Stranger Things season 4: What you need to know before watching

This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things seasons one through three.

Stranger Things, the hit sci-fi horror series created by the Duffer Brothers, is returning after almost three years. It has been that long since we last met the Hawkins gang-Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink). So it’s completely understandable if you’ve forgotten where the show left off in season 3. As the release date of Stranger Things season 4 approaches, well, at least the first seven episodes are upon us, it’s time to head back to Hawkins, Indiana. 

Here’s everything you need to know before watching Stranger Things season 4:

The Hawkins gang has been separated 

Stranger Things

Sadly, after everything that went down in season 3, the main crew had to go their separate ways, and the school year is looking rather bleak. Joyce Byer (Winona Ryder) decides to leave Hawkins with her sons, Will and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). And Eleven, who believes Hopper (David Harbour) is dead, moves to California with the Byers. The trailer for season 4 does offer a glimpse of El getting ignored and laughed at in the new school. It’s not that things are looking so great with the remainder of the crew in Indiana. Max is left to mourn Billy after his death, and she can levitate now for reasons unknown. Lucas is on the basketball team and Mike and Dustin still hang out, as we see them in the audience cheering for him. 

El does not have her powers anymore 

Okay, this is important. Eleven went up against the Mind Flayer—the big bad of Strange Things in an intense battle at the Starcourt Mall. And while she managed to land significant damage on the creature, it ended up biting her and leaving its flesh inside her leg (gross). When she pulled it out, she lost her powers. The trailer confirms this as she tries to use it and fails. Stranger Things season 4 will likely revolve around El’s struggles without her powers, which often come to the gang’s rescue. 

Stranger Things

Billy sacrificed himself in a rousing redemption arc

Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), Max’s older brother, was possessed by the Mind Flayer in season 3. The gang tries to burn the creature away by locking him up in a sauna but that doesn’t work. During the battle at the Starcourt Mall, just as a possessed Billy is about to get El killed by the monster, Billy’s memories kick in and he gives up his life to save Max, El and Will. While it was a redemption arc for the character, it was quite the gore-fest. Moreover, season 4 seems to have a strange humanoid monster and it has led to one of the biggest questions going into the next chapter – is that Billy? 

Hopper is alive and in a Russian prison. And oh, the Russians have a demogorgon of their own. 

There are other horrors that await the gang apart from the Upside Down. Things get Messier when Hopper and Joyce discover that the Russians have a plan to build their portal to the Upside Down underneath Starcourt Mall. By the end of the show, Hopper is seen in prison. The kicker is that they also have a demogorgon. And that cannot possibly spell good news. 

Stranger Things season 4 is available to stream now.