Picking up moments after episode 5, we begin Stranger Things season 5, episode 6 as Dustin runs up the stairs shouting for Nancy and Jonathan not to touch anything. At first nothing happens after Nancy shoots the orb of energy, but then we see the orb flashes with red and black as it then explodes sending a ripple through all the Upside Down before crashing into the wall as Hopper, El and Kali watch.
Steve reaches Dustin, who panics as he tells Steve that he was terribly wrong. It turns out Dustin found an old journal belonging to Dr. Brenner and discovered that Vecna didn’t make the wall, science did. He explains that exotic matter is holding the giant wall together. Up on the roof, the ball of exotic matter begins to causes the building to melt as Jonathan and Nancy lay unconscious, having been knocked out by the blast.
As Eleven begins clearing a path for herself, Hopper, and Kali to navigate through the debris flying through the air into the hole in the wall to a gate in the distance, Dustin explains that everything they assumed about the Upside Down is wrong. The Upside Down isn’t another world, it’s a wormhole: a bridge between two worlds. If it collapses, it’ll take everyone with it. The camera cuts outside the wall, as we see the wormhole from afar.
Back in Hawkins, the sun rises on a new day as November 6 arrives. Will is still unconscious, leaving Lucas, Mike, and Robin to wonder why he’s not woken up. Robin says they need to assume he saw Max and Holly as she comes to the conclusion that they’re all unconscious and their minds are in the same place: in Vecna’s mind, imprisoned. Or at least they were. If Will is right, Max and Holly are making a prison break. If they succeed, they’ll return to their physical bodies. Max will come back to life, they’ll know where Vecna is and what his plan is.
We see Will wake up trapped within the Upside Down with tentacles surrounding his body. Henry approaches and taunts Will for thinking he could outsmart him. Henry points out that Will was his tool before, serving as a spy and builder, making the tunnels in his dreams as a kid. He was useful before and Henry is going to use Will again, this time to find Max.
Holly and Max come up with a new plan to escape Camazotz
After evading capture, Max and Holly run back to the cave. Once inside, Max calms Holly. She says they’re safe here as we see Henry hobbling toward the cave. He calls out for Holly and tells her to stop or he’ll hurt her. He tries to convince her that Max has tricked her and corrupted her mind. Holly yells back about Henry being the real liar, as Henry threatens to hurt Max or possibly even kill her. Max yells out about Henry being too scared of the cave, calling him a coward. He says things have changed, there are other ways to get to her as he walks off, leaving them there at the cave.
Holly is convinced they need to find a new way out, but Max thinks they should try to stay alive until they’re rescued by Eleven. She thinks it was Eleven who sent the message and knows they’re there, thus she can come rescue them.
Holly questions why Henry can't come into the cave and asks if Max has any theories. Max says this prison is made of Henry’s memories, including the cave so she figures the memory is one that Henry doesn’t want to face; something traumatic. The only problem is, there is nothing in the cave that is remotely scary. Holly suggests that they can escape through Henry’s memory and points out how the traumatic memories from her house and Max’s attic led to a door out.
Holly looks out into the desert beyond the view of the cave and questions whether Max has searched the land beyond the cave. Max is adamant about waiting for Eleven, but Holly doesn’t think Henry was bluffing about finding a way to get to Max. Holly heads off to search for another way out of Camazotz and Max reluctantly follows her.
Mike and Eleven are reunited as he tries to assure her they can still get a happy ending
After escaping the Upside Down, Hopper, Eleven, and Kali are reunited with Joyce and Mike at Squawk. They quickly catch up as Joyce enlists Eleven’s help in trying to find Will and bring him back.
While Eleven tries to locate Will, Hopper confronts Kali for throwing Eleven off track. Kali quips back that if Hopper really wants to protect her, she needs to know the truth and be ready for what’s on the other side of this. Kali points out that killing Henry won’t end this, and she’s here to make sure this never happens again. Kali storms off as Eleven enters with bad news: she can’t find Will. Hopper then suggests she fuel up as they prep the tank so she can try to reach Will using it.
After preparing the tank, Hopper assures Joyce that Eleven will fix things. Joyce is feeling guilty as it was her idea for Will to go in there. She feels guilty for thinking that in trying to protect him she had been holding him back by not listening and trusting him. It’s like every choice she makes is wrong. Hopper notes that as a parent they have a constant reminder that every choice they made was wrong as he assures Joyce this wasn’t on her.
Meanwhile, Mike tells Eleven about Kali mentioning this not being over if they kill Henry. Eleven brushes him off as he says friends don’t lie. She tells him about the lab in the Upside Down restarting Brenner’s program and trying to make new numbers. Mike says after they kill Vecna, then destroy the lab, but Eleven points out that Henry’s blood is in Eleven, and with her blood they can make more monsters. Mike says the military will always be looking for her, which they’ve always known. He tries to assure her that when this is over, they’ll escape to a far-off land and get their happy ending. Instead of finding hope in the message, Eleven reminds Mike that this isn’t one of his campaigns and he can’t write the ending this time. Mike says they get to write the story together, and it starts with getting Will back.
