Warning: SPOILERS for Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 are ahead!
As a result of Netflix deciding to split Stranger Things Season 4 into two parts airing a little over a month apart, fans of the popular sci-fi/horror series were left with a quite a few cliffhangers when Volume 1 concluded with “Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab.” With just two episodes left in this season, there’s a lot that needs to be addressed in Volume 2, including the fate of Joe Kerry’s Steve Harrington, who was bit by some Demobats when he ventured into the Upside Down. There’s just one week left to go before we delve back into Stranger Things, and ahead of that, co-showrunner Ross Duffer has shot down a Steve-centric fan theory, although this isn’t totally comforting news.
Many Stranger Things fans are speculating Demobat bites Steve sustained are more than superficial. Maya Hawke’s Robin Buckley expressed concern that Steve might catch an Upside Down version of rabies, so do we need to worry about him dying a bat-triggered death? Good news, Ross Duffer said that’s not on the table while speaking about the Netflix show with Variety alongside his brother, Matt Duffer, although that doesn’t mean that Steve won’t die another way. In the co-showrunner’s words:
I wouldn’t worry about the bat thing. That’s more my thing. I have this thing, I’m worried about bats. That was just me, I was just fixating on bats at the moment I wrote that… if he’s gonna die, it’s not gonna be from the bat bite.
So we can safely cross Steve Harrington slowly being poisoned by Demobats off the list of things to worry about in Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2. That’s not to say those bites couldn’t become scars, but Ross Duffer explained that the reason he included the Demobat attack is because of his own worry about regular bats. Once again though, it needs to be made perfectly clear that Steve is not off the hook for a death scene. The Duffer Brothers even said they “always have to beat Steve up somehow,” so whether that means he dies before Season 4 is over or suffers even more injuries, fans are well within their right to worry about his fate.
Steve was dragged into the Upside Down by a tendril from another dimension while he was inspecting the underwater gate at Lover’s Lake. Upon arriving in the Upside Down, the Stranger Things fan-favorite character was swarmed by the Demobats, but he was fortunately soon joined by Robin, Nancy Wheeler and Eddie Munson. After exploring the shadowy realm for a while, they were able to find the gate in the corresponding spot of Eddie’s trailer where Chrissy Cunningham was killed. Robin and Eddie safely made it back to our world, but before Steve and Nancy stepped through, the latter was possessed by Vecna and learned under his influence that he’s Victor Creel’s son Henry.
You can read through our Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 ending breakdown to learn where we’ve left off with the starring players, but it won’t be much longer until Netflix subscribers reunite with them. While Stranger Things is no longer the streaming platform’s most popular show for the first time in weeks, count on a lot of people tuning in for Vol. 2, to the point it’s a good bet Stranger Things will regain the #1 spot. It was also confirmed in February that Stranger Things will return for a fifth and final season, but again, for now, we’re in the dark about if Steve will be around for it.
Stranger Things Season 4’s final two episodes drop Friday, July 1; the season’s eighth episode will be an hour and 20 minutes, and the ninth episode will be a whopping two hours and 20 minutes. Until then, our 2022 Netflix TV schedule is available to look through for planning out what shows to watch on the streaming service later in the year.
