After a three-year wait, Stranger Things season 4 returned this year and delivered some major shocks and star Joseph Quinn is opening up about his initial reaction to one of the earliest shocks. The latest season of the Netflix hit show spreads the story across three storylines with its massive and most ambitious chapter yet. Eleven and the Byers find their California adjustment complicated when the army approach her to help get her powers back to defeat a major threat moving in on Hawkins, while Joyce and Murray head to Russia to save Hopper, who is locked up in a Russian gulag after surviving the season 3 finale under Starcourt Mall.
Though the longer runtimes and overstuffed storytelling has left some critics and audiences mixed, Stranger Things season 4 has mostly seen acclaim for its darker tone, visual effects and the performances of its cast, namely Max star Sadie Sink, Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower and series newcomer Joseph Quinn as Eddie. With anticipation having been high for its return amidst its three-year hiatus, Stranger Things season 4 quickly became a ratings hit for Netflix, breaking multiple records as it was viewed more than 287 million hours during its opening weekend. While audiences were left with a variety of shocking moments heading into Stranger Things season 5, one star is reflecting on his first reaction to one major shock.
While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for the show's return, star Joseph Quinn opened up about Stranger Things season 4's terrifying new foe, Vecna. When looking back at Chrissy's death in the season premiere, Quinn recalled when he first saw her death during post-production he had an intense reaction at how horrifying the moment was. See what Quinn shared below:
"I remember in the first session of ADR that I had, they were like, 'Should we show you the death?' and I was like, 'Yeah, sure.' They showed me and I was like, 'There's no way you're gonna get away with that, Netflix aren't gonna let you do that.' But they did and yeah, I think it's f---ng horrible."
Chrissy's death in the Stranger Things season 4 premiere left many horrified and concerned for what the rest of the season would hold as Vecna made his brutal debut in the show. Interestingly, the Duffer brothers have shared their feelings on her death, with the Stranger Things creators expressing their regret in having killed Chrissy off after filming the scene between her and Eddie in the woods after here death and ultimately realized the chemistry Grace Van Dien had with Quinn. The Eddie actor himself also exclusively shared his feelings on the moment, noting that while hindsight "can always be a bit of a motherf----r" and that he would have liked to work with the star more, her death was a necessary moment for establishing the tone of the season.
Most audiences had a similar intense reaction to Vecna's first kill in Stranger Things season 4 and praised it for directing the show towards the horror tone the Duffer brothers toyed with in earlier seasons. Fans of the show were ultimately hit with the most shocking and tragic moments in the season 4 finale in which Max was seemingly killed and revived by Eleven and Eddie sacrificed himself to keep Dustin to safe. Viewers can revisit all of Vecna's terrifying actions with Stranger Things season 4 streaming in its entirety on Netflix now.