In today’s world of streaming platforms and personalized recommendations, choosing what to watch can feel overwhelming. With thousands of shows available, it’s easy to get stuck endlessly scrolling instead of actually enjoying something. To make things easier, we’ve handpicked 5 must-watch TV shows that everyone should give a chance—at least for the first five episodes.

This list features a mix of iconic sitcoms and impactful dramas that have shaped the television landscape. Each show has left a mark on its genre, pushed creative boundaries, and set new standards for storytelling. We’ve selected a variety of styles, genres, and eras so there’s something for every type of viewer. These are the shows that grab your attention early and stay with you long after you finish watching, proving why they remain some of the best series ever made.

'The Simpsons' (1989 – Present)

Once considered a format mainly reserved for children’s programming, animated television took a major leap forward with The Simpsons. The show proved that animation could thrive in prime-time as a smart, adult-focused sitcom. Blending absurd humor with sharp satire and clever social commentary, it introduced audiences to unforgettable characters like Homer Simpson—the lovable but clueless dad—and the ruthless tycoon Mr. Burns. Its success opened the door for a new generation of bold, adult animated series.

As the longest-running sitcom in television history, The Simpsons has become a true pop culture phenomenon. Its timeless humor appeals to multiple generations, and its impact can still be seen in modern TV shows today.

'Game of Thrones' (2011 – 2019)

Often described as the gold standard of fantasy television, Game of Thrones stands among the most successful and critically acclaimed shows ever made. With an impressive 59 Primetime Emmy Awards, it holds the record for the most wins by any scripted series. Adapted from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, the show takes the epic scale of The Lord of the Rings and adds a darker, more intense edge filled with political intrigue, violence, and complex relationships.

Before its release, fantasy television was often seen as a niche genre with a limited audience. However, Game of Thrones brought it firmly into the mainstream, paving the way for modern series like The Witcher, His Dark Materials, and The Wheel of Time. With its rich world-building, diverse characters, high-stakes storytelling, and powerful performances, the series remains a benchmark for fantasy TV—even if many fans still debate its final season.

'Breaking Bad' (2008 – 2013)

Widely regarded as one of the greatest TV series ever made, Breaking Bad redefined the crime drama genre and introduced one of television’s most iconic anti-heroes, Walter White. His transformation from a struggling high school teacher into a ruthless drug kingpin is one of the most compelling and carefully developed character arcs in TV history. The show delivers a gripping narrative filled with tension, moral dilemmas, and unpredictable twists, taking viewers deep into a world of crime, power, and consequence where every episode keeps you hooked.

The cultural impact of Breaking Bad is undeniable. It reshaped modern television storytelling and elevated Bryan Cranston from a sitcom star in Malcolm in the Middle to an award-winning dramatic powerhouse. Its influence can be seen in countless shows that followed, along with widespread references, parodies, and homages across pop culture, cementing its legacy as a true television classic.

'Stranger Things' (2016 – 2025)

Stranger Things became a global sensation over its nearly decade-long run, thanks to its nostalgic take on classic coming-of-age adventures. Drawing inspiration from films like The Goonies, Stand by Me, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by Steven Spielberg, the series blends sci-fi, mystery, and emotional storytelling into a uniquely engaging experience.

While the show is known for its layered plot, eerie atmosphere, and mix of horror and humor, its heart lies in the performances of its young cast. Their authenticity brings emotional depth to the story, grounding the supernatural events in real human connection. As viewers follow characters like Eleven, Dustin Henderson, and Max Mayfield, they’re transported back to the wonder and vulnerability of childhood. Set in the small town of Hawkins and shadowed by the eerie Upside Down, Stranger Things strikes a perfect balance between nostalgia and modern storytelling, making it a must-watch series for audiences of all ages.

Source: link

The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has approved a new agreement to change exclusivity terms in contracts signed starting on 2023. As The Hollywood Reporter reveals, the new deal gives actors more flexibility to work in multiple TV productions simultaneously.

The SAG-AFTRA is an American labor union representing more than 160,000 actors, journalists, radio personalities, and even influencers, making it one of the most powerful Hollywood players. That means decisions taken by the SAG-AFTRA have profound consequences on how films and TV shows are produced. The new agreement, for instance, will allow the same actor to star simultaneously in two TV shows as part of the regular cast. In addition, per the new terms, actors can also work in unlimited TV shows as guest stars, as long as they show up in a max of six episodes.

Before this agreement, big studios could sign exclusivity deals with actors that barred them from working in other productions. Per the new SAG-AFTRA terms, that will no longer be possible. The new agreement includes a “conflict-free window” of three months between seasons where actors can look for work elsewhere “without first confirming availability and potential scheduling.” That means even lead stars of big series will be able to use these three months between the production of each season to become part of another project. However, this window won’t be valid if a TV show’s filming schedule has a break that lasts less than four months between seasons. So, starting from 2023, big studios could rush to renewal and produce multiple seasons or risk sharing their big stars with competitors.

