Though Netflix promoted Stranger Things: The Second Part as a new season of the Duffer Brothers’ nostalgic sci-fi masterwork, but the two extended episodes are actually only the conclusion to the tale begun in Volume 1. The conclusion of this season’s introduction of Vecna is marked with the release of Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2, which also positions the show’s psychic hero and villain for expanded roles in future seasons. Vol. 2’s conclusion succeeds as a season-ending chapter with an emphasis on emotional resolution. But it does it by doubling down on some of the worst impulses that have dogged Stranger Things from the beginning.

The episodes in Stranger Things 4: Vol. 2 take up right after the ones before them without losing any of the story’s momentum, and there are even a few of great jokes that sum up the essential portions of Vol. 2. Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) first terrifying display of power as a young girl came during a fight with Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower), the man who would later become Vecna, in Stranger Things 4, after the show had gone to great lengths to make you believe that she was responsible for the deaths of all the other child test subjects at the Hawkins Lab. Vol. 2 starts with Eleven beginning to fully comprehend her relationship to Henry/Vecna, and selecting for herself how she wants to deal with his homicidal plan to exit the Upside Down.

With the intention of returning to the show’s foundations, Stranger Things 4 has been returning Eleven to her powerless state, removing her from her companions, and presenting even more unexplored mythology. Eleven’s choice to confront her original adoptive father, Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), who returned to Stranger Things with the promise of recovering her lost talents, marks a turning point.

On emphasizing how abuse characterized Eleven and Brenner’s connection, Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 is able to depict her revolting against him as an act of empowerment and acknowledgement of the true love she was able to discover after first fleeing the lab. Millie Bobby Brown has been compelling throughout the season, but in Vol. 2 there is a rawness to her portrayal as Eleven that strikes the ideal balance between a tired action hero in their final act and a fearful girl who simply wants to be back with her family.

When building up to the climactic battle between Eleven and Henry, Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 emphasizes how much of a pivotal role their decision to disobey Brenner had in their subsequent growth as characters. In a select few scenes, Stranger Things 4: Vol. 2 presents Brenner as an even more scary and vicious presence than previously. Modine is at his most impressive in situations where Henry lashes out, plainly motivated by dread of the monster he has become and of losing control of Eleven.

The astounding complexity with which Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 wraps off this season’s arcs for practically all of its characters leaves both episodes feeling thick and almost overcrowded owing to the large number of individuals involved. Each of the Hawkins crew’s subplots ramps up at the same time that Eleven reclaims her power and remembers that she can use it to remotely check in on them, ensuring that everyone has a sense of (temporary) resolution.

In particular at this late stage of Henry’s (whom the show mocks by pointing out how many names he goes by) grand scheme, it is mind-boggling that all of the kids without powers decide that they should descend into the Upside Down to combat creatures there. Although the first volume of Stranger Things stumbled into its action-adventure rhythms, the second volume makes the transition seamlessly.

The final two episodes focus heavily on how Max’s interactions with Henry/Vecna have altered her, which is an appropriate way to close up her journey. Stranger Things’ characterisation of Max hasn’t always been the most three-dimensional, but here Sink’s given the opportunity to truly stretch as the program revisits what her different relationships have meant to her throughout the seasons.

Unethical as it is, the kids’ plot to combat Vecna in the Inside Out is just what gives Stranger Things the freedom to truly dive into what’s been gnawing at them all season. Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 reunites Mike, Eleven, and Will (Noah Schnapp), and the dynamic between the three characters is mostly unchanged from the first season. Unsurprisingly, Stranger Things slows down and adopts a soft focus as it offers Eleven and Mike the room to properly sort out their difficult feelings towards one other.

Similarly, Vol. 2 aims to pull at your emotions as Will gets comfortable enough to disclose with Mike and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) the nagging truth about himself that’s been hidden under that bowl haircut. But Will’s fairly botched resolve is one of the several unpleasant speed bumps that hinder Vol. 2 from realizing its full potential.

In the first season of Stranger Things, we saw Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder), and Murray (Brett Gelman) put their faith in the kids to take care of themselves as they dealt with their own experiences in the Soviet Union. Still, it’s to the book’s credit that the grownups are kept occupied with meaningful activities in Vol. 2, rather than merely being dumped back in Hawkins for the celebration.

Hopper’s epic battle with the Demogorgon is only one example of how the characters have evolved during the course of the series, and Vol. 2’s time spent in Russia is also a clever way to hint to the show’s upcoming final season. Like Hop, the idea of perhaps dying in combat brings out a somber sentimentality in Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Eddie (Joseph Quinn), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and Steve (Joe Keery) that compliments the proactive manner they ride out the apocalypse.

It’s sort of weird how Vol. 2 decides to interrupt the time it spends with Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max to remind you that he’s also on the run from high school basketball star-turned-militiaman Jason Carver (Mason Dye) (Mason Dye). After experiencing Vecna’s fury personally, Jason’s transformation into a gun-toting heel in Vol. 2 doesn’t really contribute anything to the episodes except reiterating that he was always an asshole.

Eleven’s showdown with Vecna isn’t the most spectacular psychic fight in the history of television, but it packs an emotional punch that previous Stranger Things finales lacked. Although it seemed like this season would be the conclusion of Stranger Things, the events of Vol. 2 help put some of the conflicts from that season into perspective by providing some direct foreshadowing of what’s to come.