7 things to remember before watching Stranger Things season 4

It is necessary to remember what happened in the third season of the Duffer brothers' series, premiered on July 4, 2019, especially because despite the fact that three years have passed, this fourth season is set only six months after what was told in chapter 3x08.

With which, we must remember what happened in Hawkins, in the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer... and with Eleven's superpowers.

1.- WHAT HAPPENED IN THE UPSIDE DOWN?

The sinister parallel dimension that haunts Hawkins still threatens to reach the real world. After Mind Flayer, the big monster of Seasons 2 and 3, takes over Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) in Season 2, he finally got free and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) used all her strength to seal the door between the worlds. But in the third season, Will felt Mind Flayer's presence and they discovered that he was not banished, but held captive on the outside.

The creature chose Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) as a human host and he set about kidnapping people to turn them into Mind Flayer's food. The trailer for the fourth season shows that a creepy mansion seems to be the new epicenter of the Upside Down's activity... which will have a new big villain as a major threat.

2.- DOES ELEVEN HAVE HER POWERS?

'Stranger Things' has never fully explained the link between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and the Upside Down. The only thing that is clear is that they are connected thanks to the sinister Hawkins Laboratory. The young girl was separated from her mother as a baby and subjected to constant experiments to develop her telekinetic ability, which allowed her to have incredible telepathic abilities with which to track and observe people from different parts of the globe through her mind.

At the end of the third season, Eleven's powers diminished after the immense effort she had to give to fight Mind Flayer. In the trailer for the fourth season, the young girl reveals that she no longer has her powers, which raises the question of whether she has lost them completely or it is only something temporary derived from the great traumas she suffers after being subjected to the experiments she now remembers.

3.- WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE RUSSIANS?

The third season had as new antagonists a group of Russian scientists, who set up a base underneath the Starcourt Mall in Hawkins. Steve (Joe Keery), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Robin (Maya Hawke) intercepted their transmission and found the facility, where Steve was beaten and interrogated before he could escape. Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder) and private detective Bauman (Brett Gelman) kidnapped one of the operators to find out what they were up to.

They discovered that the Russians were planning to reopen the 'door between the two worlds', the one that Eleven had so much trouble closing. The season ended in a Russian prison, where the guards unleashed a Demogorgon on one of the inmates... and with Hooper's sacrifice.

4.- WHAT HAPPENED TO BILLY?

In the third season, Billy became the real villain of the series, being the host of Mind Flayer, something like his patient zero. The creature corrupted him and he caused the death of 30 people in Hawkins, who were transformed into a giant fleshy monster. In the trailer Max (Sadie Sink), his half-sister, visits his grave, mourning his untimely death...

5.- WHERE IS HOPPER?

In the Season 3 finale, Jim Hopper sacrificed himself to save his loved ones from the Mind Flayer. It was a devastating goodbye, leaving the main characters, especially Eleven, devastated. However, it was hard to believe that one of the mainstays of the Netflix series would disappear altogether.

Already in the first previews, it could be seen that Hopper returned, although it seems that he was imprisoned in a Russian prison, which leaves the question of how he survived, how he was captured and ended up in that place and whether his presence will have to do with the irruption of a new Demogorgon.

6.- THE RETURN OF DOCTOR OWENS

Absent since the second season, this fourth batch means the return of Doctor Owens (Paul Reiser), the scientist expert in the Upside Down. In the preview, he asks Eleven for help in a restaurant. "Without you, we can't win this war," he pleads. It is known that he is an ally, however, in his demand he used the pronoun 'we', which implies that he will not be alone in this installment.

7.- THE LOVE STORIES

Although the supernatural themes are the important ones, that doesn't mean that 'Stranger Things' lacks romance, especially with its protagonists with raging hormones. Season three ended with Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven declaring their love for each other. Max and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) were together and Steve found a new loyal friend in Robin.

On the other hand, Dustin blew the group away when he introduced his girlfriend, whom he met at camp and who everyone thought was made up. Those who had to carry their relationship in the distance were Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), due to the Byer's leaving Hawkins. On the other hand, Joyce begins to receive packages from Russia.... Are they from Hopper?

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