***SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils the events of the part one finale, chapter 7, “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab”. DO NOT READ if you haven’t finished season four, part one!***
After a three-year hiatus, season four of Stranger Things has finally premiered on Netflix, breaking streaming records in its debut weekend. Season 4 volume 1 broke the record for biggest-ever premiere weekend of an English-language series, and was viewed for 287 million hours during the week of May 23-30. Stranger Things broke the previous record, which was held by Season 2 of Bridgerton. Despite its epic episode runtimes (with several chapters running well over an hour), fans were glued to their screens as the latest adventure unfolded in Hawkins (and California and Russia).
The first seven chapters pack in lots of new characters, mythology, and exciting new plot developments. We’re here to unpack and explain the season’s biggest twists and turns, which naturally center around Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her past. Season four picks up six months after the battle at Starcourt Mall. Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and Eleven have relocated to California, where Eleven struggles to fit in at her new school. She also struggles with the loss of her powers and life as a regular girl.
Meanwhile, back at Hawkins, Dustin and Mike have joined the Hellfire Club, a D&D club at their high school, while Lucas has joined the basketball team (and the popular kids). Meanwhile, Max is still suffering from the trauma of seeing her step-brother Billy die at the mall. And nobody knows that Hopper is not only alive after the explosion, but has been zapped to Russia, where he is being held prisoner by the KGB.
Seriously, If You Haven’t Seen the Finale, Stop Reading Now!
Season four’s Big Bad is a humanoid, scarred demon named Vecna. Suspended by several tentacle-like vines, Vecna has the power to telepathically project himself into the minds of the teens of Hawkins. He torments those suffering from guilt and shame, and begins picking off teenagers one by one. Taking inspiration from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Vecna is able to lull his victims into a trance, haunting them with hallucinations before breaking their bones and gruesomely murdering them.
As the Hawkins gang starts to investigate the murders, they discover the grisly history of Victor Creel. In 1959, Victor Creel brutally murdered his wife, son, and daughter, and was sent away to an asylum. He blamed the murders on a demon, but nobody believed him, until Nancy and Robin visit the older Creel (Robert Englund) and realize that Vecna was the demon tormenting him.
Meanwhile, viewers see a flashback of young Eleven in Hawkins lab. We see her surrounded by her fellow subjects, who are dead and mangled in a similar fashion. In an attempt to fight the growing evil in Hawkins, Owens (Paul Reiser) recruits Eleven for a procedure that could reawaken her telekinetic powers. In an abandoned ICBM silo, Eleven is reunited with Dr. Brenner aka Papa (Matthew Modine). Eleven joins the NINA project, a specialized isolation tank that allows her to access repressed memories of her time in the lab.
As we delve into Eleven’s memories, we see her bullied by the other test subjects. A kindly orderly (Jamie Campbell Bower) befriends her, offering advice on how to control and use her abilities. He tells her about One, the first test subject of the lab, who was maybe the most powerful. After a vicious bullying from the other kids, the orderly promises her that he’ll help her escape.
When the time comes, the orderly takes Eleven to the recesses of the lab, where he tells her to squeeze into a pipe and climb to freedom. She begs him to join her, but he assures her that he is too big to fit, and not only that, but he has a tracking chip embedded in his neck. Eleven uses her powers to remove the chip, just as guards pursue the duo.
Once confronted, the orderly uses HIS powers to dispatch the guards. He makes Eleven hide in a room, while he systematically and brutally murders everyone in the lab, include the children. Eleven is horrified to discover the mangled bodies, and the orderly starts monologuing as all good villains do.
Who Is the Orderly?
The orderly reveals himself to be Henry Creel, the son of Victor Creel. Ever since he was a child, Henry possessed telekinetic and telepathic abilities, which he used to torture animals and torment his family. He murdered his sister and mother, pinning the murders on his father. Henry was put under the care of Dr. Brenner, where he became test subject 001.
As Henry’s powers grew too strong and unstable, he was implanted with a chip to inhibit his powers and put to work as an orderly. He manipulated Eleven into trusting him and removing the chip, and tries to recruit her to help him take over the world. Eleven rejects his offer and they fight, with Eleven blasting open the first-ever gate to the Upside Down and sending Henry into it.
Once in the Upside Down, the scarred and tortured Henry Creel turns into Vecna. So Henry Creel is the orderly is 001 is Vecna. And he still harbors a deadly grudge against Eleven and the teens of Hawkins. The reveal ends part one of season four, with the final two chapters, “Papa” and “The Piggyback” premiering on July 1.
Where Do We Leave Everyone?
The Vecna/Henry revelation is the big twist of the finale, while several other pieces coming into place. Joyce and Murray are finally reunited with Hopper in Russia. Jonathan, Argyle, Will, and Mike are headed to the missile silo where Eleven is training. And Lucas, Max, and Dustin discover that with each murder, Vecna has opened a gate to the Upside Down. After Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie enter the Upside Down and fight off monsters, they return to Hawkins via a gate in Eddie’s trailer. But as Robin and Eddie climb to safety, Nancy is put into a trance by Vecna, as Steve desperately tries to wake her up.
The final two episodes will presumably see everyone reunited in Hawkins and joining together to battle Vecna and close the gates. But this won’t be the end of Stranger Things. The show will return for its fifth and final season sometime in the future, release date TBD.
(featured image: Netflix)
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