Stranger Things 5 Will Answer The Series' Most Burning Question

"Stranger Things," although grounded in 1980s music, pop culture, and fashion, has a tendency to escape the mundane aspects of this world with telekinetic and psychic individuals, extraplanar monsters, secret government research programs, and alternate dimensions that threaten this very existence. From the very start of the beloved series, a group of friends from Hawkins have had to contend with horrible abominations that kill with what appears to be no rhyme or reason ... though, in fact, it is eventually revealed in Season 4 that each death weakens the boundaries between this plane of existence and that of the realm known as the Upside Down.

Although each season of "Stranger Things" reveals a little bit more of the puzzle, and many questions have been answered, these conclusions often lead to more questions which remain unresolved. When Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) disappears in the very first season, his friends and family know very little about what they have to contend with, and the Upside Down almost appears to be an insurmountable conundrum. However, while Season 4 finally delves into the origins of the Upside Down, it leaves many mysteries unanswered — mysteries which, the Duffer brothers have promised, will be answered in Season 5.

Fans have, so far, gotten a glimpse into the inner workings of the Upside Down when Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) goes to retrieve a stashed gun from her room, to only notice that it appears as if the Upside Down is locked in time, and that the gun does not exist in the phantom and foreboding realm. Not only that, but when Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) first arrives in the Upside Down during a flashback, the terrain and environment are significantly different than how the Upside Down has always appeared to viewers in the past. 

In an interview with Collider, the Duffer brothers were asked about future reveals in the upcoming Season 5 of "Stranger Things," to which Ross Duffer replied, "The big reveals that are coming in Season 5 are really about the Upside Down itself, which we only start to hint at. There is that moment where we realize in episode seven this year that it's frozen in time."

Ross then posed the following rhetorical questions: "What was that where Henry was when he was found? The Mind Flayer, where is that?" 

Considering these comments, it seems as if the writers of the show are planning on answering these questions, finally, in the upcoming climactic season of "Stranger Things." So, how has the Upside Down come into existence, and what is the meaning of time being locked in the Upside Down corresponding to Will's disappearance? Needless to say, it appears that Season 5 will finally blow up the mystery box, once and for all.