Stranger Things: S2, E7

As sure as its title promises, this episode reconnects Eleven with missing sister Kali, whose face hasn't been seen since the very beginning of the second season. Kali has an intense emotional reaction upon meeting her little sister; the trauma and powers between them are so strong, it's undeniable they were each other's only friends back in the rainbow room so many years before.

It is an interesting pit stop on the overall story arc, but given the pay out for Eleven, a pit stop is all I'd give it. As therapeutic as it had been for her to meet Kali, and gaining a more concise understanding of the madness in Hawkins Lab, Eleven recognizes she doesn't share her sister's path.

Kali has projected her resentments over what happened to her as a child into something of a Robin Hood-like crusade; she's a serial killer for the bad people who took away her freedom, and encourages Eleven to be the same. It was exciting to get to this point in Eleven's story, but I would've been hard-pressed to buy into Eleven's sticking it out with Kali and living as a vagrant.

The moment she realizes trouble is brewing again with the boys, she bails and gets on the next bus back to Hawkins. And no surprise should be had there. Since this girl stopped being a science project, she's been harbored and sheltered. Sure, she's been made to fight demogorgons and resurrect Will from the upside-down, but generally, she's been living pretty well.

Unlike Kali, she's had a support system which has kept her out of harm's way. For her to not respond the way she did wouldn't have made sense. She's already too sweet for these eye-for-an-eye schemes, and if no other reason, this girl is in seventh grade (probably).