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Things got a little more intriguing in the second episode of Stranger Things Season 4 as it inched closer to the evil presence looming over the landscape of the series.
This episode, titled Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse, directed and written by The Duffer Brothers, centred around the demonic entity who seemed to be on a murdering rampage, targeting high school teenagers and pulling them to the upside down after inflicting a great deal of misery.
Note: This article reflects the writer's opinions.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 Episode 2 review: Forever cursed by Vecna
The second episode of Stranger Things Season 4 cranked up the tension and suspense as it made its shift to a dark wizard with a penchant for killing. In the previous season of the show, it was implied that Jim Hopper died while closing the gate, however this episode revealed the character's return.
Probably the worst kept secret ever, the episode opened with viewers seeing Hopper on screen where he was shown running for his life before Joyce pushed the button for the gate. However, when the smoke cleared, the beloved Hopper was seen alive.
Helping Hopper
Sadly, Hopper could not escape the lab in time and was taken hostage by the surviving Russian soldiers. They took him back to Russia and tortured him every day. This episode of Stranger Things also saw Murray in his true element as he flew down to California to decode the ransom letter Joyce found inside the Russian doll.
While Joyce believed that Hopper was alive, Murray thought that the letter could be from the KGB. The only way to find out the truth was to call the number mentioned in the letter and speak to Enzo themselves. The two then learned that he wanted $40,000 in cash in order to let Hopper go, which could only be accomplished if Murray and Joyce flew down to Alaska.
The kids reunite
On the other hand in Stranger Things, El finally reunited with Mike at the airport, along with Will and Jonathan, who also came down to greet Mike. Sadly, the two former best friends, Will and Mike, shared an incredibly awkward hug, hinting that things were not the same between them. El then began talking to Mike about her friend and their plans for the day, but none of it was true and only Will was privy to that.
It was sad to see that El had to paint a nice picture of her life in California for Mike even though nothing was going her way and she missed her dad. It was also understandable and fair to see her make-up stories in order to avoid the perceived embarrassment she would have felt otherwise.
At the roller rink in Stranger Things, Mike, Will and Eleven's day was ruined when Angela and her awful friends showed up. They called El a snitch and continued to humiliate her while filming the whole incident. Angela then added to El's discomfort by throwing a milkshake in her face, prompting El to flee from everyone.
Solving Chrissy's mystery
Meanwhile in Stranger Things, Chrissy's body was being dealt with when Eddie's uncle found her in his trailer and called the cops. Max then saw the body from afar and ran over to Dustin's to tell him about it and how Eddie was seen running out minutes after him and Chrissy went inside the trailer. It was good to see Max return to her friends and eventually push aside the grief, even if it was partly due to the new distraction.
On the other hand, audience saw Nancy and Fred embark on an investigative expedition, which was refreshing to see because Nancy was back in her element. After a couple of interesting developments, Fred too had a hallucination which revealed a bit about his past life. Apparently, he was in a car accident last summer where the car he hit led to the death of an entire family.
Fred's hallucinations
Later, Nancy learned from Eddie's uncle that his nephew was not the killer and Victor Creel might be behind the entire thing. The man was still alive and may have escaped the mental hospital he was at. He had killed several people back in the day and was known to gouge his victim's eyes.
While Nancy was listening to this chilling story in Stranger Things, Fred went off in the woods after he was once again stuck in a trance and saw a clock lying on the ground. As the chime went off, a dead family appeared, all in black and staring at him. This specific scene from Stranger Things felt like it was straight out of a horror film or was part of one of the Conjuring films. A girl was spotted pointing at Fred, who later transformed into a massive skeleton limb and appendage, causing Fred to flee in terror.
El's breakdown
Back at the rink in Stranger Things, El hid inside the manager's office and the scene moved to a flashback where Dr. Brenner repeatedly asked little Eleven what she had done after she killed everyone in the lab. El then left the office and demanded that Angela apologize. Upon Angela's awful response, El grabbed onto a skate and swung it right into Angela's face, breaking her nose.
Dustin, Max, Robin, and Steve finally discovered Eddie hiding in his drug dealer's residence in Hawkins in Stranger Things and convinced him to believe the stories they had told him. As the group tried figuring out what was going on in Hawkins this time around, Fred ran through the woods and away from the evil, demonic, dark spell casting wizard, Vecna.
Here comes Vecna
Fred again found himself in a daze as he saw the car he hit last summer, later hearing screams from the people who died in that crash. Upon peddling back in fear, he fell into a large, deep grave next to a corpse and when he stood up, he was greeted by the same demon who killed Chrissy. Vecna then asked Fred to join him and proceeded to grab his head, while in the real world, Fred levitated the same way Chrissy did.
Hanging in the air in the middle of Indiana's interstate highway, all his limbs started snapping, jaw started breaking and his eyes, just like Chrissy's, sunk back into his skull, killing him. The final scene of this episode of Stranger Things showed the dark figure with his roots underground which the military tried burning up, along with a half dozen more attached to his back. The Upside Down in Stranger Things was now seen in full view with a demonic figure in the attic of the house where he performed his bone-crunching spells.
Catch Season 4 Vol. 1 Stranger Things, now streaming on Netflix.
