"Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the American science fictionhorrordrama television series Stranger Things. The 40th episode overall, it was written by Kate Trefry and directed by series executive producer Shawn Levy. It was released on December 25, 2025, on Netflix alongside the other episodes of season five's volume two.
In the Upside Down, Dustin races up the stairs of the Hawkins Laboratory in an attempt to reach Nancy and Jonathan. Running into Steve, he tells him that he found Dr. Brenner's research notes and that he was wrong about Henry creating the mysterious wall, and that the Upside Down is actually a wormhole between the real world and another dimension, with the wall acting as a containment field. On the roof, the energy sphere that Nancy shot[a] sends a shockwave across the Upside Down, knocking her and Jonathan into the lab. The shockwave destroys part of the wall, and the contents of the Upside Down begins being sucked into space. Hopper, Eleven, and Kali escape back to Hawkins through a gate using Eleven's powers.
The lab begins to melt, slowly filling the room that Nancy and Jonathan are trapped in with exotic matter. Steve begins acting rashly in an attempt to find them, but Dustin admits that he cannot handle losing another friend like he lost Eddie. The two reconcile and agree to be more careful. Believing they are in their last moments, Nancy and Jonathan discuss their relationship, each admitting to various lies, half-truths, and decisions made out of fear rather than certainty that they are meant to be together. Jonathan tells Nancy of his plan to propose to her, but instead asks her not to marry him. She accepts his non-proposal and they mutually decide to let their relationship go, understanding that they both want different things. The melting then stops.
In Hawkins, Will remains unresponsive as Mike, Robin, and Lucas try to piece together what happened to him. Robin theorizes that he saw Max and Holly inside Henry's mind and that, if they manage to escape, Max will return to her body in the hospital. Will wakes up within Henry's lair bound by tendrils and is confronted by Henry, who reveals that he used Will to create the tunnels under Hawkins when he was a child, weakening the world as part of his plan. He then tells Will he is going to use him again to locate Max. Meanwhile, Eleven, Hopper, and Kali reunite with Mike and Joyce at the radio station. Joyce confesses her guilt to Hopper that she is unable to protect her son, but he reassures her, and Joyce asks Eleven to use her powers to locate him. Eleven tells Mike that she is worried that killing Henry will not end things, as his blood still lives on within her. Henry uses his connection to Will to discover Max's body in the hospital just before Eleven is able to reach him. Waking up in the real world, he warns the others that Henry is going to try and kill her.
In Henry's mindscape, Holly and Max retreat to their cave. Henry tries to convince Holly to abandon Max and return to him, but she refuses. Max tells Holly that she believes an escape route back to the real world must be hidden somewhere within Henry's memories but that she has exhausted her search during her two years of being trapped there. Holly insists on exploring more of the terrain beyond the cave, and Max reluctantly follows. They discover a mine tunnel containing one of Henry's childhood memories and watch as a young Henry finds an injured man with a briefcase in the cave, who shoots him in the hand when he tries to help. Henry then brutally kills the man with a stone and opens the briefcase. At the hospital, Robin is cornered by Vickie, who knows she stole drugs[b] and that she is concerned for her well-being. Robin realizes that the military have arrived and is apprehended, but demodogs then begin spawning in the hospital, allowing her and Vickie flee and warn Lucas to get Max out of her room. The four are cornered in the laundry room, but are saved by Karen, who detonates an oxygen tank to kill the demodogs.
Holly and Max find a way out of the mine and to the portals leading to their bodies in the real world. Max tells Holly that she must find her own connection to the world in order to escape, encouraging her to reflect on her own courage and tenacity. She instructs Holly to make it to the Wheeler house in the Upside Down and hide there until the group can rescue her. They hug and run in opposite directions.
