Spoilers in this story Stranger Things 4 Part 2
The final two episodes of the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger ThingsThe episodes are now available. The episodes are one-hour and 25 minutes long, two hours and thirty minutes respectively. They feel like a series of films rather than the final episode of a television season. Needless to say, a lot goes down in Hawkins and in the Upside Down in the season’s conclusion.
Here’s everything to know about the events of the final part of Stranger ThingsThe fourth season, including the details of the plot, the strategies to defeat Vecna and in-memoriams about characters who perished, the status of various love triangles and relationships and a glimpse into what’s next. Stranger ThingsYou could continue on from there.
What did you do? Stranger Things 4: Part one end?
Here is a detailed recap of season 1. But in short, here’s where part one left things: Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) go to the Soviet Union to rescue an imprisoned Hopper (David Harbour) and his turncoat gulag guard ally Dmitri (Tom Wlaschiha) from a Demogorgon fighting pit. Eleven is training with Paul Reiser’s Doctor Sam Owens and Matthew Modine’s still-living Doctor Brenner to regain her powers. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will(Noah Schnapp), Jonathan, Charlie Heaton, and Argyle [Eduardo Franco] are in pursuit of a group of soldiers who want Eleven to be eliminated. Hawkins: Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas, Caleb McLaughlin, Max (Sadie Sink), Robin, Maya Hawke, Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy Dyer, and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) investigate Vecna, an Upside Down threat. Dungeons & Dragons(villain) is responsible for possessing and murdering people. He targets Max, but Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” saves her life by tethering her back to reality.
Mid-season’s finale ends with intertwined revelations. In a sensory deprivation pit Eleven has been reliving her past. He misled her to get the chance to take a rampage, and brag about his plans for transforming the world. Eleven and him engage in a psychic battle, casting them into the Upside Down. There they become Vecna. Nancy and the Hawkins crew, meanwhile, had ventured into the Upside Down to rescue Steve but Vecna psychically kidnaps Nancy’s consciousness right before she’s about to escape and reveals that he is Pennhurst Asylum patient Victor Creel’s son, and that he was responsible for the infamous killings before Doctor Brenner took him in and dubbed him “001.” The season ends with Hopper and Joyce reunited but still in Siberia, Eleven re-powered but still in an uneasy alliance with Brenner, and Nancy in danger.
Maya Hawke portrays Robin Buckley. Joe Keery portrays Steve Harrington. Priah Fergusson plays Erica Sinclair. Natalia Dyer portrays Nancy Wheeler. Sadie Sink portrays Max Mayfield.
Netflix – Courtesy
What will happen to Nancy, Eleven, Hopper?
Season 4’s penultimate episode resolves some of the plot points from part 1 and sets the stage for season 4. Vecna tortures Nancy and gives more details about his history. He also lays out his evil plans for Nancy before she is released. Every time Vecna kills, he opens a gate to the Upside Down, and when he opens four he’ll be able to wreak havoc on Hawkins (and the world). Max realizes that she is still Vecna’s fourth and final target, so they come up with a plan to fight back by using her as bait. For it to work, they’re going to need weapons, so Eddie hotwires an RV and they go on a little road trip to a gun store. Nancy is greeted by Jason Mason Dye (captain of Hawkins High’s high school basketball team). Jason is still out for revenge because he believes Eddie is responsible for his girlfriend Chrissy’s death, and the fact that he’s also armed is ominous.
Hopper, Joyce and others get a look back in the U.S.S.R. to see the prison/upside down research laboratory. We learn that Soviets have several Demodogs as well as a mass of Mind Flayer like particles. Our heroes are able to get out of a sewage tunnel while the Demogorgon is attacking the guards. Yuri, the pilot who was supposed to smuggle Hopper out but instead betrayed them before being taken hostage himself, has a DIY helicopter that can help them escape to America—if he can get it working.
