Your heart breaks when this emotion is on full display, and it all has to do with the growth and evolution of these kids over the last ten years. I really hope for the best for all of these kids, because they have left it all out to bear for the last decade.

Next up, I want to talk about the performance of Jamie Campbell Bower. As I mentioned in a previous review of this season, Bower has never erupted to the heights of some of his contemporaries, but embodying the character of Henry Creel / One / Vecna has been a Herculean feat at best. Two things went into taking this character and turning it into what Bower was able to do: the cold and ruthless pursuit of power and control that Vecna has that made him one of the better television villains of the modern era; and the emotional, scared, and vulnerable side of the character that we see when it is Henry. Again, I hope that he starts getting some bigger roles because he has star all over him.

And I want to talk about my final review by talking about one of the legends in the business: Winona Ryder. Ryder has been around in the industry since the mid-80s and has received accolades such as a Golden Globe, and nominations for Oscars, BAFTAs, and a Grammy. This series basically began with Joyce Byers, and Ryder becomes someone that the series basically ends with. We see a mother with a focused determination and a desperate drive to do right by her children, and we see a vengeful mother that is willing to take heads for said children (if you know, you know). And her final scene is one of the most heartwarming moments on the show, and is going to stick with you and leave a smile on your face. Hopefully you make a film better than Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), because that was pretty poor.

I am going to apologize in advance, because it is going to feel like this review is going to be the length of a novel by the time I am done with it. I will be getting into the gargantuan story that we get in this finale, and then I will leave you with some final thoughts that will not take too long. We pick up with the military, led by Dr. Kay, interrogating one of the guards stationed at the gate, assuming he is the one that opened the gate to let the main group in. He swears that he did not do it, and that the gate was opened on its own. Kay does not believe him until she sees leftover boxes for short-wave radio kits. In the Upside Down, Murray drives the party to Hawkins Lab, where he, Hopper, Eleven, and Kali will be initiating their part of the plan, which involves Brenner's sensory deprivation tank. Before she leaves, Mike stops her and reminds her that this will all be over and return to normal when they defeat Vecna. Unbeknownst to the four, they are being watched by Akers and a sect of the military that has broken away from Kay and decided to hunt El and Kali for themselves. Meanwhile, in Camazotz, Henry continues to use the children and their energy to begin his plan to merge the Abyss and Hawkins into one world. Meanwhile, in the tower of the local church, Mr. Clarke is worried about the rest of the group but Erica dismisses this worry and praises him for helping to save the world. At this time, Kay and the soldiers arrive at the church to capture the two, with Kay noticing the radio station truck. At the radio station, Vickie is still watching over Max and radios to her girlfriend Robin and learns that they made it to the Upside Down version of the radio station, with them beginning their ascent up the radio tower.

Inside Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down, Murray is loading fuel into the power generator as Hopper, Kali, and El arrive at the sensory deprivation tank. As they walk through the room, El is reminded of Brenner using her to open the gate to locate Henry all those years ago, creating the Upside Down. Murray makes his way to the roof as a lookout, and El and Hopper come up with knocking signals for when the Abyss is close enough so El will wake up in time. She makes Hopper promise to not wake her until Vecna is dead, and he makes her promise that they will leave Hawkins when she is done. He lowers her inside of the tank while she and Kali connect in the Void. Back at the radio tower, Mike and Will pause for a quick drink where Mike apologizes to Will for not being there for him when he was struggling with his sexuality. Will counters and tells him that it happened the way it did because it took him a long time to be able to understand it himself and hopes the two will continue to be friends. Mike says he does not want to be friends, but rather best friends. Meanwhile, back at the radio station in Hawkins, Vickie runs off to the kitchen to get a snack to calm her nerves, but returns to see Max in a trance, dropping her food. Max, in the trance, finds herself able to get out of the wheelchair and walk out of the radio station. There, she reunites with El and Kali, who reveal that they are in El's mind rather than Vecna's. The three find Vecna, with El taking his hand, and they find themselves taken back to Henry's 1959 memory where a young Joyce is putting on a show of "Oklahoma!" with him as the lead. They realize they are too far from the Creel house, but Max has an idea for a shortcut.

