The ultimate ‘Stranger Things’ recap

It’s that time of year when America’s comfort show is about to hit Netflix screens for the first time in nearly two and a half years. Since July 2016, “Stranger Things” has been with many of its audiences throughout middle and high school, making this end-all season a major national event.

With the fifth and final season on the horizon—airing Nov. 26—how will audiences have the time and energy to consume four whole seasons of this remarkable show? Fortunately, this article will inform you of every tidbit that has occurred between 2016 and 2022. From the gang’s first fight against the Demogorgon in season two, the epic friendship of Dustin and Steve and “Running Up That Hill” becoming everyone’s song of the summer in 2023, this final season will be one for the books.

Season One

In this unexpected hit season, audiences are introduced to the original gang: Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), and Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard). These middle school boys spent their time playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in Mike’s basement in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, until one day, Will went missing.

From this moment forward, audiences are launched into a search led by Will’s mother Joyce (Winona Ryder), Police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and the gang of boys.

While searching for Will one night, the boys come across Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a young girl with telekinetic powers and a small 011 tattoo on her left wrist. Throughout the season, Mike grows closest to Eleven, until she reveals her special powers to him which she inherited at birth and amplified through testing at the Hawkins Laboratory. She explains to the group that Will is trapped in a parallel dimension known as the Upside Down.

In addition to being trapped in the hell-like Upside Down, Will is also trapped with a Demogorgon (aptly named by Mike & Co. after a D&D character). It’s at this point that the boys realize that their best friend isn’t dead, despite authorities discovering a body looking like Will.

During the boys’ separate adventures with Eleven, Joyce desperately tries to reach Will through the iconic wall of Christmas lights, confirming he’s alive but trapped in grave danger. After a series of grim turns—from Barb’s death to Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Steve’s (Joe Keery) complicated relationship—Eleven uses her psychic powers to enter the Upside Down and locate Will. The season builds to a final stand against the Demogorgon that ends in Will’s rescue, but Eleven sacrifices herself and disappears entirely, leaving Will home but still tethered to the darkness of the Upside Down.

Season Two

Season two picks up one year after Will’s escape and return from the Upside Down. Despite his removal from the parallel universe, he continues to experience traumatic visions of a new evil creature known as the Mind Flayer.

In addition to Will’s new visions, we are introduced to three new characters: Joyce’s boyfriend Bob Newby (Sean Astin), ‘Mad’ Max (Sadie Sink) and her stepbrother Billy (Dacre Montgomery). While Dustin and Lucas are keen on befriending Max, Mike is hesitant and increasingly misses his relationship with Eleven.

Meanwhile, Will becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer after attempting to defeat it, and the Mind Flayer’s influence spreads throughout Hawkins. From this point through the rest of the season, the Mind Flayer and its army of monsters use Will as a spy in the real world.

In other news, Eleven is still alive! She remains in a cabin with Police Chief Hopper, where they bond over Eggos. Unfortunately, Eleven begins resenting Hopper for his need to keep her hidden in an isolated cabin, and she eventually runs away to learn about her past.

Eleven discovers that she was kidnapped as a baby from her mother, who attempted to rescue her from Hawkins Lab, until Brenner (Matthew Modine), known as Papa to Eleven, subdues her and damages her brain through electric shocks. After this realization, Eleven tracks down other test subjects from Hawkins to learn more about her powers.

The end of the season nears as Eleven reunites with her friends and Hopper, who attempt to close the gate to the Upside Down and use heat to remove the Mind Flayer from Will’s body. Unfortunately, not everyone leaves unscathed, and Joyce’s boyfriend, Bob, is killed by Demodogs while attempting to escape from Hawkins Lab.

To wrap things up, the group attends the Snow Ball school. Here, Lucas and Max share a kiss alongside Eleven and Mike as things seem to return to normal. Unfortunately, things don’t appear to be resolved as the Mind Flayer is seen above the Snow Ball in a final scene of season two.

