Stranger Things season 4 volume 1 released on Netflix on May 27, 2022, and took a deep dive into Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) past. The series opens up with a flashback of Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) experimenting on children in 1979. This confirms that Eleven is not the only child who had telekinetic powers in Hawkins Lab. There are a handful of kids who participate in exercises every day to increase their telekinetic abilities.
A much younger Eleven struggles to fit in with the other children in Hawkins Lab and is ostracized by them. Her struggle to control her powers makes her look weak to them. However, in reality, she is the strongest out of all the children, which Brenner knows. While the flashbacks are exciting and confirm more telekinetic children, it also sadly explains why Eleven was the only child with powers to be discovered.
In 1979, a mysterious incident occurs that kills every single child in Hawkins Lab, with the exception of Eleven. The staff members are killed, too, with only Brenner and Eleven surviving. This is why Eleven would later appear to be Brenner’s only test subject. However, while the flashbacks explain what happened to the other children, it doesn’t explain what happened to 008/Kali (Linnea Berthelsen).
Who is 008?
Viewers will recall in season 2 that there was one other child with telekinetic powers who was still alive. The season opens up with a young girl in Pennsylvania, who has an 008 tattoo on her arm. She has psychic powers that allow her to make other people see things. However, she’s not using her powers for good means and instead uses them to form a criminal gang that robs banks.
Meanwhile, Eleven, tired of being holed up in Jim Hopper’s (David Harbour) house, leaves in search of her mother, Terry Ives (Aimee Mullins). When she meets her, they are able to communicate telepathically and Eleven discovers her memories of Kali. Realizing she has a “sister” who was also experimented on by Brenner, Eleven sets out to find her. Eventually, the two meet each other in Chicago and Eleven temporarily joins their gang.
However, Eleven doesn’t agree with Kali and the gang’s thirst for vengeance against Brenner and all who worked for him. She ends up departing from the group and returning to Hawkins to save her friends.
What happened to 008?
The last we see of Kali is episode 7 of season 2, where she escapes the police with her gang and Eleven leaves. However, she is mentioned in season 4 by Peter Ballard (Jamie Campbell Bower). In a flashback, he has a conversation with Eleven and briefly mentions Kali isn’t present at the lab at that time. This means she escaped from Hawkins Lab before the massacre, hence, why she’s still alive. She has not been physically present, though, since season 2 so her whereabouts are unknown.
Will Kali return in Stranger Things season 4 volume 2?
The reason Kali’s story is important, is because Stranger Things seems to be building up to her return. Kali was special—the only child with unique psychic powers. All of the other children in Hawkins Labs seem to be practically clones of 001 and all have the same telekinetic powers as him. However, Kali is the only one who can create projections and hallucinations with her mind. She can conjure up visuals of spiders, walls, or even make herself and others appear invisible.
The only other one who seems to have this mind manipulation power is Vecna. It has never been explained why Kali’s powers are different, but the similarities to Vecna can’t be a coincidence. This could mean she is either connected to Vecna or that her powers are the key to stopping him.
(featured image: Netflix)