The group makes it to the top of the radio tower, where they begin to notice the other dimension careening towards them. Murray notices this as well, and radios into Hopper that their theory was correct. Hopper knocks on the tank, alerting El, Kali, and Max that the Abyss is getting close. In Hawkins, Vickie notices the military driving up towards the radio station, and wheels Max to the secret opening to the basement. At the top of the radio tower, with the Abyss coming closer to the top of the tower, Dustin realizes the tip of the tower will not line up with the opening of the rift. In a panic, he radios to Hopper that they only have thirty seconds. Max, Kali, and Eleven are living out the memory of the play as Max times the curtains dropping for them to jump through and make their way into the Creel house, with El pulling Henry from the table and throwing him out of the house. The antennae collapses and the tower begins to tilt, with Steve tumbling down while holding on to the edge. He loses his grip and falls, but Jonathan grabs him and pulls him up as El is successfully able to stop the collision. In the Creel house, Holly reunites with Max and the other children immediately accuse her of being a monster based on what Henry told them. She claims that she has proof that she is not a monster, as Henry makes it back into the house with no trace of the kids. El arrives at the house and tells him his plan failed, but Henry puts her in a chokehold. Unbeknownst to him, Kali, Max, and the kids are still in the house protected by Kali's powers, but Henry tells El that he is using the kids' vulnerability for the Mind Flayer. The kids realize that Max was telling the truth as they escape the house for the cave, just as Henry enters El's mind and discovers her plan. Kali enters and prepares to stab Henry, but he vanishes.

The group was able to climb up the antennae and make their way into the Abyss. When the entire group makes it there, Lucas questions the lack of presence of Demogorgons, but Dustin theorizes the rules of the hive mind also extend to the Abyss: they believe Vecna is dead so the creatures should be as well. Steve and Jonathan address what happened on the radio tower, with Steve thanking Jonathan for saving his life and Jonathan countering that although he does not like Steve, he does not want to see him dead. They also both address their flaws in attempting to court Nancy, and Steve learns that Jonathan broke up with her, and their care for her outweighs their conflict. The group makes it to the "spire" where Vecna and the children are being held. Meanwhile, back in Camazotz, El and Kali catch up to Max and the children, and inform them of Henry's disappearance. In the Upside Down, Hopper then sees a bunch of canisters of Agent Orange. At this point, he sees hallucinations of his biological daughter Sara (who tells him that he let both her and El die). He then sees a vision of Kali telling El her plan to stay behind in the Upside Down to avoid being caught in the military. Vecna then gets in Hopper's head, telling him that he cannot save either of his children. He sees Vecna and begins to shoot at him. He then realizes what he has done: Vecna was never there and he shot at the sensory deprivation tank, leading it to start leaking. He then sees El bleeding out and he proceeds to smash the glass on the tank, getting her out of the bath. This causes El, Kali, and Max to leave Camazotz. Holly then leads all the children to the cave, while Max's awakening alerts the military to her and Vickie's location, leading to their arrest.

Not only does Max's awakening lead to her and Vickie's arrest, but Kay discovers the basement and the group's plan to kill Vecna. Back in the Upside Down, Hopper pulls El out of the tank where she says that they cannot give up. He then confronts the two regarding their suicide plan and refuses to set the bomb if she is not with them. Kali grabs his gun and points it at him, believing he has been corrupted by Vecna, but Hopper reminds El that she has been suffering her entire life, and that she deserves to escape it for a future full of peace and love. The three de-escalate, but Murray radios in to inform them that the military has arrived to the outside of the lab. Back in Camazotz, the children have made their way to the cave, but Holly goes back to save Derek, who has fallen behind. As Henry appears behind them from a portal, he grabs Holly's leg and tries to pull her. Derek pulls on Holly and breaks Henry's grip on him, while offering Henry the opportunity to "suck his fat one." Inside, Holly reconciles her friendships with two of her friends: Mary and Debbie, and she says that they are safe. Henry angrily walks towards the cave but finds himself physically struggling. He is able to walk into it while convulsing. Holly sees that Henry is in the cave and has the children flee into the desert. They flee until they eventually get into the hidden bunker in the ground as Henry painfully follows them. When outside, he is able to drag himself down into the bunker as Holly stays behind. Triggered by memories of his past, he keeps going.

