Conceptually, it's easy to see the parallels. There was no way Eleven was powerful enough to take on the Mind-Flayer, so she undoubtedly needed to go on some sort of quest to get the necessary power-up. This was best done by forcing Eleven to confront her past, with Kali literally personifying the suppressed rage that can be felt by people who have suffered the kind of trauma the kids had experienced at Hawkins Lab. There's a sense in which Kali served as a dark Yoda, one who would have led Eleven in the wrong direction had she not chosen a different path. Surprisingly, there's a sense in which Stranger Things season 4 has repeated the arc - with Dr. Brenner himself as the unexpected Yoda figure. This time, though, it's being much better received.

Related: Why Eleven Doesn't Have Her Powers In Stranger Things Season 4

The key difference is one of context. When Stranger Things season 2 released back in 2017, viewers were eager to see more of Hawkins - and, specifically, to see Eleven interact with the rest of the Hawkins gang. Instead, the narrative separated Eleven from her friends and then sent her to Chicago, with "end of Stranger Things season 4.

It certainly helps that, this time, the quest didn't take place in a bottle episode. "The Lost Sister" followed a dramatic cliffhanger that had left audiences deeply invested in what was happening in Hawkins, meaning it was experienced as something of an interruption. Instead, Stranger Things season 4 wove Eleven's quest to regain her powers through every episode, and it built to a head in a memorable scene in which Eleven experienced her past at the very same moment Vecna revealed his origin story to Max. It all wove together very effectively, making the arc feel like an organic part of the story.

It's interesting to note both stories involved Eleven confronting her potential dark side.  season 2 used Kali as a dark mirror of Eleven - she even had the same number of friends around her as Eleven - but it felt overdone. In contrast, Stranger Things season 4 takes the far riskier approach of initially suggested Eleven is herself the embodiment of her own dark side; that she is the killer who slaughtered her brothers and sisters. Eleven herself believes this for much of the season, only finally learning the truth - along with viewers - at the end. And Vecna served as a far more potent twisted mirror-image villain than Kali, simply because he is tied into Eleven's own origin in a much deeper way. All in all, then, it's easy to see why Stranger Things season 4 is being so much better-received, even if it is surprisingly repetitive for Eleven.