Created by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things has been with us since 2016. The science-fiction horror series introduced us to the most adorable lead gang and some terrifying villains. It began with the disappearance of Will Byers, but as the seasons passed, we came to understand that the story was far from a straightforward mystery about a missing boy; it was so much more than what met the eye. Below is a concise Stranger Things recap that you need to go through before Season 5 airs.
1. Will Byer’s Disappearance Start It All
Image Credit: Upside Down Pictures (via X/@Stranger_Things)
Set in Hawkins, Indiana, in 1983, Stranger Things Season 1 kicks off with Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas playing Dungeons & Dragons. After returning home, Will mysteriously goes missing, and his mother begins to think that he is trying to communicate through the flickering lights. The police chief Hopper, initially sceptical, discovers the oddities that tie Will’s disappearance to the Hawkins Lab, a secretive facility researching the Upside Down.
On the other hand, the Hawkins gang encounters a girl named Eleven. She escaped the lab and possesses telekinetic abilities, which she uses to help the kids locate their friend Will. Amidst all the chaos, the pilot episode also introduces us to Nancy, Mike’s elder sister, and her rich and popular boyfriend, Steve Harrington. So, we also get to witness some romantic drama.
While Joyce, Hopper, and everyone else try harder to find Will, the supernatural creature called Demogorgons enters the picture. Eleven uses her powers to defeat the monsters, but shockingly vanishes in the process. Will reunites with his family, but the symptoms, like coughing like a slug, hint at the unforeseen dangers.
2. The Haunting of the Mind Flayers
Image Credit: Upside Down Pictures (via X/@Stranger_Things)
Even after returning from the Upside Down , Will is getting terrifying visions of the world where he was held captive in the pilot season. He gets scary visions of a shadowy figure, who he believes will not let Hawkins be at peace. By witnessing Will’s deteriorating health, Joyce takes him to Dr. Sam Owens, the new lab director, to get him treated, but nothing really works.
Two new characters, Max and her step-brother Billy, enter the game. The former is highly skilled at skateboarding and is also a formidable video game player, so Dustin and Lucas developed crushes for her and deliberately started trying to bring her into their group.
Meanwhile, Will’s visions escalate, and he becomes the host of the mind flayer; they control the boy’s body and make him act according to them. These creatures eventually start to manipulate Will to mislead the group. Will’s vulnerability allows the Mind Flayers to emerge as the primary antagonist of the second season. However, these entities free the boy when Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan raise the temperature of Hopper’s cabin, knowing that they can’t survive the heat. Ultimately, Eleven shows up and closes the gate of the Upside Down at the lab, using her abilities, cutting the Mind Flayer’s connection with the real world.
3. Starcourt Mall Becomes New Battlefield
Image Credit: Upside Down Pictures (via X/@Stranger_Things)
The popular Starcourt Mall starts grabbing all the attention of the locals of Hawkins, making it quite challenging for the other stores to grow their business. However, not everyone knew that beneath the mall there was the secret base where the Russian scientists worked day and night to create a gateway that would connect the real world with the Upside Down once again. The plan was facilitated by the corrupt Mayor of the town, Larry Kline.
By the penultimate episode of Stranger Things Season 3, the disgusting monster created by the Mind Flayer using human melted bodies attacked the Hawkins gang in the mall’s food court. After its arrival, we get to witness some really terrifying body-horror sequences. The creature starts targeting Eleven, who has lost her powers due to a previous injury. The other kids, along with Johnathan and Nancy, give it their all to fight the supernatural entity.
4. Hopper’s Sacrifice Contributes to the Stranger Things’ Emotional Core
Image Credit: Upside Down Pictures (via X/@Stranger_Things)
Joyce and Hopper cleverly took Dr. Alexei, one of the Russian scientists, hostage and made him spill the beans on the plans his peers have in mind. They also learned about everything that is required to destroy the key and close the gate. However, Alexei was killed by a Russian assassin midway, but that doesn’t stop Joyce and Hopper from trying their best to close the gate. However, before the duo could do the needful, Hopper was attacked by Grigori. After an intense clash, Hopper emerges as the victor.
However, the fight trapped Hopper on the other side of the portal. Hearing Dustin’s voice on the radio, Joyce and Hopper shared a final glance. With no other option left, Joyce pulled the keys, and Hopper faced the massive explosion. Even though the series made him survive the attack, it didn’t show mercy on him, and he got imprisoned by the soviets.