Outside of the spire, Mike tries to convince Nancy to give him a weapon, and she obliges. However, Lucas notices that it is actually a flare gun that she gave him. Back in the Upside Down, Hopper, Kali, and Eleven are trying to escape the military that have descended onto the lab and run up stairs, but a helicopter with a Hedgehog incapacitates the two sisters. Hopper carries Eleven away, leaving Kali behind to be found by Akers' men. Akers, however, wants El. Hopper hides her away, and returns to the room to shoot some of them but get knocked out by Akers. Akers demands to know Eleven's location, even threatening to shoot Kali unless he tells her. Hopper tries to get her to keep silent, as does she to him. As this is happening, Murray notices a bunch of dynamite with their belongings and makes a makeshift grenade that he runs up to the edge of the roof to throw at the helicopter. The explosion is enough to knock the soldiers down, but Akers is able to get his gun off, before Eleven comes into the room and kills all the soldiers, making Akers shoot himself in the head. Kali has a bullet wound in her gut, and Hopper runs off to find a first-aid kit. Kali comforts El, assuring her that this is how her story was always going to end. By the time Hopper returns, Kali has succumbed to her wounds, leaving El distraught. The two make it up to the roof to notice a happy Murray, who realizes what has happened to Kali. El notices how close the Abyss is and determines she can jump through and join the fight against Vecna. Hopper begs her not to, and El tells him how much he has meant to her as a father figure, and that he saved and protected her. She also points out that she is no longer a child and can determine her own fate unlike Sara. She returns Sara's bracelet and is able to get him to trust her to make the right choice.

Holly is able to lead the kids past the man with the briefcase and finds a fire poke. Holly is able to strike an arriving Henry with the poke, gashing his face. As she runs, he notices the man and instantly remembers this moment, reliving his trauma. Will, who was able to alert the group of Henry's survival, witnesses the memory as well. After bashing the man with the rock, Henry opened the briefcase to notice a rock that phased into his hand, fixing his gunshot wound. It then tapped into Henry's psyche, revealing that the Mind Flayer demanded that he find his way to his form in the Abyss to help it. The dying scientist urged Henry to resist the temptation before he uses his new telekinetic powers to kill the scientist. Will realizes that Henry was just like he was: a young kid that served as a vessel for the Mind Flayer. He tries to reason with Henry to resist the creature, but Henry urges Will to leave him alone and that he will not resist; the Mind Flayer showed him the truth regarding this broken world and that him and the creature are of one mind. As this is happening, the spire begins to rise from the ground, shocking the group, and reveals itself to be the physical body of the Mind Flayer, a giant kaiju-like creature. It begins to chase the group, as they are barely able to avoid being crushed by its massive legs. Just then, El arrives and throws boulders at the creature, and she creates an opening that she can go through to attack Vecna's actual body. Mike is able to create a plan on the fly: use someone as bait so the rest of them can get up high and attack the monster's hit points. Despite some objections, all agree and Nancy offers herself as bait.

