WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS!

If you have never seen the hit Netflix original Stranger Things, I highly suggest you cancel your plans for the weekend and binge all three seasons in a row. It’s just that good. Taking place in the 80s in small-town Hawkins, Indiana, this series is so versatile that it cannot be tied down to just the label of sci-fi.  It can better be classified as a sci-fi, horror, mystery, drama, thriller, and supernatural show.

The series opens with a young group of friends (Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will) who are playing a fantasy tabletop role-playing game called Dungeons and Dragons.  In it, they are attempting to defeat a monster called the demigorgon. But on his bike ride home after their game, Will is abducted by what appears to be a real-life version of this monster. The rest of the first season is about the chase to locate and rescue Will while their gang of friends continues to encounter supernatural forces. In the middle of the woods in their hometown, Hawkins, lies a top-secret laboratory that is testing groundbreaking technology on human subjects. For the remainder of season one, and the duration of seasons two and three, the town of Hawkins and its population are plagued by the lasting effects of the laboratory.

Season 4: Prior to Covid-19, season 4 was aiming for a fall 2020 release date. However, since production of season 4 was halted in March due to the virus, this is no longer the case. Rumor has it that fans should now expect a summer 2021 release date.

As for the content that fans can expect in season 4? If what the Duffer brothers (the show’s writers and producers) said about the show being a “4 season thing” is true, then fans can expect all the loose ends that the absurd ending of season 3 created to be tied up. Here are some questions that we can expect to be answered:

• Will we meet Dustin’s “girlfriend from camp” who was, surprisingly, real?
• Even though Robin told Steve he’s “barking up the wrong tree,” will something happen between them?
• Is Billy definitely dead?
• Considering the season 4 trailer, how did Hopper survive closing the portal?
• Will Eleven get her powers back? Did she just use them too much throughout season? Does she only need to charge them back up?
• If the Beyers family is moving and taking Eleven with them, how will this affect the group?
• How are the kids getting to Russia?
• In the final scene of season 3, we can see a Russian prison with prisoners being fed to an all-too-familiar creature.  Is this a hint at what season 4 is all about?

By Jack Fairfield