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The second batch of episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 dropped on July 1, 2022 and it's all anyone can rave about now. Rightly so, given the highly charged four-hour finale that brought the season to a satisfying end and paved the way for the final chapter of the series.
The penultimate episode of Stranger Things Season 4 focused on an important character who was the main villain in Season 1, Dr. Brenner. The fourth season opened with a bloodied and catastrophic flashback to the Hawkins facility where Brenner had been experimenting with psychokinetic kids.
Since the events of the flashback, the season has unfolded to reveal more of Eleven's backstory until viewers finally find out that Vecna was responsible for the killings at the Hawkins lab and not Eleven. The eighth episode forayed into some crucial encounters between Eleven and Dr. Brenner, with Matthew Modine and Millie Bobby Brown being impeccable in their roles.
Stranger Things Season 4 flashback from 1979 and Dr. Brenner's return
Here's a bit of a recap to understand more clearly the events of the eighth episode that dropped more than a month after the seventh one.
Ever since getting attacked by a demogorgon in Season 1 of Stranger Things, Dr. Brenner was presumed dead for the following seasons until the opening scenes of the latest season. In the flashback dated September 8, 1979, Dr. Brenner was seen conducting tests on his various subjects at the Hawkins National Laboratories.
During a test with Ten, something went wrong and he saw visions of blood smeared all over the facility. Hearing the screams, Dr. Brenner went to investigate, but by the time he arrived, there was blood and bodies everywhere. Everyone in the facility, including the nurses, had been killed except Eleven.
Following this, Brenner repeatedly asked the catatonic and visibly horrified young Eleven, "What have you done?". Only later in the season did the truth about One/Henry/Vecna came to light.
As it turned out, Henry Creel, the first of Brenner's guinea pigs, had killed everyone and Eleven had banished him to the Upside Down by opening a gate. Therein, he metamorphozed and became the season's all-too-powerful and petrifying villain Vecna.
No one knows how, despite the flashbacks offered to viewers, Dr. Brenner returns to the current storyline, having survived the demogorgon attack. He is now working with Dr. Owens to help restore Eleven's lost powers.
Stranger Things Season 4, Episode 8: Papa does not tell the truth
In an earlier episode of Stranger Things Season 4, following her confrontation with Henry Creel, Eleven learned that Papa aka Dr. Brenner had a proclivity to lie to his children and had been hiding things.
Henry's words were of little significance considering he killed everyone in the lab and tried to convince Eleven to join his side. However, in episode 8, in a confrontation between Eleven and Dr. Brenner, Henry's words ring true.
It seemed, at first, that Dr. Brenner returned as a changed man, until he revealed his underlying villainous tendencies when his experimentation with Eleven took precedence over the latter's desire to help her friends. He wanted her to reach her full potential with the same psychokinetic powers as she had when she banished Henry.
However, Eleven realized that Dr. Brenner's selfishness ran deeper than she could have ever imagined. He was so desperate to find Henry that he used her as an experimental pawn to try and open a gate to the other world once again and locate Henry. In the process, he unleashed all the monsters and other dangers upon the residents of Hawkins, resulting in many deaths.
In a highly-charged and poignant scene between Papa and daughter, viewers are taken back to the deaths of beloved characters in previous scenes and the horrifying dangers the characters have faced so far. It's a nice touch as season 4 of Stranger Things heads towards its culmination.
Now that she knew about her backstory, Eleven realized that she wasn't the monster, but Brenner was. He tried to blame her for having created Vecna and putting her friends and everyone's lives in danger, but she pointed out that he was the one at fault for bringing Henry into the facility. Eleven opened the gate to the Upside Down due to Brenner's pursuit of Henry, not willingly.
Eleven tried to leave the facility using her regained powers but Brenner sedated her and put a shock collar around her neck to keep her in control. However, Brenner didn't have much time to complete his experimentation as the military, led by Sullivan, stormed into the facility to kill Eleven.
Stranger Things Season 4, Episode 8 ending: Goodbye Papa
As Brenner tried to leave the facility and take Eleven to safety, he was shot at by the military before they proceeded to take a shot at Eleven. However, with her powers back, Eleven managed to turn the chopper around, making it impossible for the man to take aim.
Just in time, Mike and the gang arrive to get Eleven. The latter managed to take control of the situation by overpowering the military. This scene was followed by a beautiful reunion between the gang and El. Her shock collar unclasped and she turned her attention to a severely wounded but alive Dr. Brenner, breathing his last. She walked over to him and he told her that he was very proud of her. In his last moments, he wanted to convince her that everything he did was for her, to protect her.
In his twisted sense of fatherhood and family, Brenner tried to get the message across that despite the horrifying electroshock experiments and the torturous life he'd given them, he loved his children. Alas, Eleven left him to die in the desert saying, "Goodbye Papa," and drove away with her friends.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2 was released on July 1, 2022 and is now available to watch on Netflix.
