10 Worst Episodes Of Otherwise Excellent Sci-Fi TV Shows
4. Stranger Things - “Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister”
Stranger Things has consistently been critically acclaimed for its nostalgic approach to suspense and horror. The series seemingly came out of nowhere, and it quickly became one of the most popular shows Netflix has ever produced. While the episodes have often been praised, there is one that fans didn't like.
“Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister” came in the second season of the show, and it upends the things people love about the show. Instead of focusing on the interpersonal relationships of the people of Hawkins, Indiana, the episode takes Eleven to Chicago, where she teams up with a low-budget X-Men team.
The group consists of edgy emo teenagers who, like Eleven, all have superpowers they received through the same program. She finds herself surrounded by people who are just like her, and while that could have worked into the larger framework of the series, it didn't have much impact on it at all.
The episode feels like a filler, and the series' creators, the Duffer Brothers, acknowledged that it "annoyed some people." That's putting it lightly. Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture wrote that the episode has "little to no impact on later events, and Eleven feels like exactly the same person she was before except with a much cooler outfit."