Yes
I was merely pre emptively answering the "But IT's miniseries was from the 90s!" reaction, as it is adapted from an 80's novel.
Same for The Mist really, adapted much later,
Same for The Mist really, adapted much later,
I will shamelessly take advantage of having top o' the page to try and clarify a few things/ answer a few questions I've seen lately.
About El
Her mother was part of an experimental program, while she was a college student and needing an extra buck, called MK Ultra (real one too, just not quite the same irl), where the US government would try to chemically enhance/ produce ESPs: Telekinesy, Telepathy, etc. All that since WW2 and the 50's, in order to "fight the commies".
Ideally, the drugs would result in a person having the ability to read minds at a distance (spying), and perhaps even cause aneurisms (assassinating) without trace.
What they didn't know at the time was that El's mother was pregnant, and the drugs apparently reached the foetus. When realizing this, the gov/ Dr Brenner apparently took advantage of complications to deliver the baby 3 months before term and told the family the baby was dead. The mother never believed them and caused problems, until at some point she somehow became "chemically lobotomized" (assumed, as she is now in a semi vegetative state).
From there, we know that El was raised by Dr Brenner at The Company, calling him Papa, and had to go through increasingly difficult ordeals and experiments in order to finally realize the goal of MK Ultra. It is to be noted that El's name, "Eleven", would indicate the existence of 10 other "subjects", past or present.
During a new kind of experiment supposed to extend El's powers to reach across continents, she was placed in a sensory deprivation chamber. While trying to focus on reaching across space, she ends up partially crossing inside another dimension, just not physically (hence why she doesn't fully see it, just a sea of blackness).
During that experiment, she becomes aware that something else if there, a something that can also sense her, and she freaks out.
Brenner is very interested in the possibilities which are either another dimension or a parallel representation of our own world allowing possibly El to interact physically at a distance, so he has her doing the test again, with this time the goal to "touch" whatever it is she will find in this mental construction ("making contact").
She then sees the monster for the first time (it is feeding), and when she tries to touch it, it reacts and she panics, lashing out with her power at full force.
Is it the contact with the creature, or using her power while mentally in the Upside Down that created the basement portal? It is unknown. But the portal was created.
From there, we know the creature crossed through (killing at least 1 scientist as seen in episode 1, probably more), escaped into the surrounding woods (but by then the creature had gained the ability to create its own portals, as seen with the tree or walls in Will's house in other episodes) and during the confusion El escaped, eventually using a drain pipe to go in the forest.
Ideally, the drugs would result in a person having the ability to read minds at a distance (spying), and perhaps even cause aneurisms (assassinating) without trace.
What they didn't know at the time was that El's mother was pregnant, and the drugs apparently reached the foetus. When realizing this, the gov/ Dr Brenner apparently took advantage of complications to deliver the baby 3 months before term and told the family the baby was dead. The mother never believed them and caused problems, until at some point she somehow became "chemically lobotomized" (assumed, as she is now in a semi vegetative state).
From there, we know that El was raised by Dr Brenner at The Company, calling him Papa, and had to go through increasingly difficult ordeals and experiments in order to finally realize the goal of MK Ultra. It is to be noted that El's name, "Eleven", would indicate the existence of 10 other "subjects", past or present.
During a new kind of experiment supposed to extend El's powers to reach across continents, she was placed in a sensory deprivation chamber. While trying to focus on reaching across space, she ends up partially crossing inside another dimension, just not physically (hence why she doesn't fully see it, just a sea of blackness).
During that experiment, she becomes aware that something else if there, a something that can also sense her, and she freaks out.
Brenner is very interested in the possibilities which are either another dimension or a parallel representation of our own world allowing possibly El to interact physically at a distance, so he has her doing the test again, with this time the goal to "touch" whatever it is she will find in this mental construction ("making contact").
She then sees the monster for the first time (it is feeding), and when she tries to touch it, it reacts and she panics, lashing out with her power at full force.
Is it the contact with the creature, or using her power while mentally in the Upside Down that created the basement portal? It is unknown. But the portal was created.
From there, we know the creature crossed through (killing at least 1 scientist as seen in episode 1, probably more), escaped into the surrounding woods (but by then the creature had gained the ability to create its own portals, as seen with the tree or walls in Will's house in other episodes) and during the confusion El escaped, eventually using a drain pipe to go in the forest.
About the creature and the ending
What we know is that the creature is attracted by blood (the more the better), that it can come and go pretty much at will between the UD and our reality since it crossed over, that while in the UD its "near presence" affects electric current in our reality. The creature is incredibly resilient at least while in our world, shrugging off dozens of bullets, but blunt force trauma might work better (bat with nails), and a bear trap was able to both hurt it and immobilize it for a bit, forcing it to cross back. The creature seems to be able to secrete a mucus/ slime that hardens, and has a chemical trace, possibly toxic to some degree (the UD itself has an atmosphere that is relatively toxic to humans, and an air filled with something akin to spores.) We also know that it drags its victims in the UD before feeding there, or doing "something else" to them. The "something else" is debatable, but it has been seen with Barbara whose body did not seem damaged from the outside, but seemingly being consumed from the inside by a large slug type monster. Will himself had a long slug attached to his mouth an going down to his stomach, the last scene with him coughing out a small slug hinting that the thing was possibly laying egg(s) inside him.
Did he then hallucinate his vision of the Upside Down, or was he really able to cross for a second? I would venture that given what we know he actually hallucinated (who would blame him?) because of 2 reasons:
1) Physically crossing requires a "portal". The creature used the basement portal, a portal created in a tree, or walls. Physical elements transformed into crossing mediums.
Will just blinked in and out in his "vision".
2) Mentally crossing (what El was doing) does not allow you to see your entire environment. Just the things you focus on. The first time, El couldn't see anything. The second time, for the contact, El was focusing on the monster, and she saw it. When focusing on Will she saw him inside his cabin. Back early on, when focusing on a Russian target, she saw only him, etc.
The thing being: Will saw his entire room and environment change to look like the UD - except, if I remember well, no spores.
So, maybe he did gain some form of immunity (having spent a week in the UD and nearly dying there), but able to blink in and out? That would seem unlikely.
Did he then hallucinate his vision of the Upside Down, or was he really able to cross for a second? I would venture that given what we know he actually hallucinated (who would blame him?) because of 2 reasons:
1) Physically crossing requires a "portal". The creature used the basement portal, a portal created in a tree, or walls. Physical elements transformed into crossing mediums.
Will just blinked in and out in his "vision".
2) Mentally crossing (what El was doing) does not allow you to see your entire environment. Just the things you focus on. The first time, El couldn't see anything. The second time, for the contact, El was focusing on the monster, and she saw it. When focusing on Will she saw him inside his cabin. Back early on, when focusing on a Russian target, she saw only him, etc.
The thing being: Will saw his entire room and environment change to look like the UD - except, if I remember well, no spores.
So, maybe he did gain some form of immunity (having spent a week in the UD and nearly dying there), but able to blink in and out? That would seem unlikely.
Sorry for the sea of blackness, we are now
in a sensory deprivation chamber.
