Emmy Catch-Up: Stranger Things (Season Finale)

Stranger Things: Season 4, Episode 7 “Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab” (A-)

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like I really understood what was happening on this show, and that may still be the case, but I was pretty floored by the way everything came together in a spectacular way at the end of this episode. It’s been difficult to discern when everything was taking place over the course of this season, especially as Eleven has been going through her memories. But it was very intense and effective to learn that the orderly who had been coaching Eleven was actually One, who killed everyone else at Hawkins Lab and then was sent into the upside-down by Eleven, where he became Vecna. Tying that in to Creel’s story where he was actually the one who was causing everything was chilling, especially as Nancy got to see it all happening. There were little moments of humor infused into this otherwise very dark episode, like Erica threatening to tell Dustin what she found under Lucas’ back unless he told her everything after trying to out them as liars to their parents and the cops and Nancy apparently having guns in her room. Figuring out that they were in an older version of her house was almost as cool as them figuring out how to communicate and get between the upside-down and the real world. Hopefully Nancy will be okay now after facing Vecna and hearing Barb screaming, though I’m sure they’ll be an epic battle in the final two supersized episodes that I somehow haven’t gotten spoiled for myself yet. Murray’s big act for the guards paid off, and now Hopper’s back with Joyce and ready to come back to a Hawkins that could use some help from the adults.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Sadie Sink as Max