The new agreement also raises the “money break,” which is the payment threshold that allows actors to negotiate their contracts independently instead of following the SAG-AFTRA rules. Before the agreement, this threshold was $15,000 per week or per episode for half-hour shows and $20,000 per week or per episode for one-hour or longer series. Now, the money break is $65,000 for half-hour shows and $70,000 for one-hour or longer shows. That means the agreement will cover more actors, forcing big studios to pay more for the stars they want to lock with exclusivity or accept the new terms.

The new agreement comes after a series of talks between SAG-AFTRA and Netflix and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a union representing Hollywood’s most prominent producers. Talking about the new agreement, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said:

After a four-season run ahead of their fifth and final, Netflix's Stranger Things creators, Matt and Ross Duffer have no doubt built up a world of meaningful characters. From the very beginning, audiences have watched each one of the main cast experience the adventures and dangers together, watching as they develop their arcs, all leading up to whatever is waiting for them over Season 5's threshold. In an interview with IndieWire, the brothers claim that while their many lovable side characters have been wholeheartedly embraced by fans, going forward the writers of Stranger Things will be refraining from introducing new faces.

In the most recent season, the Duffer Brothers might have built an empire on the back of a character they may never live down. After the shocking death of said beloved character Eddie Munson, fans rallied together to petition for their favorite to be brought back in the last season. Between the Munson uprising, and the legion of fans who were heartbroken at where Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) wound up by the end of Season 4 Volume 2, the Duffer Brothers made a decision. In order to contain their storylines, they said, "We’re doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5. We’re trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters, I guess."

When asked about the strong reactions viewers had to a number of their characters that were introduced later in the game, like Maya Hawke's Robin Buckley, Ross Duffer said:

Before Stranger Things introduced viewers to eldritch horrors like the Mind Flayer or bogeymen like Vecna, the primary creature menacing Hawkins was the Demogorgon. Like all the show's creatures, it was inspired by an iconic horror movie -- in this case, Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic Jaws. As the Duffer Brothers described it, "When the monster enters our dimension, it’s like a shark breaching the water. Very much like a shark, it drags its prey back into its home, where it feeds." The Demogorgon killed many in Hawkins before Eleven and the Party managed to trap it and kill it. However, given what we've learned of Eleven's powers since then, it's entirely possible that the monster is still alive.

In Stranger Things' first season finale, "The Upside Down," Dr. Brenner and his soldiers from the Hawkins Lab finally track down the Party, which is hiding out at Hawkins Middle School. Eleven manages to defend them from the attack, but soon enough she exhausts herself, and the group is captured. However, the scent of the blood from all the people Eleven killed attracts the Demogorgon, who enters the school and massacres the remaining soldiers while Eleven, Mike, Dustin and Lucas hide out in their science classroom. Eventually, Eleven uses the last of her strength to vaporize the monster, seemingly killing it, but causing Eleven to suddenly disappear.

Flashbacks during Season 2 revealed what happened to Eleven afterwards. In the episode, "Trick or Treat, Freak," we see that she wound up in the Upside Down and evaded the Lab soldiers before returning to the real world and going into hiding. In addition to expanding Eleven's powers to include the ability to open interdimensional portals, the scene implicitly serves to question the Demogorgon's fate. If Eleven could vanish without a trace into the Upside Down, then it's feasible that she brought the Demogorgon with her.

Even seeing the monster get disintegrated into ash might not be enough to confirm its death. In the Season 4 episode, "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab," we see Eleven's history with Henry Creel, an orderly at the Lab who was secretly One, the first of the psychic children Dr. Brenner experimented on. After Eleven removed a device implanted in Henry to dampen his powers, he got his revenge on Brenner by murdering all the other kids in his care. Henry offered Eleven a place at his side as he razed the world, but she refused, and the two fought. Their battle ended when Eleven, drawing on memories of her mother for strength, seemingly killed Henry.

Except she didn't. Henry was actually thrown into the Upside Down, where he remained for years, using his powers to reshape the dimension into the Hawkins of his youth. Over time, the eldritch energies and toxic atmosphere of the Upside Down mutated Henry, turning him into Vecna and setting the stage for the events of the whole series. Henry's "death" at Hawkins Lab was made to look identical to that of the Demogorgon, and if he could survive the attack, then so could it.

What the Demogorgon's return to the fold could mean for Stranger Things is unknown. As we learned from the Mind Flayer, all creatures of the Upside Down are connected by a hive mind and if the Demogorgon came back, it would likely just be another (literally) faceless soldier in Vecna's army. However, as we learned from Dustin's misadventure with D'artagnan in Season Two, the monsters are capable of making their own choices outside the collective. Given this, the Demogorgon would likely want some payback on the people who attacked it, and Eleven and the Party would have another monster to face in the show's final season.

Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.

Stranger Things Season 4 is without a doubt the pop culture craze of the summer as the show made a triumphant return at the end of May following a three-year hiatus. For the first time, the new season of the hit sci-fi series was split into two volumes in order to deliver the new episodes to fans as quickly as possible. The first seven episodes of Season 4 premiered on Netflix just a few weeks ago in the first volume and as we slide into the halfway point between those episodes and the final two, the streamer has released six new images from Volume 2.

