When Linnea Berthelsen first played Kali in Stranger Things season 2, she had no idea if the character would ever return. At the time, even creators Matt and Ross Duffer weren’t sure where Kali’s story might go. The show was still growing, and Kali’s role as Eleven’s long-lost “sister” felt unfinished, but unresolved.
For years, that loose end lingered.
Then, about three years ago, Berthelsen got an email from the Duffers asking to talk.
“At first, I thought it might just be to catch up,” she says. “But it wasn’t.”
That call marked Kali’s long-awaited return in the final season of Stranger Things, a return that reshapes the character in darker, more emotional ways.
A very different Kali
Season 5 shows a Kali who has been broken down and rebuilt by trauma. No longer the confident rebel we met in season 2, she is now a captive again—experimented on by Dr. Kay, a new scientist following in the footsteps of past monsters like Brenner.
One of Kali’s most disturbing moments comes in episode 5, when a flashback shows her hair being shaved off in captivity. Berthelsen filmed the scene for real, on camera, during her very first day of shooting.
“It symbolized losing control,” she explains. “Being taken back to everything she fears the most.”
This version of Kali is frightened, guarded, and deeply vulnerable. Her blood has been taken and used in experiments on pregnant women, an attempt to create more psychic children. It’s a revelation that fuels her warning to Eleven: killing Vecna won’t end the cycle. Someone else will always come next.
Love, fear, and mistrust
As the final episodes unfold, Kali becomes a source of tension. She pushes Eleven toward extreme choices, even suggesting they stay behind in the Upside Down to stop future threats for good. Hopper doesn’t trust her, and fans have questioned her motives.
But Berthelsen says Kali is never playing games.
“She’s always acting from a place of care,” she says. “She loves Eleven, but she also wants to be worthy of love herself.”
That need, she explains, comes from a lifetime of trauma and abandonment. Kali’s choices may seem dangerous, but they come from fear, survival, and a desperate desire to matter.
Reuniting with Eleven
Returning to Stranger Things was emotional for Berthelsen in more ways than one. When she first joined the show, she was 23. Millie Bobby Brown was still a child actor. Now, Brown is 21, a mother, and a far more seasoned performer.
Seeing that growth up close left an impression.
“There’s a real connection between us,” Berthelsen says. “We were very present with each other in those scenes. They were intense, and that kind of work is rare.”
She also notes how much bigger the show has become. What once took up a small part of the Atlanta studios now fills entire backlots. The scale, the pressure, and the emotional weight are all much greater.
Saying goodbye
With Volume 2 now streaming, Stranger Things is racing toward its final chapter. The series finale, titled “The Rightside Up,” runs just over two hours and will debut on Netflix on December 31, with select theater screenings.
Berthelsen remembers reading the final script for the first time.
“I cried every time,” she says. “It was written beautifully.”
For Kali, and for the show itself, the end is emotional, painful, and earned. After years of questions, her story finally has a place in the bigger picture—and a goodbye that carries real weight.
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