Nancy and Jonathan are alive but their relationship is over
In the Upside Down, Dustin looks into the research to see if there is any information on how long they have until the wormhole collapses. Meanwhile, Steve heads upstairs to try to get a signal or find Nancy. They try to get through to them as they look up and see the unstable ball of matter above them in the sky through a hole in the ceiling above them.
When we cut to Jonathan, he’s lying unconscious as the walls continue to drop around him. He comes to and awakens Nancy. They try to open the door, but the handle melts in Jonathan’s hand, leaving them trapped in the room as it continues to flooding as the walls around them melt.
As Steve and Dustin try to reach them, Jonathan and Nancy do everything they can to stay alive. While trapped in the room, Nancy and Jonathan decide there’s no better time to hash out their relationship problems as they begin to confess various lies they’ve told one another and secrets they’ve hidden. The confessions end with Jonathan pulling out the cassette tape containing the engagement ring. Rather than proposing, though, Jonathan asks Nancy if she’ll not marry him, as the pair realize they were trying to force a relationship that wasn’t going to work out – regardless of how much shared trauma they carry.
When Nancy tosses the ring aside, they realize that the walls have finally stopped melting. Now they just have to find a way out of the room.
Do Max and Holly find a way out of Henry’s mind prison?
After leaving the cave, Max and Holly roam through the desert trying to find a clue. It seems pointless at first until Holly pulls out the looking glass and notices the cap shape matches the opening in the cave. She deduces that it’s a map and she begins heading back in the direction of the cave.
Max and Holly near the cave and Holly explains how the cap must be a map Henry made when he was young and if they get the map to line up, they can find a way out. As Holly takes a step back, the ground gives in below her and she almost falls into the opening. Max grabs her in time, and they look down into what is a tunnel to what looks like an old mine shaft.
As this is unfolding, Henry uses Will to enter his mind and see a vision of the hospital room where Max is being held in Hawkins. Eleven eventually finds him with help from the tank, and frees Will’s mind. As Will and Eleven regroup with Mike, Joyce, and Hopper, they reveal that Vecna is planning to kill Max in the real world.
In Henry’s mind prison, Holly and Max make their way into the tunnel where they find a man shouting at someone to stay back as he points a gun in their direction while clutching onto a briefcase with his other arm. They watch as a young Henry enters the memory and tries to put the man at ease, only for the man to shoot Henry in the hand. A struggle ensues as Henry ends up beating the man to death with a rock, as Holly and Max race off to try to find their path out.
As Max begins clearing rocks from the collapsed wall, she hears Kate Bush playing, signaling that they’re close. Holly and Max are able to clear a path through the rocks which leads them through the cave wall into the red realm where Max nearly escaped before.
Back in Hawkins, a pack of demodogs arrives at the hospital to kill Max, but luckily Robin is able to send a message to Lucas over the intercom, which gives him the chance to scoop Max up and flee. Lucas meets up with Robin and Vickie in the laundry room, as he embraces a still unconscious Max in his arms. The demodogs begin closing in and Robin tries to urge Lucas to turn off the music, but he refuses as he can’t risk Max not making it back.
Just when it looks like the demodogs are going to get the group, their attention is drawn to a dryer. The three creatures approach the machine just in time for it to explode as a result of an oxygen tank placed inside the machine by Karen, who saves the day.
Max and Holly make their way through the red realm as we hear the music. Finally, Max sees a portal and sees Lucas holding her back in the real world.
Surprisingly, Max tells Holly she can’t come with her. Max explains that the portal leads to her body, not Holly’s. Holly needs to find her own way out.
Max explains that music isn’t the only way back as she challenges Holly to think of something that connects her to the real world, something powerful and meaningful. Max points to the Holly the Heroic figure and Holly implies it’s just a dumb toy. Holly explains that Mike told her if she ever got scared, she could become Holly the Heroic, but it never works; she’s always this scared little girl. When her mom was attacked, she couldn’t do anything and just stood there. Then, when Henry attacked Max, she froze again. Max reminds her she’s a Wheeler. She points out how brave she was for following the map and how she showed no hesitation in going along with Max’s original plan. She then points out how she refused to give up and that led them to finding their way out. Max tells her Holly the Heroic is not just a toy, she’s Holly. Just then, Holly sees a portal opening, showing her path back.
Max reminds her they have a long journey ahead, and tells her to remember the Upside Down is just like Hawkins. She instructs Holly to find her way to her house in the Upside Down and hide there, until the group comes to find her. The pair hug as Max tells her she’ll see her on the other side. They walk off in opposite directions running to their portals as the episode comes to an end.
Episode Grade: B+
Episode 6 was a really solid episode and was so close to being one of the best of the season. The biggest annoyance I have with the episode is that it’s called “Escape from Camazotz”, yet we don’t get to actually see Holly and Max escape within the episode. Yes, we know they effectively make it out of Henry’s mind prison, but it would have been amazing to see the pair actually returning to their physical bodies at the end of the episode.