“Vecna’s Curse”, the second episode of Stranger Things season four, continues with the satanic gore from the end of the season premiere. Eleven learns teenagers are horrible mustache-twirling villains, Joyce puts on her best tinfoil hat and calls a new friend overseas, Hopper gets a much-needed hairdo and Nancy uncovers a Scooby-Doo mystery about the Boogieman. Here’s what you missed on Stranger Things.
The Carrie-ification of Eleven
Mike (Finn Wolfhard) visits Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in California. Will (Noah Schnapp) tries to hug him and it’s real awkward and hella queer-coded. Will, Mike, Eleven visit a skating ring and Eleven tells her boo she’s besties with her high school bully Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin). Will confronts Eleven for lying to Mike about their life. Then Angela and her parrots walk in.
We’re then reminded how awful teenagers can be when Angela drags Eleven onto the ring and the others dance around her in a group humiliation. One of them throws a slushie on her face; another films her emotional torture. Eleven cries and runs away as everyone in the ring laughs at her. She comes out of the bathroom boiling with rage and smacks Angela in the face with a plastic skating shoe. Talk shit, get hit.
Joyce and Murray make a suss call, Hopper makes some toxic friends
Murray (Brett Gelman) heads to the Byers home to help Joyce (Winona Ryder) learn the truth behind the serial killer message hidden in a doll mailed to her in Russia. They call the number on the ransom note and talk to a prison guard named Enzo. He cryptically tells them he’ll help return Hopper (David Harbour) back to them if they meet his associate in Alaska and give them $40k.
Hopper gets tortured and interrogated in a Russian prison. Prison guards shave him and he ends up looking like an old St Bernard dog at the vet.
The gang finds a traumatised dungeon master in a murder shed
Max (Sadie Sink) is suspicious of Eddie (Joseph Quinn) after she saw Chrissy (Grace Van Dien) and him go to his place the night she was murdered. She tells Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) what she saw and they decide to investigate. Max, Dustin, Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) then find a shellshocked Eddie hiding in drug dealer Rick’s boathouse. He then tells them he watched a girl’s bones crack and her eyes pop onto his face. The gang realizes they’re facing Vecna, a dark wizard from Dungeons and Dragons lore.
Meanwhile, certified bible douche Jason (Mason Dye) learns Chrissy was murdered at Eddie’s place and decides to form a murder search party to hunt down our dungeon master hottie.
Nancy “Nancy Drews” her way into a crime scene
Nancy and Fred put on their best Nancy Drew hats and search for clues related to Chrissy’s death. We learn he tragically killed a man in a car accident and feels immense guilt for it. Eddie’s uncle Wayne tells Nancy about Victor Kreel and the Boogieman.
Fred hallucinates and hears a clock in the woods nearby. He follows the noise, gets separated from Nancy, and finds a coffin. People dressed in funeral attire with rotting fleshy faces then call him a murderer. He runs away and sees the man climb out of the burning car. Fred is then teleported to the bottom of a deep burial ground as Vecna sacrifices him as he did with Chrissy. His Vecnussy gets stronger.
Catch up on all our other Stranger Things season four recaps here.
Published: May 31, 2022 11:24 pm