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Friends Don’t Lie but they do get you caught up on what went down in Hawkins on Season Three of Stranger Things before Season Four hits Netflix this Friday.
Now it may seem like forever since we last saw “The Party” in action and that’s because it’s been nearly three years since Stranger Things Season Three landed on the platform. The show became an instant hit when Season One dropped back in July 2016. Season Two hit the platform about fifteen months later in October of 2017.
Then fans thought the twenty-one-month wait between Seasons Two and Three was nearly impossible when Season Three didn’t stream on Netflix until July 2019. With the incredible success of the first three seasons, Stranger Things was Greenlit for a Season Four and a Final Fifth Season.
The Duffer Brothers knew all along that Season Four was going to be the biggest season of the entire series but unfortunately what the Duffer Brothers didn’t know was that their biggest season would have to be put on hold due to COVID-19. Filming for Season Four originally began as planned in February 2020 in Lithuania. When production returned to the United States to film in March of 2020 they only had two weeks of filming before all Netflix Studio Productions were put on hold due to the pandemic.
In an interview with Collider, Executive Producer and Director Shawn Levy had this to say about the delay for the fourth installment. “As much as it pains our viewers that it will have been so long, trust me, it pains Matt, Ross, and I more. It is a kind of perfect storm combination of COVID shutdown, slower pace of filming in COVID protocols, and health protocols, which are necessary, and coincidentally we chose Season 4 to be by far — and I mean, by far, far, far — the most ambitious of the seasons.” We’ve waited almost three years and this Friday we are finally going to see what happens next!
To jog your memory before the new season drops, here’s where each character ended Season Three.
Eleven:
Her powers grew to the next level in Season Three, which led up to the final battle with the Mind Flayer who had possessed the body of Billy. In the battle El was wounded after a piece of the Mind Flayer literally crawls inside her leg and takes her powers, leaving her defenseless. After the gang defeats the Mind Slayer, El is adopted by Joyce due to Hopper’s apparent death. She’s given a letter that Hopper had written but never gave her and it was a bittersweet moment to see Hopper finally tell El what he was trying to all season.
Mike:
The relationship between Mike and El grew immensely in Season Three, which was one of the major annoyances for Hopper. After a threat from Hopper, Mike lied to El about hanging out which we all know, “Friends Don’t Lie” but as Max would say, “But Boyfriends Do.” After being caught lying to her, El ended things with Mike. That lasted all of five minutes as they ended the season together after Mike confessed his love for her. The two continue their relationship long-distance after the Byers relocate.
Will:
Will Byers, the missing boy who survived the Upside Down and won his battle against the Mind Flayer, or did he? After Season Two Will still had a connection to the Mind Flayer even though it was thought to have been previously destroyed. Throughout the Season we saw Will be the third wheel among his friends as they all had girlfriends and he didn’t have anyone special. With his remaining connection to the Mind Flayer, Will had feelings and visions throughout the season which helped him and his friends finally (hopefully?!) destroy the creature from the Upside Down.
Dustin:
Dustin returned to Hawkins from Camp Know Where, a Science Summer Camp. As soon as he got back he began to build a radio tower so he could communicate with his new girlfriend Suzie whom he had met at camp. For a majority of the season most of his friends didn’t believe Suzie actually existed. After he finished the radio tower he attempted to contact Suzie but he actually intercepted a Russian transmission which is what helped the group discover that they were planning to reopen the portal to the Upside Down. It is not until the very end of the season when Dustin finally reached Suzie and she helped with coding during the final battle at the Starcourt.
Lucas:
We saw Lucas and Max get a lot closer in Season Three as their relationship blossomed. We learned a little more about Lucas’s family life as his little sister Erica is seen throughout and even showed up to team up with her brother during the final battle.
Max:
Max has probably one of the most difficult trials throughout Season Three as she has to choose between saving her brother or saving her friends and potentially the world. In the end, the fate of her brother Billy was out of her control and he met his demise at the hands of the Mind Flayer shortly after Eleven freed him from its grip. He died by Max’s side and she is seen grieving in his bedroom in the final moments of the season.
Steve:
America’s newest sweetheart got a job at Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream at the Starcourt in the Third Season. It’s there where he also befriended and developed a crush on former classmate Robin. Until he found out that she’s a lesbian so he wasn’t really her type. The two ended up being kidnapped by Russians after discovering their secret lab underneath Starcourt. Dustin later saved the duo and they helped the group bring down the Mind Flayer. The power duo of Steve and Robin looks like it will continue in Season Four because at the end of Season Three they got a new job together at Family Video.
Nancy & Jonathan:
Nancy and Jonathan were attached at the hip in Season Three. They both got a job as interns at the Hawkins Post. That led them to investigate a case of rabid rats that ended up getting them fired from their internships but it did give them information about the Mind Flayer. That ultimately helped the gang defeat the monster. The two continue their relationship via long-distance after Jonathan moves from Hawkins in the Season Three finale.
Billy:
The lifeguard we would all fake drown for had one of the saddest arcs in Season Three. Right off the bat, Billy got taken over by the Mind Flayer. The MInd Flayer controlled Billy to kidnap his fellow lifeguard Heather and sacrifice her to it. Billy and Heather then begin to recruit others and sacrifice them to the Mind Flayer. After recruiting an army of Hawkins residents, releasing the Mind Flayer, and absorbing Elevens powers, Billy made his way to the Starcourt mall for the final battle. Billy is about to kill El when she reminds him of the memory when he and his mother were on a beach. The memory broke the hold that the Mind Flayer had on Billy and he sacrificed himself to save her. His sacrifice also gave Joyce the time to close the gate to the Upside Down. In the end, Billy did have some redemption arc, but he won’t be around to see it.
Joyce:
The mother of Jonathan and Will, a woman who will stop at nothing to protect the ones she loves proves that to every extent in Season Three. After teaming up as friends with Hopper to investigate the suspicious doings in Hawkins the two find out that Russians are buying properties in town in order to reopen the Upside Down. In the end, this leads Joyce and Hopper to the secret Russian facility under Starcourt where Joyce is left with the decision to save her children and the city or save Hopper who moments earlier she finally agreed to go on a date. Hopper gives her the instructions to save her boys and the city and accepts his fate as Joyce closes the gate. After saving her boys, Hawkins, and potentially the world, Joyce took in Eleven and decided it was time to leave the Strange Things behind and start over. She packed up her house, her boys, and her new daughter, and drove out of Hawkins. Previews indicate the family has moved somewhere in California at to start of Season Four.
Hopper:
You honestly can’t help but love the newly transformed, big-hearted, Jim Hopper. That is unless you’re Joyce Byers and it takes working together to stop Russian soldiers from buying abandoned properties in Hawkins to open a portal to the Upside Down to finally agree to go on a date with him. Unfortunately, the date doesn’t come because Hopper instructs Joyce to close the gate to the Upside Down while he is in that room because that is the only moment that they can do it and save Hawkins. Hopper is seemingly disintegrated hence why Eleven is taken in by Joyce. However, the trailers and promos for Season Three indicate that Hopper is in fact still alive and in Russia.
The first five episodes of Stranger Things Season Four release on Netflix Friday, May 27th and the remaining four episodes of the season hit the platform on Friday, July 1st.
