Spoiler Warning: Stranger Things 4, Volume 1

Stranger Things 4 is shaping up to be the best season since its groundbreaking, outstanding freshman campaign of 2016. The horror and thrills have been ratcheted up with the introduction of a new big bad, the tendrilled, Swamp Thing evil twin Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). His shadow looms over Hawkins as Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), and the rest of the crew race to stop him before he can break any more bones. Jim Hopper (David Harbour) languished away driving Russian railroad spikes until Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray’s (Brett Gelman) daring breakout scheme. And, of course, we saw the journey of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to snap out of it and jump-start her powers.

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Great new characters have joined the returning cast, from oddball D&D lord Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) to the brash Johnny Lawrence-esque jock Jason Carver (Mason Dye). As season four’s first half reached its climax, we last saw the Hawkins group fighting their way through swarms of screeching mini dragons and the Upside Down in their pursuit of Vecna. The story shifted neatly from the Hawkins crew to Hopper to Eleven throughout the first half, culminating in the big reveal; the identity of Vecna and his connection to Eleven.

With Stranger Things 4, Volume 2 set to stream on July 1, Netflix released a final trailer for the coming episodes. Here’s a breakdown of what it showed us.

Eleven’s Return to the Fight

The trailer is bookended by Eleven and her struggle to rejoin her friends and face down Vecna. She’s told she’s not ready for what’s ahead and is urged to stay in the lab by her “Papa,” Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine). Last we saw El, her powers were still dormant, leaving her feeling helpless in the fight. Likewise, Vecna presumably taunts El: “Your friends have lost.”

The aforementioned signature moment of Volume 1 saw Eleven and Vecna’s worlds colliding and teased a final fight that will be brutal and extremely personal. El is a thin thread that runs through the trailer, but it all points to a showdown between her and the Vecna to yet again save the world from an Upside Down takeover.

The Hawkins Group’s Pursuit of Vecna

     Netflix

When we left Hawkins, Dustin had cracked the Upside Down code and discovered the latest portal to the hellscape. The group splintered with Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Eddie, and Robin (Maya Hawke) literally diving into the Upside Down to track down Vecna. Overwhelmed by the outing, they’re saved by Dustin and co, just as Vecna possesses Nancy. Nancy was last seen scurrying through the Upside Down as Max was, desperate to evade Vecna and the grisly death he dishes out to his victims.

We see this group in various states throughout the trailer. Some in regular Hawkins, some in the Upside Down. In the former, they’re all huddled in a Winnebago clutching improvised weapons, presumably for a final showdown with the enemy. Nancy is with them, so it looks like she was saved from Vecna’s reckoning streak just in time. We see Steve heroically jumping back into the Upside Down, presumably to go after Nancy before Vecna catches up with her.

Lucas looks to have officially abandoned his newfound in-crowd friends in Volume 2, as we see him viciously whaling on ringleader Jason in a quick glimpse of an attic scene. This makes it look like Lucas is once again a member in good standing of the Hellfire Club and his drifting group of old friends. Max is seen briefly under Vecna’s spell yet again, his menacing claws inches from her face. This could be a flashback sequence, or Vecna might have taken another shot at possessing her.

Hopper’s Escape from Russia

Jim Hopper had won the round with his Russian captors and the Demogorgon they fed him to, but the fight was ongoing when we last left him. And fighting, he is in the trailer. We see him being pursued by the Demogorgon through the prison tunnels, firing a rifle at the creature.

Jim, flanked by Joyce and Murray, is also seen staring into a tank containing an unknown swirling substance, suggesting that the Russians have cooked up more than just a pet Demogorgon in their tinkering with the Upside Down. We can guess their struggle to get out of Mother Russia alive will continue as Volume 2 progresses.

We Can’t Wait for Volume 2

Strangers Things’ first season is an all-time great season of television and easily one of the best of the streaming age. Seasons two and three were fine and reasonably entertaining but didn’t come close to reaching the season one bar, which admittedly was set somewhere in the stratosphere. Stranger Things 4, Volume 1 finally provided a worthy follow-up and looks to be coiled and ready to hit us with even more thrills and character drama in Volume 2.