Warning: This list contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4.
The latest season of Stranger Things has arrived and it has proven to be worth the three-year wait thanks to strong acting, great visual effects, and shocking plot twists. Fans everywhere have binge-watched the first seven episodes of season 4 and were greeted with some of the show's most stunning moments.
While season 4 may have had some of the best surprises in show history, Stranger Things has been home to plot twists since the very beginning. Although some twists can be seen coming from a mile away, the ones that really blow you away are those that you never really expect.
Eleven's Sister Is Out There
The premiere of Stranger Things season 2 began with characters nobody had seen to that point. It was quickly shown that one of the girls had psychic abilities similar to that of Eleven and she was shown to have a number tattooed on her just like Eleven.
Plenty of fans likely expected that they'd meet some of the other children with powers at some point but it was a shock to see that one was operating out in public. Eleven was clearly not the first test subject to escape the lab, which came as a surprise.
Nancy Is Vecna's Target
With Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie attempting to escape the Upside Down at the end of season 4's seventh episode, Vecna was made aware of their presence. You could sense that he was going to stop at least one of them from getting back to their world.
The most likely candidates for it felt like Eddie (new characters are often killed off like Bob and Alexei) or Steve (who was pegged to die back in season 1). So, it came as a shock when it was Nancy who Vecna went after. Like all the best surprises, it stunned viewers but made total sense given her trauma about Barb's death.
Billy Is Redeemed
As soon as he arrived in season 2, Billy took over as the biggest antagonist outside of the Upside Down. He was mean to his younger sister, arrogant, and violent, among other things. Seeing him become the target of the Mind Flayer in season 3 wasn't totally surprising.
What was unexpected though was how Billy ultimately redeemed himself in the eyes of the audience. He became sympathetic through flashbacks seen by Eleven and just before his tragic death, he turned things around in an attempt to stand up to the Mind Flayer.
Eleven Loses Her Powers
A good chunk of the series is built around Eleven and her superpowers. She's the one who takes down the Demogorgon in season 1, she closes the gate in season 2, and she battles the Mind Flayer at every turn in season 3. So, her losing her powers came as a total shock.
With Mike's constant worry about her using her powers, it seemed like the show was leading to her hurting herself from using them too much. Having her lose them completely came from out of nowhere and actually added a lot to the series as characters could no longer simply rely on her to save them.
Will Is "Dead"
Season 1 deals with the search for Will Byers, which includes communicating with him while he's in the Upside Down. Although fans had every reason to believe he was still alive over there, the fact that an episode ended with his body being pulled from a quarry shook everyone.
The whole thing felt so real and you got the sense that maybe Will really was dead and the focus going forward would be on stopping others from dying. Alas, the following episode also brought a surprise as Hopper discovered that the body was a fake, showing that things weren't what they seemed in Hawkins.
Robin Likes Girls
With Nancy and Jonathan officially coupled up by season 3, Steve looked to move on. He spent a lot of the early episodes trying to hit on girls who came to Scoops Ahoy while being dissed in a playful manner by his co-worker Robin. Soon, Dustin was saying Robin and Steve should get together.
In the finale, Steve finally confessed his feelings but instead of going the expected route, the show revealed that Robin is a lesbian. It was a welcome surprise that fans adored. Steve quickly accepted his friend, kept her secret, and it made their friendship stronger than ever.
The Upside Down Is Stuck In 1983
One of the coolest and most unexpected twists came in the most recent episode. Nancy took Steve, Eddie, and Robin to her house in the Upside Down to try and get her guns as a way to defend themselves from the horrors of this world.
Surprisingly, there were no guns in her room and Nancy quickly discovered that it was because the Upside Down is stuck in 1983 when Will first went missing. This was an unexpected twist that currently hasn't impacted the story but could play a major part going forward. It'll be interesting to see why it's 1983 and not 1979 when Eleven originally sent 001 to the Upside Down.
Steve The Hero
As an '80s TV show, it made total sense for Stranger Things to have a villainous jock in season 1. Steve didn't treat Nancy right, was arrogant, and beat up Jonathan, all to the point where nobody liked him. Yet, that all changed for Steve in a major way at the end of the season.
Steve stayed with Nancy and Jonathan, fighting against the Demogorgon despite having no idea what was coming to him. It completely turned the tide of Steve's character by having him do something good and showcase his bravery. After so long as an antagonist, he became a hero and only became more beloved in later seasons.
Vecna Is 001
As entertaining as season 4 was through its first seven episodes, things felt a little disjointed. Eleven attempting to regain her powers by reliving the past seemed like it had nothing to do with the team in Hawkins investigating the Vecna curse and the Victor Creel connection. It all came together in masterful fashion in "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab" though.
The friendly orderly who was nice to Eleven in the past was revealed to actually be Victor Creel's son who committed the murders that Eleven believed she was behind. If that wasn't enough of a shock, he turned out to be 001, the first subject at Hawkins' Lab. Adding even more to the shocks was Eleven sending him to the Upside Down where he became Vecna, connecting everything from the season.