Original subtitles

[wind whistling]

[Will singing shakily] ♪ Should I stay or should I go now? ♪

♪ Should I stay or should I go now? ♪

♪ If I go, there will be trouble ♪

♪ And if I stay, it will be double ♪

♪ So, come on and let me know Should I stay or should I go? ♪

[cracking, booming in distance]

[heavy footsteps booming]

[throaty clicking]

[Demogorgon roaring]

[thunder crashing]

[Demogorgon snarls]

- [ferocious roar] - [gasps]

[Will screaming]

[Demogorgon clicking]

At long last,

we can begin.

[Will choking, struggling]

You and I,

we are going to do such beautiful things together, William.

Such beautiful things.

[muffled groaning]

[groans echoing]

[synth theme music playing]

[mysterious music playing]

[water spattering outside]

[Karen Wheeler] Holly.

[distorted] Holly!

Holly!

I've been calling you.

I'm sorry.

Could you round up the troops?

[bright, lively synth music playing]

Breakfast!

Coming!

Nance, come on.

Let me in, or I'm gonna whiz on the floor right here.

Sorry, Mrs. Byers.

Whiz away.

Wow.

Shit.

Breakfast!

[Jonathan grunts]

Shit, dude, we overslept.

- I thought you were setting an alarm. - I thought you were.

[both groaning]

[overlapping chatter]

- It's not always Jonathan's fault. - It's always Jonathan's…

It wasn't my fault. I told you…

Holly, can you pass the bacon?

Holly! Bacon!

[overlapping chatter continuing]

- You need to just drop it. - Whatever you want.

You don't need it. You're crazy, huh?

Karen, do you have any Midol upstairs?

[Karen] Nancy, dishes in the sink.

Be back at 5:00 or 6:00. Let me know if you need me to pick up anything.

- Boogie! - Come on. Hurry up.

- [Will] I'm coming. - [Karen] Holly, your jacket.

- Here. Don't forget it. - Thank you.

Hug.

- Bye. - Bye.

I'm sorry. I can't help clean up. I'm running late.

It's okay, Joyce, really. I understand.

How much longer?

What do you want me to do, Ted, huh? Kick 'em to the street?

Is that an option?

Hey, wait up! Wait up!

Come on, we gotta go!

The Morning Squawk, Mike, we're gonna miss it!

[Robin] Good morning, Hawkins! This is WSQK The Squawk!

That's a new one.

It's looking like a regular day in Hawkins.

Fifty-five degrees, low chance of rain,

medium chance of arrest, high chance of helicopters.

But general banality aside, it's an exciting day for me,

your friend, entertainer, and DJ, Robin Buckley…

Nice to meet you! …AKA Rockin' Robin.

And why is it a big day for me, you ask?

Well, it's my 500th broadcast.

Yeah, you heard that right, folks. Five-double-O!

Which means it's been even longer

since you've heard the sultry voice of Jimmy "Fast Hands" Lee.

But while Jimmy was fleeing Hawkins even faster than he moves those hands,

yours truly was watching slack-jawed as the earth split open beneath her feet

and coughed up that tsunami of mysterious dandruff.

And now, I'm stuck here with you, my fellow quarantine compatriots.

And if I can be brutally honest, I couldn't be happier.

Because when you really think about it, why would you want to live anywhere else?

I mean, what town on Earth can match

our very impressive military-to-civilian ratio?

[whistling]

And those free, mandatory medical checkups?

I mean, very cool.

'Cause after we inhaled those springtime snowflakes,

who knows what's wrong with us?

- Maybe we're fine, maybe not. - [man coughing on tape]

No one knows for sure.

After all, this was a "natural phenomenon never before seen by man."

A phenomenon now covered up by a giant metal Band-Aid.

Quite the eyesore, but hey, great for sledding.

Though seriously, kids, stop sledding on the giant steel Band-Aid.

You are going to kill yourselves. Also, the men with guns.

