The First 7 Episodes Of "Stranger Things 4" Ranked From Good To Greatest
Each and every episode of Stranger Things 4: Volume 1 had viewers on the edge of their seats. The latest installment of the Duffer brothers' thrilling eighties-inspired mystery premiered on May 27, giving us seven action-packed episodes, a brand new villain, and every reason to believe that Steve Harrington was what this world has been missing as of late.
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With Stranger Things 4: Volume 2 set to release on Netflix on July 1, I'm diving into the best episodes we've seen so far, ranked from good to greatest.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
7."Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse"
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After sufficiently being spooked by Episode 1, and establishing that Stranger Things is about to get even stranger, "Vecna's Curse" picks up right after Chrissy the cheerleader's disturbing demise. Our ragtag heroes waste no time in trying to crack the case, since it's pretty obvious that a strange happening such as this may be the work of the menacing Upside Down.
Despite landing at number seven in the ranking, "Vecna's Curse" is still a superb episode. Nancy taps into her full journalistic potential as she tries to scope out possible suspects for Chrissy's murder, Dustin and co. embark on a mission to get the true story of what happened from Eddie, Murray and Joyce try to decipher a mysterious Russian ransom note, and El "schmacks" her bully in the nose with a rollerskate. Oh, and poor Fred becomes Vecna's second victim.
6."Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero"
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Chapter three is the ultimate setup episode as we begin to see how the events of the season are going to unfold. It solidifies nearly every plotline moving forward: El reunites with Dr. Sam Owens to get her powers back, Joyce and Murray travel to Alaska to find Hopper, Chrissy's boyfriend Jason becomes hell-bent on finding Eddie, Vecna shows us his creepy, crawly haunted mansion, and Max begins to experience unsettling visions.
With Dustin, Steve, Max, and Robin reunited, viewers are delivered all of that hilariously endearing banter we know and love. They deem themselves the caretakers of a wronged Eddie who is hiding out in a boathouse and have to try and explain all the extremely strange things that have taken place in Hawkins over the past few years...
This episode is the perfect blend of comedic gold and enthralling mystery. We may know "whodunnit" but we still are on the edge of our seats wondering why, Vecna, why?
5."Chapter Six: The Dive"
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As the second to last installment of Volume 1, every plotline catapults forward to prepare us for that seventh episode. While there are no filler episodes in Stranger Things (this show has the luxury of being intentional with nearly every scene), the purpose of "The Dive" is to set us up for the mind-boggling part one finale, "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab".
In the span of this hour, we witness a lot: The Cali posse requests the assistance of Suzie to hack into a computer in hopes of being one step closer to finding El (we last saw Suzie singing The NeverEnding Story theme song with her Dustybuns back in season three), while poor Hopper discovers that he may be thrown into a literal demogorgon den.
El has resumed her lessons with Brenner, which involve digging up some old memories of her time in the lab, and things are looking pretty grim. The end of this episode is probably the most pivotal thing that we see, as Steve adventures through the underwater Upside Down portal aptly deemed "Water Gate".
4."Chapter One: The Hellfire Club"
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Remember when Hawkins' biggest problem was a demogorgon? These days, there are bigger fish to fry seeing as the kids are now in high school and there is an ultra-menacing supernatural murderer on the loose. We return to Stranger Things after the dust has settled from last season's mind-flaying mall incident, and everyone (for the most part) is living their best life.
Joyce is enjoying that WFH home life selling encyclopedias in California, while El writes love letters to Mike, and Jonathan gets stoned with his new best friend, Argyle. In the mid-west, Lucas has made the basketball team and is experiencing newfound popularity, while Dustin and Mike are involved in a D&D club and have coerced Erica into taking Lucas' place. All is right in the world. At least for a little while...
Unfortunately, a troubled Hawkins cheerleader named Chrissy is having less of an "all is right in the world" moment and begins hallucinating clocks and spiders and other mysterious things. The episode ends with her levitating into the air and meeting a gruesome otherworldly death. Stranger Things is back with a vengeance — and this premiere episode leaves us wanting more.
3."Chapter Five: The Nina Project"
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In Eleven's breakthrough episode of the season, we start to see the connection between past and present events. Owens and El are on their way to begin top-secret training that may help El get her powers back, but we soon find that Dr. Brenner (or "Papa") is also involved. El is not so on board with this mission now, seeing as there aren't too many fond memories about her time being tested in a sterile science lab for years on end.
After being drugged and her hair cut, Eleven all but reverts back to that small, scared child we found in Season 1. From here, new viewers may notice that the timeline feels wonky. It's hard to be entirely sure if you are watching Past El or Present El meet the oddly serene lab technician who we later find becomes Vecna. This is a phenomenal episode to watch a second time, knowing which scenes are present-day and which scenes are just El's memories.
We make good headway with other plotlines in this episode too: In Russia, Eleven's quality 'papa', Hopper, gets tortured, beaten, and begins to lose faith that he will ever see Joyce or El again. Unbeknownst to him, Joyce and Murray are on their way and have taken Yuri's plane hostage. In Hawkins, the crew enters the old Creel house (aka Vecna's layer), and every single scene of every single plotline sparks anticipation.
2."Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab"
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At long last, we make it into the Upside Down, and — per usual — it's a terrifying place. Much to Robin's dismay, Steve might have rabies, and the teens now find themselves stuck in an alternate dimension filled with alien-like bats and slimy, volatile vines (it's all a "hive mind," as Nancy reminds us). As they venture into the Upside Down version of the Wheeler's house, the kids encounter Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Erica who are in the exact same location right-side up. Pretty cool, huh?
The episode gets even cooler when we encounter its big reveal: Over at the lab, Eleven is planning to escape alongside the lab technician who has offered to help. After removing his tracking device, she unwittingly sets the technician free, and we soon find out that this man is Henry Creel, the son of Victor Creel, who actually murdered his own family. Henry possesses telekinetic abilities too and was Dr. Brenner's first test subject.
After being freed, he massacres nearly everyone in the lab, showing us that this long-foreshadowed tragedy was not El's doing, but Henry's. The final moments are where it gets wild: we realize this massacre took place years ago when El was still living at Hawkins Lab - and we see the most important memory that she has been repressing.
Determined to stop Henry, Past El used her powers on him and accidentally opened a portal to the Upside Down. Henry was plunged into the depths of this alternate dimension, where he became the vile creature that audiences know as Vecna.
Wow.
Other notable moments in this episode include the demogorgon fight, that trippy Upside Down portal the kids open in Eddie's trailer, and BARB!
1."Chapter Four: Dear Billy"
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This episode is sure to be remembered all too well even after Stranger Things is put to rest. In light of Chrissy and Fred's deaths, Max begins to realize that her hours are numbered, too — she's seen the ominous vision of a grandfather clock and has experienced all of the same "symptoms" Vecna's victims endured days before their demise.
Nancy and Steve are reunited and have some tangible tension (I love to see it), and the audience is introduced to the disturbing tale of Victor Creel's family. Looking back, "Dear Billy" is a loaded episode plot-wise and is now widely regarded as a fan favorite due to that memorable final scene.
Yes, I'm talking about that moment where Max flees Vecna, freed by the power of Kate Bush and friendship.
This scene has a hold on people, undoubtedly due to its perfect storm of elements. It's the masterful combination of seeing the show's exciting new villain in all his terrifying glory, paralleled with Sadie Sink's exceptional performance. Plus, it's set to Bush's goose-bump-inducing "Running Up That Hill" as Max runs out of that Upside Down.