Eleven discovers Max Hawkins is in serious danger after she has regained her powers. She wants to leave to go help them, but while Owens agrees, Brenner betrays her, saying she’s not yet strong enough. His men arrest Owens, and he puts Eleven in a power-inhibiting choker. Brenner and Eleven are both shot as they attempt to escape from the raid by another faction of the government. Mike and his crew arrive just in the right time to save Eleven. In his dying moments, Brenner deactivates Eleven’s collar. He did, however, care for Eleven on a deeply flawed and ultimately irredeemable level. Although Brenner was an abusive monster, it’s still traumatic for Eleven to see her “papa” die.
Millie Bobby Brown plays Eleven, and Matthew Modine portrays Dr. Martin Brenner.
Tina Rowden—Netflix
How does Vecna react to the fight?
In the finale of season one, Vecna’s fight comes to an end. The Hawkins gang has a plan: When Vecna possesses people, his physical body has to be somewhere, just like with Eleven’s powers. Max stops listening to Kate Bush at the Creel and heads to Vecna’s house. Lucas and Erica, (Priah Fergusson) accompany her. The Upside Down will be visited by the rest of their gang. Eddie and Dustin will cause a distraction to lure Vecna’s creepy bats away from his body while Nancy, Steve, and Robin will go to the house and kill him.
Eleven, having realized they can’t get from Nevada to Indiana in time to help their friends, realizes she can “piggyback” into Max’s consciousness. Argyle creates an impromptu sensory deprivation tank in a Surfer Boy Pizza, and Eleven goes into Max’s head so that she can psychically battle Venca when he shows up.
Hopper and Joyce have the least to do, but they make a risky phone call to the States and learn what’s going down. Hopper and Joyce make an attempt to help. BackThe prisoners must take the particle killers into their prison to eliminate them. They are part of the Upside Down. This should benefit all the children in the fight against it.
Vecna is in “Stranger Things”.
Netflix – Courtesy
Joyce and Hopper succeed in their mission. Joyce gets to kill a Demogorgon using a sword, before Yuri arrives with his helicopter and rescues them. Other characters are having a much worse time.
Vecna appears to be prepared for the Hawkin’s crew’s assault. Dustin and Eddie are overwhelmed by the bats, despite Eddie’s guitar playing that is very metal. Eddie gives up his time to help his friends. Nancy, Steve, and Robin make progress, at first, but they’re soon ensnared by Vecna’s gross tentacle-vines. Max is able to evade Vecna for a while once she’s been possessed, but eventually, he gets to her. Perhaps worst of all, Jason has found Max and Lucas, and he accuses Lucas of being in cahoots with Eddie’s satanic club, prompting the two of them to get in a brutal fistfight.
Eleven wanders through Max’s memories before coming to her psychic rescue just in time, but Vecna is able to overpower her after they duel. Vecna tells Eleven that she’s responsible for creating him and that she enabled his plan to take over the world and reshape it in his twisted image. He also explains that he is the brains behind the Mind Flayer, having come across its potential while wandering the Upside Down’s wastelands after Eleven first cast him here. As he continues his attack on Max, Lucas is horrified to see her broken limbs in the world. But, Mike, acting on advice that Will gave him earlier, acts as the group’s “heart” and tells Eleven to keep fighting. The encouragement gives Eleven what she needs and she bursts free of Vecna’s restraints, giving Nancy and Steve, and Robin an opening to assault his physical body.
At first, it seems like a victory, but all is not what it appears, and Vecna even warns Eleven that this is only “the beginning of the end.” Eddie has died from his injuries, and he and Dustin share an emotional moment before he passes. Vecna had been repeatedly shot and set on fire multiple times. However, he vanished. Halloween-style, after falling out a window, so he’s not necessarily dead. And, worst of all, although Eleven stopped Vecna before he could make Max’s eyes explode, she still succumbs to her many injuries, dying in Lucas’ arms. She dies, opening up the fourth gate and four large crevasses which lead to the Upside Down streak that crosses Hawkins. This will create a megagate. Jason is killed by one of the crevasses, which represents the only good thing about the catastrophe.
Eleven is not willing to let her friend die, though, and she tries to use her powers to save Max’s life. The screen goes to black, and cuts to “two days later.”
STRANGER THINGS. Millie Bobby Brown portrays Eleven in “Stranger Things”
Netflix – Courtesy
Hawkins gets the Upside Down
At first, it seems like Eleven was able to undo most of the damage, but we learn that’s not really the case. She saved Max (or brought her back to life) but Max is hospitalized and the doctors don’t know if she will ever wake up. More troublingly, Eleven can’t find any sign of Max when she tries to psychically reach out to her.
Though many Hawkins residents are leaving the town in the wake of the deadly “earthquake” (nothing overtly supernatural has emerged from the cracks… yet), the California crew has arrived. They work on fixing up Hopper’s old shed in the woods so Eleven can stay there, but their cleaning is interrupted when Hopper and Joyce—with the help of one of Doctor Owens’ allies—arrive. Eleven and Hopper have an emotional reunion. Will is however uneasy, having previously been controlled by the Mind Flayer. He knows Vecna isn’t dead. The sky begins to rain ash and the grey wave of death descends on the vegetation. Hawkins is now under the control of The Upside Down.
Does anyone die in Stranger Things 4: What’s the Part Two?
Two fairly major characters die in the last two episodes of season 4, one nearly dies, and one character’s fate remains unknown. Brenner dies in episode 8. It’s not too shocking, given that fans were under the assumption that he had already died (and since he’s a pretty horrible person), though it is surprisingly affecting. Eddie also dies, and although he was only introduced this season, he’s a natural addition to the crew and it’s sad to see him go—especially since all of Hawkins thinks he’s a satanic murderer instead of a hero who just liked playing Dungeons & DragonsWith his fellow strangeos.
Max was technically dead before Eleven revived her, though it’s unclear if she’ll ever actually get better. A TV-savvy observer can guess that Sadie Sink was probably dead. won’tMax has been a paralysed body since season 5. Vecna was a real savior on Max.
It’s unclear if Doctor Owens survived or not. Last we saw him, he was handcuffed and begging for Eleven’s life. His military rivals would execute him summarily? Maybe, but we didn’t see a body.
We also didn’t see Vecna’s body, but Will confirmed that he is indeed still alive.
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What’s the point of all these love triangles?
It may sound a bit petty, considering all of the deaths and possible Upside Down-ifications of the world. However, Season 4 brought about major changes in the relationships of several characters. It’s nice to see Joyce and Hopper back together. It seems that Robin might still be with Vickie, her crush (Amybeth Mcnulty), who is playing for the same team.
Lucas and Max end their conflict by the end, while Max remains in a coma.
Nancy and Steve—who you may recall were dating way back in season 1—spent a lot of quality time together this season, and it seemed like they were rekindling their romance. However, once Jonathan was back in Hawkins, he and Nancy played the boyfriend and girlfriend part together again even though it’s very clear that there are problems in their relationship that predate Vecna. Steve has been a great sport and is trying to be understanding of the situation. However, the love triangle may come up in the final season.
It appears that there is another love triangle. Though Will’s sexuality has never been explicitly confirmed, the series has implied that he’s gay. Will’s crying after his talk with Mike about he’s the “heart” of the group seems to imply that he might have feelings for his best friend. It doesn’t appear that Mike has any idea and Will doesn’t seem like he’s going to act on those feelings just yet, but this could be a potential plot point in season 5.
Joe Keery portrays Steve Harrington, Maya Hawke plays Robin Buckley in “Stranger Things”
Tina Rowden—Netflix
This leaves us wondering: Stranger ThingsSeason 5
Between the gateway to the Upside Down and all the various bits of personal drama, there’s a lot that Stranger Things (However the Duffer Brothers say that this is only the second season of the series. Stranger Things franchise—Netflix has hinted there could be spin-offs in the pipeline).
It’s unclear what will happen in the final season, which doesn’t yet have a release date. The Duffer Brothers have previously indicated that they are looking to make a time jump in the fifth season, due in large part to the growing popularity of the kid actors. A big time jump is less possible because the finale of season 4 ends with the Upside Down’s imminent entry into the real world.
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