Episode 7 of Season 4 of Stranger Things opens with a hair-raising scene, as Steve is ambushed by a swarm of monstrous bats. Just in the nick of time, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie arrive on the scene, valiantly battling the beasts and saving Steve from their clutches. Robin's fears rise that Steve might have contracted rabies, but the rest of the gang brush them aside, assured by their unwavering belief in the protective power of plot armour.
Despite their successful repelling of the bats, more of the winged nightmares begin descending from the horizon, forcing the quartet to scramble for safety. Steve, shirtless and wracked by his wounds, struggles, prompting a tender Nancy to bandage his injuries. Beneath the urgency of the moment, however, a palpable sexual tension brews between them.
In search of reinforcements, the foursome set out to arm themselves with guns. Initially eyeing the police station, fate intervenes when Nancy reveals she possesses firearms in her room, redirecting their path.
During their journey, a heartfelt conversation blossoms between Eddie and Steve. Eddie commends Steve for his bravery, extending his praise to Nancy as well. He urges Steve to take a leap of faith and reach out to Nancy, reminding him of her unhesitating dive into the water to save him. Eddie further confesses that Dustin speaks highly of him.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Wallace's torture reaches breaking point. After being trapped in a locker for the majority of the season, the beleaguered officer finally caves, revealing Eleven's whereabouts. This revelation adds further strain to an already tenuous situation, as Dr. Owens voices his concerns through haunting flashback scenes. Owens worries that El is showing inadequate progress in controlling her powers, despite her recent outburst.
This prompts Brenner to confront Eleven, urging her to face her past and overcome her fears. El acquiesces, and Brenner sifts through numerous tapes until he finds one that holds the key. This tape reveals Brenner torturing El's bullies, demanding the truth about what happened to Eleven.
However, this is all part of Brenner's meticulous plan. He strategically manipulates the situation, hoping to provoke El into a fatal confrontation with the other test subjects. Brenner knows he cannot control Eleven and is desperate to eliminate her before it's too late. Through these flashbacks, we witness Eleven devising an escape plan, fleeing before her demise, aided by a sympathetic orderly.
The orderly, however, is himself a prisoner, bound by a chip in his neck that restricts his movements. Eleven compassionately helps him destroy the chip, freeing him from his torment. But soon, guards arrive and corner the pair. It turns out that the orderly possesses powers of his own, powers that have been suppressed by the chip. He reveals his wrist, etched with the numbers 001, revealing that he is Test Subject Number One.
The orderly urges Eleven to hide in a closet while he shields her. The screams echoing down the hallway now make sense - it is he, not Eleven, who slaughtered the others. This revelation reframes everything we thought we knew, casting a new light on the mysterious flashback from the opening of Episode 1.
The remaining children are summoned for interrogation by the police, as Dustin, Max, and Lucas struggle to piece together their disjointed stories. They maintain that they have been out of touch with Eddie, but Erica swiftly dismantles this claim, unfortunately dragging the trio into individual questioning over their unspoken secrets. Max takes the initial spotlight.
Meanwhile, at the prison, Hopper and Enzo weigh their options, wondering if they will emerge as legendary monster hunters or as casualties of the conflict. One certainty remains: they desperately need a miracle. Perhaps that miracle will arrive in the form of Joyce, Yuri, and Murray riding in to their rescue?
While Murray weaves his magic, tilting the balance of power within the prison, Hopper stands resolute in the courtyard, brandishing his flaming staff as the Demogorgon lunges towards them. The encounter is tense, with each prisoner falling victim to the monster's wrath one by one. Enzo and Hopper manage to escape to safety, and in the process, Hopper finds himself reunited with Joyce. Finally, after seven long episodes, their heartfelt reunion is realized.
Back in Hawkins, Dustin uncovers a crucial clue: these psychic connections are the key to understanding the strange occurrences plaguing the town. It seems that the Mind Flayer is exploiting Vecna to forge links with different children, inadvertently opening more gates and thus increasing the Mind Flayer's chances of returning.
Nancy stumbles upon this psychic phenomenon when she returns home to the Upside Down. Everything seems amiss: the gun is missing from its hiding place in the shoebox, her diary entries abruptly end in 1983, and familiar items she sold months ago mysteriously appear in her room.
As they gather in the lounge, they begin to hear Dustin's voice echoing through this world. It's then that the children realize they can communicate as Will once did with Joyce, reaching out to touch the lights. Eddie sends out an SOS, which Dustin and the others interpret as a directive to head through a "Watergate."
The group displays their ingenuity, setting up a Lite-Brite Magic Screen to communicate with each other. Dustin urges them to set their sights on Eddie's trailer. Along the way, they sabotage the police cars to evade pursuit. It's like old times, with a heartwarming shot of the bikes traversing both the Upside Down and our world, heading towards the portal that promises freedom. This moment stands out as one of the most visually stunning scenes in the entire episode.
The gang finally arrives at the portal, and they engage in a lively exchange, Dustin's joyful laughter echoing as he beholds their reunion. Robin emerges first, followed closely by Eddie. Nancy steps forward next, only to be plunged into an abyss of darkness... emerging once again in the twisted realm of the Upside Down. It seems Vecna has laid claim to her, ruthlessly severing her connection with Steve. Barb's lifeless body lies there too, a silent reminder of Vecna's unrelenting grasp. (#justiceforbarb) He mocks Nancy about Victor, taunting her with his apparent indifference to her well-being.
Vecna whisks Nancy through a whirlwind of memories, the angry red hues fading to reveal earlier flashbacks of Victor Creel. This time, however, the revelations are much more profound. It transpires that Henry did not perish in that house - he was, in fact, test subject number one, the orderly at Hawkins Lab! This startling revelation throws everything into a new light as we discover that Henry stumbled upon a black widow nest in the house, and like those spiders, he grew increasingly autonomous and ruthless. Henry's disillusionment with his life deepened, madness creeping in with the ticking of the grandfather clock, a recurring visual motif that now holds new significance.
Victor had a firmly entrenched belief that a demon was the source of all the troubles plaguing his hose, but the truth was far more sinister. It was actually Henry, wielding his formidable powers, who was orchestrating the chaos. He cunningly framed Victor for the murders of his sister and mother, leaving the latter in a coma-like state. But fate intervened, and Victor unexpectedly awoke to find himself in the care of the renowned Dr. Martin Brenner in the Hawkins lab.
Eleven's emergence from her own power-induced slumber unexpectedly roused Henry from his dormant state. This awakening sparked a tense confrontation between the two, especially when El refused to succumb to the dark side's seductive pull. The flashback reached a crescendo as Eleven was grabbed by the neck and twisted in a gruesome parody of the fate suffered by Vecna's other victims. But El, a fighter to the core, rallied her powers, pulling herself together with a superhuman effort. With a powerful thrust, she hurled Henry through the window, shattering the glass as he was pinned against the wall.
Drawing on her innermost strength, Eleven unleashed her powers, shattering Henry (One) into pieces. As his essence turned a blood-red hue, Eleven delivered the fatal blow, unaware that in doing so, she had inadvertently torn open the first gateway to the Upside Down. The familiar vines and angry red hue of the portal stood as a stark reminder of the horrors lurking beyond.
As the camera plunged into the Upside Down, we witnessed Henry being blasted by bolts of crimson lightning, his body mutating into the monstrous Vecna we know today. The camera zoomed in on the ominous "001" tattoo etched on his wrist, leaving us on a breathless cliffhanger, eagerly anticipating the revelations of the next two episodes slated for July.