The new images largely tease continued adventures for each of the groups that Stranger Things' impressive ensemble cast has been split into for Season 4. One image shows Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) behind Eddie (Joseph Quinn) who appears to be at the wheel of a camper or similarly sized vehicle. In another shot, we see Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour), along with Murray (Brett Gelman) and Enzo aka Dimitri (Tom Wlashiha) looking quite perplexed at something inside a shed that looks quite similar to the one Hop blew up in Volume 1 during his grand escape. It bears asking, what happened to Yuri (Nikola Djuricko)? We also see Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Will (Noah Schnapp) on their way to rescue Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and his friend Argyle (Eduardo Franco).

In addition to a planning session for the team in Hawkins, led by new fan-favorite Eddie, we also see Eleven speaking with Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine). Brenner continues to be one of the show's most complex villains and his menacing yet paternal fascination with El is enough to get most fans' blood boiling. In the final image, we get a look at what looks like a sweet heart-to-heart between Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin). Having broken up at the beginning of the season, these two have since begun to rekindle their young romance after Lucas played a crucial role in helping her escape from Vecna. It does look like they're still hanging out in the Creel house though which definitely spells trouble.

The two episodes comprising Volume 2 are set to hit a total runtime nearing 4 hours. The runtime for Episode 8 is set at 1 hour, 25 minutes, with Season 4's epic finale episode coming in at 2 hours, 20 minutes. We've definitely enjoyed every minute so far of this supersized season of Stranger Things, and the wait for those final hours has only ramped up our excitement. In addition to the above-mentioned cast, Stranger Things Season 4 features appearances from Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matarazzo, Cara Buono, Priah Ferguson, Paul Riser, Gabriella Pizzolo, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 arrives on July 1 and you can stream all previous seasons as well as Volume 1 on Netflix now. Check out the new images from Volume 2 down below.

Explaining the horrors of the house at the heart of Season 4.

It’s safe to say that Stranger Things Season 4 is the series’ darkest offering to date. Much of it stems from circumstance - Hopper’s (David Harbour) in a Soviet prison, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is facing a harsh life without her powers, the gang’s divided up, and Max (Sadie Sink) is grieving the loss of her brother. But the series also leans heavily into horror more than it has ever before. At the heart of all this is the Creel House. A house in Hawkins with a sordid past and ties to the current mysterious happenings in the town. So what really happened at the Creel House? And how did it relate to the Upside Down?

The plot of the fourth season of Netflix's Stranger Things revolves around unexplainable murders occurring in Hawkins and the arrival of a new figure from the Upside Down, called the Vecna. This leads to Max and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) gathering the gang in Hawkins and leading the investigation to find out what is happening, especially since the body count keeps piling up and Max seems to be caught in the crosshairs. Plus, with The Mind Flayer out of commission having been thrown in the Upside Down by Eleven at the end of Season 3, the Hawkins gang have to figure out what is going on before Max ends up suffering a heavy price.

Related
'Stranger Things' Season 4 Episode 2 Recap: Who Exactly Is Victor Creel?

The History of The Creel House

Initially, we learn of the Creels through Wayne Munson (Joel Stoffer), the uncle of new series regular Eddie (Joseph Quinn). According to local legend, a man named Victor Creel (Robert Englund) moved into the house with his family in the spring of 1959. Something there drove him crazy to the point that he killed his wife, daughter and son, by taking their eyes out. Wayne also thinks that Chrissy (Grace Van Dien)’s murder seems too similar for it to be a coincidence and thinks Victor Creel has escaped custody and is now on a murder spree in Hawkins.

This leads Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Robin (Maya Hawke) to a local library where they come upon The Weekly Watcher, a conspiracy theories publication from way back in the day that recounts how Victor believed that the house was possessed by some kind of demon that killed his entire family and led to him blinding himself. Victor believes that the demon left him alive as a punishment. The paper also reported that prior to the murders at the Creel House, Victor had brought over an exorcist to try and get rid of the demon, but it hadn’t worked. This leads the duo investigating the issue to Pennhurst Asylum where they get a one on one time with Mr. Creel.

There, Victor accounts how after the second world war, he and his wife moved into the Creel House thanks to the fortune of his wealthy wife, with his two kids Alice and Henry in tow. However, things quickly started unraveling upon the family’s arrival at the house: dead animals showed up at their doorstep, violent nightmares began, lights began flickering. You get the idea. Victor described the state of the madness that descended in the house, how his wife leaped up off the ground and had her body contorted, and how he went into the Upside Down, only to be rescued by the music in the background which he described as the “voice of an angel” (although it was Ella Fitzgerald on the radio). Upon his arrival back to the Creel house, his son was in a coma, and his daughter dead. To his relief, his son Henry was alive, but Victor soon hears that he too has succumbed to his injuries and is dead, which further drives Victor into a spiral of depression and leads to him taking a razor to his own eyes.