- Go, go, go, go, go! - They don't like it, not one bit.

While we're on the subject of things not to do,

please steer clear of the Military Access Control Zone,

aka the MAC-Z, or as I like to call it, the Big Mac.

I have no idea what's going on in there,

but I have a gut feeling

there's a pretty good reason they'd like you to stay away.

But hey, the rest of Hawkins is still there for you to enjoy.

Someday soon, they're gonna let us out of here.

In the meantime, be thankful this is your home,

study for that test, enjoy that TV dinner, and go on that date.

Which, by the way, is exactly what yours truly is doing tonight.

That's right. Rockin' Robin has a date, ladies and gentlemen.

[rubber chicken squawks]

And now, who is this lucky someone?

Well, don't be so nosy, kids.

They know who they are.

That is, if you're listening, which I hope you are.

Because this next one, it's for you, babe.

[rock music playing over radio]

[static garbling broadcast]

What the hell?

Whoa. What's going on? What the hell? What the hell?

I told you to stop thumbing your nose at the military.

I was reiterating their goddamn rules, encouraging compliance.

- Right. No sarcasm there. - Said the dingus with the rubber chicken.

- These are very serious people, Robin. - Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Henderson, you copy? Henderson?

Yeah, I copy.

God, you sound swell. Let me take a wild guess.

You're not calling to wish me good morning.

It's not exactly a good morning. We've got a situation at the Squawk.

The signal, it's… it's gone all wonky.

I think Robin finally pissed 'em off.

Doubtful. She was encouraging compliance.

Told you!

The remote radio head's the more likely culprit.

- The remote what? - Just read the manual, Steve.

That thing might as well be in Greek.

Then learn Greek!

I can't always be there to solve your problems for you, Steve.

Henderson?

God!

"Learn Greek." You heard that tone.

You heard that, right?

[menacing music playing]

[boy] Watch it.

What'd I tell you about that shirt, freak?

Andy asked you a question, freak. You deaf or what?

For his sake, I hope he is, because I thought I was pretty damn clear

when I said I didn't wanna see you in that shirt.

You also told me to stop screwing your mom,

and that didn't stop me, did it?

- Something funny, Henderson? - Let go.

Hellfire is over, you hear me?

[emphatically] Let go.

Or what? What are you gonna do?

Stop! Andy! Stop!

[Lucas] Hey!

Well, well.

If it isn't the traitor.

Remember that time my sister kicked your balls so hard,

you limped for a week?

Yeah, if you touch Dustin again,

I'll kick 'em so hard they'll pop like water balloons.

[Mike] I say kick away.

Stop this meathead from reproducing

and further infecting the world with his unique brand of idiocy.

Hope you brought a change of clothes. No one wants to see that shit.

[Lucas] You've gotta stop provoking them, man.

[Dustin] Oh, so this is my fault?

- For what? Wearing a T-shirt? - You know it's more than a T-shirt.

I can't be like you and turn the other cheek

while they spread their bullshit about Hellfire, about Eddie.

Eddie never gave a rat's ass

about what those mouth breathers were saying about him.

What he would care about is finding and killing Vecna.

Do you seriously think I don't care about that, Mike? Really?

I think you're fighting two battles. You need to be fighting one.

Mike's right, Dustin. What if you get seriously hurt?

[Lucas] You're drawing attention.

Remember what Hop said. We need to keep our heads down.

- Follow the rules. Blend in. - Stay focused on our next crawl.

Do you even hear yourselves right now?

Blend in? Follow the rules? That's not what we've ever done.

- Jesus Christ. - We stay true to ourselves.

We're supposed to stay true to our friends.

We stand up for what's right, no matter the cost.

You're not listening to us.

No, you're not.

Dustin!

[Will sighs]

- [Lucas] Unbelievable. - [Mike] Let him go.

[focused, determined music playing]

[radar dish humming]

Come on.

Move, move!

You're a fast little shit, huh?

[soldier] It's not her.

