The fourth season of Stranger Things is here, and it packs a punch. The first seven episodes are out now on Netflix, but as fun as they are, it’s really all about that last one. There are some twists in the finale that will blow your socks off, and we’re here to break them down.
But first, a warning: we will be talking about massive SPOILERS beyond this point. You have been warned.
Who is the orderly who helps Eleven on Stranger Things?
So the big bad villain for this season of Stranger Things is named Vecna…or at least that the Dungeons & Dragons-themed name that the characters give him. He’s a grotesque, wicked creature who lives in the Upside Down but who can somehow reach through to the real world, where his favorite hobby is tormenting and finally killing the teenagers of Hawkins, Indiana, as if they didn’t already having enough problems.
Vecna’s true identity remains a mystery until the seventh episode, when we learn that he is actually…pause for dramatic effect…Henry Creel, the son of Victor Creel, the man who was blamed for the murder of his family back in the 1950s. Actually, it was Henry who did everything. He discovered his psychic gifts at a young age and used them to torture his mother, sister and father, killing the former two. Then Dr. Martin Brenner faked Henry’s death and started studying his abilities. This research would be the basis of the program that Eleven would eventually become a part of.
Remember: Eleven isn’t Eleven’s real name; it’s just what Dr. Brenner called her because he’s a sick freak who refers to kids with numbers instead of names. That means that Henry Creel was Number One. He’s also Vecna. He’s also the friendly orderly who helps Eleven out in her flashbacks. The guy has a lot of names.
Who plays young Vecna on Stranger Things?
The orderly, aka Vecna, aka Henry Creel, is played by English actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who I’m thinking is going to be getting a lot of calls to play villains after this.
Campbell Bower already has a pretty well-established career. He played Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Caius in The Twilight Saga, and young Gellert Grindelwald in both the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series. Fun fact: he was also going to be in the cancelled Game of Thrones prequel Blood Moon before HBO pulled the plug on it.
He does a great job in Stranger Things season 4 and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
When will we see Vecna again?
The fourth season of Stranger Things has nine episodes, but only seven came out on May 27. Happily, we don’t have to wait long for the rest: Episodes 8 and 9 will drop on Netflix on July 1. The finale is a staggering two-and-a-half hours long.
And Vecna will probably also return in season 5, which will be the final season of the series.
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