The Big Picture

• Season 5 of Stranger Things may feature the return of Kali, aka Eight, who played an important role in Eleven's story in Season 2.
• Kali had the ability to create lifelike illusions and sought revenge against former Hawkins Lab employees, making her a valuable ally against the villain.
• While Kali's episode, "The Lost Sister," received mixed reviews, it would be odd for the Duffer Brothers to abandon her storyline without any resolution in the final season.

The Duffer Brothers sure have set up a bleak scenario for Season 5 of Stranger Things. Set to be the hit Netflix sci-fi show’s last hurrah, next season will kick off with the small town of Hawkins taken over by the Upside Down and one of our heroes trapped inside her own mind, if not outright dead. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) seems to be in way over her own head and will need more than just a little help from her friends to defeat a villain that is basically her on steroids. As a matter of fact, she could use a hand from some other former captives at the Hawkins Lab. Alas, Peter Ballard (Jamie Campbell Bower) has made sure that no other telekinetic kid is alive to take him down. Wait, what about Season 2's Kali Prasad (Linnea Berthelsen), also known as Eight?

Who Is Eight in 'Stranger Things' Season 2?

Season 4 has made it clear that poor Eleven was never the most popular child at the research facility. For a while, her only friend was Bower’s deceptively kind orderly with a control chip in his neck and murder on his mind. But long before Henry/Vecna/One made the rounds, there was another Hawkins’ Lab inmate that showed Eleven some much-needed love. A girl that was more than just a friend to El: they were practically sisters. At least for one season.

Eight was introduced in Season 2 of Stranger Things and played out to be an important part of Eleven’s story. We first met her as the leader of a gang of teenage outcasts in Pittsburgh, using her powers to get back at the people that harmed her when she was still a child — namely, former Hawkins Lab employees. Unlike El and Peter, Kali is able to create lifelike illusions, such as a wall of gravel that she uses to trick the police into letting her and her crew escape after another successful hit. Kali’s vendetta against the scientists that experimented on her was an integral part of Season 2, and she even got an entire episode devoted to her story. However, after the season finale, we never saw or heard from her again. Apart from a few brief nods in Season 4’s flashbacks, it’s almost as if she never existed.

How Did Eleven Meet Eight in 'Stranger Things'?

Eleven was more than thrilled to find out that she was not alone in the world after her fight against the Demogorgon. Back in 1984 (or 2017, depending on whether you choose to follow the fictional or the real world timeline), El was coming down with a severe case of cabin fever during her stay at Hopper’s (David Harbour) place. She decided to run away in search of her birth mother, a former test subject in Dr. Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) MK Ultra experiments by the name of Terry Ives (Aimee Mullins). In the late '60s, Terry was given psychedelic drugs and placed into sensory deprivation tanks in an attempt to awaken extrasensory abilities. The tests had an unforeseen effect on Terry’s unborn daughter, Jane. Right after she was born, little Jane was kidnapped by Dr. Brenner, who returned Terry home and told her family that she’d had a third trimester miscarriage.

Hopper and Joyce (Winona Ryder) had already gotten to Terry in Season 1, while they were investigating Will’s (Noah Schnapp) disappearance. However, they were distraught to find her in a catatonic state, unable to share any info she might have. Eleven, on the other hand, was able to communicate with her mother telepathically and find out the truth about what happened to her. Fully aware that she had not miscarried her baby, Terry broke into the Hawkins Lab with a gun in her hand to get Jane back.

Sadly, her plan didn’t work, and Dr. Brenner forced her to undergo a session of electro-convulsive therapy so intense that she never recovered from the trauma. When this rescue attempt took place, El was only 3 years old. Thus, it is no wonder that she didn’t remember any of it. But, while in her mother’s mind, she saw herself as a toddler playing in the “rainbow room” with a slightly older girl. And so, upon leaving the Ives residence, Eleven went looking for this missing child, whom she found hiding in Chicago with a group of adolescent punks.

Eight Understood Eleven's Situation in Season 2

Eight was a friend, a foe, a family member, and a mentor to Eleven. The girls reconnected immediately on an emotional level, and Kali took El in right away, despite the initial reluctance of the other members of her gang. She taught Eleven how to control her powers, and gave her a bitchin’ makeover that would certainly have protected her from those pesky California bullies. Eight’s motivations were somewhat dubious: though she did seem to care a lot for her “little sister.” she also wanted to manipulate Eleven into helping her find and kill Brenner’s lackeys more easily. El was far from being okay with this plan, which led to the girls parting ways.

Eleven’s reunion and subsequent falling out with Eight is depicted in “The Lost Sister,” an encapsulated episode that looked and smelled a lot like the intro to a spin-off series. It’s no secret that a Stranger Things spinoff has been in consideration at Netflix for a while now. However, whatever this new show might be, it is unlikely that it will focus on the adventures of Kali and her crew. “The Lost Sister” was as divisive as a Stranger Things episode can be. Many fans weren’t impressed with Eight’s rebellious attitude and the crew’s wannabe punk looks, and some accused the story of being too cartoonish even for a show in which children fight monsters based on D&D creatures. Five years after its release, “The Lost Sister” still has the worst rating of all Stranger Things episodes on IMDb.

The Duffer Brothers Hinted That Eight Will Return in Season 5

Though only the Duffer Brothers and Netflix execs can tell for sure, it is likely that this poor reception is at least part of the reason why Eight hasn’t been present for the events of the following seasons, save for the odd flashback. At Vulture Festival LA 2017, the Duffers were asked whether Kali would be coming back for Season 3 after all the backlash. Their response was that it would feel weird not to solve her storyline. “I would say chances are very high she comes back,” said Matt Duffer. Still, Kali remains missing. Maybe it’s time we meet her again.

Stranger Things has a lot to wrap up in Season 5. Still, perhaps precisely for that reason, it would feel odd if Eight’s story was just left hanging. Besides, the final battle against Vecna is the perfect moment to bring her back. As previously stated, Eleven has bitten off more than she can chew when she decided to face off against Peter Ballard/Henry Creel. Her regular friends are no match for a being that can invade people’s minds and use their greatest traumas against them, killing them from the inside out. Kali’s unique set of skills, so different from Eleven’s and all the other test subjects’, might prove a valuable asset in the show’s final fight. Besides, considering how important El’s past is to the whole Vecna plot and the Upside Down, wouldn’t it be fitting for her to have another Hawkins’ Lab survivor by her side as she finally rids the world of Peter Ballard? Kali doesn’t even have to be the only one: in the Stranger Things’ comics, Terry’s attempted rescue gives three other captive children the opportunity they needed to escape. Two of those kids are still alive by the end of their stories.

Perhaps you’re rolling your eyes right now. Perhaps you can’t stand Kali and can’t fathom the idea of seeing her again. Or perhaps you loved “The Lost Sister” and can’t wait to find out what happened to Eight and her gang. But even if you hated everything about that episode, think about it for a while: wouldn’t it be weird if the Duffer Brothers were to pretend it never existed? Wouldn’t it be terrible if Eight’s story was forever remembered as just an abandoned plotline or, even worse, a plot hole? Shouldn’t Kali get some resolution? You know she deserves it. And, for a while, at least, so did the Duffer Brothers.

Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.