Is Eleven Alive? A Stranger Things Series Finale Detail Has Fans Convinced

This article contains major spoilers for the finale of "Stranger Things."

Anyone who watched the "Stranger Things" finale with the subtitles on should have more reason to believe that Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven survived the events of the episode. A fan has pointed out how the military's frequency weapons were indeed active during the moment in which Eleven was supposed to have died, making it impossible for her to use her powers. All of that suggests that she did, in fact, make it out alive with the help of Linnea Berthelsen's Kali Prasad.

The "Stranger Things" finale was almost perfect until the last 40 minutes, where the show tried to tie up loose ends but managed to raise multiple other questions in the process. At no point did we find out what happened to Linda Hamilton's Dr. Kay, Brett Gelman's Murray Bauman, or Amybeth McNulty's Vickie Dunne. Plus, after witnessing Eleven perish in a heart-rending scene that saw her wiped out along with the Upside Down, we learn that she's still alive ... maybe. Or maybe not. The show leaves it ambiguous, rendering many "Stranger Things" fans furious at the fate of Eleven.

In the final moments of the episode, Finn Wolfhard's Mike Wheeler tells an alternate story in which Eleven survives by way of an illusion cast by Kali. In this version, the Eleven who sacrificed herself in the Upside Down was just a mirage while the real character escaped and isolated herself from everyone to maintain the illusion she was dead and prevent any more experiments being carried out — essentially faking her own death and disappearing. Now, we have even more reason to believe that Mike's more optimistic story is actually true.

There were a few deaths in the "Stranger Things" finale, but what led Mike Wheeler to believe that Eleven actually survived? Well, during the moment when she was seen standing in the portal to the Upside Down, the military was using its frequency weapons, designed to prevent the use of any telekinetic powers and reduce kids with such power to quivering lumps. That means Eleven couldn't possibly have made it to the gate so quickly or used her powers to say goodbye to Mike in the void. Now, a fan has pointed out that those weapons were, in fact, active according to the episode's closed captions, adding further credence to Mike's version of events.

As X (formerly Twitter) user @BettyLilis notes, the episode's closed captions reveal the frequency weapons were "pulsing" when we first see them, which seemingly confirms they were active and that Eleven couldn't have made it to the gate or pulled Mike into the void. "Well, that seals the deal, El lives," they wrote. "There is no scenario where she makes it through the heavily guarded gate without anyone noticing while Dr. Kay is literally looking at her."

@BettyLilis seemingly has more answers than the show itself. In response to questions about Eleven pulling Mike into the void during this moment, the user responded that since she had escaped to the tunnels, where she would be shielded from the frequency weapons, she was able to use her powers. They even covered the argument that Kali would have been killed in the initial explosion, and therefore unable to create the illusion, by explaining that "the buildings in the Upside Down are destroyed outwards to inwards and conveniently Kali happens to be in the center."

Many fans surely wanted a clearer-cut ending for Eleven, and the closed caption clue certainly backs up Mike's version of events, wherein Eleven survives. But the "pulsing" text that appears during the shots of the frequency weapons is really just the closed-captions describing the sound effects used in these moments. Those sound effects themselves suggest the weapons were active, but they could also have been sound effect cues — sound design leitmotifs to enhance the sudden appearance of the weapons and not actual diegetic sound.

Regardless, the bigger issue here is that the "Stranger Things" finale copped out with the most obvious character deaths possible. Kali was the most egregious example, especially since she'd been brought back after her season 2 appearance to ostensibly become the hero, but was mostly just built up as a villain before being killed off and seemingly helping Eleven become isolated from everyone she loves. Likewise, Eleven's death in and of itself felt like a less-than-fitting ending for Millie Bobby Brown's character, who had endured all manner of torment and terror across five seasons and surely deserved a happy ending. In that sense, you sort of hope Eleven did survive, but not in the way the show suggests, as the character is apparently doomed to live a life of self-isolation. Let's hope whatever the "Stranger Things" spin-off is, it fixes those issues.