Tamal Kundu
In its fourth season, ‘Stranger Things’ has its characters take on a new menace from the Upside Down, Vecna. He is unlike any antagonist that the heroes have faced before. While he may not be as powerful as the Mind Flayer, he has the ability to create Gates to the Upside Down on a whim. The heroes are at a terrible disadvantage this season, with most of them not being in Hawkins, Indiana. As the first volume of the fourth season progresses, the narrative becomes further expansive, encompassing events from the past and some of the remotest regions in the world. Here is everything you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
What Year Does Stranger Things Season 4 Take Place?
The main narrative is set in 1986. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), and Will (Noah Schnapp) are in high school, whereas Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and the others are ready to go off to college. The very first sequence of the season involves a flashback through the perspective of Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), set on September 8, 1979. It was the day when the massacre at Hawkins Lab took place. Guards, nurses, doctors, and multiple test subjects were brutally killed. Initially, the series implies Eleven was responsible, but the mid-season finale reveals that isn’t the case.
In episode 4, titled ‘Dear Billy,’ there is another flashback, this time through the perspective of Victor Creel, the Pennhurst asylum resident accused of killing his wife, daughter, and son. This flashback scene takes place in 1959. After Victor’s wife Virginia received a small fortune from one of her relatives, the family bought a picturesque rural house in Hawkins. Their hope for peace, happiness, and a new beginning was dashed when animals started dying around their home and several members of the family had horrible visions. In one such vision, Victor was taken back to France during World War II, when his error in judgment killed a family, including their child.
After learning about Vecna, Eleven agrees to undergo a procedure to regain her memories and powers. Assisted by Brenner, she experiences the days leading up to the massacre at Hawkins Lab. Meanwhile, in the Upside Down, Nancy discovers that her room is frozen in time in 1984. Eleven also has a brief flashback to the day of her birth in 1971.
Where Does Stranger Things Season 4 Take Place?
Like the previous three seasons, ‘Stranger Things’ season 4 is predominantly set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, and the Upside Down version of it. All the flashback scenes are set in Hawkins as well. At the start of the season, it is revealed that Joyce (Winona Ryder), Jonathan, Will, and Eleven now live in the fictional town of Lenora, California.
After the explosion that destroyed the “Key” in season 3, Hopper (David Harbour) is teleported to an unknown location in Russia. There, he endures torture but doesn’t reveal anything to his captors. Eventually, he is transported to a prison in the Kamchatka Peninsula. After learning that Hopper is alive, Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) travel to Nome, a city in Alaska, to deliver $40,000 to a Russian smuggler to get Hopper back. In episode 4, Nancy and Robin visit Pennhurst Mental Hospital, located in Kerley County, Indiana. Mike, Will, and the others visit Suzie’s house in Salt Lake City, Utah, in episode 6, titled ‘The Dive.’ A part of the fourth season is also set in Nevada. Dr. Owens takes Eleven to the headquarters of the Nina Project, where she reunites with Brenner. With his help, she regains her powers and remembers what really happened at Hawkins Lab on September 8, 1979.
Read More: Does Nancy End up with Jonathan or Steve in Stranger Things?
