Eleven Is Back in Captivity in the Latest Stranger Things Season 4 Teaser

Toss some Eggos in your cart: Stranger Things is coming back! Netflix has released a cryptic teaser for Season 4 of the beloved sci-fi series, featuring almost no familiar faces. Instead of throwing us back into Hawkins, the latest clip is guiding us through Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) days in the testing facilities, where she trained (and, potentially, was abused) to be a child with superpowers.

We see several young children, all also donning shaved heads, dashing around the facility, and playing with toys in a rainbow room. Then, the terrible Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) enters the scene in a voiceover, in which he ominously wishes the children good morning and asks how they are. “Good, papa,” chimes a series of responses. The camera flickers to Eleven, her eyes wide open in panic. Clearly, Season 4 will be delving back into the poor girl’s trauma after being in captivity.

Don’t get excited yet, though. Last time Stranger Things attempted a similar subplot—in the seventh episode of Season 2, to be precise—the episode dragged. Removed from her usual group of rag-tag teen boys, Eleven’s sullenness was dry and her powers lost their unique charm. On a quest to find her family, she finds out what any of us could have guessed: her real family lives in Hawkins, rides bikes everywhere, plays D&D, and buys her every box of Eggos. Why the need to get back into this plot?

We’ve already seen one clip from the upcoming season, in which a thought-to-be-dead Jim Hopper (David Harbour) appeared in Russia. There’s quite a bit of decoding and puzzling images to be analyzed in these two trailers!

As for a release date, there’s little info to share. Stranger Things Season 4 began shooting in February of 2020, and soon had to stop with the rise of COVID-19 cases. Stay tuned for more information on a release date, a full trailer, and other Stranger Things info. For now, check out the latest teaser below: