Stranger Things season 5 to address why Upside Down is frozen in time
Stranger Things season 4 part 1 ended with quite a few cliffhangers and some shocking reveals. Nancy is still in the Upside Down and under Vecna’s spell. Henry Creel is Hawkins lab guard Peter Ballard, who is 001, who is also Vecna! And Eleven either created the Upside Down or opened up a gate to it earlier than we thought. That’s still not 100% clear. Hopefully this will be answered directly in volume 2.
One interesting reveal that has the wheels turning in our heads is the fact that the Upside Down is actually frozen in time. It’s stuck on Nov. 6, 1983, the day Will went missing in season 1. Nancy finds this out when she sees that her diary entries in the alternate dimension stop at that date.
Since El sent 001 to the Upside Down years before Will was taken, we know the monster-filled world has been around at least for that long. So what’s the significance of that specific date? We’ll have to wait until next season to find out!
Stranger Things season 5 to address why the Upside Down is frozen in time
In a recent interview with Variety, Matt and Ross Duffer, aka the Duffer Brothers, revealed that the fifth season is going to dive into the lore of the Upside Down. That includes how it works, what the monster hierarchy is, and all the other questions we’ve been asking on how this other creepy dimension functions.
One of our biggest questions from season 4 is why the alternate world is frozen in time and why, specifically, on the day Will went missing. Well the Duffers shared there’s a reason for it, and unfortunately that’s not going to be resolved in the final two episodes coming up. The frozen time and its significance will play a role in season 5 and what they have planned for that story. You can catch their answer at around the 23:14 time stamp, which we’ve conveniently shared below.
Do you have any theories? Why do you think the Upside Down is stuck on the day Will went missing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 drops Friday, July 1 on Netflix.