Another goddamn burnout, sir.

Get her out of here.

Shit!

Twelve minutes, 33 seconds.

It's a new record.

So? How are we feeling?

Okay.

Okay?

Come on, that was 12:33!

It's four seconds too slow.

I lost one second on the climb, two seconds at the log.

- Hey. - I can make my bus jump sooner.

That'll save me two more seconds. That gets me under 12:30.

El, you have to take it easy on yourself.

- You think Henry's going easy? - You know what I think?

I think we still have some more of that waffle mix.

And I think we should celebrate this record time with a stack of those.

And then maybe we could watch a Miami Vice marathon.

I can beat the time. Reset it.

If you're tired, you're gonna injure yourself.

Reset it!

[indistinct radio chatter]

[soldier] Heads up!

Hey, hey. How you doing?

Austin Millbarge, ID 4528-niner.

[chuckles] That's me.

I swear to God, this stupid thing does not exist.

- Can someone try Dustin again? - He turned off his walkie.

- What's up with him lately? - Don't get me started.

[Robin] Yeah, please don't.

- [Nancy] Hey! - Huh?

Got it.

Wait, wait, wait. There it is, yeah.

Remote radio head, yeah.

And, uh, where exactly are we gonna find this remote thingamajig?

I don't see it.

It's up there somewhere.

It's gotta be.

[Robin] So, I guess somebody's gotta climb to the tippy top of this bad boy and…

[imitates squeaking]

Without a harness or anything, it seems kind of dangerous.

AKA job for good old Steve Harrington.

- No third person, please. - All right.

I, uh…

I actually think this might be a better job for Jonathan Byers.

I'm like one quarter monkey, dude. I got this, Byers. Don't sweat it.

[Robin] Uh, voltage!

Unless you wanna fry.

Yeah, I know.

I'm not an idiot.

[electricity humming]

[humming halts]

Whoa, dude, what are you doing?

I got this, dude. Don't sweat it.

Son of a…

[Nancy sighs]

What is it about your presence that brings out their inner Neanderthal?

I thought grocery delivery wasn't till tomorrow.

Me too.

Ah, come on. Come on.

Shit.

[wind rushing]

- Whoa. - Yeah.

Found ya.

Never fails.

- I fixed it! - I fixed it!

[bird screeches in distance]

All right.

Santa's brought a full sack today.

A fresh telemetry tag. Scarcer than hen's teeth, these things.

Enough bullets and shells for Hop to start a small war,

if he should so choose.

Anyone order a salad?

Grenade salad?

I hid the grenades under the, uh, lettuce.

Okay.

Gatorade for El's battery.

Did someone say Gatorade?

- Let me get one. Thanks. - [Bauman] Sure.

But I don't think it's gonna go too well with…

peanut butter!

Boppers! God, I missed these things.

Thanks.

Don't worry, Mr. Byers. I got you a present too.

I know you're allergic to jazz,

but just give it a whirl. I think you'll find it quite engaging.

[Jonathan clears throat]

And for the station manager, the reason for my premature delivery.

A burn? Tonight? But that's--

Too soon, I know.

Whatever they're doing in the Upside Down evidently needs serious resources.

That's a lot of cargo.

I figure a supply drop this big takes two hours, minimum.

Which gives Hopper plenty of time for a crawl.

Maybe tonight's the night we finally find that bastard and end this.

[bell ringing]

[foreboding music playing]

Hey there, Jake.

You up for a little field trip?

I'm telling you, he's lost his mind.

He told me he wanted to start Hellfire again.

What? When did he say that?

This weekend. He was talking about finding the lost sheep.

And we thought the shirt was bad.

I'm telling you, he's lost his damn mind.

Who's lost his damn mind?

- Uh, the-- - Andy!

- Andy! - [Lucas] Andy.

- Andy lost his mind. - Yeah.

Like when he came at you this morning.

- Yeah, that was-- - Messed up.

Yeah.

It's rude.

