At the end of “The Other Side,” Dr. Markonen turns on Adam, desperate to communicate with the demonic entity in his eye. After Nurse Leslie kills Markonen to save Adam, she takes him deep into the confines of the hospital, where they have captured one of the monoliths. Leslie has been told by the entity that if she can coax Adam through the portal, it will spare her family. Adam agrees, believing his own wife and daughter are trapped inside as well.
When he arrives on the other side, he is face to face with his mirror self, possessed by the evil being, who offers him a deal: Give up both of his eyes to allow it to see our world and he will be allowed to stay with his wife and daughter. It suggests that everything he’s experienced since the car crash may have been inside the portal. And if he doesn’t give up his eyes to the creature, he will be forced out, to live without his family.
In a final moment of defiance, Adam gouges out both of his eyes, refusing to allow the entity access to Earth. In the segment’s final moments, Adam’s wife and daughter arrive to visit him in the hospital where he is revealed to have empty sockets where his eyes once were. It’s not explicitly stated, but the reflection of the entity suggests he’s back in the real world. Of course, nothing is ever what it seems in “Portals.”
