'Stranger Things' Season One Recap

April 09, 2022 1:00 AM ‐ Stranger Things • Television • Netflix

This article is more than two years old.

With less than two months to go until the fourth season of 'Stranger Things' lands on Netflix, it's time to start getting up to speed with the first three seasons.

It's been two and a half years since Netflix brought us any new adventures in Hawkins, Indiana, so you might need a bit of a refresher before the return of the much-loved supernatural series on May 27.

Luckily, Netflix have provided a handy four-minute long recap to remind us of all the action from the show's first season.

More From 'Stranger Things'

There's loads more from Hawkins on our 'Stranger Things' pages including playlists of music from the show, and you can test your knowledge of 'Stranger Things' with our trivia quizzes. Plus check out our complete 'Stranger Things' episode guide for all four seasons.

In the recap we're reintroduced to the gang, which in those early days consisted of just Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas, who spent most of their time playing Dungeons & Dragons together, until one of them went missing.

An accident at the nearby, top secret, Hawkins National Laboratory, allowed a hideous creature from an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down to escape. This creature, which the kids went on to refer to as a demogorgon, kidnapped Will and took him back to his dark and terrifying realm kickstarting his friend's mission to find him.

However, they are soon waylaid by another escapee from Hawkins lab when the boys encounter a young girl, known only as Eleven, who appears to have psychokinetic powers. Together they attempt to track down Will.

Meanwhile, Will's distraught mother, Joyce, enlists the help of the town's police chief, Jim Hopper. Together they try to get to the bottom of Will's disappearance and soon discover a link to the CIA-run lab and the work of Dr. Brenner, the researcher that Eleven refers to as Papa. Later Joyce learns how to use flashing lights to communicate with her missing son across realities.

Elsewhere in town the demogorgon was about to claim its next victim. Mike's older sister, Nancy was at a house party with her boyfriend Steve, and their friend Barbra, but as Nancy and Steve head upstairs at the end of the night, Barb is left alone and becomes the next Hawkins kid to be taken by the Upside Down. She did not return.

Eleven astral projects her consciousness into the Upside Down to find Will. She then uses her psi abilities to keep the agents from the lab at bay, while Joyce and Hopper venture into the Upside Down to rescue Will, armed with his location as uncovered by Eleven.

The season ended with Eleven seemingly sacrificing herself to save the gang's lives and we learn that despite being back home, the Upside Down's hold on Will was still very much present.

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It was July 4, 2019 when we were last enthralled with new episodes of the hit supernatural series. It returns next month, with the first half of the fourth season premiering on May 27, followed by the second part that will drop five weeks later on July 1.

The third season came to an end with Hopper and Joyce bravely fighting their way into the Russians' secret bunker under Starcourt Mall an an attempt to put an end to the Russians' attempt to re-open the gate to the deadly realm that is the Upside Down.

Other than what appeared to be the demise of Hopper, the story was wrapped up nicely at the end of the third season. Although we saw the gang go their own separate ways, it was inevitable that something would bring them back together for at least one more adventure.

The action will pick up six months after the epic Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, the gang of friends consisting of Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven, are separated for the first time.

The kids find themselves navigating the complexities of high school, something which will be especially tough for Eleven, who is now living like a normal kid in California with Will and his older brother, Jonathan. Presumably their mother Joyce adopted Eleven in Hopper's absence.

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