5. The Main Villain of Stranger Things Is Introduced
Image Credit: Upside Down Pictures (via X/@Stranger_Things)
Stranger Things Season 4 finally introduced us to the main antagonist of the television series: Vecna . The thrilling ride begins with the tragic killings of several students, starting with Chrissy Cunningham. As the story moves forward, it becomes crystal clear that whoever is behind the murders is targeting the traumas and fears of the victims. Max also eventually falls prey to the Upside Down monster and starts experiencing visions, reliving her guilt and trauma.
However, when she nearly gets killed, her friends help her loosen Vecna’s hold by playing music, particularly tied to the positive memories.
6. Nancy and Robin Uncover Vecna’s Origins
Image Credit: Upside Down Pictures (via X/@Stranger_Things)
While investigating the killings, Nancy and Robin show up at the Pennhurst Asylum to interview a man named Victor Creel, who was accused of murdering his own family in the 1950s. That’s when they learned about the abandoned Creel house. After reaching there, Vecna chooses Nancy to show his past and motivations. Additionally, exploring the house, observing the clues, and following Dustin’s D&D knowledge, Nancy, Robin, and Dustin realized that Vecna is no one else but Henry Creel, Victor’s son.
The group also discovered that the banishment to Upside Down ultimately shaped Vecna’s current form. After collecting enough information about Vecna, they decide to gear up for the final confrontation with the Upside Down’s mastermind. Nancy steps forward to enter the Upside Down with Steve and Dustin, while Robin takes the responsibility to use music as their backup plan.
7. Eddie Munson’s Heroic Stand
Eddie creates a bond with Dustin and his group when they comfort him when he was hiding in the dock house after being falsely accused of Chrissy’s death. After that, he decided never to leave his new friends, no matter how challenging the situation gets. Well, he kept his promise when the real threat appeared. The Demobats started chasing the group, and Eddie took it on himself to distract the creatures to buy time for his friends, who were trying to hunt Vecna.
Eddie played, ‘Master of Puppets’ on his electric guitar and drew all the attention of the Demobats, who eventually bit him multiple times, pushing him to his death. He took his last breath in Dustin’s arms and asked his friend to take care of the rest of the crew.
8. The Deadly Confrontation With Vecna
Eventually, the gang at Hawkings realizes that Vecna needs to claim the lives of four people to break the barrier between the two worlds. Of course, he already killed three people: Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, and Patrick McKinney. He only required one more death to unleash his wrath on Earth.
Since Max was already marked for death, she decides to become the bait and give her friends enough time to kill Vecna in Upside Down. Well, her plan works for a little while, as her friends actually find Vecna in the trance state. However, Max finds it difficult to escape Vecna in her mind, but fortunately, Eleven also gets into Max’s memories to fight the monster. Vecna was strong, though, so he sort of killed Max, only for a couple of minutes. Eleven, after defeating Vecna, uses her powers to make Max’s heart start beating again. However, most of the damage was already done, as the cracks between the two worlds started to develop. On top of that, Max goes into a coma even after coming back to life.
Aparna is a Senior Entertainment Writer at Beebom with 4 years of experience in the industry. Specializing in Jujutsu Kaisen and everything horror, she brings in-depth insights and a passion for storytelling to her coverage. Recently, she has interviewed Abby Trott, the voice actress behind Demon Slayer’s Nezuko and Dandadan’s Momo. She has also interviewed Adam McArthur, the one to voice Yuji Itadori in JJK, delivering exclusive content for fans. Previously, she contributed her expertise to some notable publications including Sportskeeda, Dexerto, and Forever Geek, honing her craft in entertainment journalism.
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Stranger Things is over; yeah, it’s really over. The final episode of Season 5 has just arrived on Netflix, and boy, it was surely an exciting journey. And now that it is over, fans may find it hard to move on from the brilliance of Hawkins and the Upside Down. Well, if you’re in the same boat of sadness, here are some other TV shows like Stranger Things you should watch now.
1. Dark
Image Credit: Wiedemann & Berg Television (via Amazon)
- Release Date: December 1, 2017
- Director: Baran bo Odar
- Cast: Jonas Gerzabek, Louis Hofmann, Andreas Pietschmann, Dietrich Hollinderbäumer, Ella Lee, Maja Schöne, Lena Urzendowsky, Angela Winkler
- Seasons/Episodes: 3/26
- IMDb/Rotten Ratings: 8.7/95%
Dark might seem different from Stranger Things on the surface, but if you dig deeper, you might discover why we chose it for this list. It is a small town mystery, with missing children driving the plot. On the other hand, like the Upside Down mirrors Hawkins in Dark, you will see different realities existing in layers.
