Stranger Things: Chapter Eight- The Upside Down

“Mike, I found the chocolate pudding.”

Here we are then; the finale. Just four short days after Mrs Llamastrangler saw the first episode and with our time somewhat limited by necessary adulting. This is one addictive telly programme.

We begin with the gentle interrogation of Joyce and, well, the not-so-gentle interrogation of Hopper... But Hopper is clever, using the suggestion he may have told others what he knows as a basis for an agreement to let the two of them go and allow them through the portal through to the Upside Down. I’m not quite sure I fully buy the plausibility if this but it's in character and done with admirable sleight of hand. We also get some heartbreaking flashbacks of Hopper’s daughter slowly dying of cancer, and having a young daughter myself I find this harrowing. This certainly gives us a damn good reason why Hopper finds such meaning in making bloody sure that another parent doesn’t have to suffer as he did.

Meanwhile Jonathan and Nancy go hunting again, this time in Joyce’s home, setting a trap for the Demogorgon, while the kids hide in the school. We then get two parallel narratives as Joyce and Hopper explore the other dimension and find a captured and inert Will, while Nancy and Jonathan hunt the beast while being rudely interrupted by a contrite but highly annoying Steve. The scene where they try to revive Will and finally succeed is absolutely gripping, as is every damn scene in this finale.

But the climax simply has to involve Eleven and the boys, so the wounded Demogorgon turns up just as the authorities have the boys trapped, leading them all to hide from the ensuing massacre. The climax has Eleven seeming to destroy the monster... and vanishing in the process. Poor Mike, who almost kissed her earlier, is heartbroken.

It’s a rare example of a genuinely satisfying and exciting ending, and we also get a little Christmas coda, seeing Mike and Will with their happy families but also showing that Will is not unaffected by what happened- that snake thing on his mouth is delightfully disgusting.

This episode, and this season, are as good as telly gets. Sublime.