Here's How To Watch The First Eight Minutes Of Stranger Things 4

The fourth season of "Stranger Things" will hit Netflix on May 27, 2022, and it promises to be the most ambitious installment of the sci-fi horror series to date. For a start, the new season boasts nine episodes, making for the longest one yet. In fact, the upcoming season is so bulky that Netflix has decided to release it in two parts, with the second batch of episodes set to drop on July 1. Sadly, it's also the beginning of the end of "Stranger Things," as the Duffer Brothers recently confirmed that Season 5 will be the closing chapter (per Twitter).

Of course, there is still plenty of stories to be told in the meantime. Season 4 of "Stranger Things" will pick up six months after "The Battle of Starcourt," and life in Hawkins has only gotten worse for the residents of the spooky Indiana town since then. We're only one week away from seeing how the aftermath of the horrific events has affected the show's core group of characters. That said, if you can't wait until then, you'll be pleased to know that Netflix has released the first eight minutes of the new season for your viewing pleasure.

The opening scenes of "Stranger Things" Season 4 start off pretty quiet — too quiet, actually. Autumn leaves litter the streets as the neighborhood paperboy does his morning rounds. There aren't any monsters in sight, but it's clear that the town is still feeling the effects of Season 3's dramatic finale. That said, the action heats up as soon as we're reintroduced to Matthew Modine's Dr. Martin Brenner. After watching him complete his morning shaving ritual, a flashback sequence takes us back in time to the year 1979. Haunting music plays as the Hawkins National Laboratories appears on the screen, and it doesn't take long until the doctor is shown performing experiments on the institution's superpowered children.

However, by the end of the flashback sequence, it seems that Brenner has bitten off a little more than he can chew. He wakes up on the floor, covered in blood, listening to the screams of the laboratory's denizens. If you're going to watch the clip, proceed with caution.