What Actually Happened?

Of course, as the gang later learned through Vecna's own admission, the story didn’t quite get everything right. In a shocking twist, we learn that the orderly Peter (Jamie Campbell Bower) whom Eleven had befriended as a child in captivity, was not only the first test subject but also Henry Creel. After the events at the Creel House, Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) found Henry and made him the first test subject for Project MK Ultra.

However, Henry reveals that his mother had suspected that he was behind the terror at Creel House, as he had been using his natural powers to explore darker magic and had an affinity for spiders. Therefore, his mother secretly contacted Brenner earlier to try and figure out what he was capable of. Of course, both are unable to stop him. Henry reveals that he was the one killing animals, creation visions, and psychologically and ultimately physically torturing his family. However, after his mind collapsed in the aftermath of murdering his mother and sister, and failing to kill his father, Brenner had him legally declared dead and contained him as his personal guinea pig. He spent his life at the facility growing up and working for Brenner in his program to experiment on other powered kids.

There, when he recognizes that Eleven’s powers are quite advanced, he convinces her that Brenner is out to kill her and the other kids. However, El refuses to join his crusade after she sees the bloodbath he unleashes upon everyone and instead engages in a super-powered battle with him, which sends him reeling back against a wall, where the portal to the Upside Down opens and was shown been since Season 1 and to his own surprise, to the Upside Down, where he spends the rest of his time and becomes the Vecna monster we've known. This thereby ties Eleven to the happenings in Hawkins this entire time and reveals how she had helped birth the threat in Hawkins. It's a pretty clever way to not only make Vecna an integral part of Eleven's life from the start but also to make her story connect with the Upside Down to a greater extent than fans had expected.

   

 Does Hawkins have its very own Michael Myers? We suspect there is more to this story.     

In the second chapter of Stranger Things Season 4, the Duffer Brothers bring us another shiver-inducing episode that will fuel our nightmares for weeks to come. "Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse" finds Vecna snatching up another poor unfortunate soul, El getting her revenge on Angela, and finally, answers the question we've all been waiting for: what happened to Hopper (David Harbour)?

The episode opens with a flashback to the crucial final moments we last saw Hopper in the Season 3 finale. After Hop sacrifices himself to destroy the gate, the platform starts to explode and becomes engulfed in flames, just like we saw in the finale. But then the episode shows us what we didn't see (and no, Hop didn't get trapped in the Upside Down, which admittedly would have been a lot cooler). Instead, Hopper simply jumps down onto a lower platform. He manages to climb through the smoke and wreckage and up the ladder, only to be blocked by the Russians who are waiting at the top, guns pointed at him. He is taken to Russia where he is ruthlessly tortured for information. When he doesn't give up Joyce's (Winona Ryder) identity, even though he is just barely surviving, the Russians send him to Kamchatka to work for the Motherland. But this is certainly not an act of mercy: Kamchatka, the guard says, is Hell.

Back in Hawkins, Max (Sadie Sink) jerks awake from a nightmare. As she is standing at the sink, again taking more medicine for yet another headache, she watches a bunch of cop cars speed into the trailer park and stop outside Eddie's (Joseph Quinn) trailer. Outside, Officers Phil Callahan (John Paul Reynolds) and Calvin Powell (Rob Morgan) talk to Wayne Munson (Joel Stoffer), Eddie's uncle, who is visibly shaken. The cops walk into the trailer, and they are horrified, clearly at a loss at what they are seeing. Max is able to sneak outside and get a quick glimpse inside, where she sees Chrissy's corpse (Grace Van Dien), her limbs twisted.

In California, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Argyle (Eduardo Franco), El (Millie Bobby Brown), and Will (Noah Schnapp), wait for Mike (Finn Wolfhard) at the airport. Will is holding a rolled-up painting he is clearly going to give Mike. They jump up in excitement when they see him, and Mike gives El flowers he handpicked from Hawkins. El is excited, but her face falls slightly when she looks at the card, which is signed "FROM MIKE," noticeably not "LOVE." Mike and Will have an awkward reunion and Will, looking disappointed, doesn't give Mike the painting. El excitedly tells Mike she has their whole day planned while Will walks next to them, clearly left out. He looks at El in confusion when Mike asks El when he is going to meet her friends, Stacy and Angela. El brushes it off quickly and says he will meet them eventually.

