Highlights
- Season 5 of Stranger Things will be the final entry, bringing the original cast back together for a big send-off.
- The climax of Season 4 sees the Hawkins gang facing off against Vecna, leading to devastating consequences.
- Season 5 promises to rectify the separation of the characters in Season 4, bringing back the classic Stranger Things adventure.
Fans will be left waiting until 2025 for the fifth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, but thankfully, there’s one major component at play for Season 5 that will leave fans with plenty to look forward to. Season 5 will be the final entry in the Stranger Things saga, rounding out an almost decade-long story of pre-teens combating supernatural forces, and one of the most compelling factors of Stranger Things 5 is that the entire cast are reuniting for the big send-off.
Season 4 of Stranger Things marked the arrival of Vecna, a humanoid extension of the Upside Down and creator of the Mind Flayer. When their schoolmates are savagely murdered, The Hellfire Club sets out to solve the mystery. Meanwhile, Joyce and Murray decipher some code found inside a tchotchke doll to track Hopper down to a remote Russian prison. After a run-in with her school bully, Eleven flees and is found by Dr. Owens and Papa, who inform her that Hawkins is in great danger, and they believe she could be the key to their salvation. Of course, this is an elaborate ruse to bring Eleven back into the fold and brainwash her all over again to become Papa’s experiment once more.
There was a lot happening in Season 4, but the characters were predominantly divided for the majority of it. Perhaps that’s why Season 4 felt so disconnected from the rest of the series, besides the obvious horror influences coming into play. Joyce, Hopper, Murray, and Enzo are all the way in Russia, El starts out in California and slowly makes her way back to Hawkins, Nancy and Jonathan are doing their own thing, and the Hellfire Club doesn’t truly come together until closer to the finale. If the final moments of Season 4 are anything to go by, it looks as if Season 5 will be reverting that trend going forward and bringing the Hawkins gang back together for good.
Stranger Things Season 4 Finale Recap
Besides Hopper and Joyce finally kissing, which really made up for Hawkins being slowly consumed by the Upside Down, the biggest event is Vecna’s reckoning. When Vecna claims his fourth victim, which is technically Max in cardiac arrest until the group manages to revive her, the fourth gate between Hawkins and the Upside Down opens. For the entirety of Season 4, Vecna has been praying on emotionally vulnerable teenagers; the conflicted Chrissy, the outcast Fred, the enraged Patrick, and the grieving Max. When Max’s heart stops, the fourth gate rips open the old Creel house.
Meanwhile, the Hellfire Club — assisted by Nancy, Steve, and Robin — travels to the Upside Down, where they confront Vecna. When the going gets tough, the tough don’t get going. Eddie Munson stays behind in the Upside Down to fight off a hoard of Demo-Bats, sadly losing his life. After brawling with a full-sized Demogorgon, Hopper is transported back to Hawkins via Yuri’s helicopter with Joyce, Enzo, and Murray in tow. Murray even held his own against a few Demogorgons and torched them with a flamethrower. Season 4 ends with Eleven defeating Vecna in the Upside Down and Max escaping the jaws of death by a hair. However, the damage has already been done and the Hawkins gang reunite to witness the downfall of their beloved town, ripped apart by Vecna’s rifts.
The characters overlook a giant field, watching as flowers wilt and dark storm clouds form overhead. Small, ominous particles float in the air and flashes of red lightning engulf Hawkins. The hospitals are overrun with dead or dying patients, Max’s encounter with Vecna leaves her in a life-threatening coma, and Eddie Munson’s uncle is told the heartbreaking news of his nephew’s demise. At least Robin and her crush, Vicky, hit it off while working the PB&J stand at the homeless shelter.
Season 5 Promises To Bring the Hawkins Gang Back Together
The final season of Stranger Things sets up a family reunion for the all-star cast. Aside from a few missing pieces, like Eddie and Max, the original Hawkins gang are back together. Going forward, that means fans can expect a classic Stranger Things adventure with the original cast, like the good old days. When Stranger Things first released in 2016, it was a rarity to see Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Eleven separated. The only exception was Will’s kidnapping, but despite being trapped in the Upside Down for most of Season 1, Will’s presence was always felt.
Season 4 was a complete shift in tone, even by Stranger Things standards. It had more deaths, more action, and paid homage to the Gothic era of horror from the late 1800s with the use of a dark setting, heightened emotions, a damsel in distress, and a mystery plot. But having the Hawkins gang apart for most of Season 4 left a sizable hole that even an epic showdown with Vecna couldn’t rectify. Even back in 2016, the biggest draw for Stranger Things was its diverse cast. Millie Bobby Brown was a stand-out, as she has been ever since, but it was the platonic and romantic relationships forged along the way that kept everyone invested all this time. By having the cast apart, these relationships were unable to reach their full potential.
But from the looks of things, Season 5 of Stranger Things will rectify that issue. Hopper and Joyce are back together after sharing a kiss on-screen for the first time, Mike and Eleven are reunited and stronger than ever, and Nancy and Jonathan even have their fling going. As for Max and Lucas’ future, that remains to be seen, but it looks like Season 5 could be wrapping up loose ends and, with a little bit of luck, maybe every member of the Hawkins gang will make it to the end.
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