Hey there, friends, this is Rockin' Robin.

Sorry about the abrupt departure. I hope you survived without me.

We had some annoying technical difficulties.

[tape deck playing glass shattering, baby crying]

But to make it up to you, we have a very special treat

that's sure to turn your day upside down…

["Upside Down" by Diana Ross playing]

- Holy shit. - Already?

Paper! Give me paper!

[funky disco pop continuing]

Come on! Will, hurry up!

♪ You're giving love instinctively ♪

[Robin] Before you start bumping, here's a few fun facts about the Boss.

She was born Diane in the North End of Detroit.

Berry Gordy, that's Gordy with a G, signed her to Motown in 1961.

And one is the key number,

because between 1964 and '67,

the Supremes had ten songs hit the top of the charts.

That's right, ten.

Then in '78, she tried to make it big in the movies with The Wiz,

which was a colossal flop-a-roonie.

But, in my personal opinion, I still dig it.

Michael Jackson as a scarecrow?

Give it a chance.

But make sure you bring your super-sized popcorn,

because this movie has a run time of over two hours.

All right, class dismissed.

I hope you were taking notes. There will be a test later.

Take it away, Diane.

♪ Upside down ♪

Crawl tonight.

Come on.

♪ Inside out ♪

♪ 'Round and 'round ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ I know you got charm and appeal ♪

♪ You always play the field ♪

♪ I'm crazy to think you're all mine ♪

♪ As long as the sun continues to shine ♪

♪ There's a place in my heart for you That's the bottom line ♪

[song trails off]

[Nancy] All right.

So, assuming Murray's intel is correct,

the supply convoy is set to reach Hawkins at 10:00 sharp.

Meaning I want Hopper in the tunnels

and en route to MAC-Z no later than 9:00.

Lucas, we'll take our usual observation post.

[Nancy] Barring unusual traffic,

I expect the convoy to reach MAC-Z at 10:15.

Once the burn starts and there's sufficient cover,

we'll signal Hopper, who'll make his move.

And now the crawl begins.

Hop is now in the Upside Down,

traveling at what I hope to be a gentle 30 miles an hour,

which will allow…

…you and Harrington to follow along in the Rightside Up.

Just remember, try and keep the telemetry signal within…

Negative 60 and negative 70 dB. Easy-peasy.

I expect the convoy to take the same route as last month.

Main to Cornwallis, one turn.

But if you guys hit any red lights…

- I'll blow through. - Only if there's no MPs around.

Remember, if you guys get pulled over, we lose Hop, we're toast.

I got it.

You're gonna travel up Cornwallis for about six miles.

And as the convoy reaches this Shell station here…

We radio Hop to disembark.

Which will drop the old man at the border of G1.

Where he'll have two whole hours to search for Vecna, which is ample time.

He's cleared zones much faster.

So, all in all, signs point to another successful crawl.

[Jonathan clears throat]

Is there a problem?

[Jonathan] Um…

No. No, I mean, I think it's good.

Yeah, yeah, it's good. It's really good.

It's just, um…

Zone G1 is not that exciting or Vecna-y.

What does it have? A Circuit City, a couple of houses, and a…

Big Buy? What are the chances Vecna's shopping for Lucky Charms?

It doesn't matter. We stick to the plan.

We break into the Upside Down the only way we can,

through the MAC-Z gate, under the cover of a burn.

Once inside, we search one zone at a time, methodically,

until we figure out where he's been hiding.

Unless…

he's already dead.

Again, your plan is great. It's just…

This is crawl what? Are we in the 30s now?

And not a single baddie in sight?

El can't find him in her bath,

and Will hasn't had his goosies since the shake 'n' quake.

- Goosies? - And last we saw Vecna,

he was roasting like a turkey and pumped full of lead.

That was before he fell three stories.

So you ever think we're scouring a battlefield

that we already, like, won?

Have you forgotten what he showed Nancy? Hawkins on fire.

