In short order I have worked my way through the second batch of Stranger Things episodes as part of it’s weird final season rollout. Granted, this time around there were only three episodes, still. I promise for me, I made short order of them.
Because I just had to freaking know what happened after the gang’s plan sort of epically fails. Of course, their failure resulted in the kidnapping of a dozen children all a part of Vecna’s scheme to reshape the world in his evil image. Honestly, not sure what that would look like. What I really think he’s aiming for is the destruction of humans. Not just because he’s evil at his core, but because so many humans let him down or him to be where he is now. The rest of the kiddos are all team Henry, while Holly and Derek attempt to work with Max on an escape plan.
That, too, fails, and almost costs Max her life, but Will is able to tap into the hive mind once more and slow him down. For a kid with next to no experience doing that kind of stuff, I think he can forgive himself for not being able to kill Vecna. I think the most disturbing sequence of events from this cluster of episodes was seeing the many, many pregnant women being infused with El’s sister’s blood. Yuck! I think this revelation changes El’s final path a bit, but what I wouldn’t give for a truly happy ending. Still, at the lab in the upside down, Dustin realizes that what they’re searching for is not Vecn’a power source, but instead a wormhole!
This is where the nerd of it all kind of loses me, but it sounds like the wormhole is what’s connecting Hawkins to the upside down. I think. Either way, that totally flips on its head everything the gang thought they knew. Vecna, made at Max for putting a kink in his plans, attempts to have Max killed again, but she is able to find her way out of Vecna’s mind and into the real world again. After several different rescue missions, the entire gang, along with some new faces, are gathered to discuss all they’ve learned, while also realizing that they have less than a day to try and stop it. Holly wasn’t able to escape, so she is now stuck in Vecna’s plan that gets initiated before the end of the penultimate episode.
Some revelations were revealed. Actually, some pretty big ones! But I think what I liked most about these episodes were characters working through past grievances, as well as the number of new characters now privy to the chaos happening in their town. Really, it’s a mystery how all of these people stayed in the dark for so long. Though sometimes not knowing may seem like the better path. I anticipate some major character deaths in this final episode, but I’m curious how it will all play out. Can’t wait!