Stranger Things 4 - Episode 1: Stranger Things
Episode 1 wastes no time establishing the new status quo. It’s March 1986, eight months after the Battle of Starcourt. The happy ending we assumed in Season 3 has curdled into tragedy.
The episode ends on a chilling note. After Chrissy’s death, Dustin, Steve (Joe Keery), and Robin (Maya Hawke) trace Eddie’s disappearance back to Lover’s Lake. They find Eddie hiding in a boat, terrified. He swears he didn’t kill her. He tells them "the gates are opening."
As the camera pans over Hawkins, we see something new: The sky turns red. A massive, hurricane-like rift splits open above the town. The Upside Down is bleeding into Hawkins. And the grandfather clock chimes once more. Stranger Things Stranger Things 4 - Episode 1
Joyce Byers receives a mysterious package in the mail containing a porcelain doll.
The Fracture of the Group The dominant theme of Episode 1 is disconnection. The "Party" (Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, El) is physically and emotionally separated. Episode 1 wastes no time establishing the new status quo
The Satanic Panic The episode deeply integrates the real-world history of the 1980s "Satanic Panic." The Hellfire Club is viewed with suspicion by the school administration and parents. This context is vital because it sets up the town's willingness to blame Eddie Munson later when tragedy strikes—believing D&D caused actual violence.
Identity and Masks Eleven tries to wear a "mask" of normalcy in California, pretending she is just a regular girl to appease her bullies and please Mike. It fails. Hopper is stripped of his identity (literally shaving his head and becoming a number). The characters are struggling to find who they are without the threat of the Upside Down looming immediately over them. The Fracture of the Group The dominant theme
Jim Hopper is alive but imprisoned in Kamchatka, Russia.