As they exit the airport, we see Murray (Brett Gelman) hopping into a cab on his way to meet Joyce and figure out what the hell is up with that shady letter from Russia. When he gets to the Byers residence, he reads the full message: "Hop is alive. He look ford to date. Pleeze to make resarvazion, call 74152 blah, blah. . . Open 12 day P.E.T.T. No government, pls. Kind regards, Enzo." Murray says it reads and looks too much like a ransom note and he doesn't trust it, especially because there's no proof that Hopper is alive in the note. Joyce says that only she and Hopper knew about their Enzo date, so it must be Hop sending her a message. Joyce, never one to be deterred, points out that there was no body. (Cardinal rule: we all saw that from a mile away when that episode aired.) Murray counters with a more likely theory that if he miraculously survived, he was probably captured by the KGB who tortured information out of him – including their date at Enzos – and this is all just an elaborate ruse to capture Joyce as Hop's co-conspirator. Joyce convinces him to give it a shot, and he begrudgingly agrees to call the number. In Russia, a payphone rings and we see a man – Enzo (Tom Wlaschiha) – answer. He says if they want to get Hopper back, they have to go to Alaska and make a deposit of 40,000, which he knows is in Hopper's trust. In Alaska, they will meet with a man named Yuri and give him the money, which he will then in turn give to Enzo. While he is talking, a woman outside the phone booth bangs on the door and yells something at him in Russian. Joyce says that if he wants her to go to Alaska, she needs to speak to Hop to confirm he is alive. Yuri informs her that isn't possible because Hopper is "stuck," but if she brings the 40,000, he will be "unstuck."

Murray and Joyce listen to their recording of the phone call in an attempt to figure out who Enzo is. They are able to raise the volume of the woman speaking in the background to Enzo using Jonathan's sound system. Murray translates that the woman called him a "mooser," which is Russian slang for "pig" and is usually directed at cops or guards in Russia. Joyce and Murray realize that Hop must be "stuck" in prison and maybe bribed Enzo to break him out. Joyce tells Murray to pack because they are going to Alaska to get Hopper back.

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Argyle drop Mike, Will, and El off at Rink-o-Mania where a miserable Will is forced to play the third wheel all afternoon. El lies to Mike and says she goes to parties here at the skating rink all the time. Will confronts her when he and El get a minute alone and tells her Mike doesn't deserve to be lied to, and he's going to be upset when he finds out. Unfortunately for El, it looks like her lies are about to unravel, because Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin) and her pack of high school hyenas show up at the rink. They are delighted to see El, or "the snitch" as they're now calling her, obviously jumping at the opportunity to humiliate her in front of her boyfriend. They go over to El's table to introduce themselves, and Mike tells her it's nice to finally get to meet one of El's friends. Angela puts on her fakest smile and tugs El out of the booth to come skate with her. Will looks on nervously as Angela pulls El along the rink and a circle slowly forms, leaving El in the center. One of Angela's friends is holding up a giant video camera when one of the DJs announces that the next song is dedicated to Jane. Will hurriedly explains to Mike in a panic that El has been lying to him and that she has actually been having a hard time in California. "Wipeout" starts to play as all the kids start rolling up to El and call her a "freak" and a "loser" as they mockingly stretch their hands out like El did earlier when she instinctively reached for her powers. El starts to cover her ears and cry while Mike races to the DJ and demands they turn it off. Just as the record comes to a screeching halt, one of Angela's lackeys rolls up to El and throws a chocolate milkshake at her, causing her to slip on her skates and fall backward. Mike calls out to El and tries to break through the crowd while El makes an escape from the rink.

While Mike is looking for El, he asks why Will has been moping all day, and Will tells him with frustration that El has been lying to him ever since he got there. Not to mention, he's been a third wheel all day. Will calls Mike out for only calling him a handful of times over the course of the year they've been gone, while El has a book of letters from him. Will says they are supposed to be best friends, and Mike shrugs him off, annoyed, and asks why Will didn't reach out more and why it has to be all his fault.

El decides to confront Angela and demand an apology. Angela, of course, laughs and smiles like the Cheshire cat and mockingly tells her, "Cry to your Daddy," but "Oh wait! You can't." As she turns away El screams her name, but this time, instead of trying and failing to use her powers, she does the next best thing her instincts think of. She grabs a roller skate and smashes it in Angela's face. Angela is stunned as blood starts pouring down her face, and she starts screaming. It dawns on El what she has done as she watches everyone race over to Angela. Mike looks at El and echoes Dr. Brenner when he asks, "What did you do?!" (If anything, Angela got off easy. That skate was plastic. Imagine what El could do to her if she had her powers.)

Jonathan and Argyle, meanwhile, are hitting golf balls at an abandoned junkyard while the kids are at the rink. Jonathan admits he secretly hoped Nancy would surprise him at the airport, but he also felt relief when she wasn't there. He shows Argyle his acceptance letter to Lenora Community College and confides in him that he is not going to Emerson because he doesn't want to leave his mom and brother to go chase a dream that isn't his. If he told Nancy the truth, she'd throw her dreams out the window to be with him instead, and eventually, she'd grow to resent him.

In Hawkins, everyone is watching the news where there are reports of an unnamed teenage girl who has just been found murdered. The cops question Jason (Mason Dye) about Chrissy's whereabouts last night: was she partying with them after the game? Did she purchase drugs to bring to the party? What is her relationship with Eddie Munson? Jason is stunned and terrified and tells them Chrissy said she was going home after the game to change. He insists that she would never do drugs and has nothing to do with a freak like Eddie. He storms into the woods and falls to his knees as he begins to sob and lets out a guttural scream. Later, he tells his boys that Eddie is a satanist who must have sacrificed Chrissy to the devil. He claims that Hellfire is a satanic cult. When Lucas tentatively tells him it is just a D&D club, Jason insists that there is an epidemic sweeping the country where people who play D&D are warping fantasy and reality and killing people. Convinced Eddie is going to kill again, Jason gives another one of his stupid motivational speeches where he rallies his teammates to hunt "the freak," Eddie Munson.

