Stranger Things | S5 E8 | "The Rightside Up" | Recap & Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD

From the opening moments, “The Rightside Up” makes it clear this isn’t just another episode — it’s a farewell. The story drops us straight into the plan as Dr. K pieces together how the group bypassed the military blockade, tracing it back to the radio equipment from the Squawk. The endgame is in motion.

Henry still has the upper hand, keeping the kids trapped both physically and mentally. Hopper, Eleven, and Kali reach the deprivation tank, and the tension is immediate — Hopper knows the sisters may not plan on coming back. Whether he’d even try to save Kali if it came to that hangs uncomfortably in the air.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group reaches the top of the radio tower as the Abyss closes in. Max joins El and Kali inside Henry’s mind, and while the sequence works emotionally, I did wish we saw more flashbacks of the adults during their younger years. Still, it’s powerful watching two powered characters rely on Max — the one without abilities — to guide them.

Then comes the near-heartbreak: Steve slipping from the tower. For a moment, it feels like that death. But it’s Jonathan who saves him, and honestly, it’s perfect. Their shared history, tension, and mutual respect make that moment land beautifully.

Inside the mindscape, Henry realizes Kali is hiding the kids from him. Holly unexpectedly steps up, leading everyone to safety — even going back for Derek, who flips Henry off in classic fashion. Meanwhile, Hopper and Henry share a rare one-on-one moment, and Henry manipulates events to pull Eleven from the tank.

As the military closes in, Murray blows up a helicopter (because of course he does), and Kali is shot. Inside Henry’s mind, we finally learn the truth: the stone from the briefcase gave him his power. He didn’t serve the Mind Flayer — he chose it. Will tries to pull him back, but Henry believes the world is too broken to save.

The Mind Flayer finally reveals itself in full form. Nancy becomes bait. Eleven enters the creature itself and drags Vecna down. The battle feels massive — though perhaps a little too quick — and ends with Vecna defeated… maybe.

Joyce delivers one of the episode’s hardest lines — “You fucked with the wrong family.”

The group escapes, but the military is waiting. Eleven is suddenly gone, still standing in the Upside Down. My read: Kali cloaked her, letting her disappear. Mike’s later theory seems to support that.

Eighteen months later, Hawkins rebuilds. The kids prepare for graduation. Steve owns his RV, Nancy is back in journalism, Jonathan is at NYU, and Hopper finally proposes to Joyce. Life goes on.

Then comes the final scene — one last D&D game. Mike tells everyone’s ending… except Eleven’s. Her fate is left for us to decide. As the dice are packed away, and their binder put up on the shelf for the last time- Holly and her friends burst in to start a new campaign.

The story ends where it began: friends, a basement, and imagination.

Final Thoughts:

Not every loose end is tied up, and some characters (Erica, Murray, even Eddie) deserved more closure. But this finale wasn’t about answers — it was about emotion. About growing up. About letting go.

It wasn’t perfect.

But it was Stranger Things.

And that feels right.

Busted Theories:

Henry being saved: There were a lot of theories out there that somehow El or Will would save Henry from the grasp of the mind flayer and breaking out of the Vecna monicker. We learned that Henry teamed up with the mind flayer to merge worlds.

Kali was the Mind Flayer: This is one that I brought up on our podcast, but didn’t start seeing too much of it online until right before the finale. This theory obviously didn’t come true as she was shot. She maybe gained a little audience points for maybe helping El escape, but still didn’t seem all too important to this ending story unless Mike’s theory is also true.

Eleven sacrifices herself: This obviously could be true as she stayed in the upside down to “end the cycle” or did she…?

This was all just a fantasy or dream of Mike and was just a game of D&D: This didn’t come true either. Although like we mentioned the show started and ended with a game of D&D, the show obviously couldn’t maybe portray this because of how much the actors grew up. But there is CGI I guess..

Character Theories & Tie-Ups

Steve: We maybe thought that Steve would go out heroically and we were teased a little bit until Jonathan saved him.

Suzie: A lot of fans wanted to see a Dustin- Suzie reunion, and maybe the graduation scene would have been a perfect opportunity for this.

Eddie- Eddie was never coming back unless it was a flashback or maybe someone discussing the time when he was alive- which we saw in a little bit of flashbacks.

Erica- Sure Erica helped saved the world in season 3, but was kind of behind the scenes the last two, and her story wasn’t really closed. Spin off coming?

Murray- Sure he helped by blowing up a helicopter and provided comic relief when needed- but like Erica, his chapter wasn’t really closed either. Spin off coming?

Henry- Sure Vecna dies, but does Henry? Would love to see a possible prequel of more Henry and mind flayer lore.

Ted- Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Ted was also seriously injured by a demogorgan. But we then see him at the graduation, still concerned about the kid’s language.

Holly- I know nothing has been said (at least I haven’t seen it) but I would be all in on a spin off featuring Nell Fisher as Holly. And the ending of the story set it up perfectly.

Dr. K: We now know that she and her military team was hunting down El trying to use her blood to try and keep Dr. Brenner's project up and running. But after El "disappeared", so did she, I guess she gave up.

Dr. Brenner: Papa also wasn't making a return unless it was flashback scenes or memories.