Stranger Things Fans Have Some Pretty Strong Opinions About Brenner Ahead Of Season 4

Although Eleven is cruelly isolated when we first meet her in Season 1, she was not the only child being subjected to testing at Hawkins Lab. The released footage shows that Brenner was working with numerous children who exhibited telekinetic abilities. The kids, who we can only assume are the kidnapped children of other MKUltra participants, all wear hospital gowns, sport shaved heads, and play in an area eerily decorated to resemble a child's playroom. Brenner chooses a boy, whose forearm tattoo identifies him as Ten, and they head to an observation room for testing. Brenner gently coaxes Ten into using his powers, a meeting that's quickly derailed by the sound of horrified screams. Brenner is knocked out and when he awakens, he is visibly shocked to find Ten and all the other children dead.

While viewers might have a hard time forgiving Brenner for the way he hunted Eleven in Season 1, some fans on Reddit think that the flashback sequence humanizes the doctor. "Weirdly enough, it looked like he was about to cry until he heard more screams," pointed out u/FEAR_LORD_DUCK. Another fan, u/Emptilion, argues that Brenner "has always had really questionable morals for sure. He is still keeping these kids locked up in a lab, but I do think he somewhat cares about them."

On the other hand, Brenner could be upset because, without the kids and their powers, his experiments are useless.