- Karen, Holly, everyone dead. - [Steve] Yeah, man.

He also showed Max her brother walking around with a hole in his chest.

That's what he does. He gets in your head and tries to scare you.

He did a good job because I am scared. And you should be scared too.

Because if he's still out there, he's planning to end our world, so…

We don't stop looking. Even if it takes 100 more crawls, 1,000.

We don't stop until we're goddamn sure

that wrinkled, noseless, rotting bastard is dead and gone and never coming back.

Everyone in?

I want to see Vecna's heart on a platter.

Just wish I could do it myself.

For Eddie.

- For Eddie. - For Eddie.

On three, "kill Vecna." One, two, three.

[all] Kill Vecna!

[whooping]

[Mike] Oh no!

[chilling music playing]

- [Mike] Military man. - [Lucas] Wanted to see if you had my back.

- [Mike] Yeah, I have your back. - [friends continue laughing]

[chilling music intensifies]

[overlapping voices drowning out laughter]

[disembodied voices overlapping chaotically]

[chaotic audio distortions]

- Will! - Will!

Will!

- Hey, are you okay? - Yeah, it's okay. I'm fine.

Was it him? Was it Vecna?

I don't know. I just had this crazy feeling,

and then the sky was spinning, and…

I don't know. I guess maybe it's nothing, right?

I don't know.

Maybe I just get nervous sometimes before crawls.

Yeah, I… I get nervous too.

But the sky doesn't spin for me.

It ever spin for you?

Maybe he's close.

Okay. Squawk, six o'clock, not a second later, right?

- Six o'clock. - Are you okay?

- Yeah. - You sure?

- Take it slow. - Okay, yeah.

[music crescendos, halts]

[metallic groaning]

I'm just trying to get it started. Ready? Here we go. Come on.

I just gotta get this going, and then we're gonna have lots of fun.

Blast off!

Derek, stop! Come on! Get off!

- Derek, stop! - [Derek] Hold on tight!

- [girl] Go away! Derek! - [Derek] Try not to puke!

Stop!

[Derek cackling]

- Jerk face! - [Derek] Bite me.

You okay? Come here.

Let's get you off.

- [Holly sputters] - Oh my… Careful, careful!

- You okay? - [bell ringing]

All right, my dears, playtime's over.

Come on.

What is with that grumpy face?

Come on, we have books to read, art to create, wisdom to unlock.

[mysterious music playing]

Holly?

Hi.

[Holly] And she can tell Derek to go away too.

He is a jerk face.

Oh yeah, Miss Harris gave me…

[dark music rising]

[Holly] But she also said it wasn't really my fault.

[music trails off]

[fleshy mass gurgling]

[doctor] Are you just going to stand there, Sergeant Ramirez,

or did you have something to report?

Sorry, Dr. Kay.

Yes. Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan,

he tracked down that lead we spoke about, and--

[Dr. Kay] It was a tremendous success.

No, unfortunately.

[Dr. Kay] I see they don't teach sarcasm in the ROTC.

If it was good news, Sullivan would be here himself,

with trumpets and confetti, I have no doubt.

Don't worry. It doesn't bite.

It does, on occasion, strangle.

Was there anything else?

A new lead, perhaps, to offer more false hope?

Not yet, Doctor.

Sergeant.

Please tell your commander that I am running into a wall here.

People are dying, innocent people.

I need the girl.

[thunderclap echoing]

[Eleven] The last run, what was my time?

I'm not sure. I didn't see. I was distracted by Diana Ross.

I saved four seconds.

Highly doubt that.

[Joyce] No, no, it was very fast.

One second on the climb, one with the log, two on the bus.

Great. You did that today. You can do it again tomorrow.

The crawl is tonight, Hop. If I'm under 12:30, I can come with you.

- That is what you promised. - Yeah, I promised that. I promised it.

But I didn't see it.

So blame Diana.

You didn't think I could make the time, did you?

I think you can, but no, not today. I don't think you made that time.

