A Chime of Doom: A Definitive Stranger Things: Season 4 Recap Before the Final Chapter

Welcome back to Hawkins, a town that simply cannot catch a break.

If you're looking for a quick and thorough jog of your memory or simply need to catch up before the final season arrives, this comprehensive Stranger Things: Season 4 Recap will guide you through the longest and arguably darkest installment of the hit Netflix series.

Season 4 drastically expanded the show's scope, splitting our heroes across three major fronts: the horrors of Hawkins, the sun-drenched (but equally dangerous) streets of California, and the frozen landscape of a Russian Gulag.

The narrative introduced a chilling new primary antagonist, Vecna, whose horrifying methods and mysterious connection to the Upside Down's past irrevocably changed the battle for the fate of the world.

Dive in to remember the trauma, the teamwork, and the tantalizing cliffhangers that set the stage for Season 5.

Stranger Things: Season 4 Recap: The Emergence Of The Final Boss (?)

Volume 1: The Darkening Shadow

• Season 4, Episode 1: The Hellfire Club

• What was everyone up to after the Starcourt Mall battle?

  
  

  • Hawkins: Eight months after the battle, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas are navigating high school. Mike and Dustin join the Hellfire Club, the official D&D group led by the flamboyant and charismatic Eddie Munson.

    
    

    Lucas tries to fit in by joining the basketball team, causing a rift with his friends. Max is coping with Billy's death by isolating herself, journaling, and listening to music (specifically Kate Bush) to manage her grief and PTSD.

    
    

  • California: Eleven, Will, Jonathan, and Joyce have moved to Lenora, California. Eleven is powerless and severely bullied, which comes to a head at a roller rink. Will continues to struggle with his feelings and connection to the Upside Down.

    
    

  • Russia: Joyce receives a mysterious package containing a Russian doll and a note that suggests Hopper is alive. A flashback confirms Hopper survived the explosion but was captured and imprisoned in a Soviet prison camp in Kamchatka.

    
    

• How did the new villain reveal himself?

  
  

  • Cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham, who is tormented by visions and a grandfather clock chime, seeks out Eddie Munson for drugs. While at Eddie's trailer, she is psychically murdered in a horrific fashion, breaking her bones and popping her eyes. Eddie witnesses the murder and flees, making him the prime suspect in the eyes of the town, particularly basketball captain Jason Carver.

    
    

• Season 4, Episode 2: Vecna's Curse

• Who is Victor Creel and what does he have to do with the murders?

  
  

  • Nancy Wheeler and her student newspaper colleague, Fred Benson, begin investigating Chrissy's murder, linking it to a 1959 cold case involving Victor Creel, an institutionalized man who allegedly murdered his family.

    
    

  • Max realizes that Chrissy’s symptoms (headaches, nosebleeds, visions, grandfather clock chimes) match her own trauma.

    
    

  • Joyce and Murray head to Alaska to meet with Yuri, the contact of Dmitri "Enzo" Antonov, the Russian guard who secretly contacted Joyce about Hopper.

    
    

  • Eleven is confronted by Dr. Sam Owens and a military official, Lt. Colonel Sullivan, who believes Eleven is responsible for the murders in Hawkins. Owens takes Eleven into custody to help her regain her powers.

    
    

  • Fred is lured and killed by the same entity that killed Chrissy, opening a second gate to the Upside Down. Dustin names the creature "Vecna."

    
    

• Season 4, Episode 3: The Monster and the Superhero

• Did Hopper and Joyce finally reunite?

  
  

  • Hopper attempts to escape the Russian prison but is recaptured. Joyce and Murray arrive in Alaska and meet Yuri, who betrays them. Joyce and Murray are drugged and taken to Russia, destined to be turned over to the Russians along with Hopper and Enzo for a bigger profit.

    
    

  • Eleven goes to an underground lab in Nevada, a highly secretive facility, where she is once again reunited with Dr. Martin Brenner (Papa), who faked his death. Brenner plans to use the "Nina Project," a sensory deprivation tank, to force Eleven to relive her past and recover her powers.

    
    

  • In Hawkins, the group figures out Vecna preys on victims with deep emotional trauma and guilt.

• Season 4, Episode 4: Dear Billy

• How did Max escape Vecna's grasp?

  
  

  • Max has a chilling encounter with Vecna and sees the grandfather clock. She realizes she is his next target. The Hawkins group investigates Creel House, the site of the 1959 murders, and finds a temporary gate in the attic.

    
    

  • They discover Max's "favorite song" is her lifeline. When Vecna possesses her and takes her into his psychic red-light landscape, Nancy, Robin, Steve, and Eddie frantically play Kate Bush’s "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" on Max's Walkman.

    
    

  • The music creates a psychic tether to reality, allowing Max to break free from Vecna’s grip and escape the Upside Down, temporarily saving her life.

