STRANGER THINGS. Vecna Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Stranger Things season 4 closed its premiere with a disturbing murder. Poor Chrissy Cunningham wasn’t long for this world, but the writers gave us enough about her to at least be endeared to this cheerleader who simply wanted some peace.

Unfortunately, peace wasn’t what she got in the end…unless you count the peace that one finds in death. Chrissy died horribly thanks to this season’s Big Bad, Vecna. He’s a being capable of haunting your every waking moment, trapping you in your mind, and snapping your bones as he pleases from the comfort of the Upside Down.

Chrissy, however, isn’t his only victim. Vecna strikes again in “Chapter Two: Vecna’s Curse” and this time he’s even more uncomfortably close to our main crew thanks to his preoccupation with Fred Benson.

Major spoilers ahead of Stranger Things season 4

It’s at this point that we warn you that we’re heading deep into spoiler territory. Beyond this paragraph, you’ll learn exactly what happened to Nancy Wheeler’s partner in journalism, Fred Benson. Sarcastic with a dry wit, he and Nancy typically don’t agree, but they’re always up to do what’s necessary for the story.

However, we’re let in on a secret that Fred has been keeping from everyone. A secret that put him directly in Vecna’s sights.

It became clear Fred’s time was coming up short when he hallucinated that the cop who stopped him and Nancy was a demon. Like Chrissy, Fred was being taunted. However, the taunts weren’t attacks against him as a person that stemmed from abuse. Oh no. Fred had apparently left someone on the side of the road after a car accident.

He’d been in a hit-and-run, and he never turned himself in. Fred went on with his life, carrying the guilt and grief from his actions, but burying it inside himself. Vecna, however, can see the shame his victim’s carry. He’s aware of all their wrongdoings and the wrongs that have been done to them, and he uses it to his advantage.

For the rest of the episode, Fred is unable to comfortably investigate at the trailer park where Chrissy was murdered. While he does canvas just like Nancy, it’s with an awareness that something isn’t right and that awareness grows until he wanders off into the woods on his own.

Vecna tortures Fred with the memory of his actions. He throws accusations at him. The creature also forces Fred to witness not only the grief the man’s family must be going through but also the suffering of the man he hit who’d died.

By the time Vecna snatches Fred’s mind, he’s psychically pushed the teen to a road and placed him before a burning car. Fred’s pleading means little to the creature. All he wants is to kill him and that’s exactly what he does. Just like Chrissy, Fred rises in the air, his eyes are taken from him, his bones are snapped, and he’s unceremoniously dropped onto the tarmac and left to be found. A shell of his former self.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more Stranger Things news and coverage!

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