I must be one of the few people who liked this episode, it was an important and defining piece of character development for Eleven. In choosing not to kill a helpless man begging for his life on the floor she made a choice about who she was and who she wasn't that put her future on a different path from her "sister". There was a theme over several episodes of people telling her where home was. In this one we saw her decide for herself - Hawkins, and the people there who loved her and cared about her, that was home. Until now Eleven has had very little say in the circumstances of her own life. But when she comes back at the end, for the first time she's there by choice instead of necessity. And come on ... punk rocker Eleven? How can you not love it?

Yeah, placing the episode right in the middle of the invasion crisis in Hawkins really broke up the flow of events. But I'm not sure there was anyplace better to put it. And splitting it up into segments that would've run in parallel with the happenings back home over several episodes, that probably would have disrupted the flow even worse. At least with full season drops you've got it all at once. Are people really so impatient they can't sit back and enjoy a little 45 minute side trip? They can go right on viewing. No waiting two weeks to continue with the main storyline. You can even bypass the little countdown clock at the end by pressing Enter on your remote.

If I had written season 2, I would've had Mike and Eleven reunite when she went to the school and then take off to see Terry Ives together. Mike's role in the middle episodes was not critical and they didn't really need him in Hawkins. They could've taken the journey to Chicago together and had some screen time alone - something I was hoping we'd see this season. Put the plot thread with Eight and her band before the ѕhit really starts hitting the fan. But hey, if I was a writer I'd never have come up with this show in the first place. Overall I think season 2 was exceptionally well done.

I will admit, it took me out of the show a little bit. It felt like they were setting up a spinoff. It felt more like Heroes than Stranger Things. Like, the derivative of something modern? I'm just glad they had that cop chase at the beginning of the season so it didn't totally come out of left field.

@Ahstaroth said:

I will admit, it took me out of the show a little bit. It felt like they were setting up a spinoff. It felt more like Heroes than Stranger Things. Like, the derivative of something modern? I'm just glad they had that cop chase at the beginning of the season so it didn't totally come out of left field.

There's a certain amount of X-Men influence in Eleven's storyline. And Eight's band is modeled after another comic I've never heard of before called The Invisibles. Some of the graffiti on the walls includes the names of several characters from that series. Remember the issue of X-Men they referred to back in the very first episode of Season 1? Well apparently that one is right in the middle of the Dark Phoenix story arc, where Jean Grey's powers grow immensely and she gives in to her darkest impulses. Eleven starts to go in the same direction, until that pivotal moment where she decides "No, I'm not going to do this."

There's a lot of that in ST. Borrowed plot threads - but it's never exactly the same as the original version. They take a different route. A lot of the storylines of current superhero movies, there's an upcoming Dark Phoenix film for example, actually come from decades old source material and predate the early 80's when this show is set. It's advances in special effects that have allowed for the glut of modern comic book adaptations in TV and cinema. They simply couldn't do them justice until recently.

I don't think there's any intention of a spinoff with Eight. We'll be seeing her again, the Duffer brothers have said, perhaps in Hawkins. Personally I think they're going to need her and any of the other special kids they can find when the Mind Flayer returns. Which may or may not be next season. But they didn't introduce her just for this one season 2 arc. She has an important part to play in the larger story.

The only review I read of this season gave the series 3 out of 5 and criticized it for exactly the opposite reason. It said that the season was too similar to season 1. That the opening teaser of expanding the world via these other runaway characters from the same program as 11 was interesting but then ultimately underused.

It's a view I agree with. Episode 7 was probably my favourite. I did enjoy the season but it did seem very samey. These other rebel characters seemed like a natural progression, expanding the world and celebrating another collection of 80's tropes, giving a feel for films like Fury and Scanners to add to the mix. I thought we should have got a fair bit more than 1 and a bit episode. But I'm guessing we'll see more of them in the future when the storylines converge.

As for people criticizing? Your always gonna find people complaining on forums about anything. Especially if it's something daring or that takes risks. I haven't seen the new Star Wars yet but I can see all the threads dedicated to complaining about it. I've also heard that it takes risks.

It seems a lot of episode 7's naysayers do seem to be missing the point. They seem to be complaining about the silly, over the top acting and dialogue of the punks and their exaggerated outfits. But this was exactly how they were in a lot of 80's movies. Stranger Things is not a depiction of reality. It's a depiction of our nostalgia. It's only doing what we have hitherto praised it for doing. These over exaggerated cliche's are the reason it's fun.