#i think i would've liked kali and her plot a lot more if it was interwoven through a few episodes mid-s2

[mlchaelwheeler]

okay season 2 (best season!) hot take: the kali episode where el had her girlboss moment was actually really good and I genuinely don't understand why everyone hates it? I loved el getting a sister & an aunt, and just familial relationships in general outside of hopper. they need to bring back kali I miss her

send me a hot take?

[willel]

Rethinking Vecna's Backstory

Heyo guys. This is not really a serious post, but more of a thought experiment. The idea crossed my mind earlier. Feel free to pitch in or tell me your thoughts. Mostly if you would've liked it better or are fine with what we have.

I was watching a popular ST video that was released a few days ago. I've never agreed and disagreed with a video so much. He had some valid points, but on other points he was spreading misinformation and to me, did not seem to pick up on some clues and character motivations as the seasons progressed.

If you know me, I'm not about to sit here and pretend the Duffers are stellar writers. I have sooooooooooooo many hiccups with their writing decisions and shifts. But some of the things he complained about was surface level junk that can easily be understood if he tried. But it's whatever.

In this post, I wanted to discuss Vecna's backstory. I already know some peeps don't really like it. Yeah, they had to shift some things around and you really have to suspend your disbelief and just go with it for a lot of things. So while I think "#001" was planned from the beginning, Vecna/Henry definitely wasn't.

All that said, it inspired me to rerwite/tweak it a little. I'm speaking specifically of how Vecna ended up in the Upside Down in the first place and how they sort of clash with El's memory of the lab which they handwaved away with a stroke.

My tweak is: What if we keep with the idea that El was completely isolated after a certain point? She was paired up with Kali/008 for a while but was separated for whatever reason and completely isolated moving on?

She could hear the other kids and people outside of her room or in the hallways, but was not allowed to interact with them and maybe only caught glimpses of them.

She was lonely and touch-starved. Her only interactions were with Brenner, nurses, and helpers.

In which case, I think Henry would've still had contact with El. Maybe not full unsupervised contact, but he was there for her training and all that stuff. He had the opportunity to see something in her as Brenner did.

But the major difference I would make here is.... El did not assist in freeing him. I think Henry is smart enough to have finally found his own out of his soteria prison.

I can imagine El, locked in her room, hearing the massacre going on outside of her door. Getting closer and closer and then.... And then suddenly.... all is silent.

My logic here is, Henry accidentally opened his own door to the Upside Down and trapped himself. Like he was overwhelmed with power and imploded on himself. El never sees this, but Brenner does, obviously.

It'd be very similar to when El accidentally opened the gate in S1. She was so overwhelmed by her own emotions and fear, she tore open a rift in space.

So Brenner now with his confirmation the other world exists and all his other subjects being dead and his main prize, Henry, being lost... he decides to push El to her limits. Push her, hoping one day she too could open the gate Henry just did?

This kinda cuts into the whole "You were supposed t be my protoge but rejected me" story they were going with, but do we really need that?

Going this route would maintain El not really knowing what's going on with the overall plot. Wouldn't kinda contradict what we already knew of her lab life (though I don't think there's much contradicting to begin with)

Hm.... well, that's kinda where I am with this thought process.

Thoughts?