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As the world awaits a brand new season of Stranger Things, it's time to take a quick look at the previous seasons to refresh some memories.
Created by The Duffer Brothers, the series is set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where a young boy disappeared amid supernatural events occurring around town, including the appearance of a girl with psychokinetic abilities. The fourth season will answer some of the burning questions from season three and introduce new characters and plot points.
Let's catch up on Stranger Things with season recaps before the new season premieres.
Stranger Things Season 1 recap
The first season of Stranger Things introduced viewers to Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas as they slayed imaginary monsters in Mike's brown basement. The series was set in the '80s in Hawkins, Indiana. However, one night Will was attacked by a strange creature, and this disappearance kicked off a series of strange events in the town, which would not be the same.
While a search party was called for Will, a young, near-mute girl with a shaved head was introduced. Eleven held the power to move objects with her mind, and she met the boys mid-search. They named her after the number tattooed on her arm, and Mike helped her by giving her space to live in his basement.
As Will's mom and Hawkins Police Department Chief Jim Hopper led the search for Will, the creature abducted another citizen. This time it was Barb, a friend of Mike's elder sister, who became a victim of the Demogorgon at a pool party. He dragged Barb down to the Upside Down.
However, government agents found out about El's escape and went on a search to find her in their white vans. But before they could kidnap El again, she used her mind to flip the vans and escape with her friends. The gang then found a hiding place at Hawkins Middle School.
With the help of Hopper and their science teacher, the boys were able to use Eleven's powers and search the Upside Down for Will. El also discovered that Barb could not survive in the Upside Down, whose death was elaborated on the next season. However, she was able to find Will there. Hopper and Will's mom, Joyce, rushed down to the Hawkins Lab to find the entrance.
A lot of blood was spilled, which attracted the Demogorgon even more, but in the end, Eleven disintegrated the monster, but herself disappeared in the process. Several months later, Will struggled to deal with the effects of being in the Upside Down and had leftover trauma. As for Eleven, Hopper would leave behind boxes of Eggos in the woods in hopes of finding Eleven again.
Stranger Things Season 2 recap
In the second season of Stranger Things, the story shifted to a year later when everything was back to normal and the word of the year for the kids was 'dingus.' However, Will was still stuck in the traumatic haze of the horrifying woods. He was also struck by the vision of a spider-like shadow monster who seemed to be looming over the town.
This Stranger Things season also saw two new transfer students, Billy and Max. He was a mullet-rocking bad boy, and she was a hijacker of high scores at the local arcade, instantly catching the boys' attention. Meanwhile, Joyce started dating a nerdy local, Bob.
This Stranger Things season also revolved heavily around a vegetable mystery that fell under Hopper's investigation. He came across inexplicably rotten black pumpkins in a nearby pumpkin patch and, after further investigation, learned that they were all connected to the ever-troublesome Hawkins Lab.
Eleven also made a comeback, tearing her way through after finding herself in the Upside Down. She lived and survived in the woods, eating squirrels and swiping a stranger's coat, until she discovered Hopper's dropbox. She eventually found Hopper, and the two ended up living together in a secluded cabin. This did not last for long when Eleven felt the need to see Mike again after suffering from extreme cabin fever.
Meanwhile, Will's new art hobby of drawing the shadow monster grabbed Joyce and Hopper's attention. Hopper thought of the drawings as maps, which turned out to be true when he dug into one of the desiccated pumpkin patches and uncovered the monster's tunnels. Later, the hazmat-suited employees from the Hawkins Lab set out to burn the monster's heat-hating tunnels.
Will also got inhabited by the monster and convulsed in shared pain. Now named the Mind Flayer, the monster called all of its Demo-Dogs through Will from the hospital. Later, scientists and soldiers were strewn in a bloodbath, but Bob saved the day and opened a path for Joyce, Hopper, Mike, Will, and Dr. Owens to escape, eventually sacrificing his own life.
The only thing left to do now was to hurt the shadow monster indirectly, so Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy got to work and hit the possessed Will with a red-hot fireplace poker. This sent the monster out of his body, freeing him at last. On the other hand, Eleven and Hopper found their way to the glowing gate to the Upside Down. Once again, Eleven used her powers to seal the entrance while Hopper shot down the attacking Demo-Dogs.
A month later in Stranger Things, the government admitted to its role in the death of Barb and Bob, finally shutting down the Hawkins Lab for good. The kids attended their first school dance, where Lucas and Max; and Mike and El shared their first kiss. However, in the final moments of the series, an ominous image of the massive Mind Flayer was seen looming over the Upside Down version of the town.
Stranger Things Season 3 recap
Season 3 of Stranger Things was set between 1984-85 when Hawkins' Starcourt Mall became the new hangout location. The kids had a wonderful summer - Dustin returned from science camp. He now had a girlfriend he contacted via ham radio, Mike and Eleven were finally a couple, Billy became the new eye candy for every Hawkins mom, Nancy and Jonathan were busy digging into the town's mysteries through their internships, and Steve started working at the mall ice cream shop with Robin Buckley.
Robin, Steve, Dustin, and Erica were able to find a Russian lab below Starcourt Mall, where soldiers were trying to force their way into the Upside Down. Steve and Robin even got drugged by the Russians when they got too close to the truth.
Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan found Will, Mike, Lucas, Eleven, and Max, and they all raced around the mall hiding from Russian soldiers, the Mind Flayer, and the possessed Billy. Eleven once again saved the day by using her powers to travel into Billy's troubled past and managed to free him from the Mind Flayer, after which he sacrificed himself to save her.
Hopper and Joyce got a hold of Russian-speaking Murray and took a Russian named Alexei hostage. Alexei was helpful and fun but was shot by another Russian at the Hawkins fair. When Hopper, Joyce, and Murray got close to closing the gate and killing the Mind Flayer, Hopper got trapped on the wrong side of the gate. The only way to get rid of the monster was to blow up the gate, killing Hopper.
While Hawkins' crew had assumed Hopper had died, he was seen in an after-credits scene as an American was imprisoned in a creepy Russian prison camp where the prisoners were food to a Demogorgon. Meanwhile, Joyce decided to move out of Hawkins, taking her sons, Will and Jonathan, along with Eleven. Eleven no longer possessed her powers towards the end of this Stranger Things season.
All about the upcoming Stranger Things Season 4
The fourth installment of Stranger Things is all set to drop this week with its first volume of episodes. The trailer for the same was released in April and gave a closer look at Hopper, detained in a Russian prison, Joyce receiving a mysterious package, and Steve, Robin, and Nancy exploring the unknown parts of Hawkins.
It also showed Dr. Owens arriving in California to tell Eleven that a war was coming and that she would be needed. However, Eleven revealed that she still hasn't gotten her powers back after losing them last season.
The synopsis for the upcoming season of Stranger Things reads:
"It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn't made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down."
Catch Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 streaming on Netflix from May 27.