Dark revolves around four interconnected families, who are connected to each other across multiple generations. After a child goes missing, a hidden passage is discovered beneath the caves of the town of Winden. The series shows that a generation’s past sins are never buried; they are simply passed on to the next.
2. Fringe
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television (via Amazon)
- Release Date: September 9, 2008
- Director: J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
- Cast: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole, Mark Valley, Seth Gabel
- Seasons/Episodes: 5/100
- IMDb/Rotten Ratings: 8.4/91%
Now, you might love seeing Dustin talking about Parallel Universes, time, and every other sci-fi mumbo-jumbo. Well, you’ll see that all of that is discussed in Fringe. This show revolves around unexplained crimes linked to advanced science. In the show, they call it the “fringe science.”
Overall, Fringe is a TV show like Stranger Things that will surprise with its complexity, and of course, with its several alternate dimensions that ultimately threaten humanity. Sure, you don’t get a band of kids fighting off the inter-dimensional threat, but you still get amazing characters like Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop, and his son Peter.
3. The Umbrella Academy
Image Credit: Dark Horse Entertainment (via Amazon)
- Release Date: February 15, 2019
- Director: Jeremy Webb, Paco Cabezas, Peter Hoar
- Cast: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, John Magaro
- Seasons/Episodes: 4/36
- IMDb/Rotten Ratings: 7.8/78%
The Umbrella Academy may not be as popular as Stranger Things, but believe me, it’s an awesome show that features some amazing band of characters. In Stranger Things, we have one or two superhero kids, and in The Umbrella Academy, every character has some sort of superpower.
The film centers around the Hargreeves siblings, who reunite after the death of their adoptive father. Each one of them has some ability, and one way or another, the siblings are dragged into tackling issues like alternate timelines and the end of the world. Of course, The Umbrella Academy might’ve disappointed many of us fans in the end, but if you can digest an underwhelming end, it’s for sure an amazing show to watch.
4. Alice In Borderland
Image Credit: Robot Communications (via Netflix)
- Release Date: February 15, 2019
- Director: Shinsuke Sato
- Cast: Kento Yamazaki, Tao Tsuchiya, Nijirō Murakami, Ayaka Miyoshi, Aya Asahina, Dori Sakurada, Sho Aoyagi, Riisa Naka
- Seasons/Episodes: 3/22
- IMDb/Rotten Ratings: 7.8/78%
Honestly, if you have Netflix and you still haven’t watched Alice in Borderland, then you are seriously missing out on one of the best TV shows like Stranger Things. Alice in Borderland is a Japanese show that centers on a group of people stuck in what we’ll call an alternate dimension. These people have to take part in a variety of deadly games to make it out alive.
Yeah, in a way, Alice in Borderland is a mix of Squid Game and Stranger Things. But of course, don’t expect to see any flesh-eating monsters in this one. Still, the mystery around Borderland and the people running this place is as great as the mystery of Upside Down .
5. Archive 81
Image Credit: Atomic Monster (via Netflix)
- Release Date: January 14, 2022
- Director: Shinsuke Sato
- Cast: Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Evan Jonigkeit, Julia Chan, Ariana Neal, Matt McGorry, Martin Donovan
- Seasons/Episodes: 1/8
- IMDb/Rotten Ratings: 7.3/87%
Compared to Stranger Things, Archive 81 is a slow-burning horror that leans more towards a serious side. The show is basically Dan Turner, who is trying to restore the videotapes recorded by Melody Pendras. The events recorded in these videotapes lead Turner on a mystery hunt where he comes across threats like alternate dimensions, occult rituals, and a cult.
Sure, Archive 81 may take some time to grab your interest, but once it does, you stay in it until you see it to the very end. It not only entertains you with a variety of characters, but it also questions you on every stage by making you question what’s real or not.
Aparna is a Senior Entertainment Writer at Beebom with 4 years of experience in the industry. Specializing in Jujutsu Kaisen and everything horror, she brings in-depth insights and a passion for storytelling to her coverage. Recently, she has interviewed Abby Trott, the voice actress behind Demon Slayer’s Nezuko and Dandadan’s Momo. She has also interviewed Adam McArthur, the one to voice Yuji Itadori in JJK, delivering exclusive content for fans. Previously, she contributed her expertise to some notable publications including Sportskeeda, Dexerto, and Forever Geek, honing her craft in entertainment journalism.
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