Who is Chrissy in Stranger Things

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"Stranger Things" star Joseph Quinn was just as horrified by Chrissy's death in the first episode of season four as viewers, to the extent that he didn't think Netflix was going to let the show get away with it. 

The actor, who played Eddie Munson on the new season of "Stranger Things," told ScreenRant that he was offered the chance the view the death, which his character is present for, during post-production. 

"I remember in the first session of ADR that I had, they were like, 'Should we show you the death?' and I was like, 'Yeah sure,'" Quinn told ScreenRant. "They showed me and I was like, 'There's no way you're gonna get away with that, Netflix aren't gonna let you do that.'"

Chrissy (Grace Van Dien) is the first death of season four of "Stranger Things." After being tormented with visions that draw upon Chrissy's fear of her mother criticizing her body, the cheerleader eventually falls victim to the villain Vecna while at Eddie's trailer buying drugs. Her death is gruesome — Vecna kills his victims by pulling their consciousness into the Upside Down, while in the real world their bodies levitate and contort as their bones snap.

Stranger Things Season 4 dropped on Netflix today, and fans already think they’ll be haunted by Chrissy’s fate for a while. 

It’s been three years since Eleven and co. fought interdimensional monsters from the Upside Down. However, it seems we needed that time to prepare for Season 4’s big bad: Vecna, a Freddy Krueger-esque monster that’s easily the scariest villain in the series.

The official Netflix synopsis reads: “It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier.

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“In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.”

Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4 to follow, you’ve been warned…

Chrissy#StrangerThings #StrangerThings4 #ST4 pic.twitter.com/dEUdamSPFB

— Stranger Things Brasil (@sthingscombr) May 27, 2022

Who is Chrissy in Stranger Things Season 4?

While we’re reintroduced to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Will (Noah Schnapp), some new characters have emerged in Hawkins. For example, there’s Eddie “the freak” Munson, the leader of the Dungeons & Dragons Hellfire Club.

There’s also Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien). She’s your classic popular high school teen; not only is she the head cheerleader, but her boyfriend Jacob Carver (Mason Dye) is the also the playmaker on the basketball team.

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However, she’s also battling her own demons. In one scene, Max (Sadie Sink) can hear her throwing up in the bathroom, and it’s later revealed that she struggles with her mother’s emotional abuse over her weight.

CHRISSY DESERVED BETTER #StrangerThings4 pic.twitter.com/C3330eD2KA

— z (@zeliquy) May 27, 2022

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Chrissy’s death in Stranger Things Season 4 explained

In the series premiere, Chapter One: The Hellfire Club, Chrissy keeps having vivid nightmares and daydreams about her mother’s torment, as well as a ticking grandfather clock and a mysterious voice calling her name.

Chrissy resorts to buying drugs from Eddie, whom she doesn’t remember from their earlier school days. After chatting and getting along, she reveals she isn’t interested in buying weed and asks Eddie if he has any Special K (aka ketamine), and they head back to his house in a trailer yard.

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  • Read More: Stranger Things review roundup: S4 is bigger, longer & scarier

While he looks for the drugs, Chrissy is thrown into her deadliest trance yet; one from which she’s unable to escape, despite Eddie screaming in her face to wake her up. In her vision, she sees a ghastly version of her nasty mother, before finding her dad downstairs with his eyes gouged out.

No one:Me after seeing miss Chrissy:#StrangerThings4 pic.twitter.com/n9FhCjwiSX

— Park (@Park10678998) May 27, 2022

#StrangerThings4 spoilers!!!

me when chrissy and me after the eddie: last scene: pic.twitter.com/aGh1sj60gK

— lina 🫧 (@luvrfy) May 27, 2022

EPISODE 1 ALONEEEE GOD IM TRAUMATIZED 😭😭😭😭 #StrangerThings4#Chrissy #TheVecna pic.twitter.com/kwJUwHWWJP

— chris♡ || #STRANGER THINGS4 (@chriscantread04) May 27, 2022

As she tries to escape her home, she’s cornered by Vecna, the tentacled, slimy antagonist at the dark heart of the season who uses the fears and anxieties of teenagers to possess them.

“It’s time for your suffering to end,” he tells her, before plunging his hand into her face. Meanwhile, Eddie watches her body as it levitates in the air, before violently contorting; all of her bones break, her jaw dislodges and her eyes are ripped from her skull.

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Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 is available to stream on Netflix now. Volume 2 will be released on July 1 with the final two episodes.

Who is Chrissie in Stranger Things?

Chrissy is played by Dutch-American actress Grace Van Dien who is probably most well known, before Stranger Things, for her role as Brooke Osmond in the Netflix series Greenhouse Academy. And yes, as her surname would suggest, her father is Starship Troopers star Casper Van Dien.

Who is Chrissie in Stranger Things season 4?

Grace Van Dien: Chrissy Cunningham Jump to: Photos (9)

What is Chrissy's trauma in Stranger Things?

Vecna's first season 4 victim is Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien), who is targeted based on the trauma she carries due to her body-shaming mother.

Why is Chrissy important Stranger Things?

Chrissy has a terrible vision, and it soon becomes clear that Vecna is going to murder her soon. Chrissy is an underrated character because her story arc explains exactly how Vecna targets victims and gets into their psyches and torments them, even before killing them.