No one keeps these kids on the bench
Our long, small-town Halloween nightmare is over.
Of all those feelings, it’s young love that bookends this finale.
Hopper takes the boy into another room to let him vent in private.
Credit: Netflix
He asks Mike not to blame Eleven; Mikereallydoesn’t.
“I blame you!”
and studied Will’s message: “CLOSE GATE.”
How are they just now figuring this out?
Good thing Hopper has just the right obscure cabin in the woods for an amateur exorcism.
He was just afraid of losing her like he lost Sara.
But Eleven grabs his hand; she’s back, “bitchin'” new look and all.
While they rebuild, another family causes trouble.
His father’s violence helps explain Billy’s rage, but it doesn’t excuse how he expresses it.
As Billy sinks into unconsciousness, Max grabs his keys.
“Hey, buddy, shhh,” Dustin coos.
“It’s okay!
You put up a good fight!”
When they get to the hub, he flicks his lighter.
The tunnel goes up in flames.
The chain reaction is immediate.
The demodogs blocking Hopper and Eleven’s route to the gate all flock to the tunnels.
At least something good came out of his connection with the monster.
Eleven is at the gate.
It’s time to end this.
Hopper and Eleven descend into a pit and face down the gaping, glowing tear into the Upside Down.
The gate knits itself back together.
Hopper wraps her in his arms: “You did good, kid.”
One month later, the lab is locked down.
Lucas stammers out a request to Max (“Hey, um, it’s nice, right?
“), and she leads him onto the floor while Dustin looks on.
Dustin is our lone reminder of how apocalyptic rejection feels at that age.
The season ends by pairing everyone off like, well, a middle school slow dance.
Nancy and Jonathan exchange smiles.
Lucas and Max kiss.
In the parking lot, Hopper and Joyce share a cigarette and bond in their grief.
And Eleven and Mike finally get theirWest Side Storymoment, locking eyes across the gym.
He asks her to dance; she says she doesn’t know how.
“I don’t either,” Mike says.
“Do you want to figure it out?”
He guides her arms to his shoulders, and this time, no one interrupts their kiss.
It’s ominous, sure, but we’ll face that another time.
For now, how cute are Mike and Eleven?!
We can’t just bury it like some commonmammal, okay?”
DUSTIN: “Well, that’s one point of view.”
STEVE: “No, that’s not a point of view man.
That’s a fact.”
“Eleven, Doc Owens.
Doc Owens, Eleven.
She’s been staying with me for about a year, and she is about to save our asses.
Maybe when this is all said and done, maybe you could help her out too, you know?
I don’t know.
It’s just a thought.”