Production
On December 11, 2025, Ross Duffer posted to Instagram, confirming that "Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz", along with volume two's other episodes, "Chapter Five: Shock Jock" and "Chapter Seven: The Bridge", were complete. Regarding the episode, he teased, "“Escape from Camazotz” is Shawn Levy’s return to the director’s chair. It’s the biggest episode of the three— and the performances make us cry every time we watch it".[1]
The episode was written by Kate Trefry, marking her first writing credit on the show and second credit overall after contributing to the story of "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down" in season one.[2] Save for Eleven's dilemma over if happy endings are possible and both Vecna's backstory and his connection to the Mind Flayer, whom they deemed would be most impactful and revelatory in the series finale, series creators The Duffer Brothers felt it was important for all of their characters to head into the final battle by really resolving all of their internal and external conflicts either within themselves or with others as they had to be at the best of their ability and on the same page if they are going to be able to defeat the great evil, so they dedicated all of the fifth season's second volume episodes to resolve all of those plots such as Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler's on and off romance.[3]
Discussing the conclusion of Nancy and Jonathan's relationship, the Duffers stated that the scene between the two in the melting laboratory was the one they spent the second longest on in season five. Of the decision for them to break up, Matt Duffer explained, "it’s very messy, because they do love each other very much, but we always felt that at the end of the day, they need to let each other go in order to grow as people and be independent" and praised the performances of Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton.[3] Duffer further referred to the pair's connection as a "trauma bond" and that the show's creative team had known for "a while" that this is how their story would end.[4]
Of the titular escape by Max Mayfield and Holly Wheeler, Sadie Sink who portrays Max, felt it was "really fitting" that she was saved by Holly rather than a character with powers, stating "That’s what the show has always celebrated and stood for — young kids persevering through these huge obstacles and coming out as heroes at the end. Also, to not have it be some huge, otherworldly thing. I mean, obviously they’re in a realm, and they’re running through the red void or whatever, but it’s coming from somewhere from within that gives them the power to find their exit".[5] In regards to the traumatic memory from a young Henry Creel being attacked at a mineshaft by an unknown scientist whom he murders and steals his briefcase's obscured contents for himself, a development first alluded by Dr. Martin Brenner in the Stranger Things: The First Shadow (2023) play and which Max and Holly partially witness before the former manages to escape from Camazotz, the Duffers assured that the audience that they had only seen "half of that core memory" and that the briefcase would reappear in the season finale.[3]
Filming
The episode was directed by Shawn Levy, his ninth directing credit on the series.[1] Initially, Levy was unsure whether he would be able to direct any episodes of the show's fifth season, as it was expected the season's shooting schedule would overlap with the filming of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which Levy was hired by Marvel Studios to direct. Levy explained that one of the first conversations he had with Wade Wilson / Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds and Marvel about was to work out the filming schedules so he would be able to direct at least one episode of the fifth Stranger Things season.[6] The season's shooting would ultimately be delayed when the production was impacted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.[7]
Heaton, who portrays Jonathan, explained that the scene in the melting laboratory was the final thing he and Dyer shot as their characters, and that they both spent about a month preparing, expressing that they "wanted to make sure that we so familiar with it that we didn't have to think about it anymore", allowing them to focus on conveying the honesty and emotion of the scene during filming. Dyer stated that Levy helped "guide" them during the scene, and felt that the physical challenge of the environment helped "add to the energy". The melting room was a large undertaking, with the production design, visual effects, costuming, and hair and makeup teams all working collaboratively to create the desired effect.[8]
Maya Hawke, who plays Robin Buckley, declared the filming of the attack at the hospital as her favorite part of the season, citing the combination of a "big action sequence" that is also "brimming with emotional stakes". Levy referred to it as a "director's playground" that he found both "challenging and fun", with part of the scene being filmed as a oner to allow the audience to feel as though they were experiencing the danger alongside the characters. Caleb McLaughlin, who portrays Lucas Sinclair, also called it his "favorite week of filming", and felt that his character's determination to protect Max from the demodogs is spurred by his failure to save her in the season four finale "Chapter Nine: The Piggyback". He also explained that Levy's direction brought out a "competitive spirit" in him that enabled him to spend several hours filming the scenes while carrying Sadie Sink in his arms. Several stunt performers were used as stand-ins for the demodogs to help Levy and the actors visualize what was happening. Hawke called Karen's entrance "the perfect punctuation mark" to the scene, while Levy referred to it as a "cheer moment". Cara Buono, who plays Karen, expressed that she was "beyond excited" when she read the script and enjoyed the opportunity to "be part of the action" with the rest of the cast.[9]
"Escape from Camazotz" was released on December 25, 2025, on Netflix, alongside the two other episodes comprising Stranger Things season 5 volume 2.[11][12]
Reception
The episode has a score of 8.6 on Metacritic based on 18 user reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]
In a positive review, Tara Bennett of IGN praised the strength of the writing despite the heavy amount of exposition in the episode, stating, "all the praise to writer Kate Trefry for packing a tremendous amount of science talk into this segment while parceling it out in ways that make it understandable for all the Steve Harringtons in the house." She also lauded the performance of Nell Fisher as Holly, declaring her a "charming addition to the line-up so late in the game" and noting that she "holds her own in every emotional scene" with Sadie Sink and "does the character work needed to invest the audience in her plight".[14] Samathan Nelson of Polygon praised the Nancy and Jonathan scenes, writing that they resolved the love triangle between Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve in "a deeply satisfying way that bucks clichés to give every character what they need". She also called "Escape from Camazotz" the "strongest episode of the season’s volume 2 episode drop" for taking the time to resolve the relationship dynamics between the characters.[15]
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