She runs into a canyon that the Mind Flayer is able to destroy easily, and the group begins their attack with Molotovs, flamethrowers, Mike's flare gun, Lucas's water balloons, Nancy's gun, and Dustin and Steve's spears. Inside the creature, El and Vecna continue to fight, with each using their powers. The battle gets to a point where El is threatening to impale Vecna on a tooth-like spike, but Vecna extends his left hand out to grab her. He notices it stopping, but it is because of Will, who rips the hand off, allowing El to impale him. The Mind Flayer's body falls to the ground, leading the group to enter it and rescue the children. All twelve children vomit up Mind Flayer particles as Mike and Nancy reunite with their sister. It is at this time when Vecna reveals he is still alive but grasping on to life. Will and Joyce enter the creature and she greets him with six words: "You fucked with the wrong family" as she remembers the pain he has put her through, between Will's kidnapping and his possession by the Mind Flayer, and the death of Bob Newby. She grabs her axe and begins to chop at his head while everyone else remembers the pain he put them through: Holly with her capture and the attack on her mother, Jonathan with Will's possession, Lucas with Max's brief death, Nancy with her friend Barb's taking and killing, Dustin with Eddie's death, Mike with El's sacrifice in the first season, El with Brenner's abuse of her that led to this whole thing, and Will with his kidnapping. Joyce takes about eleven chops before Vecna's head comes clean off his body, killing him. Dustin radios Murray and tells him that they are back in the Upside Down with the kids, and to set the bomb off. The song that they chose? "When Doves Cry" by Prince.

The entire group, minus Hopper and Murray (who stole a Humvee), are in the truck celebrating their victory, with Derek waving to Mike. As they drive back through the gate, both the Humvee and the truck are met by a spike track and are stopped. Revealing that they have Erica, Clarke, Max, and Vickie, the entire group is apprehended by Kay and the military as more Hedgehogs arrive. Mike and Dustin realize El is gone and they assume she escaped until Mike sees her across the gate in the Upside Down. Mike tries to run towards her but is pulled away by the military, then pulled into El's mind. She tells him that as long as she is alive, she will always be hunted by the government, and continuing to run away will endanger him and his friends. She urges him to tell everyone she thanks them for being so kind to her and teaching her what friendship means. Despite his protests, she tells him that he will one day understand her choice. Mike recalls his memories with her as Prince's "Purple Rain" plays and he begs her not to do this. She tells him that his love has made her who she is today. They share one final kiss as El says she will always be with Mike as he exits her mind. He continues to try to break away from the soldiers as the others realize El is across the gate, leading Hopper, Dustin, and Will to try to get to her too, all to no avail. The record stops playing and the bomb goes off, triggering the exotic matter and sucking the entirety of the Upside Down into space. Hopper, Mike, Will, and Dustin scream for El to come back, with everyone else (including Kay) looking on in shock. After some time, the sucking of the Upside Down appears to take El, leaving the entire group devastated. The closing of the gate leads to the original library being reverted back to its original form.

Eighteen months later, in May of 1989, the remodeling of the library is near its completion, with a plaque commemorating the victims of the 1986 "earthquake," including Eddie Munson, placed outside of it. Robin has returned to hosting her show at the radio station where she gives a bit of an exposition dump. She finds it emotional that Hawkins has become a bustling town again since the military has departed the town, the stores in the town square have reopened, and the quarantine over the town has been lifted. She reveals her absence from the town is due to her attendance at Smith College in Massachusetts. Her cohort, Steve, has become the coach of the local baseball team that features Derek as one of the players. She then reveals she is in Hawkins to attend the high school graduation of her friends. We then see Will, Lucas, Max, and Dustin getting prepared for their graduation, but Karen calls Joyce to inform her that Mike went missing. We then learn that Mike has gone to the town square. Hopper, who has gotten his job as police chief back, goes to the town square to talk to Mike. Mike admits that his survivor's guilt has prevented him from wanting to walk on stage. He mourns the future he could have had with El, but Hopper tells him what happened was not his fault. He then tells Mike he could go down two roads; he can self-loathe for the rest of his life and let El down, or he can accept her choice and move on with his life. He tells him that he has been down the self-loathing road before and he does not recommend it. He also adds on that El would have wanted him to move on with his life. Motivated, he decides to attend the ceremony. Karen hugs him and tells him how proud she is of him despite his situation.