    
    

• Season 4, Episode 5: The Nina Project

• What is the "Nina Project?"

  
  

  • Eleven enters the Nina tank and begins reliving her memories from Hawkins Lab, specifically her time training with the other children, including Number One.

  • Mike, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle are hunted by the military, who believe Eleven is a killer.²¹ They escape and set out on a cross-country mission to find Eleven, using a phone number provided by Agent Harmon.

    
    

  • Joyce, Murray, and Enzo escape Yuri's plane crash and manage to sneak into the Soviet prison.

• Season 4, Episode 6: The Dive

• Where is the gate to the Upside Down?

  
  

  • The Hawkins group learns that Vecna opens a new gate every time he kills a victim. They realize they need to enter the Upside Down to find and stop him.

    
    

  • Following the flickering lights in the boathouse at Lover’s Lake, Steve dives down and finds a gate at the bottom of the lake.

    
    

  • He is pulled through the gate into the Upside Down by a tentacled creature. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie dive in after him, finding themselves in a spooky, dilapidated version of Hawkins.

    
    

  • In Russia, Hopper defeats a captured Demogorgon in a gladiatorial-style pit fight, creating a distraction that allows Joyce and Murray to rescue him and Enzo.

• Season 4, Episode 7: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

• Who is Vecna, really?

  
  

  • Eleven fully recovers her suppressed memories. The kind orderly she befriended in the lab is revealed to be Henry Creel (Number One), Victor Creel’s son, who murdered his mother and sister in 1959 using his psychokinetic powers. Brenner suppressed his powers with a chip.

    
    

  • Henry/One manipulated Eleven, encouraging her to remove the chip, which unleashes him. He massacres the other children and the staff at the lab.

  • Eleven fights him. In a final burst of power, Eleven overpowers Henry and accidentally blasts him into the Upside Down, where he is twisted and transformed by the dark dimension into the monster known as Vecna.

    
    

Volume 2: The Final Sacrifice

• Season 4, Episode 8: Papa

• Did Eleven get her powers back in time?

  
  

  • The military arrives at the Nina Project facility to capture Eleven. Brenner sacrifices himself to save her, confirming her identity as his daughter before he dies. Eleven completely regains her powers and uses them to protect her friends who have finally arrived.

    
    

  • In the Upside Down, Nancy, Steve, Robin, and Eddie learn that Vecna’s lair is the Creel House. Vecna possesses Nancy and reveals his master plan: four gates will tear down the barrier between dimensions. With Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick dead, Max is his fourth and final target.

    
    

  • Hopper, Joyce, and Murray escape the prison and realize they can help the Hawkins group by destroying the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer particles the Russians are studying, thus distracting the Upside Down hive mind.

• Season 4, Episode 9: The Piggyback

• What was the ultimate cost of the final showdown?

  
  

  • The groups execute a three-pronged plan:

    
    

    1. Hawkins Crew (Max, Lucas, Erica): Max willingly offers herself as bait at the Creel House to lure Vecna, while Lucas and Erica provide backup.

       
       

    2. Upside Down Crew (Nancy, Steve, Robin): They plan to attack Vecna’s physical body inside the Creel House in the Upside Down.²⁸

       
       

    3. Russia Crew (Hopper, Joyce, Murray): They attack the Russian lab to destroy the Demogorgon and Mind Flayer particles.

       
       

  • In the Upside Down, Eddie and Dustin distract a horde of Demobats. Eddie Munson is tragically killed in a heroic sacrifice, dying in Dustin's arms.

    
    

  • Eleven "piggybacks" into Max’s mind to fight Vecna psychically, while the Upside Down Crew attacks Vecna's physical form. Vecna initially overpowers Max and starts the lethal ritual, opening the final gate.

    
    

  • Max's heart stops, clinically dying in Lucas’ arms. Eleven uses her newfound emotional power to jump-start Max's heart, bringing her back to life but leaving her blind and in a coma.

    
    

  • The fourth gate opens, merging the four separate gates into a gigantic fissure that splits Hawkins apart, causing a massive "earthquake" that kills dozens.

Relevant Plot Summary & Key Information

Some Closing Thoughts

The final moments of the season are a gut punch and a spectacular setup. Our heroes are finally reunited in Hawkins, but the town is irrevocably changed.

The "earthquake" has left a massive, scar-like rift running through the center of the community, spewing smoke and ash from the Upside Down. Max is alive but in a coma, her consciousness seemingly absent.

Will Byers, long the emotional heart tied to this otherworldly darkness, confirms what the ominous landscape suggests: Vecna is still out there, and he is stronger than ever.

The war has arrived in Hawkins.

So, are you pumped for the ultimate showdown in Stranger Things: Season 5? Let us know in the comments section down below!

If you's like a recap of all the seasons preceding Season 4, check out all of those recap pieces in the "Related Articles" section down below!