WARNING: Major Stranger Things season 4 spoilers ahead.
As spectacular as season 4 instituting several major retcons to set up its villain Vecna as the real monster who has been attacking Hawkins for years. Played by Jamie Campbell Bower, Vecna is essentially the twisted mirror image of Eleven in of goals and personality. He is the one who created the Upside Down's hive mind, and he is its master.
Unfortunately, the increase in scale resulted in a surprising number of plot holes. There was probably no way to avoid most of these; the Duffer brothers were conducting retcons on an unprecedented scale, after all, while simultaneously telling some stories that were set far from Hawkins. Many of these can be ignored by simply suspending disbelief, but sadly others are a little more difficult. None are fatal, of course, because everything hangs together enough that the plot holes only become visible when viewers really begin to focus in.
Hopefully, the Duffer brothers have learned lessons from this season. Stranger Things season 5 is expected to be a lot more tightly focused, simply because the Upside Down invasion of Hawkins has begun and all the heroes have assembled in time to fight Vecna and his forces. What's more, almost all the retcons have now been done, meaning inconsistencies could potentially even be ironed out. Still, here are all the plot holes and head-scratchers in Stranger Things season 4.
How Did Eleven Speak So Well In Stranger Things Season 4's Flashbacks?
Stranger Things season 4 includes a number of flashbacks that reveal Eleven's backstory. One detail immediately struck viewers as surprising; the fact Eleven was so much better at communicating in 1979 than she was in 1983 when she broke out of Hawkins Lab. This one may actually make sense on reflection, however; according to Dr. Brenner, excessive use of Eleven's powers risks triggering events that are similar in nature to a stroke. He even notes that stroke survivors often forget the ability to communicate, and need to relearn language skills. Eleven collapsed into a coma after banishing Henry Creel into the Upside Down, and it's reasonable to assume she awoke having suffered brain damage of some kind.
Where Did Henry Creel's Powers Come From?
Dr. Brenner's "children" were granted their powers after he exposed their mothers to certain drugs during pregnancy. There's no evidence Henry Creel's mother ever took LSD, however, meaning the precise origin of his powers is unexplained. It's interesting to note Henry appears to have developed his powers around puberty, aligning with the idea of mutants in the X-Men comics, whose powers are related to an X-gene that activates at puberty. Stranger Things has openly drawn on many X-Men plots - the Upside Down itself increasingly feels like one of Marvel's Hell Dimensions, Limbo - so it's possible Henry Creel is essentially a mutant.
Why Did Dr. Brenner Keep Henry Creel As An Orderly At Hawkins Lab?
That isn't the only aspect of Number One's story that makes no sense. According to Creel, Brenner began trying to recreate his powers when he realized it was not possible to weaponize him. Curiously, though, Brenner still decided to keep Creel as an orderly at Hawkins Lab, a remarkable lapse of judgment given he knew full well that Creel was responsible for murdering his own family. Eleven calls Brenner out on this, but no explanation is ever given. It's entirely possible that Brenner thought it was better to keep Henry Creel close rather than to turn him loose in the world and lose track of him.
What Did Vecna Eat In The Upside Down?
Eleven banishes Henry Creel into the Upside Down, where he morphed into the creature the show has called "Vecna." According to Vecna, he survived in this strange and hostile realm as an explorer. What's unclear, however, is how he did so on a physical level. Stranger Things season 1 strongly suggested the Upside Down was inimical to life, and yet Vecna breathed its air for years. He also somehow found food to eat. To be fair, Stranger Things season 4 clearly seemed to be retconning the Upside Down as a little less toxic than it seemed to be before. Presumably, the dangerous spores are only in the woods.
The Hawkins Kids Get Around Without Encountering Any Mobs
Hawkins essentially winds up under mob rule thanks to Jason, whose stirring speech turns most of the town against the Hellfire Club. Curiously, though, only Jason and his team seem particularly committed to taking the Hellfire Club down. The general lack of enthusiasm perhaps explains why they only crossed paths with the kids when they had the idea of getting armed to take down Vecna.
Why Did The Hawkins Kids Find Eddie So Much More Quickly Than The Cops?
Another oddity is the fact the Stranger Things stars found Eddie so much more quickly than the police. The best explanation is that they knew more about Eddie than the police did, and that people were more inclined to talk to them than they were to officers. What's more, it has to be noted Hawkins PD has never seemed particularly efficient; Hopper was the exception rather than the rule, and the cops seemed blissfully ignorant of all the weirdness going on around Hawkins. A recently-published tie-in comic has revealed officers were on the outskirts of so many different events in Hawkins, and kept missing them.
Owens' People Don't Monitor Any Of The Hawkins Gates
Stranger Things season 4 revealed Dr. Sam Owens had been working with Dr. Brenner all along, adding a great deal of hidden darkness to his character. Owens understood the dangers posed by Vecna and the Upside Down, and he sent agents to Hawkins to investigate the deaths. Strangely, however, those agents seem to have retreated into the background as soon as they discovered a gate. Owens did suggest to Eleven they could get to Max, but they never did turn up.
Vecna Has Watergate Guarded, But None Of The Other Gates
Stranger Things season 4 revealed Vecna had installed Demobats around Watergate to act as guards. Oddly, however, this - the least accessible of all the gates - seems to be the only one he had guarded at all. Vecna would have been particularly wise to keep an eye on the gate in Eddie's trailer, especially after Nancy, Eddie, Steve, and Robin escaped the Upside Down through it. It's curious that Vecna seems to have been a Machiavellian master planner, and yet he makes some pretty rookie mistakes.
Why Is Time Stuck In The Upside Down Stuck In 1983?
season 4 revealed time is stuck in the Upside Down. The story itself never explained this, but in interviews, the production team has explained it's to do with Eleven. "The moment that the Upside Down was quote-unquote 'created' inadvertently by Eleven, the set dressing and the world of the Upside Down is frozen in that moment," production designer Chris Trujillo explained. "So like when we’re in Nancy’s room, we’ll discover in the Upside Down that Nancy’s room is as it was season 1 when we first were introduced to it." There's nothing to suggest this in previous seasons - in fact, when season 2 presented a vision of the Upside Down's version of Hawkins Arcade every game was in the same position, which makes it seem rather unlikely. This feels like a retcon instituted for story purposes.
The Demogorgons & Demodogs Have Vanished In The Upside Down
The Hawkins kids are able to make their way around the Upside Down with only a little difficulty, careful not to tread on vines and keeping an eye out for Demobats. It's odd, though, that they never draw the attention of any Demogorgons or Demodogs in those Stranger Things scenes. Those creatures would have been game-changers in many ways and would have been a particularly terrifying threat for Dustin and Eddie. The kids must have just been lucky.
