Stranger Things Season 4 Recap: Vecna’s Curse & The Battle for Max’s Soul

 Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

• The Rundown: The group is split between Cali and Hawkins. Dustin and Mike join Eddie Munson's D&D club. A cheerleader named Chrissy starts seeing a grandfather clock.

• Highlight: The high-stakes D&D game mirrored with Lucas’s winning basketball shot in the championship game.

• Cliffhanger: Chrissy is brutally levitated and crushed by an unseen force (Vecna) in Eddie Munson’s trailer.

Chapter Two: Vecna’s Curse

• The Rundown: Nancy investigates the murder; Max realizes she’s seeing the same signs as Chrissy. Hopper is revealed to be alive in a snowy Russian gulag.

• Highlight: Fred’s horrific death on the road, confirming Vecna targets those with deep emotional trauma.

• Cliffhanger: Max sees the grandfather clock embedded in the school hallway wall.

Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero

• The Rundown: Eleven is arrested for hitting a bully; Dr. Owens takes her to regain her powers. The Hawkins "jocks" hunt Eddie, thinking he's a cult leader.

• Highlight: Joyce and Murray boarding a plane to Alaska to rescue Hopper from the Russians.

• Cliffhanger: Eleven agrees to go with Owens to "The Nina Project" to face her past.

Chapter Four: Dear Billy

• The Rundown: Max prepares for her death by writing letters. Nancy and Robin visit Pennhurst Asylum to talk to Victor Creel, the first victim of the curse.

• Highlight: "Running Up That Hill." Max escapes Vecna’s mind palace while her favorite song plays to pull her back to reality.

• Cliffhanger: Max survives the trance, but Vecna is still active and hunting.

Chapter Five: The Nina Project

• The Rundown: El revisits her repressed memories of the Hawkins Lab. Hopper tries to escape the gulag. The Hawkins crew finds "The Lovers' Lake" portal.

• Highlight: Eleven seeing "001" (The Orderly) for the first time in her resurfacing memories.

• Cliffhanger: Steve is pulled into the lake and attacked by "bat-creatures" in the Upside Down.

Chapter Six: The Dive

• The Rundown: Nancy, Robin, and Eddie dive into the lake to save Steve. They realize the Upside Down is "stuck" in the year 1983.

• Highlight: The group communicating through the "Lite-Brite" lights across the two different dimensions.

• Cliffhanger: Eleven remembers the truth about the "Massacre at Hawkins Lab."

Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

• The Rundown: The truth is revealed: 001 isn't a victim—he's the killer. He is Henry Creel, Victor's son, and the first psychic child.

• Highlight: The massive revelation that Henry Creel = 001 = Vecna.

• Cliffhanger: Eleven banishes Henry to the Upside Down, creating the first gate. Nancy is trapped by Vecna in a trance.

Chapter Eight: Papa

• The Rundown: Eleven regains her powers. The Hawkins crew prepares for a four-phase assault on Vecna. Hopper and Joyce reunite in Russia.

• Highlight: Eleven destroying the military helicopters and "Papa" (Dr. Brenner) finally dying in the desert.

• Cliffhanger: The group prepares to enter the Upside Down for the final, desperate fight.

Chapter Nine: The Piggyback

• The Rundown: Eddie plays the ultimate concert. El fights Vecna from a pizza dough freezer. Max dies (briefly) and the four gates open.

• Highlight: Eddie Munson’s "Master of Puppets" solo on the roof of his trailer and his heroic sacrifice.

• Cliffhanger: Two days later, the group reunites, but ash begins to fall over Hawkins as the Upside Down bleeds into reality.