Season Three

We’re getting through it! Season three resumes in the summer of 1985 with a brand-new shopping mall: Starcourt. It’s here that Steve has picked up a job at an ice cream parlor with coworker Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke).

In other news, Eleven and Mike are officially a couple, despite Hopper’s protectiveness and wariness of Mike’s attention. In this season, Eleven and Max quickly become best friends, bonding over the stupid things their boyfriends do– Max dating Lucas.

The Mind Flayer also makes a return this season and begins taking control of different townspeople by possessing them, one of the victims being Billy, who works as a lifeguard this season. While under its control, Billy begins kidnapping different people and essentially sacrificing them to the creature (yes, this is one of the scarier seasons).

Back at Starcourt Mall, Steve, Robin and Dustin work to decode and investigate a Russian transmission that Dustin found. Similarly, Joyce and Hopper investigate bizarre magnetic disturbances and soon discover that Russians are secretly conducting experiments in Hawkins.

In a final showdown against Billy and the Mind Flayer, the group rallies to attack the beast. Eleven is initially hurt when a piece of the Mind Flayer enters her leg, but she quickly recovers and tries to help Billy fight the entity from the Upside Down’s control over him. In the end, Billy saves Eleven’s life and forfeits his own in front of his step-sister, Max.

At the same time, Joyce and Hopper sneak into the secret Russian base where they once again close the gate, effectively killing the Mind Flayer. Unfortunately, Hopper sacrifices himself and seemingly dies.

The season concludes on a somber note with Hopper nowhere to be found and Eleven without access to her powers. Additionally, she and the Byers family head to California for new beginnings.

Season Four

We finally made it! Season four was split into two volumes released at separate times. Time is split between Hawkins, California and a Russian prison featuring complex new characters and lots of new lore.

The Byers reside in California, where Eleven, dealing with severe bullying, awaits Mike’s visit, while the gang in Hawkins continues to hang out with the leader of the Hellfire D&D club, Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn).

The major arc of this season follows a series of gruesome murders beginning with cheerleader Chrissy (Grace Van Dien), which prompts the gang to investigate the new threat facing Hawkins: Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Through investigative work done by Nancy and Robin, they learn of Vecna’s history as 001 and how he is targeting teenagers with unresolved trauma. Eddie is quickly blamed for killing the cheerleader as he was last seen with her, and Chrissy’s boyfriend seeks to kill him, forcing Eddie into hiding.

Back in California, Eleven is taken by Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser) to a secret facility so she can regain her powers by confronting her traumatic past with Dr. Brenner to save Hawkins from the evil of Vecna.

All the while, Joyce embarks on a rescue mission with Murray (Brett Gelman) to save Hopper from a Russian prison teeming with creatures from the Upside Down. They barely escape with their lives.

Max soon becomes a target of Vecna due to her unresolved trauma surrounding Billy’s death, but uses her favorite song, “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, as a way to bypass Vecna’s grip. In an attempt to save Max from her fate, Nancy enters the Upside Down, where she has a vision of Hawkins being destroyed by four different gates. It is here that the group realizes they have to sneak into Vecna’s lair in order to save Max and Hawkins.

The season culminates with a dangerous yet necessary attack on Vecna: Max acting as bait, while the others enter the Upside Down. While in the Upside Down, Dustin and Eddie work to distract the hive mind, where Eddie tragically and heroically perishes. In California, Eleven battles Vecna psychically, but is unable to fully stop him.

Max is gravely injured and placed in a coma while she heals, and Hawkins is ripped into four quadrants as the gates open and wreak havoc and death. This is the tumultuous ending that we are left with at the end of season four. Eddie, despite being a hero, is assumed to be the suspect in Vecna’s murders, Max remains in a coma and Will reveals that he can still feel Vecna’s presence.

As Hawkins prepares for its final showdown, fans everywhere will be ready after this review. So, it’s time to buckle up and get ready for some “Stranger Things” this holiday season.