Stranger Things 5: What is 'The Bridge'?

Could this be the true origin of the Upside Down?

Say it with me now: NINE. MORE. DAYS. We are WITHIN SINGLE DIGITS. I am still going to be in denial that this is actually happening when I sit down and watch The Crawl NEXT FRICKIN' WEEK. I don't think anyone on this planet can comprehend how excited I am. Alright, alright, anyways, we are wrapping up my episode-by-episode predictions with The Bridge, the penultimate episode of the entire series. This is honestly just as important an episode as the finale. This is the big setup, the gate to the final battle. I expect some huge revelations or twist that give us an agonizing week long wait between the release of volume two and the finale. So here are my predictions as to what the mysterious "bridge" could be.

5. A Giant Bridge in the Upside Down

Maybe the titular bridge is as obvious as it would seem

I really expect this episode to be the big revelatory entry where we reveal what the Upside Down truly is, and I think "the bridge" is the key to that. So maybe the bridge is a real bridge inside of the Upside Down that leads to its origin point. Maybe it's the key piece that could allow the party to destroy the dimension once and for all. I expect for the majority of volume two and the finale to take place in the Upside Down, and, due to that, I expect the bridge to be something within the Upside Down itself.

4. The Military's Access Point to the Upside Down

We know the military has quarantined Hawkins

I don't know how big of a role the military will have in the back half of the season, but if they are still a presence, I feel like this episode will wrap up whatever plot lines they are involved in. I doubt the finale will really deal with the military conflict, because that would take away from the ultimate battle with Vecna (or so I think). So, if the bridge is a way to wrap up this military plot line, it would likely be a bridge between the military's entrance and the Upside Down. And maybe Vecna accesses that and massacres the soldiers (although I think that will happen way earlier in the season).

3. The Link Between Dimension X and the Upside Down

We will find out the truth about the connection between these two realms

These next three entries are a little bit difficult, because I am theorizing kind of the same thing with all three of them but with minor tweaks at each one. We know that Dimension X (the place that Vecna arrived in) is related to the Upside Down in some way shape or form but is not quite the Upside Down itself. We are going to find out how they are connected, and maybe that will be through some sort of bridge. And maybe, just maybe, this bridge between the Upside Down and Dimension X will be the way to defeat Vecna once and for all.

2. The Main Origin Piece of the Upside Down

We will also find out the truth about what the Upside Down is

This is what I say when I mean these top three are kind of all the same with minor tweaks. If there is a connective bridge between Dimension X and the Upside Down, that would serve as an explanation for the Upside Down's true origins. However, with this entry, I'm more saying that the bridge will be some sort of unspecified explanation for how the dark realm came to be. I don't know if it will be a literal bridge. I don't know if it will connect to Dimension X. But I do believe that the bridge could be some sort of either metaphorical or physical origin point of the Upside Down.

1. The Main Connective Piece to the Upside Down

Will or Eleven's connection might be the bridge into the finale

The two questions we know we are getting answers to are what the Upside Down really is and why the Demogorgon kidnapped Will in the first place. The first five minutes of season five showed us that Vecna clearly orchestrated Will's kidnapping, so it is possible that the true reasoning behind that will get explained here. Either that or Eleven's mysterious connection to the Upside Down may be due to whatever this bridge is. I honestly have no real guesses that I feel confident about as to what the bridge actually is, but I do strongly, strongly believe that it will answer some of the show's most important questions.