WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the second season of Stranger Things, streaming now on Netflix.
Fueled by its 1980s nostalgia, childlike sensibilities and note-perfecting casting, Stranger Things was propelled to the status of pop-culture phenomenon with its first season, leaving series creators the Duffer Brothers with the herculean task of crafting a follow-up that would somehow meet, or exceed, expectations. They largely accomplished that with Season 2, but at a cost to the breakout character of the Netflix drama.
RELATED: Stranger Things 2's Pollywog, Explained
Eleven, the mysterious girl with psychokinetic abilities and a connection to the Upside Down, was the E.T. of Stranger Things, representing a wondrous dichotomy: She's both a naif who required protecting -- from government agents and the scientist she heartbreakingly referred to as "Papa" -- and a fierce protector who used her abilities to defend her newfound friends against bullies, her pursuers and the monster that stalked Hawkins, Indiana. She disappeared in the finale, seemingly sacrificing herself in a fight against the Demogorgon, only to reemerge in Season 2, secretly in the care of Police Chief Jim Hopper.
But Eleven, portrayed by Millie Bobby Brown, has been changed by her experiences, first by her time with Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and the other boys, then by foraging for food and warmth in the woods, and finally by living in a secluded cabin with Hopper (David Harbour), forbidden to leave, for her own safety. This is a different Eleven, a teenager who's desperate for freedom and, more importantly, answers. She finds them, too, although the journey isn't easy, for her or the audience.
At odds with her new father figure, Hopper, and her circumstances, Eleven lashes out against his rules, which forbid her from leaving the cabin or from making contact with Mike, and against his string of broken promises -- about what time he'll be home, and when she can go out into the world. "Soon," he invariably answers, which she throws back at him by asking when, exactly, is "soon," in the process revealing she's been counting the days like a prison inmate. And that's what the cabin is, another prison, and Hopper another warden, albeit a nicer one than the "Papa" who raised, manipulated and used her at Hawkins National Laboratory.
RELATED: How Stranger Things Season 2 Delivers Justice For Barb
After the parent-child conflicts escalate, Eleven sets out first to spy on Will in person -- she'd been periodically visiting him psychically, which only increases his belief that she's out there, somewhere -- then goes in search for her mother and, in turn, answers about herself and others like her. She finds them in a thread that leaves her separate from the main storyline, and from most of the central characters, until she returns like Gandalf at Helm's Deep to help save the day.
Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Why%20Stranger%20Things%20Removed%20Eleven%20From%20Action']
It's easy to understand why the Duffers decided to remove Eleven from the primary action: Her search is crucial to the development of the character, and to the resolution of questions raised in the first season. There's also the matter of Will Byers, who was off the board for much of Season 1 (because he was trapped in the Upside Down), but is central to the story of this season. Played by Noah Schnapp, who deserves an Emmy nomination for his performance, Will and his connection to that mirror universe -- not Eleven and her connection -- are what drive the overarching plot. Having them share the stage creates potential storytelling problems.
But so too does Eleven's subplot. She tracks down her mother Terry Ives, now in a catatonic state, learns her own name (Jane Ives) and then finds an old newspaper photo of a girl -- one of her "sisters" from the lab -- whom she traces to Chicago. And here is where Eleven's thread frays.
In the incongruous Episode 7, titled "The Lost Sister," the events of Hawkins, Indiana, are ignored for 45 minutes as Eleven meets Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), aka Eight, now a member of a generic '80s punk gang right out of Terminator that was introduced in the season's opening moments. A psychic herself, Kali can create hallucinations in the minds of others, an ability she employees in crime sprees and to exact revenge against those who participated in her torments at Hawkins National Laboratory.
RELATED: Sean Astin's Goonies Callout in Stranger Things Is Good Enough For You
There's undeniably an element of "There but for the grace of God" in the contrast between Eleven and Kali, but that's lost as the latter sees in her "sister" a weapon simply waiting to be turned on former lab employees, or store clerks who make the mistake of working when her gang needs money, fuel and food. Perhaps seeking any connection to "family, or simply someone who understands her experiences, Eleven is eager to be groomed, undergoing a Goth makeover as she becomes Darth Vader to Kali's Palpatine. She hurls an unfortunate cashier into a stack of foam coolers to protect her new allies, and even breaks out a classic "Force choke" against an ex-lab tech (Pruitt Taylor Vince, better known as Otis from The Walking Dead) before coming to her senses upon realizing he has children.
It's a frustrating episode the ends with Kali's gang narrowly escaping a police shootout, and Goth Eleven resisting her "sister's" pleas and deciding to return to Hawkins to save her friends. "Your mother sent you here for a reason, remember?" Kali says. "We belong together. There's nothing for you back there. They cannot save you, Jane."
"No," Eleven replies, in an echo of Luke Skywalker cutting short his training in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, "but I can save them."
RELATED: Two '80s Arcade Games Are the Keys to Stranger Things Season 2
It's an undeniably powerful moment, that unfortunately comes at the end of the most frustrating episode of the series thus far. The Duffer brothers knew "The Lost Sister" would be divisive, with Matt acknowledging that, "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."
Episode 7 is certainly both of those things, which might be fine if it ultimately leads to character growth. For that we'll presumably have to wait until Season 3, because for now it only exposed an uncomfortable (even unlikable?) side of Eleven and delivered her back to Hawkins in time to serve as the deus ex machina. It's a surprising disappointment, to both the character and to the audience, in an otherwise-stellar season.
Now streaming on Netflix, the second season of Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery.