Stranger Things Recap: Everything You Need To Know About The Show Before Diving Into Season 4

Stranger Things is finally coming back with another season. The sci-fi fantasy drama has become one of the most popular shows since 2016 and isn¡¯t stopping its successful run. The fourth season of Stranger Things is arriving on Netflix on May 27. Eleven and the gang are ready to fight a new evil but before diving into the new season, let¡¯s have a quick recap of the previous seasons.

Season 1

Netflix

Season 1 starts with four best friends Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas slaying an imaginary monster in a saturated brown basement of a town called Hawkins, set in the 1980s. However, one night the crew part ways, and the smallest member of the gang aka Will is attacked by a shadowy monster that¡¯s far worse than the imaginary monsters he plays with. The disappearance of Will starts a series of odd events that haunt the Hawkins for a very long time.

A town-wide search for Will starts to take place but Mike, Dustin, and Lucas meet a mute girl with a shaved head in the woods. They soon see her power of moving objects with her mind. They nickname her Eleven or El after the number mysteriously tattooed on her arm. Meanwhile, Mike¡¯s older sister Nancy and her best friend secretly attend a pool party at Nancy¡¯s boyfriend¡¯s house. After a while, Barb is abducted by the monster and she is dragged away to an alternate universe called the Upside Down.

Later on, Will communicates via Christmas lights, indicating that he is still alive. The government agents find that Eleven is living with Mike and try to abduct her again, but before she is kidnapped by them, she was taken as a baby by Dr. Brenner from her almost brain-dead birth mother Terry. However, she escapes from that place with the help of the gang. The gang with the help of Hopper and their science teacher builds a tool for El to amplify her powers and search for Will in the alternate universe aka the Upside Down.

El finds Will unconscious, but still alive. Hopper and Joyce are preoccupied with rescuing Will. Meanwhile, El fights the Demogorgon and is able to disintegrate the monsters. Cut to several months later, Will returns to his family but the trauma still haunts him, The season ends with a cliffhanger in which Will is still seen to be possessing a fragment of the black slug somehow even after the monster¡¯s death.

Season 2

Netflix

Season 2 starts a year later, Will is still having visions of a monster from the woods of the alternate dimension. This time, a shadow-like spider monster is looming over Hawkins in his visions. Two new characters Billy and Max are introduced in the second season. Meanwhile, Joyce is dating a guy she knew from school called Bob. On the other hand, Hopper is investigating a patch of rotten pumpkins, where every single one of them is turned into pure black. After some investigation, Hopper gets to know the origin of the problem is something again related to the Hawkins Lab.

After finding herself in the Upside Down, as a result of her battle with Demogorgon, Eleven tears a door to return to Hawkins. El discovers Hopper¡¯s dropbox, and food gifts and the two of them eventually end up living in a secluded cabin. Eleven suffers from extreme cabin fever and is desperate to see Mike for a very long time. Furthermore, Will¡¯s new art hobby is troubling Joyce and Hopper. Hopper figures out the map hidden in the drawings by Will and uncovers the tunnel of the monster. He is knocked off by toxic gas and is rescued by Bob and Joyce at the very last moment.

Meanwhile, Will is clearly possessed by the monster and convulses in shared pain. Unaware of all this, Eleven escapes Hopper¡¯s cabin to meet her mother. However, she ends up getting swept by a gang of misfit kids. One of them also bears a similar tattoo but instead of 11, it¡¯s 008. It turns out she was also tortured at the same lab as Eleven.

On the other hand, Bob opens a gate for others to escape but becomes a victim of Demo-dogs instead. Jonathan, Nancy, and Joy find a way to save Will from the possession of the monster. El and Hawkins go into the Hawkins lab. El uses her powers to shut the gate while Hopper fights the Demo-dogs. Later on, Hawkins Lab is shut down for good, and Mike and El share their first kiss on a school¡¯s prom night. However, a massive image of Mind Flayer aka the monster was seen looming over the town indicating that the trouble hasn¡¯t ended yet.

Season 3

Netflix

The third season brought all the nostalgia, gross-outs, and character-driven emotional aspects we were expecting from the show. Russian soldiers are trying to open the portal of Upside Down which was closed in the previous season by Eleven. Mike and Eleven are making out and Hopper demands them to be open about their relationship. The next day, it is a boy¡¯s day out, and the gang meets up at the new StarCourt Mall. They sneak in for a movie and the lights went out but the electricity returns soon. However, Will¡¯s hair on the back of his neck stands up and he gets the feeling of a monster returning from the alternate universe. Meanwhile, both pairs Hopper- Joyce, and Dustin-Steve find out evidence of Russians trying to open a portal in the Hawkins lab. The monster is increasing its energy by feeding off of his victims and uses a shape-shifting mechanism to lure more people.

On the other hand, Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono) is hitting on a lifeguard at a pool named Billy (Dacre Montgomery). Later on, Billy becomes a victim of Demogorgon and makes him a sort of slave to hunt new victims. Dustin and Steve find out that Starcourt Mall is just a cover for building a unit of machines that would open the Upside Down and are eventually caught. Eleven tries to locate Mind Flayer via Billy¡¯s mind.

Everyone gets on the same page and decides to fight the evil mega Demogorgon but Eleven loses her power and Hopper gets stuck on the alternate dimension while fighting a Terminator-like Russian soldier. Everyone believes that Hopper is dead but a post-credits scene and recent trailers of season 4 reveal that he is alive. Now, season 4 will arrive on May 27, 2022, to expose how Hopper managed to be alive after season 3¡¯s machine explosion and how Eleven and the gang will fight a new evil monster altogether.