The Duffer brothers say the most polarizing episode of Stranger Things (besides the finale), was never meant to be a sneaky pilot for a spin-off starring Kali and her super-powered punk friends.
"It was never designed as like a spin-off shoot. That's not true. Um that's gross. We would not do that," Matt Duffer said during a live taping of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, when asked about season 2's infamous bottle episode.
"I think the mistake was this idea of a bottle episode," Ross explained. "Like, I think if we had threaded more organically throughout the season, it would have worked. So it wasn't anybody's fault except ours. I think I just would have approached how we integrated Kali differently. Matt and I got so drawn into getting those last two episodes of season 2 written and prepping them, too, because we were directing them. So that it just got lost in the shuffle... Season 2, we were racing, you know, it's the only season that came out in like an appropriate amount of time." You can check it out below at around minute 49.
Stranger Things season 2 episode 7, titled 'The Lost Sister,' focused solely on Eleven (featuring no other characters from the regular cast) as she met her 'sister' Kali (played by Linnea Berthelsen), one of the many children who were experimented on at Hawkins Lab. Kali and her spiked leather-jacket-wearing, mohawked pals led a life off the grid, with Kali using her powers to evade police and commit relatively harmless crimes. The episode was poorly received at the time, mainly for feeling like such an abrupt, jarring episode that was disconnected from a pretty well-paced and high-stakes season.
When Kali returns in Stranger Things season 5, we learn that she was kidnapped by the government and that the feds killed all of her punk friends. Though she returned once again as a divisive character, she ultimately saves the world by helping Eleven plan her fatal sacrifice in the series finale. Around the time season 2 aired, the Duffers told Vulture that they just kind of thought it'd be fun for Eleven to have her own mini-movie. However, some fans (me), knew they'd have to bring back Kali one way or another as Eleven and the gang needed all the help they could get to bring down Vecna.
Stranger Things is streaming now in its entirety. Tales from '85 season 1 is also streaming now on Netflix, and has been greenlit for a second season. For more, check out our Stranger Things: Tales From '85 review or our breakdown of the Stranger Things season 5 finale explained.
