The final episode of Stranger Things season 5, Vol. 1 featured a character return that it's probably safe to say took most viewers completely by surprise.
Spoilers follow.
After fighting her way through the Upside Down with Hopper (David Harbour), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) manages to break into Dr. Kay's (Linda Hamilton) lab, only to discover fellow psychic test-subject Kali, aka Eight (Linnea Berthelsen), who we haven't seen since 2.
The character was introduced in the season 2 episode "The Lost Sister," and her three-episode arc is widely viewed as a low point of the series.
"When Netflix [and series creators] Matt and Ross Duffer reached out about coming back as Kali, I was so intrigued to see where they wanted to take her," Berthelsen tells Entertainment Weekly. "I care about her so deeply, and making sure she'd be in great hands was important to me."
It sounds like Kali is going to have a significant role in the second half of the season, and - depending on where her loyalties lie now - could either become a valued ally or a powerful enemy of Eleven's.
"I was amazed by their raw, quite ambitious vision for Kali in season 5 of Stranger Things, and excited that the season would be directed by the brothers, [series executive producer] Shawn Levy, and the brilliant Frank Darabont, whose work I deeply admire," Bethelsen continues. "Because we discover Kali under such different circumstances in this season, the cliffhanger reveal at the end of episode 4 didn’t actually feel like I was stepping back into character, but instead it felt like a first reveal of the brothers’ vision for her in this season and an insight into who I personally believe Kali has always been underneath her various personas."
The Duffer Brothers also weighed-in on Eight's return, revealing that they never considered any other characters to bring back.
"Everyone else is dead," Matt said. "Eddie was never gonna turn into a vampire." "Barb's gone," Ross added, after which Matt comments, "That would've been shocking, though."
Matt goes on to describe Kali as "this loose end that we had never really resolved. We've talked about bringing her back before, but there was not a narrative or thematic reason to bring her back. She'd served her purpose in season 2, but it still felt like this loose end where Eleven just left her there. What happened to her?"
Have you watched the first four episodes of Stranger Things season 5? What did you make of Kali's return?
"The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time."
Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay). New to the cast for Stranger Things season 5 are Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Nell Fisher (Evil Dead Rise), newcomer Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux (Joe Pickett).