Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Here’s My Therapy Bill, Netflix

Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 7 “The Bridge” is the kind of episode you send your therapy bill to Netflix for. Because I didn’t think it was possible to break my heart and make me feel so many emotions without actually killing any of my favorite characters. And it goes to show you, despite the multitude of complaints that fans, including myself, have had over the years, Stranger Things is a solid show. 

“The Bridge” sets the stage for the end while avoiding the pitfalls of just being a filler episode. There’s nothing filler about this. Every single moment in Episode 7 is delicately calculated to move our players into position. And that position just so happens to be around the WSQK Tower. But let us be realistic. Just because no one hasn’t died yet, doesn’t mean that they won’t. They are absolutely going to die in this final effort to destroy Vecna. But who will it be…?

MORE: What happened last episode? Read our review for Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 6 here!

Is Kali Right?

You know that a show has done a good job with their writing when they get you to second guess yourself like I did in Episode 7. In my review for Episode 5, I spoke about how I understand Kali’s concerns but hesitate in taking her so seriously because she’s speaking from a place of losing her found family. And I’m still of the matter of the fact that Eleven can try and will find her own version of happiness that is neither Hopper’s, her friends, or Kali’s. But I can’t help but mull over Kali’s words after “The Bridge.” 

Watching TV allows us to experience a multitude of lives. But it also acts as a barrier between us and the lived reality of these characters. It’s easy for us to scream that Kali is wrong and that Eleven will find her own form of happiness. I’m even guilty of that, hoping for the best for Eleven. But then I take a step back and think about myself. Would I be able to possibly endanger a whole slew of pregnant mothers and their unborn children? Would I be able to deal with the guilt that comes with that knowledge? And will I be okay with the reality that I will never have a moment’s peace from the military coming after me and that my loved ones will choose that life of danger because of how much they love me?

Questions, questions, questions.

The more that I think about it, the more that I’m certain Eleven’s chances of surviving all of this has narrowed down to a pin prick. Because you don’t just have Vecna wanting to squash Eleven. You also have the military, who wants to keep her alive and sedated to make more of her and Henry. And now you have Kali, who as much as she claims Eleven is her sister, she’ll choose to kill Eleven before letting her survive and allowing the door to just be cracked a little bit to create more kids like them that suffer the same fate they did.

Will’s Coming Out Scene

It’s been established that Vecna is the absolute worst. But there is something about hearing Will’s vision of the future that is terrifying for us in our reality. Vecna painted a picture of Will losing his loved ones because they worry about him and don’t understand him. And it’s a fear that all of us carry, queer people, when we think about coming out. Because the world isn’t a kind place to us. So our loved ones will worry in the way that we have seen Joyce worry in the now with everything that has happened to Will. And those who love us like Will’s friends, could drift apart from him because they don’t understand Will. 

Will choosing this moment to come out to his family and friends is him taking control of the narrative. Vecna has continuously made him feel worthless and like he can’t control a single thing in his life, least of all his own body. And Will knows that the battle that’s coming, there’s no room for doubt. So he takes a moment and he lays his fears on the table by coming out. That right there is bravery at its highest order. Because Will didn’t know how his family was going to react, except his brother. But he still did it. 

There will be some people that will look at Will’s coming out and say he was being a little bit too dramatic. But coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ community, it isn’t cut and dry. I have personally come out to my family members and been told that it was wrong and if I marry a woman, they won’t be coming to the wedding. But if I marry a man, they could accept me being LGBTQ+ as just a phase. People can surprise you, especially your loved ones. And Will surprised us by uprooting the fear that Vecna had planted in his heart, despite knowing how it could end. That’s bravery. 

Max and Lucas Reunite

To tea, no shade, to other couples on Stranger Things, but if this is what we get with Max and Lucas after them being separated all season long, I wish the show would have invested more time in these two in general. Because we’ve seen a lot of Eleven and Mike and Nancy and Jonathan. Let’s not forget the teasing of a love triangle between Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve. And all of them pale in comparison to Max and Lucas. 

Let’s talk about that reunion scene. 

