Prep pack · temporal graph

Stranger Things

About to watch S01E04 · The Body

Spoiler-free to End of S01E03 "Holly, Jolly"

100% spoiler-free up to the final frame of S01E03. Continuity pack (season knowledge + staged narrative + relationship web). Nothing from S01E04 or later.

Months since last watch

14m

Long gap (passport-weighted): foundational who/where listed first.

Standard

Hawkins, Indiana, 1980s: Hawkins Lab experiments, Eleven, and the Upside Down.

Party: Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas (+ Max, El, Steve, Nancy, Joyce, Hopper).

You are resuming mid-Season 1. Hard cutoff: S01E03 (Holly, Jolly). Nothing from S01E04 or later.

You are still early in Season 1. Prior seasons (if any) are fully in force; this season's finale geometry is not.

Will taken to Upside Down; rescued.

Eleven defeats Demogorgon and vanishes.

Focus on who wants what, who is allied, and which institutions are pressuring the cast.

Season 1 path through S01E03: E1 "The Vanishing of Will Byers" → E2 "The Weirdo on Maple Street" → E3 "Holly, Jolly".

Cutoff discipline: every fact above ends at S01E03. Do not import anything from S01E04 ("The Body") or later.

Key events (pre-cutoff)

01Season 1 through E1: early markers only.
02S1E01: Context beat: Will taken to Upside Down; rescued.
03S1E01: Context beat: Eleven defeats Demogorgon and vanishes.
04S01E01: The Vanishing of Will Byers
05S01E02: The Weirdo on Maple Street
06S01E03: Holly, Jolly

Character status cards

Snapshots as of graph ordinal ≤ 3 (S01E03).

Mike Wheeler

alive

Party leader

Loc. Hawkins

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Loves El; searches for Will

Allies

Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, Will

Threats

Lab

Eleven

El · Jane

alive

Psychic girl

Loc. Hawkins / vanished

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Defeats Demogorgon; vanishes

Allies

Mike, Hopper later

Threats

Lab, Demogorgon

Will Byers

alive

Taken child

Loc. Rescued / home

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Rescued from Upside Down; still marked

Allies

Joyce, Jonathan, Party

Threats

Upside Down

Joyce Byers

alive

Mother

Loc. Hawkins

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Believed lights; got Will back

Allies

Hopper, Jonathan

Threats

Lab lies

Jim Hopper

alive

Chief

Loc. Hawkins PD

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Closes lab gate path with El

Allies

Joyce, Eleven

Threats

Lab, state

Steve Harrington

alive

Teen

Loc. Hawkins

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Becomes less awful; bat later seeds

Allies

Nancy (tense), Dustin later

Dustin Henderson

alive

Party

Loc. Hawkins

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Inventive friend

Allies

Party, Steve later

Nancy Wheeler

alive

Teen

Loc. Hawkins

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Investigates with Jonathan; Barb dead

Allies

Jonathan

Threats

Demogorgon, Steve early

Lucas Sinclair

alive

Party

Loc. Hawkins

Motivation: Advance personal and factional stakes
Emotional state: Hardened by recent events
Last known: Skeptic then believer

Allies

Party, Max later

Continuity web

Relationship map

Ink diagram of who is bound, opposed, or entangled as of the cutoff (End of S01E03 "Holly, Jolly"). Click a name to pin. Edge labels appear on focus.

9 figures17/17 ties shownhub: Mike (8)

Hover or click any figure to open their tie dossier. Hostile and tense ties carry direction marks. Secret ties are dashed.

Open threads

Story continues from cutoff

high

All facts above end at S01E03. S01E04 is not included.

Who cares: you

Path to now

S1 through E1

Progress marker E1

Season 1 - early path (through E1). Board is set; season-end outcomes are not assumed.

S1 through E3

Current season path

Last episode watched: Holly, Jolly. Next: The Body.

World state

Status quo at season end is the baseline for the next stretch.
Treat later-season institutional collapses as unknown until you pass them.

Constrained desk chat

Temporal RAG over this pack only. No model calls. No post-cutoff index rows exist.

Desk · Cutoff desk open. I only know this show through End of S01E03 "Holly, Jolly". Ask about characters, threads, or events before that line. I will refuse anything later.

Spoiler-free to End of S01E03 "Holly, Jolly"

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