Stranger Things season 4: release date, number of episodes and full file
Season 4 · File · Release, episodes, runtimes
Season 4 dropped in two stages: seven episodes on May 27, 2022, then two episodes on July 1, 2022, including a finale of more than two hours. It is the longest, the most expensive and the most watched season of the show. Here is its full recap sheet.
The essentials
- Release date: May 27, 2022 (vol. 1) and July 1, 2022 (vol. 2)
- Episodes: 9, from 63 to 139 minutes
- Total runtime: about 13 hours
- Filming: February 2020 to September 2021, interrupted by the pandemic
Contents
A release in two volumes
Ordered on September 30, 2019, season 4 waited nearly three years: filming, started in February 2020, stopped in March for the pandemic and only resumed in September, to finish a year later. For the first time, the platform split the season into two volumes, five weeks apart, and published the date on February 17, 2022 in an open letter from the Duffer Brothers.
That same letter announced that the next season would be the last. Season 4 is therefore the first of which we knew, at release, that it was preparing the ending.
The Hellfire Club T-shirt, the emblem of the season.
In the shopMen's Eddie Munson lightning T-shirt39,90 €See the product
The nine episodes
| No. | English title | Original title | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hellfire Club | The Hellfire Club | 76 min |
| 2 | Vecna's Curse | Vecna's Curse | 75 min |
| 3 | The Monster and the Superhero | The Monster and the Superhero | 63 min |
| 4 | Dear Billy | Dear Billy | 78 min |
| 5 | The Nina Project | The Nina Project | 74 min |
| 6 | The Dive | The Dive | 73 min |
| 7 | The Massacre at Hawkins Lab | The Massacre at Hawkins Lab | 98 min |
| 8 | Papa | Papa | 85 min |
| 9 | The Piggyback | The Piggyback | 139 min |
Volume 1 goes from episode 1 to episode 7; volume 2 groups episodes 8 and 9. No episode drops under an hour, and the finale, at 2:19, runs longer than a feature.
Making of
| Post | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creators | Matt and Ross Duffer |
| Directors | The Duffers, Shawn Levy, Nimród Antal |
| Music | Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein |
| New actors | Jamie Campbell Bower, Joseph Quinn, Eduardo Franco, Robert Englund, Tom Wlaschiha |
| Filming locations | Georgia, New Mexico, Lithuania |
| Estimated budget | about 30 million dollars per episode |
Three countries for three plotsThe show's small town is still shot in Georgia, California and the Nevada desert are shot in New Mexico, and the Russian prison is a real decommissioned prison in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the first season to leave the United States.
Audience and awards
Volume 1 totaled 287 million hours watched on its first weekend, and the season passed 1,35 billion hours in 28 days, a record for an English-language show on the platform. At the 2022 Emmy Awards, it received thirteen nominations and five awards, in the technical categories.
It also put Kate Bush's “Running Up That Hill” back at the top of the charts, thirty-seven years after its release, and made Joseph Quinn and Jamie Campbell Bower the revelations of the year.
Where and how to watch it
Thirteen hours in total: count on three evenings at least. Many fans advise watching episodes 7, 8 and 9 in a row, because they form a single movement, and rewatching season 1 before, so much does season 4 come back to it. Subtitles are available in about thirty languages, and the French dub was recorded at the same time as the original version.
The Eddie figure, guitar in hand.
In the shopLego Dustin Hellfire Club mini figure14,90 €See the product
Markers
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 30, 2019 | Season 4 ordered |
| February 2020 | Start of filming |
| March 2020 | Stop for the pandemic |
| September 2020 | Filming resumes |
| February 17, 2022 | Dates announced; season 5 will be the last |
| May 27, 2022 | Volume 1, episodes 1 to 7 |
| July 1, 2022 | Volume 2, episodes 8 and 9 |
The season fact sheet
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Renewal | September 30, 2019, with a multi-year deal signed by the Duffers |
| Start of filming | February 2020, in Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Interruption | March 16, 2020, pandemic; filming resumes September 28, 2020 |
| End of filming | September 2021 |
| Volume 1 | May 27, 2022, episodes 1 to 7 |
| Volume 2 | July 1, 2022, episodes 8 and 9 |
| Directors | The Duffers (5), Shawn Levy (2), Nimród Antal (2) |
| Scripts | Nine, more than 800 pages in all |
| Soundtrack | July 1, 2022, two volumes |
Two and a half years of promotion
The renewal announcement, on September 30, 2019, showed a grandfather clock striking in the Upside Down, with the line “we are no longer in Hawkins,” which many took for a move to Russia. On February 14, 2020, a teaser revealed that Hopper was alive. Then the pandemic slowed everything: a second teaser on May 6, 2021, a look on August 6 announcing the year 2022, the Creel house on September 25, and California on November 6, 2021, with the titles of the nine episodes.
On February 17, 2022, four posters and a fifth announcing the dates; on April 12, the trailer; on May 20, the first eight minutes of the first episode. That last sequence, with its images of children's bodies at the lab, took on a tragic meaning three days before the release, after the Uvalde shooting: a warning was added for American viewers before the first episode.
The nine episodes in one sentence each
-
1. The Hellfire Club
The 1979 massacre in a prologue, California, the Hellfire Club, the death of Chrissy.
-
2. Vecna's Curse
Eddie on the run, Hopper alive in Kamchatka, the spring dance that goes wrong for Eleven.
-
3. The Monster and the Superhero
Eleven arrested, Owens gets her back; Nancy and Robin on the trail of Victor Creel.
-
4. Dear Billy
Max's letter at Billy's grave, and Kate Bush.
-
5. The Nina Project
Eleven in the bath, the 1979 lab replayed.
-
6. The Dive
The lake, the gate under the water, Patrick dead.
-
7. The Massacre at Hawkins Lab
The Upside Down for Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie; Peter is Henry, Henry is One.
-
8. Papa
Brenner's death, the buying of the weapons, the three-team plan.
-
9. The Piggyback
Max dead for a minute, Eddie dead, four rifts open on Hawkins.
The Season 4 poster.
In the shopEddie Munson's bandana19,90 €See the product
TakeawayReleased May 27 and July 1, 2022, in two volumes. Nine episodes, including a 2 hour 19 finale. 1,35 billion hours in 28 days, a platform record. Shot in Georgia, New Mexico and Lithuania.
Frequently asked questions
When did season 4 come out?
In two volumes: May 27, 2022 for episodes 1 to 7, and July 1, 2022 for episodes 8 and 9.
How many episodes does Season 4 have?
Nine, from 63 to 139 minutes, about thirteen hours.
What is the longest episode of season 4?
The ninth, “The Piggyback,” which runs 2:19.
Why did season 4 take three years to come out?
The shoot was interrupted for six months by the pandemic, and the season, longer and more ambitious, needed more than a year of post-production.
Why was a warning added in front of the first episode?
Because the season came out three days after the Uvalde shooting, and the opening scene shows children's bodies at the lab. The warning was only displayed in the United States.
Who directed the season 4 episodes?
The Duffers for chapters 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, Shawn Levy for 3 and 4, and Nimród Antal for 5 and 6.
How old was Will during season 4, and why did people talk about it?
Will is fifteen in March 1986. Viewers noticed that his friends did not mention his birthday, March 22, in the episode that takes place that day; the Duffers said they could change the birth date, without touching the previous seasons.