‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: Who Is Chrissy Cunningham and What Is Her Fate?

Time has really come today (you either do or don’t get the musical nod to The Chamber Brothers): Stranger Things season 4 has dropped, after 3 long years since season 3. This time around, the show is turning the dial up as far as scares, with plenty of nods to horror classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), even going so far as having Robert Englund play a role this season. As I’ve only watched episodes 1–4 in full, I’m not going to be spoiling too much here. 

Instead, I’m getting into a new character, Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien), who got the short end of the stick. Let’s just say that Chrissy suffered tremendously in episode 1. How? If you don’t care about this spoiler, keep reading. 

In Stranger Things’ season 4 premiere, everyone’s lives look different. Some people are struggling more than others with the events of that tragic summer. The kids are all spread out, with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) with Joyce (Winona Ryder) in California—a somewhat functioning family. Meanwhile, in Hawkins, the rest of the gang is doing their best, especially with new threats and insidious events unfolding in the present. 

Where does Chrissy fit into the equation? She doesn’t, at least not really. Her presence as the most popular girl at Hawkins High is noticeable, though. Being head cheerleader will make that obvious to anybody, including having a boyfriend on the basketball team. But underneath the smiles is the heavy load of an eating disorder and emotional abuse at home—not to mention a supernatural force, who we now know is Vecna, that Chrissy can’t escape. Good looks only get you so far, and no amount of smiling will make Vecna go away.

Ultimately, Chrissy resorts to trying to buy drugs from newly introduced character Eddie (Joseph Quinn). When she suggests something stronger than weed, he obliges, giving her Ketamine. At Eddie’s home, Chrissy’s disturbing visions return, leaving her in an unconscious state in Eddie’s living room. She ends up in The Upside Down, in a warped version of her home. Poor Chrissy sees disturbing versions of her parents and is pursued by Vecna. In the end, she can’t get away and is possessed by Vecna, who kills her brutally.

(featured image: Netflix)