Stranger Things Season 4: What You Need To Remember About Every Character

Time Stamp: May 18, 2022 1:40 PM

The first part of Stranger Things Season 4 is just around the corner, but it’s been a while since we’ve stopped by Hawki

It’s been a while since we last caught up with the residents of Hawkins, Indiana in Stranger Things. But that is about to change–after several years worth of hiatus, Stranger Things is back with a fourth season, and it’s just around the corner. However, excited as we all may be to check back in with the Upside Down, sometimes rewatching three entire seasons of TV isn’t a very reasonable thing to do on a strict time limit–and it’s perfectly understandable if you’re no longer entirely sure what exactly happened to whom and where. There are a lot of characters in this show to keep track of (and some new ones on the way).

So, with that in mind, we’re here to catch you back up to speed. Here’s all the major characters in Stranger Things and where we left them at the end of Season 3 (and where they’re at as we head into Season 4 which debuts its first part on Netflix on May 27). The second part of Season 4 will drop on July 1.

This is the beginning of the end for Stranger Things, as it was recently confirmed that the upcoming Season 5–which does not currently have a premiere date scheduled–will be the show’s last. So you’re going to want to be as ready as you possibly can be when the new season arrives.

Eleven

Following a major confrontation with the Mind Flayer in Starcourt Mall, El and her adoptive family the Byers realized they needed to get out of dodge. They moved away from Hawkins, forcing Eleven and Mike to go long distance with their relationship–which, yes, is still very much a thing. Eleven goes by “Jane” now in civilian situations and is, apparently, settling into life in California with her adoptive brothers and new mom. Oh yeah, and she lost her powers during last season’s final battle. That should be interesting.

Jim Hopper

Hopper, who had been Eleven’s de facto guardian, was “killed” in an effort to save Hawkins from the Mind Flayer. It turns out (as revealed in the credits of Season 3) that he’s not actually dead–the mysterious energy that seemed to vaporize him actually transported him to Russia, where he is now a prisoner. Everyone back in Hawkins (and California) still thinks he’s dead, though.

Joyce Byers

Poor Joyce continues to be put through the ringer. Following Hopper’s apparent death and the events of Starcourt Mall, she decides it’s high time to cut her and her family’s losses and leave Hawkins. She packs Will, Jonathan, and Eleven up and moves to California, presumably far away from the Upside Down where they’ll all have a chance at a new life and a fresh start.

Will Byers

Compared to the first season where he was abducted into the Upside Down, Will’s life has been pretty normal. His biggest concerns have been navigating his social life as his friend group continues to change and evolve. At the end of Season 3, he moves with his family to California, where he and Eleven endure plenty of bullying at their new school.

Jonathan Byers

Eleven isn’t the only one to be forced into a long distance relationship by the move. Jonathan and Nancy, who had become an official couple, were split up as Jonathan went to California with his family.

Mike Wheeler

Mike’s newly long distance relationship with Eleven is still a sticking point. Through Season 3, we saw him become increasingly unable to balance his friendships with his romance, and now that Eleven is no longer in Hawkins, things aren’t getting much better. He’s currently in a D&D club with Dustin and Lucas, and trying to figure out how to fit in at high school.

Lucas Sinclair

Lucas has undergone one of the most pronounced transformations following the events of Starcourt–he and Max have broken up, but he’s channeled his time and energy into becoming an athlete in high school, which has made for some tension between he and his nerdy friends. He’s still a member of the D&D club with Mike and Dustin, but it’s definitely not the same as it would have been back in middle school.

Dustin Henderson

Dustin is maybe the least changed since middle school–he’s even still going strong with his own long distance girlfriend, Susie, who he met at camp and stays in touch with via a homebrew radio.

Nancy Wheeler

Nancy is focusing her time and energy pursuing her passion as a journalist, which she began back in Season 3 as she worked at the Hawkins Post alongside Jonathan. She and Jonathan are still together, despite his move, and Nancy is still pressing forward with her would-be investigations, despite knowing the danger that Hawkins hides first hand.

Erica Henderson

Lucas’s fiery little sister is back, too, and taking no prisoners. While everyone else is at least somewhat traumatized from their ordeals with the Upside Down and the events of Starcourt, Erica has bounced back like it’s nothing.

Max Mayfield

Recent addition to Hawkins Max Mayfield lost her stepbrother, Billy, in the Mind Flayer chaos of Season 3. Even though the two were never that close, Max has been struggling to cope with Billy’s death and the nature of Hawkins as a whole, putting her in a tricky position with the group and throwing a wrench in her relationship with Lucas.

Steve Harrington

World’s best babysitter Steve Harrington has graduated from high school and is doing his best to exist as a functioning adult now, while still keeping in relatively close contact with his teenage friends. He and Robin both work at the Family Video now.

Robin Buckley

Like Max, Robin was a recent addition to the cast and only learned of the secret underbelly of Hawkins in Season 3 when she was roped into the Starcourt Mall catastrophe with Steve and Dustin. Robin now works with Steve at Family Video.

Murray Bauman

Ex-investigative journalist and generally kind of off putting guy Murray Bauman was brought in to help Joyce and Hopper with the Russian conspiracy they believed they uncovered back in Season 3–he winds up coming along for the catastrophe in Starcourt Mall, and witnesses Hopper’s “death,” making him one of Joyce’s closest allies when things begin to pick back up again even after she and her family move away.

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