“I’m just curious, you know, why all of a sudden you look like some kind of an MTV punk.”
So, another finale. It really doesn’t feel long at all she nice the last one but for me, well, it really isn’t. Mrs Llamastrangler and I have really been mainlining Stranger Things intravenously, the pure stuff, for the last week and a bit. Soon there will be no more left, and we won’t see our dealer again until next year. Ouch.
We begin by dealing with Eleven’s dramatic return. The truth soon comes out and, well, I think I can say without fear of exaggeration that Mike is not entirely happy with Hopper. But there’s no time to dwell on this as it’s the finale, and so we move swiftly to scenes of, er, Billy flirting outrageously with Mike’s mum, like the slut he is, for information. He’s coming. Yes, he’s coming. But he’s not exactly the biggest threat the gang has to worry about right now, as plans are laid for Eleven to go and close the portal with her awesome powers- but will this kill Will? Joyce and others decide to force the thing out of him by making the environment too hot for it, which seems a bit Seat of the pants; only the rules of dramatic narrative, with this being the finale, make us suspect that the plan will work.
There’s room for quiet character moments, though; Nancy and Steve have a chat in which he gently lets her go, with dignity. For a character who started out as a bit of a dick he’s gradually becoming a likeable and somewhat cool member of the cast. Also, Eleven nearly kisses Mike, but there’s a lovely scene between her and Hopper as they share their honest feelings and make up- he even tells her about Sarah for the first time. It’s a lovely scene and it’s clear that, behind the sometimes authoritarianism born of cluelessness, he would do anything for her.
Billy turns up and gives poor Steve a good kicking but, in a nice touch, it’s Max who beats him by injecting him with the tranquillisers previously used for Billy. So there’s one threat dealt with. Eleven’s turn now, and it’s a dramatic sequence of events as she slowly closes the portal, Hopper defending her from constant attack- and also sparing a moment to insist to the cowering lan boss that she be given a normal life where she can be herself and not just used. All this is juxtaposed with equally dramatic scenes of Will’s, well, exorcism, all brilliantly shot like a horror movie.
So, the monsters are dead- for now- and it’s Christmas again, a month later. Eleven has a fake birth certificate (“Jane Hopper”!) and there’s one of those balls that American schools seem to always be having. Lucas dances with Max, Mike and Jane finally kiss... but poor Dustin is left alone with only a kindly and very lovely Nancy to comfort him.
And, in the last scene, we see the Mind Flayer is still there...
A superb season, obviously, but a very different one- a season that knows it isn’t the only one, where it has the freedom for characters to breathe and develop. I love Stranger Things.
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