SPOILER ALERT: Obviously, this article discusses the seventh episode of ‘Stranger Things 2’ so if you are behind on your binging, you may want to turn back now.
If you’ve watched all of ‘Stranger Things 2‘ on Netflix, you certainly have opinions one way or the other about the seventh episode, ‘The Other Sister’ in which Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) leaves Hawkins, Indiana, and heads to Chicago where she meets her “sister,” a fellow patient of Hawkins Lab, designated #008, who now goes by the name Kali (Linnea Berthelsen). Kali has the power to make others see or not see anything she wants and has used her powers to lead a gang of thieves and killers, seeking revenge for her treatment at the Lab. Eleven joins the group for an outing but realizes she doesn’t have the stomach to kill and heads back to Hawkins.
The episode certainly stands out. It’s the first episode in two seasons that takes place entirely outside of Hawkins. For some, it was too jarring a shift. Others may not have liked Kali, a darker version of Eleven, who uses her powers for her own gain and for vengeance. (On the post-show ‘Beyond Stranger Things’, The Duffer Brothers explained that this was their homage to more urban 80s movies like ‘The Warriors’.)
But the show’s creators The Duffer Brothers insist that while the episode was a huge risk, they ultimately felt that it was essential to the overall storyline of the sequel.
Matt Duffer said:
“Whether it works for people or not, it allows us to experiment a little bit. It’s important for Ross and I to try stuff and not feel like we’re doing the same thing over and over again. It’s almost like doing a whole little other pilot episode in the middle of your season, which is kind of a crazy thing to do. But it was really fun to write and cast and work on.
“Our test of the episode was we tried to pull it out of the show just to make sure that we needed it because I didn’t want it in there as filler — even though some critics are accusing us of doing that. But Eleven’s journey kind of fell apart, like the ending didn’t work, without it. So I was like, whether this works or not, we need this building block in here or the whole show is going to collapse. It’s not going to end well. The Mind Flayer is going to take over Hawkins.”
Ross added:
“That Eleven story line overall is sort of the biggest risk we took. We’re going to continue to do risks moving forward to keep us on our toes. I didn’t want her to just magically save the day. Just like Luke Skywalker, she needed to go off on her own and learn something about herself.”
Keep in mind that Eleven didn’t only connect with Kali, but her birth mother and aunt Becky. That was a plot thread from Season One that was unresolved, so it helped that Eleven managed to learn this bit about her past that she wasn’t aware of before.
Since ‘Stranger Things 2’ was just released this past Friday, there are probably a lot of fans who haven’t yet watched the entire thing. It remains to be seen what the consensus is regarding Kali and her band of thieves. If they are well-liked enough, could it be possible that they will return?
‘Stranger Things’ Seasons One and Two are now available to stream in their entirety on Netflix. The Duffer Brothers have said that they want to continue for two more seasons and should reaction be as strong to the second installment as it was the first, that should be no problem.
What did you think? Would you like to see more of Eleven’s sister in future episodes?
Source: Entertainment Weekly
