'Stranger Things' season 4 might be the show's final season

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Culture

Three seasons of Stranger Things was probably the perfect amount of Stranger Things. We saw the completion of storylines, the death of a beloved (but really annoying) character, and allegedly, the end of the Upside Down. But just like everything else that should be left to nostalgia and rewatches, we’re getting more Stranger Things. On Monday, director Shawn Levy posted a very short teaser for the next season. The details were sparse, all we were updated on is a geographic detail: “We’re Not in Hawkins Anymore.”

That makes sense, considering that in the final moments of season three, Eleven, Jonathan, and Will were moving out of town, and bidding farewell to all of their friends, after defeating a giant monster inside of an insidious mall that was actually the cover for a Russian intelligence operation that extended under the hills of Hawkins. There’s no telling where the teens and their mom Winona Ryder will go next but based on the deteriorating Stranger Things sign in the teaser, they didn’t actually vanquish the Upside Down — so somebody is probably going to venture in the (more) messed up version of our world.

It’s possible that this fourth season, which Netflix hadn't officially confirmed until the release of the trailer, will be the final installment of the beloved show; Showrunners Ross and Matt Duffer told Vulture in 2017 that they planned on only making four seasons of the series, which became an instant hit upon its release in 2016.

“We’re thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out,” Ross Duffer said at the time. “They’re going to have to get the fuck out of this town! It’s ridiculous!”

He wasn't wrong. In the last three seasons, the kids of Stranger Things have been snatched, beaten, disappeared, experimented on, and entrenched in full-on warfare with other-worldly monsters. The blissful town of Hawkins was revealed to be a launch zone for Russian and American super-secret spy bases, and a fair number of the show’s male characters and all of poor Winona Ryder’s love interests have been consumed by the Upside Down and its monsters. If two guys I dated in a row got consumed by the void, I’d move too!

There’s no telling what kind of trouble will follow now that half the cast has departed Hawkins, or if we will see Eleven and Mike in treacly teenage love ever again. But there is now a confirmed season four, which means there’s more nostalgia infused sci-fi to binge in one weekend is coming our way.