Max confides in Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) that she saw Eddie with Chrissy last night. Dustin asks why she hadn't told the cops, and she admits that it wasn't the only thing she saw. While sitting on the couch watching TV, her power started to flicker in and out – uncomfortably familiar to the Hawkins kids at this point – when she heard Eddie scream and saw him run to his van. Max asks Dustin if it could be possible that the Upside Down is interfering with Hawkins yet again (they really need to get a grip on this whole gate situation). They team up with Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) at the video store where they fill them in on what they know. They manage to track Eddie down at his Reefer Rick's (his drug dealer) house. After Eddie relays the horrific events of the night prior, he is wary when Dustin tells him they believe him. Dustin decides it is time to fill him in on the Upside Down. He asks Eddie if he saw anything that looked like swirling dust. Eddie says no, but it seemed like Chrissy was under a spell. It dawns on both Dustin and Eddie at the same time: Vecna's curse. Vecna is, as Dustin explains, "an undead creature of great power. A spell caster. A dark wizard." As Dustin is explaining, we see Vecna connected to what looks like eight vines, as if he is charging. He slowly kneels and opens his eyes. The camera zooms out, and we see he is holed up in some terrifying-looking house in the Upside Down.

Meanwhile, Nancy and Fred convince the cops patrolling the trailer park to let them in to "check in" on their good friend Max, when really they are there to get the scoop. As they are trying to fool the cop, he suddenly looks at Fred strangely and says he knows him — Fred was the one who killed that kid last year in a car crash. Fred looks petrified as suddenly the cop's voice starts to grow distorted (nice knowing you, Fred) and his eyes turn white as his skin starts to rot. He begins to chant "murderer" repeatedly to a horrified Fred. Suddenly, everything snaps back to normal, and Nancy and the cop are looking at him strangely.

Nancy manages to talk to Eddie's uncle and convince him to tell her his side of the story. Wayne says that Eddie may look dangerous, but it just isn't in his nature to do something like this. Wayne believes that a man named Victor Creel killed Chrissy. Back when Wayne was a kid, Victor Creel lost his mind and killed his wife and kids and took out their eyes. Wayne thinks that Victor Creel somehow broke out of Pennhurst Asylum and killed Chrissy just like he did with his family.

As Nancy talks to Wayne, Fred starts to hear the dreaded sound of the chiming clock. He walks into the woods where he sees the clock lying on the ground and a group of people all dressed in black, standing eerily still with their heads down. A little girl slowly lifts her head and points at Fred, her outstretched hand morphing into what looks like Vecna's creepy claw-like hand. The rest of the people slowly lift their heads, their faces looking like straight-up walkers from The Walking Dead, and start to chant, "Murderer!"

 "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club" opens the door to a Hawkins that is much darker and even more horrifying than we ever thought imaginable.

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 is finally here. Following the three-year hiatus after Season 3, Season 4 will hopefully provide us with answers to our most dire questions: Who is Vecna? Will El (Millie Bobby Brown) get her powers back? And of course, what the hell happened to Hopper (David Harbour)? But before we get to that, let's unpack that wild, nightmare-fueled first episode.

The first 8 minutes of "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club" opens with a flashback to September 8, 1979, where we see Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine), a.k.a "Papa," whom we last saw being attacked by the Demogorgon at the end of Season 1. Inside the Rainbow Room of Hawkins Lab, Dr. Brenner asks Number 10 to join him in a private room for "more lessons." He monitors 10's brain processing as he asks him to close his eyes and try to envision what he is drawing. After 10 guesses correctly, Dr. Brenner offers him a higher challenge and asks him to find Dr. Ellis. After a moment, Number 10 finds her in a room testing Number 6 but quickly realizes something is horribly wrong. The lights start flickering, and a panicked 10 tells Dr. Brenner that Dr. Ellis and Number 6 are dead.

Hearing the piercing screams outside the room, Dr. Brenner slowly approaches the door, which suddenly blows open and briefly knocks him out cold. When he wakes, he sees 10 next to him, dead. He slowly walks down the hallway and is horrified to see all the children and the guards, brutally murdered, their bodies bloody and mangled. Dr. Brenner enters the Rainbow Room where he sees more dead children, except for just one: Eleven. Eleven turns around, her gown splattered with blood, her eyes leaking blood. Horrified, Dr. Brenner utters, "What did you do?" And with that, the opening credits begin to roll.