First of all, ever since the end of Stranger Things Season 4, I haven’t been able to listen to that song (When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die by Moby) or watch that scene of Max being hurt and Lucas holding her. That song set the tone and left me absolutely wrecked as Max said she couldn’t see and Lucas desperately called out for Erica. The show, because they want to cause me emotional turmoil, decided to use the song again in Episode 7. But this time around it’s for a reunion. And even though everything isn’t perfect, and Max’s body still feels like it’s not her own, it was a beautiful moment grounded in the commitment they have for each other. 

Everything else in this episode when it came to Max and Lucas, was so gentle. She’s gone through an insurmountable degree of trauma. And he’s not rushing her or acting like her pain isn’t real. It is. So he holds her and comforts her. But even more so, Lucas doesn’t leave her behind because she’s injured. She’s a part of this party. And more importantly, she’s his partner. So where she goes, he goes. And where she goes, he goes. That’s love.

So Who’s Gonna Die?

So far Stranger Things has made it seem like Season 5 was going to destroy us. And it did. I cried multiple times in this episode alone. But I thought that all that crying would be because people died. And so far no one has died. Karen Wheeler got really messed up. And I guess her husband too. But no one has died. And for a show like Stranger Things, this feels unprecedented. Because you would think they would go for the age old formula of killing people for shock value. But they’ve proved that they can do shock value without killing. So far. 

We have one last episode left. And by episode I mean a 2-hour and 8 minute movie premiering on New Year’s Eve. And no matter how none of our favorites have died yet, there will be deaths at the end. You don’t go on a mission like this to save the world without a couple people not making it. So here’s my quick and dirty list of who’s going to die in the Stranger Things Season 5 series finale. I’ll probably do a longer one. But for now, here’s who I’m thinking from most likely to least likely: 

• Kali: I like her but she does still seem like a means to an end and the easiest one to kill off. 
• Eleven: Either Vecna is going to kill her, Kali’s going to kill her, or she’s going to choose to stay on the bridge because she can’t make anyone else suffer in the same way that she did growing up.
• Joyce: She’s been teetering on the edge of death for a while there. Her son is finally stepping out on his own and she’s had plenty of nice conversations with him hyping him up. Dead. 
• Hopper: If he has to take Kali off the board, he’s going to do it. Because he senses there’s something wrong here…  

And who do I think is not going to die? Here are my absolute certains: 

• Steve and Dustin: This whole “You die, I die” thing, feels like a red herring. Neither of them are going to die. 
• Max and Lucas: Those two have gone through enough suffering. 
• Will: Unlike Eleven’s journey of discovery and finding a home, Will’s journey has been one about reclaiming his own body from Vecna. And for some reason, which I should dive into a little bit more in another post, I don’t think they’re going to kill him.

Additional thoughts about Stranger Things “The Bridge”:

• That fall that Holly took into The Upside Down. Therapy. Stat.
• You did not just use the same music for Max and Lucas from when she previously got hurt in Season 4. I’m also going to need therapy.
• Linda Hamilton when she grabbed that soldier and slammed him against a wall. Still a force to be reckoned with.
• “Back to the light.” is very much giving Children of the Corn.
• HOLLY REALLY CLOCKED THAT GIRL IN THE FACE WITH THE RADIO.
• And she would do it again.
• Seeing Holly at the end, I don’t have sympathy for any of the Children of the Corn kids. Does that make me a bad person?
• Maybe.
• Delightful Derek might still get a pass….
• Onto more serious matters, why did Steve look so hot in his war gear? I see you.
• I also see you, Nancy. Not a problem you can’t solve without a weapon.
• The Mr. Clarke assist is soooooo good.
• Science for the win.

Stranger Things Season 5 Episodes 1 through 7 are now available on Netflix. 

What did you think about Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 7 “The Bridge”? Let us know in the comments below!

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Read all our reviews for Stranger Things Season 5 below:

• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 1 Review: “The Crawl”
• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 2 Review: “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler”
• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 3 Review: “The Turnbow Trap”
• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 4 Review: “Sorcerer”
• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 5 Review: “Shock Jock”
• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 6 Review: “Escape From Camazotz”
• Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 7 Review: “The Bridge”