As Stranger Things is gearing up to wrap their thrilling series with its fifth and final season, it’s time to flash back to some of the most unforgettable episodes from the past installments.
The hit Netflix series is set in 1980s and follows the story of a group of young friends from Hawkins, who experience supernatural forces and witness secret government exploits.
Things get a scary twist when a young girl, named Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown), with psychokinetic abilities opens a gateway between Earth and a hostile alternate dimension known as the Upside Down at a nearby human experimentation facility.
Season 5 of the show – which is set to release in three parts on November 26, December 25, and December 31, 2025 – will once again focus on Hawkins, now under military quarantine, as the town faces the terrifying aftermath of the Rifts’ opening and the chaos that followed.
Before you dive into the new season, rewatch these five unforgettable episodes from the first four seasons of Stranger Things.
Chapter Eight: Upside Down (Season 1, Episode 8)
The final episode of Stranger Things Season 1, titled Chapter Eight: Upside Down, marked a dramatic conclusion to its mystery as Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and Jim Hopper (David Harbour) rescue Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) from the parallel world, called Upside Down.
However, just as things appear to be back to normal, Will suddenly coughs up a strange slug and briefly sees the Upside Down again, hinting that the nightmare is not over yet.
Chapter Nine: The Gate (Season 2, Episode 9)
In the episode 9 of Stranger Things Season 2, Eleven closes the gate to the Upside Down with her extraordinary powers, bringing an end to Will’s struggles with the Mind Flayer – a monstrous force that held him hostage.
However, the danger of the Upside Down still lingers.
Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt (Season 3, Episode 8)
The thrilling episode 8 of the third season of Stranger Things featured horrifying scenes as the group fights to bring an end to the Russian-controlled Mind Flayer from invading Hawkins.
This sparks chaos at Starcourt Mall as Eleven and her pals, along with Hopper, confront the monster, leading to massive destruction and Hopper’s apparent death.
Chapter Four: Dear Billy (Season 4, Episode 4)
Amid their fight with chilling monstrous forces and experience with the horrifying parallel world, Stranger Things turns things emotional for fans as the fourth episode of Season 4 shows Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) struggling with grief and guilt over her brother, Billy’s death.
Confronting her trauma and memories, Max finds strength to fight back, leading to rising supernatural conflicts in the fourth installment.
Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab (Season 4, Episode 7)
In Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab from Stranger Things Season 4, Eleven comes across her traumatizing past at Hawkins Lab, leading her to discover the experiments and abuse she had gone through.
The thrilling flash back to the past makes her find out where she got her special powers from and her link to Doctor Brenner (Matthew Modine), and the dark events that shaped her.
This fueled her grudges against Vecna, a murderous psychic being from the Upside Down.