After the opening credits, we are back in the present day. It is March 21, 1986. Eleven is writing a letter to Mike (Finn Wolfhard) telling him that she is "twice as happy now" and that she has given California a chance. Contrary to her cheerful letter, Eleven is actually being bullied by her awful classmates, with an absolutely wretched popular girl named Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin) as their ringleader. Meanwhile, as Eleven informs Mike, Joyce (Winona Ryder) has a new job working from home selling encyclopedias, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and his new long-haired best friend Argyle (Eduardo Franco) are always smoking "smelly plants," and Will (Noah Schnapp) has been painting a lot, but El notes that he has been acting strange and wonders if he likes a girl. El writes that she can't wait to see Mike in two days when he comes to visit them in California over break.

Meanwhile, Mike, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) – also now freshmen in high school – have joined the Hellfire Club at school, a Dungeons and Dragons club led by their fearless leader who has failed to graduate not one, but two years in a row, the charismatic Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). Lucas, however, has also joined the school basketball team, much to Mike and Dustin's dismay. Meanwhile, "Dusty-Bun" and Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) are still going strong, and Robin (Maya Hawke) and Steve (Joe Keery) are still besties who are both looking for love, but there is one member of the party who is noticeably absent: a grieving Max (Sadie Sink) broke up with Lucas and has almost completely retreated from the party ever since Billy's death. Lucas tells her how worried he is about her – it's like she's not even here anymore, like she's a ghost.

At the Hawkins High pep rally, Mike, Dustin, and Max meet up on the bleachers and watch, unimpressed, as Jason Carver (Mason Dye), captain of the basketball team who is dating head cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien), gives a cringe-worthy speech about those in Hawkins who "perished in that fire," (i.e. were possessed by the Mind Flayer). Jason says in these dark days, they all need something to believe in, so they will honor those who perished by… winning the championship game tonight. (Really, dude?) It dawns on Mike and Dustin that Lucas won't be able to do Eddie's D&D campaign, which is also tonight. Lucas begs them to ask Eddie to move the campaign, so they can come to his game. Mike flippantly mentions that Lucas has been a benchwarmer all season anyway, but Lucas says if he gets in with his teammates, they will finally be popular. Mike and Dustin obviously don't care about popularity, but look at each other in resigned frustration, dreading asking Eddie to move his long-awaited campaign.

In California, El gives her presentation on her hero: her dad, Jim Hopper (we aren't crying, there is just something in our eye). She shows off an awesome-looking diorama of her and Hopper's cabin, complete with a hand-made figurine of Hopper. Her classmates, of course, mercilessly laugh at her, and Angela interrupts her to snidely point out the project was supposed to be about famous people. El, her eyes filling with tears, tells them her dad was famous – he was a local hero to the people and to her. El finally lets the tears fall as Angela gives a smug smile while the others continue to snicker. Later in the courtyard, Angela purposely sticks her leg out and trips El, who drops her diorama and watches as one of Angela's lackeys steps on it, breaking the Hopper figure in two. As they laugh and walk away, El's tears of embarrassment turn into tears of rage. In a horribly embarrassing reflex, she stretches her hand out and screams. Of course, El's powers don't work (but honestly, thank God they don't, or else Angela would be very dead at that point, and El would have a lot of explaining to do.) Angela and the entire courtyard bursts into laughter. (Here's hoping Angela gets eaten by a Demodog at some point.)

Back in Hawkins, Max is on her way to her recurring appointment with the school counselor, Ms. Kelly (Regina Ting Chen). She sees Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelly's office, looking upset. During Max's appointment, she claims that she is sleeping better and no longer having headaches. She is fidgeting and avoiding Ms. Kelly's eyes. She is clearly still having nightmares about Billy's violent end at the battle at Starcourt. We find out Max's mom is drinking, struggling, and working two jobs now that Billy's dad left them. In the bathroom, Max pops a pill, presumably for the headaches she has been having. She hears a girl throwing up in one of the stalls and asks if she is okay. It is Chrissy, who, bent over the toilet, asks her to go away. Max leaves, leaving Chrissy alone in the stall. Eerie music quietly begins to creep in as suddenly, Chrissy hears the voice of her mom, asking her if she is ready to try on her dress. Petrified, Chrissy scrambles to the corner of the stall as the lights begin flickering and her mom's voice becomes distorted, and the bathroom stall door violently shakes, as if someone is trying to get in. Chrissy's mom's voice is suddenly demonic as she screams at Chrissy that if she doesn't open the door she will "gut you like the fat pig you are." Feet appear at the bottom of the stall – clearly the feet of our new Big Bad, Vecna, squelching and slithering. Chrissy screams, when suddenly, the voice stops, the feet are gone, and Chrissy is somehow alone again in the bathroom as if nothing happened at all.

We then meet the infamous Eddie Munson, head of the Hellfire Club. Eddie has big energy – jumping on the cafeteria table and boldly mocking the school for its conformity and the kids who "toss balls into laundry baskets." Awkwardly, Mike and Dustin inform Eddie that Lucas is one of those conformers tossing those balls into laundry baskets tonight at the championship game, so they were wondering if he could move his campaign (which we learn is called "The Cult of Vecna"). Obviously, moving the campaign is a no-go, with Eddie tasking them with finding a sub. After failing to convince a single student in the school to be their sub, Dustin suddenly realizes exactly who they need: Season 3's badass closet nerd, Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson).

