After almost three years without new episodes, “Stranger Things” is finally coming back on May 27th.
The fourth season of the series is promised to be “darker, much darker”, as the Duffer Brothers lean on horror and spookier themes to the storyline. While we all wait for it to arrive on Netflix soon, let’s take a look on what it is already known about the new season:
Season 4 – The First 8 Minutes
Many people don’t know, but Netflix has already released the first 8 minutes of “Stranger Things”’ fourth season. The piece is a flashback of Eleven’s storyline, exploring more of her life in the lab. More precisely, it focuses on Dr. Brenner’s point of view, and we are able to see him doing activities with kid number 008. The audience is exposed to a different side of the doctor – a man who cares about those children, and even shows affection towards them. It truly is the opposite of what we knew about his character.
The video ends with a shocking massacre – almost everyone in the lab is mysteriously killed, including the kids that were there for testing. One child, though, remains alive: Eleven. Doctor Brenner, the other survivor, finds the girl staring at the wall, with a broken mirror, while others are dead on the floor. When El turns around, she is covered in blood, gasping. “What have you done?” are the man’s final words on the clip.
Even though Dr. Brenner seems to have blamed Eleven for the slaughter, fans speculate that it is possible that she only tried to defend herself, and what killed the others was something from the upside down. The answer, of course, will be shown this season.
The Storyline of Season 4 – What We Already Know
The Season 3 Finale left us with a few hints of what would happen this season. By watching the official trailer, we can have a good idea of what to expect.
As promised, Eleven is now living with the Byers (Will, Joyce and Jonathan) in California. Six months have passed and she is still struggling to make friends and fit in with the traditional high school life. Another very important aspect of El’s story this season is that she appears to have lost her powers. And, as the trailer shows, there is a supernatural war coming their way – and it is darker than ever.
In Hawkins, the boys are also facing high school now. Mike and Dustin still share their love for fantasy worlds and games, while Lucas is more dedicated to sports. There’ll be some sort of tension between the group, as they got older and are all still healing from what happened in previous seasons. Also, the video indicates that the group remains playing Dungeons & Dragons.
In Max’s storyline, she is mourning the loss of her brother, Billy, who had to be killed since he was being used as the Upside Down’s spy in Hawkins. Is it possible that she became a target for those dark forces, now that Billy is gone? Also, in one clip, we see Max levitating – is she gaining powers in season 4?
The trailer has shown a few surprises to the fans. Hopper, who we were led to believe was sacrificed last season, is alive. However, the American is being held captive in Russia, where there are Upside Down related experiments going on.
Also, there is a new villain this season: Vecna, a humanoid that embraced the roots and shapes of the Upside Down, “with more depth, more dimension, and far more evil”, according to executive producer Shawn Levy.
New Characters
As much as we already love the “Stranger Things” characters, a lot of new names are coming to the story. Take a look at the main ones:
- Victor Creel is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital. The man is described as a disturbed, intimidating and murderous man, who alledgedly killed his family. Played by actor Robert Englund, known by his classic character Freddie Krueger in “Nightmare on Elm Street”;
- Vecna is a humanoid form that embraces the Upside Down and its darkness. It is the biggest threat to the characters this season. Vecna is also one of the biggest villains in the original game Dungeons & Dragons;
- Argyle is Jonathan’s new best friend, a fun-loving stoner, who works as a delivery boy. Portrayed by Eduardo Franco;
- Jason Carver is a rich athlete dating the most popular girl in school. Played by Mason Dye;
- Peter Ballard is a caring man who works as an orderly at a psychiatric hospital. Played by Jamie Campbell Bower;
- Dmitri is a smart and charming Russian prison guard. Played by Tom Wlaschiha;
- Yuri is an unpredictable Russian smuggler who loves bad jokes, cold hard cash, and crunchy peanut butter. Played by Nikola Djuricko;
- Eddie Munson is the head of the Hawkins High official D&D Club, The Hellfire Club. Played by Joseph Quinn;
- Lt. Colonel Sullivan is a man who believes he knows how to stop the evil in Hawkins, with practical ideas. Played by Sherman Augustus.
The Episodes
Although the fans have been waiting for years, the episodes of Season 4 won’t all be released at once. The good part is that we can expect long and complex episodes, which were divided in two parts:
Part 1, out on May 27th, will have 7 episodes:
- Ep. 1 – “The Hellfire Club”
- Ep. 2 – “Vecna’s Curse”
- Ep. 3 – “The Monster and the Superhero”
- Ep. 4 – “Dear Billy”
- Ep. 5 – “The Nina Project”
- Ep. 6 – “The Dive”
- Ep. 7 – “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab”
Part 2, out on July 1st, will only have 2 episodes, which are promised to be quite long:
- Ep. 8 – “Papa”
- Ep. 9 – “The Piggyback”
The series is planned to end on Season 5. Therefore, this year’s production was described as “the beginning of the end” by the Duffer Brothers. In an official note, the creators also wrote: “With nine scripts, over eight-hundred pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots, and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, “Stranger Things” 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one.”
If you weren’t too excited about the new season, now there are no excuses!
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This article was written by Daniela Soares and edited by Lethicia Lioi.
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