The Duffers Bros. Defend and Explain The Controversial Seventh Episode of STRANGER THINGS Season 2
Stranger Things Season 2 was freakin' fantastic! I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed the first season. I have no complaints about the season, but some fans weren't very happy with episode 7 and a lot of fans came out to criticise it.
If you haven't watched Episode 7 yet, I suggest you don't don't read ahead. Series creators Ross and Matt Duffer explain why they included the episode and they defend it.
The seventh episode focuses on Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) journey as she reunites with her "sister" Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), who was also a child victim of the dark experimentation by the group of scientist and staff as Hawkins Laboratory. The segment introduced us to a few new characters as they take Eleven down a different darker path of revenge.
I actually liked the episode and saw it as a way to set up a new story that opened up the world beyond Hawkins. During an interview with EW, Matt Duffer explains:
"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."
He went on to talk about why the episode was necessary, saying:
"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."
Maybe this explanation will smooth things over with fans that didn't get what they were trying to do with Episode seven. I never saw a reason for complaining in the first place, I thought it fit right in with the story that they were telling and it was a part of Eleven's journey that she needed to take. It's good to know that the Duffer bros. aren't afraid to take risks like this and expand on the world that they are creating.
As the story continues maybe we'll get to be introduced to more of Eleven's sisters. Maybe all of the survivors of the experiments will eventually have to come together to defeat the evil that is trying to invade their world. What do you all think?