Stranger Things Season 2: What The Ending Really Means

4. The Institution Is No More (But Dr Owens Is Still About)

Now that the secret of the Hawkins Laboratory's part in Barb's death has been revealed (or at least a diluted version has been), the game is up and their experiments will presumably be no more. Or at least they'll be driven even further underground.

The strange thing is that Dr Owens is still around, even after the Laboratory is presumably shut down. He remains in Hawkins (and is seen dining with Jim at the end of the final episode) despite his work being over. Or is he still there cleaning up Dr Brenner's mess on behalf of the government?

There's no way the government would pull out of Hawkins entirely. It's been established as a sort of "Hell Mouth" where the Gate opened, and those areas tend to remain of interest. So there will definitely be some sort of government presence in the town, even if it just seems to be Dr Owens initially (there's no way it would just be one benevolent guy).

Whatever the case there, something will fill the vacuum left by the Laboratory. Command of the Upside Down is too valuable as a potential weapon/deterent, and they won't be turning their backs on it so easily.