‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 was split into two parts and volume 1 has seen a more dangerous villain emerge from the Upside Down. Vecna, who’s basically the evil psychic One, who Eleven sends to the other realm, has reigned terror on Hawkins all season, almost claiming Max’s life as well. 

With El struggling to regain her powers, and the trusty group of mystery-solvers disbanded, the small town didn’t recognize the problem until it became deadlier. Now, Vecna has everyone’s attention, from Eleven’s to Nancy’s and some new characters like Eddie are also tied up in the matter. 

Part 1 ended with the big reveal of who Vecna is and gave a backstory to Eleven and One’s relationship, setting up the inevitable showdown coming in the last two episodes. 

Also Read | ‘Stranger Things 4’ part 2: Will Yuri die?

Episodes 8 and 9 will air on July 1 and have been titled ‘Chapter Eight: Papa’ and ‘Chapter Nine: The Piggyback’ respectively. Seeing as they round out the season, the episodes have a substantial runtime. 

The penultimate episode is 1 hour and 25 minutes long while the season finale will run for 2 hours and 19 minutes. Speaking about the decision, the Duffer brothers, who made the show, told Variety “We looked at the final episode ’cause it’s so long. There really wasn’t a good spot to break it. So it’s like, why — at the end of the day, you know, if someone wants to pause it, they can.” 

Also Read | ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: All creatures of upside-down that we know of

Joseph Quinn, who plays Eddie Munson, has promised that the final episodes will bring “carnage” as the series tries to tie up all loose ends. Hopper and Eleven are likely to be reunited as well, though the former has to escape the Russian prison and the latter the government facility. 

As the title suggests, the penultimate episode would deal with Eleven’s relationship with Dr Martin Brenner who helped her harness her powers, the one all the psychic kids referred to as “Papa”. The final episode suggests some kind of piggyback ride or latching onto something to get a result. With Will and the gang trying to head to Hawkins and Dustin and co carrying out their own investigation, the final episodes will likely offer a reunion and a united stand against the new evil from the Upside Down.