This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4.
With Part 2 now debuting on Netflix, we figured it was a good time to look back at our biggest questions coming out of the first chunk of the season. Check out our Season 4 Part 1 review or Season 4 Part 2 review if you haven't watched yet!
The good news is that Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2 answered most of our burning questions from the first half — sadly, the love triangle is still alive and kicking. But we have been left with a new set of inquiries to keep us speculating until the final battle occurs (whenever that will be). After the events that took place in “The Piggyback,” here is what we would like to know:
Is Max going to wake up?
For one whole minute, Max’s heart stopped. Now she is in a coma, and the doctor is unsure when or even if she will ever wake up. After all, Vecna did a number on the teen. Milky eyes and broken limbs are physical wounds, but Max’s mind has taken a beating too. Medical science probably hasn’t faced anything like this before. Not even Eleven can find a sign that Max’s consciousness is about to kick into gear, and she was the one who saved Max.
The Duffers are not against a death fakeout such as Hopper at the end of Season 3 — and thankfully, the creators didn’t pull a Jon Snow, insisting he was dead — but it feels like a pretty safe bet that Max will eventually wake up. It might not happen immediately, and there will be a lot of coy suggestions about her coma, but don’t rule out the tenacious redhead. In fact, the memory Eleven witnessed of young Max getting back on her skateboard after falling off is a potential clue to her ability to take hard knocks and stand back up. It can’t be a coincidence that Eleven landed in that pre-Hawkins recollection, and this could be the key to bringing her back. It will probably take more than listening to Kate Bush on repeat.
Where is Vecna?
The similarities between Vecna and Freddy Krueger are not hard to spot, but he also shares the seeming inability to die with Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. The latter appears in Season 4 Vol 2 via Max’s Halloween mask, and Vecna’s magical disappearing act toward the end of the finale is reminiscent of Michael’s ability to get up after what should be a mortal wound. Fire is debilitating but not fatal — although his house hideout might not have the same luck. Can you rebuild in the Upside Down? And does that even matter, considering the two worlds are merging?
Like many other villains before him, we know he plans to cleanse the world by destroying and then rebuilding. Why must this always be the motivation? Or rather, villains like to claim this is their goal, but they just want to watch the world burn. If Vecna has managed to cross over into the real Hawkins, he might find it hard to blend in. Considering how badly the residents treated the innocent Eddie (Joseph Quinn), he should expect a very rude welcome when they see a real monster. And will he stop by the asylum to check in on his dear old (also innocent) dad?
Is Vecna Just, Like… Bored With Max Now? Why Isn’t He Still After Her?
Ok, so, thanks to Nancy and Robin’s (Maya Hawke) investigation into Victor Creel (Robert Englund), we know that music helps ward Vecna off. Dusty (Gaten Matarazzo) puts this to use before the creature can turn Max (Sadie Sink) into human origami like his other victims, but there are no further attempts by Vecna after they initially save their friend. What’s the deal with that?
We see Max periodically put the headphones on through the rest of the season, but it seems strange that we don’t see the big bad try to come for her again? What kind of villain doesn’t make it his mission to get the one that got away? It seems especially out of character given what we know about Vecna’s origins after the finale.
How long before Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan tracks Eleven down?
Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) is a man on a mission to kill Eleven. He got close in the penultimate episode and even ordered his men to take the shot. The body count at this top-secret facility is high, but Sullivan does have more than a few men left to continue this quest to “save” Hawkins. Another question is whether Dr. Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) is still handcuffed to a pipe? If so, that is going to be a slow and painful death.
After the alleged earthquake, there is already a government agency presence in Hawkins, and if he isn’t already there, Sullivan will be en route. Even out in the woods, it will be hard to hide Eleven, and the military man does not appear to be the kind of man who backs down when a task is unfinished — not to mention his trigger-happy status.
Will the Hawkins residents continue to blame everything on Eddie?
Eddie is the poster boy for the Satanic Panic, and somehow he has been blamed not only for several murders but also for the earthquake that tore the town apart. That is quite some spell or ritual he must’ve done! Yes, they can unfairly pin the blame on Eddie for now, but considering the Upside Down dust particles are now in the real world, it suggests that other features (see dead plants) are around the corner. Who will they blame then? Probably still Eddie.
One out-there theory that didn’t pan out with Steve but gives me some hope is that getting bitten to death by demobats could be a one-way ticket to the Upside Down version of a vampire. This has pros and cons, as while I want more Eddie, bringing him back is also a copout — see the Jon Snow fake out. And I definitely don’t want to see the demon version the town has already turned into a reality.
Can Will ever find peace? Or a love interest?
Max and Eddie’s sacrifices ensure there isn’t a dry eye in the house, but another heartbreaking image this season is of Will softly crying to himself in the back of the pizza van. Noah Schnapp continues to reach new depths of quiet despair as the teenager whose disappearance kickstarted this whole endeavor. Will’s romantic feelings for Mike have been a much-discussed plot, and the question regarding his sexuality is still not emphatically answered. The speculation will undoubtedly continue after Will’s emotional conversation with his brother. Jonathan has been stuck in a meandering road trip and is in a tiresome love triangle he seems destined to lose. However, the reassurance and unwavering support he shows his little brother is undeniably heartwarming.
The Byers clan is back in Hawkins, which means Will’s returned to the place that caused him so much pain. He immediately gets the tingly neck sensation, and he is probably in for another season of torment at the hands of Vecna — this kid deserves a break. Pretty much every other character has a romantic arc that involves kissing or at least flirting (shout out to Hopper and Joyce for finally taking the smooching step). If nothing else, can Will get a love interest to balance out his inevitable misery in the final season?
When Will We Be Freed From Love Triangle Hell With Steve/Nancy/Jonathan?
Love triangles are always exhausting, but you know what we don’t need in an overstuffed season? You guessed it! A love triangle. Why are we here? What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy have reached a complicated stage in their relationship, which is the impetus for the two remaining separated throughout the first hunk of Season 4, but those struggles would have been more than enough on their own. Adding Steve back in as a “will-she-or-wont-she return to the lowest point of her life” for Nancy is an odd addition to an over-long season that will hopefully get resolved sooner rather than later in Part 2.
This story was originally published on May 27, 2022. It was updated with the latest information about Stranger Things on July 1, 2022.