Joyce, meanwhile, is on the phone with Murray (Brett Gelman), whom she has called to get his opinion on a creepy doll she received in a mysterious package from Russia that was sent to her that morning. Murray – with his usual chaotic energy – tells her it could be a threat and asks if she can undress the doll and look for a wire. Joyce sees that the porcelain is cracked and someone has tried to glue it back together. She drops a paint can onto the bizarre doll and is shocked to find a note inside the shattered porcelain that says in cut-out magazine letters: Hopper lives! (Of course, we knew that, but this is the first Joyce is hearing about it.)

Next, we get some insight into what Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan have been up to. At woodshop class, Argyle asks if Jonathan is going to mope around all break because Nancy isn't coming to visit him. Jonathan defensively says that Nancy has work. In Hawkins, Nancy is having the same conversation with some dweeb named Fred (Logan Riley Bruner) on their newspaper staff, who is pestering her to give him the full story: why can't Jonathan come to Hawkins for break? Clearly, there is trouble in paradise for Jonathan and Nancy, who apparently have a plan to go to a fancy college together, pending Jonathan's acceptance.

We see Chrissy once again, cautiously walking into the woods. She strangely sees an eerie-looking grandfather clock inside one of the tree trunks. The clock chimes ominously when it suddenly cracks and a bunch of spiders comes spilling out. Chrissy stumbles back, where she bumps into Eddie. When she looks back, the clock is gone. She and Eddie sit down, and he admits that he was surprised that Chrissy, queen of Hawkins High, wants to buy drugs from him. Chrissy seems skittish and asks him if he ever feels like he is losing his mind. Eddie lets out a good-humored laugh and says "only a daily basis." He reminds her they met once when he was in the middle school talent show, performing with his band. Chrissy's eyes light up with recognition as she remembers the name of his band, "Corroded Coffin." They share a sweet moment and admit that neither of them is who they expected. Eddie offers her a bag of weed at a discount, and Chrissy – looking skittish again – asks if he has anything stronger.

Finally, it's time for the championship game. Poor Lucas looks out to the bleachers, and obviously, Mike and Dustin are nowhere to be found. Instead, we see them with Erica, an American flag draped around her like a cape, walking in slow motion like some straight-up D&D badasses. Initially, Eddie refuses to accept Erica as the sub, scoffing that it isn't babysitting club, but Erica immediately gains his respect (he needs to bow down, obviously), when she slays him with her introduction as Lady Applejack, Chaotic good half-elf rogue, level 14.

We switch back and forth between the championship game and Hellfire's epic "cult of Vecna" campaign. In a moment of tense anticipation, the Hellfire Club must decide if they want to risk killing Vecna with only two players left, Dustin and Erica. Obviously, these two aren't going down without a fight, and they agree to fight to the death. Meanwhile, at the championship game, Lucas – to his shock – is thrown into the game after being a benchwarmer all season. Just as Erica miraculously makes a critical hit and destroys Vecna, Lucas makes the winning shot with one second left on the clock, marking the first time in 22 years Hawkins High has won the championship.

Max, who is listening to the game on the radio, cuts it off and goes into the living room where she cleans up her mom's empty beer cans. She takes food outside for the dog and is surprised to see Eddie pull up to his trailer with Chrissy, an unlikely pair. Inside his trailer, Eddie looks for "Special K," a street drug similar to LSD, while Chrissy waits in his living room. Suddenly, she hears the ominous, echoing chime of the clock. She runs into the other room hoping to find Eddie when she bursts into what appears to be her house. Her mother is there, her back turned as she works on a sewing machine. She tells Chrissy, her voice melting again into a terrifying demonic distortion, that she will look absolutely beautiful in the dress she is loosening up for her. She turns around and to Chrissy's horror, her eyes are white, and her skin appears to be rotting. Chrissy races to her living room where she sees her dad, who turns around and reveals that his eyes and mouth are stitched shut. He thrashes in his chair, a panicked muffled yell trapped behind his sewn mouth. Chrissy hears wet squelching and gurgling as Vecna comes into view for the first time, slowly coming down the steps. He has human-like features, unlike the other monsters in the Upside Down, and he is covered in twisted, soggy plants. He tilts his head menacingly and tells Chrissy not to cry because her suffering has come to an end.

Back in the trailer, Eddie is petrified to find Chrissy standing in the middle of his living room, eerily still with only her eyes flickering in the back of her head. He tries desperately to snap her out of it but to no avail. As Vecna reaches his hand out to Chrissy, her body floats to the ceiling of the trailer. As Vecna's claws grab her head, she flies up to the ceiling. Eddie watches in horror as all her bones start to twist and snap, her jaw breaks, and her eyes start to bleed until they completely pop out of the socket, leaving gaping black holes. It's a horrifying and shocking conclusion to the first episode of Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1.