The graduation ceremony begins, with Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Max in attendance, as are their friends and families (with a subtle hint that Holly and Derek are a couple), and Dustin is the class valedictorian. In his speech, he laments how the childhoods of him and his friends were stolen. Using Dungeons & Dragons as a metaphor, he alludes to the types of chaos: chaotic good and chaotic evil. He says that while there was a lot of chaotic evil, there was a lot of chaotic good as well, as it brought so many unlikely people together due to the devastation. To conclude his speech, he calls out principal Jeremy Higgins for encouraging normalcy and fulfills Eddie's wish: he opens his gown to reveal a shirt that says Hellfire Lives, flips off Higgins, and snatches his diploma to laughs and cheers from the crowd. As the graduates throw their caps into the air, Erica launches confetti from a launcher. The feedback from the microphone warps and Mike is taken back to the night he lost El and he begins to think. Afterwards, Dustin's friends congratulate him for a "job well done" and Stacey (who previously rejected an opportunity to dance with Dustin in the second season) invites him and his friends to a graduation party, but Mike has different ideas. Meanwhile, Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, and Robin reunite on top of the radio tower after the graduation ceremony and discuss where they discuss where they have been over the last eighteen months. Nancy has dropped out of Emerson and is now employed at the Herald, Jonathan is attending NYU and making an independent anti-capitalist film, Robin attends Smith while dating Vickie, and Steve is teaching sex education along with his baseball duties. Despite their new lives, they decide to meet up once a month in Philadelphia to hang out at Robin's uncle's house.

Hopper and Joyce have gotten a date at Enzo's where he brings up a prospective job offer that he got in the New York suburb of Montauk as their sheriff, claiming it is a 20% pay increase. He says that this job is beneficial since Joyce's sons are in college and moving there will make it an easy commute. He says they can think about that decision, but there is one decision he would like to talk about now. As the in-house band plays "At Last," Hopper gets down on one knee to propose to Joyce, who enthusiastically accepts, and the two slow dance to congratulations from the other patrons. At the Wheeler house, Mike's idea is revealed to be one final D&D campaign, where they (and Max) find themselves on the losing end of a battle with Strahd von Zarovich with Will as the only survivor. Max rages at the idea of their loss and Lucas urges him to get the final roll over with. Before he does, Dustin remembers that they have access to the mage and urges Will to chant the incantation. The mage appears and defeats the villain, winning the game for the party and giving their characters comfort and happiness. Max presses Mike on giving them a better ending for their characters, and he does.

• The knight and zoomer (aka Lucas and Max) move to a new town with their love growing stronger, showing the two of them watching a screening of Ghost (1990) and solidifying their relationship;

• The bard (aka Dustin) goes to the Mage's Guild of Enclave and spends his days in their library while making time for adventure, showing him attending college and continuing to hang out with Steve (who also fulfilled his dream of getting an RV to travel America);

• "Will the Wise" travels to the city of Vallaki and finds his place there, with happiness and acceptance, showing Will at a bar in another town (does Vallaki mean Milwaukee?) and meeting a possible romantic partner; and

• The storyteller (aka Mike) continues to tell stories inspired by his friends and hopes his stories will reach far and wide, showing him at college taking on the role of a writer.

Mike then tells the group that there is one story, however, that he cannot tell: that of the mage. He theorizes through D&D that, since the Hedgehogs were active when the group was apprehended by the military, El could not have used her powers. He speculates that Kali had a change of heart after Hopper's speech and allowed El to live on, using her powers to turn her invisible so she could escape and use the last of them to show a fake El dying at the gate. He says that this is merely a theory but chooses to believe this, as do the rest of the kids, as they are all moved to tears. It is here that we see El backpacking to an isolated village atop a cliff with two waterfalls. Karen opens the door and yells down that the lasagna is ready, and Mike says they will be right up. Each person tearfully puts their binders on the shelf and walks upstairs with Mike being the last one. Just then, Holly and her friends, including Derek, run down the stairs and begin their own D&D campaign, with Holly revealing it was her idea. Mike watches this display with a smile as he walks up the stairs and closes the door as the credits roll.

The series finale of Stranger Things delivers everything real fans could want: amazing character work, amazing drama, amazing action, and a great sense of finality. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.