Everything To Remember About 'Stranger Things' Before Season 5, Part 1 Actorsvaultpro

Stranger Things is one of the most anticipated returning shows this year, especially with Season 5 marking the conclusion of the long-running series. Scheduled to be released in three parts, the first four episodes come out on November 26, 2025, followed by the next three on Christmas Day, December 25, and the final episode on New Year’s Eve, December 31.

However, with a full three years and four months between seasons, you might have already forgotten much of Season 4 and how it ended. Before prepping to dive into Season 5, Part 1, it’s a good time for a refresher.

The ‘Stranger Things’ Kids Face a Terrifying New Enemy

Netflix

As the kids navigate life in Hawkins in 1986, the Upside Down remains a threat. There’s a terrifying new monster attacking them, and he begins with the sweet cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien). Her tragic death makes Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) a prime suspect in everyone’s eyes, as they believe he is responsible. He’s on the run and shaken by what he witnessed. The scene when Chrissy levitates and is killed in front of him had fans crying “Chrissy, wake up!” alongside Eddie for months after.

Once Eddie meets the other kids, however, he learns what’s really going on and finds a group of people who believe he’s innocent. Together, they name the new monster Vecna and realize they’re all in danger. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) reunites with Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser), who reveals that he thinks she caused everything that’s going on and is the only one who can stop it. All the juvenile high school drama she has been dealing with up to this point has to be put on hold because she has more important things to do.

To accomplish her goal, however, Eleven must work with Dr. Owens to regain her powers and make them stronger than ever. Meanwhile, Vecna has set his sights on a new list of victims, and Max (Sadie Sink) is among them. With the knowledge that Max is in imminent danger, discovering Vecna’s real identity and stopping him is more important than ever. Some of the kids seek help from Victor Kreel (Robert Englund), an institutionalized man who was accused of murdering his family decades before. The kids believe his claim that it was a demon and are confident it was Vecna. They learn that music is a key to fending off Vecna’s attacks. But who is he?

With his identity still unknown, the kids realize that Vecna’s lair exists in the Upside Down, a version of the Creel House. This means they must venture down there again to find him. At the same time, Eleven is still at the lab trying to restore her powers. However, she’s constantly haunted and tortured by a bloody memory from when she was a kid. Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) encourages her to tap into these repressed memories. While at the lab, she finds solace in the helpful orderly, One (Jamie Campbell Bower), but eventually realizes he isn’t who he seems. In one of the season’s best plot twists, he’s actually Henry Creel, Victor’s son. He’s the one who killed his family and let his father take the fall.

The memories come flooding back. Henry caused the bloody mess in that memory Eleven can’t shake. Back in 1979, she set Henry free after he manipulated her into believing he was on her side. He claimed he wanted to escape with her. Once she realizes what he’s done and plans to do, the two engage in an epic showdown of psychic abilities. Eleven garnered strength from the memory of her mother to fight him and prevent him from killing more people. She pushes Henry back into the Upside Down, where he enters the shadow dimension and becomes Vecna. Eleven realizes that she’s responsible for what’s happening and feels more obligated than ever to fix it.

Vecna’s Evil Plan in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4

Vecna talking to Eleven who is trapped in the Upside Down in Stranger Things.

While Eleven is taking her mind back to 1979, Vecna is torturing Nancy (Natalia Dyer) in the Upside Down in present day. He reveals his identity to her and states that the more he kills, the stronger he gets. How does he choose his victims? He likes to find ones to whom he can show their own shame. His father accidentally killed a baby during the war. Chrissy suffered from an eating disorder. And Max is rife with guilt over Billy’s (Dacre Montgomery) death. With Nancy, it’s the shame she feels for never going back for Barb (Shannon Purser) when she first disappeared. He spares Nancy, however, because he wants her to deliver his message to Eleven: he plans to take over Hawkins for good.

In a separate location, thanks to the help of Dustin’s (Gaten Matarazzo) summer girlfriend, Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo), the boys manage to find where Eleven is and meet her there. With everyone finally together again, they hatch an elaborate plan. It features a lot of weapons and an epic guitar solo to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets,” which will go down as one of the best TV show scenes ever.

But is it too late? Vecna is starting to get a hold of Max’s mind, no matter how much she tries to block him out with Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” in her Walkman. Eleven slips into a salt bath to try to enter Max’s mind from the outside. She implores Vecna to stop and insists that he can change, even revealing to him that Brenner is now dead. But this doesn’t work. Vecna doesn’t care about revenge. He’s happy he was sent to the Upside Down. He found the Mind Flayer particles and created the spider monster. He sent Demogorgons to Hawkins. And he used the Mind Flayer to get Eleven to open the gates so he could once again re-enter the real world.

When Eleven closed the gates, Vecna realized he needed to create his own portals. So, he has been killing teenagers ever since. The fourth and final gate he needs to break the barrier between worlds for good will come with the death of Max. Add killing Eleven to the mix, and he’ll be able to absorb her powers, which means opening and closing the gates like unlocked doors whenever he pleases.

So, Vecna has been controlling everything since the series began, and he plans to increase his power and fulfill his every terrifying desire with complete control over the city. All he needs is for Max and Eleven to be dead, and he’ll finally be able to do it.

The Fight Is Far From Over

Max levitating with her eyes rolling back into her head in Stranger Things.

As the kids navigate the Upside Down, Vecna captures them one by one. Sadly, Eddie seemingly perishes, but dies a hero, playing a role in the plan that eventually saves everyone in Hawkins… at least for now. Back at home, Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) is desperate to save Max, who is levitating under Vecna’s spell, on the brink of death. Lucas’ basketball buddies interrupt at the worst possible time, however, and he’s distracted as Vecna breaks Max’s arms and legs.

Thanks to Mike’s (Finn Wolfhard) encouraging words, Eleven finds the strength to fight harder and manages to get Vecna off Max before he does anything beyond breaking her limbs. He begins to lose hold of the others, too, as Eleven’s powers grow stronger and she subdues him. The fireballs and shots from a sawed-off shotgun (go, Nancy!) finally throw Vecna down. But when they go to check on his body, it’s gone. He isn’t dead.

Concurrently, Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder), with the help of Yuri (Nikola Djuricko), are working together to lure the Demogorgons with the Mind Flayer particles into a prison fighting pit to kill them all at once. Their plan works, but not before Hopper takes down the largest surviving Demogorgon with a giant sword. With that done, Vecna is further weakened, and the focus returns to Hawkins.

It’s Only Just Beginning

Everyone stands in a desolate scene with withered grass in Stranger Things.

Sadly, while Vecna has scooted off with his proverbial tail between his legs for now, he’s not done. Max is severely injured and weak in a hospital bed. Eleven works her magic to bring Max back and does manage to restart her heart. Max is technically alive again, but she’s in a coma. Her future is unknown. What’s most notable about this is that Max’s heart stopped for a short period of time before Eleven resurrected her. That brief window could have allowed Vecna to open the fourth gate, as fissures now appear at all the sites of his kills throughout Hawkins.

Another moment that may play into the final season is that Will (Noah Schnapp), who fans will recall was the first person abducted into the Upside Down in Season 1, is still clearly under the effects of whatever monster overtook him. His hand reaching to rub the back of his neck as he winces in discomfort indicates that something’s still possessing his body, mind, or both.

Smoke rises above Hawkins as red lightning flashes, flowers and grass wither, and dust drifts through the town. Vecna is coming. The shadow dimension has arrived in Hawkins. It will take one final battle to eliminate this enemy for good and save the town. Who will survive it, however, remains to be seen. Stream Stranger Things on Netflix.