Stranger Things – ‘The Lost Sister’

After last week’s thrilling and suspenseful episode, Stranger Things has done something completely different this week by completely ignoring virtually all the main characters and focusing purely on the previously absent Eleven and the discovery of her long-lost ‘sister’. It’s a bold and unprecedented move, and a dark one seeing as Eleven essentially joins a murder cult, resulting in an episode that feels like it’s from a completely different show. As much as I am up for television experimentation, perhaps the reason this episode feels lacking is because it is so strikingly different, yet not necessarily in a good way.

The entire episode was focused purely on Eleven/Jane, who has managed to track down the girl from her mother’s visions and somehow made it to Chicago single-handedly. There she bonds with fellow experiment victim Kali (or ‘Eight’) and joins her gang of outcasts and oddballs who seek revenge against the employees of Hawkins Lab, no matter how violent…

It remains to be seen whether the series will follow through on this episode in any effective way

There’s nothing wrong with focusing on fewer or indeed just one character for an episode, and Stranger Things is far from the only show to employ this technique (The Walking Dead has done this several times). What is less forgiving however is how this dedicated, hour-long episode seems unlikely to make much of an impact on the rest of the season, or perhaps series. Sure, we learnt more of Hawkins Lab and other victims such as Kali, as well as the juicy information that Brenner may – somehow – still be alive. But despite some character work for Eleven she inevitably decides to leave her new-found family and finally return to her friends, meaning you could potentially skip this episode and not miss anything of consequence. It is likely the series will return to this storyline in the future – probably with greater significance – but for now it is merely extended filler that halts the momentum of the season.

Such a focus on Eleven wouldn’t have been a problem if it hadn’t been so damn predictable. While the decision for Eleven not to kill the former lab employee and for her to return to Hawkins were the right decision for the character, they were visible from a mile away and robbed the scene of any dramatic tension. To make matters worse, none of the new supporting characters (other than Kali) had much of a role or character other than being various outcast stereotypes, a far cry from the varied and developed main characters we’ve come to love. It seems the writers were hoping to ride on the wave of Millie Bobbie Brown’s popularity after the first season, and while she’s capable she cannot save the entire episode on her own.

This seems to be just an overlong break from the series with little benefit

It’s not all bad though, with some great scenes and Stranger Things’ usual great production value. Eleven’s first rooftop conversation with her new sister was genuinely touching, and Kali’s power allowed for some great visual trickery, particularly when she projected the image of world’s worst father Dr Brenner into Eleven’s head. The introduction of more super-powered youngsters is certainly an interesting concept, and has potential providing the series doesn’t turn into an X-Men lookalike.

It remains to be seen whether the series will follow through on this episode in any effective way, as there were some intriguing ideas. Without the benefit of hindsight, however, this seems to be just an overlong break from the series with little benefit – back to Hawkins Lab please.