Are you saying that I lie?

[Hopper] No, I'm saying you're mistaken.

[Eleven] I'm not mistaken.

[Hopper] Okay, so you're on your sixth run,

you're totally drained,

and you just happen to break your second record of the day,

right before a crawl.

I don't think so, kid.

You saw the time. I saw you look down. You have to let me go with you.

You want to find Henry so bad, don't you?

So bad.

Do it. Do it from the tub.

Do it remotely.

You're not coming with me. Not today.

End of story.

[door opens, closes]

[sighs]

Why are you being so hard on her?

I'm not being hard on her.

[Joyce scoffs]

She's just trying to help.

It'd be great if Will could help,

but you keep that kid wrapped in bubble wrap.

Come on. That's different.

I mean, El…

Look at her. She's… She's ready.

Thirty-seven crawls.

The only thing I found down in that damn place are soldiers,

lots of them.

And they're all looking for one person, El.

So there's no reason to put her life on the line and bring her down there,

especially not for some recon mission.

Well, if it's just some recon mission, then what's with all the guns?

It's in case I run into trouble.

- Yeah, or in case you run into him. - No.

I run into that psychic freak, I'm tucking tail and running.

I'm nuts. I'm nuts. But I'm not that nuts.

[tender, emotional music playing]

I'm gonna need El. I know that. I know that.

Which is precisely why there's no point in risking her life

over some stupid recon crap.

I want her primed, but I want her safe. Safe until the very last minute, okay?

Yeah, okay.

But her time on that last run,

did she make it?

With a second to spare.

[chuckles]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Andy] See what Donna was wearing?

She's gone up like two sizes since last year.

- [boy 1] Yeah, right. - Jesus Christ!

[girl 1] Oh my God.

It's just a corn snake, dude. Guys, it's just a corn snake.

[students laughing]

[girl 2] You're a pussy, dude.

- [boy 2] Did you piss your pants? - [boy 3] It's just a snake.

[boy 2] Hey, Andy, is that your new pet?

[girl 2] Don't scare him.

[music trailing off]

Holly!

Holly!

Holly.

What are you doing? Come on. I have to get going.

Sorry.

They told me to wait.

Is this about your mystery friend again?

Mr. Whatsit?

He's only trying to help.

Help? How?

By protecting me.

He says that there are monsters in Hawkins,

and… they like to eat kids like me.

Monsters aren't real, Holly.

I don't believe you.

I know you're scared because of everything that's happened.

With the crazy stories people tell, I mean, I get scared sometimes too.

No, you don't.

Are you kidding?

Everyone in Hawkins is scared shitless.

Anyone who says they aren't are full of it.

Like that mouth breather in your class… What's his name again?

- Derek? - Yeah, Derek.

He probably wets his bed every night.

Know who I turn to when I get scared?

Mike the Brave.

He goes on adventures called dungeon crawls.

What's a dungeon crawl?

Basically, he explores these underground worlds,

where he fights monsters, evil wizards, sorcerers and stuff.

But Mike the Brave is never scared.

So whenever I'm feeling frightened or nervous,

I just imagine that he's at my side,

and I feel better.

So maybe the next time you get scared, you don't need this Mr. Whatsit.

Maybe you just need Holly the Heroic.

Holly the Heroic?

I was gonna to wait a few more years, but…

She's a cleric, which means she has divine powers.

She can cast spells of protection to ward against evil spirits,

and even cooler, she can cast a dimension door,

which can teleport you to anywhere you visualize.

I mean, come on.

Can this lame-o Mr. Whatsit do any of this?

[chuckles] No.

She'll keep you safe. I promise.

[Will] It was this weird feeling.

Like something I really haven't felt before.

Mike thinks it could mean that maybe Vecna's close,

that he's finally re-emerged.

And if he has, maybe we'll find him tonight.

What do you think, Lucas?

Yeah, I think we'll find him this time for sure.

You wanna play the tape?

I'm gonna go grab a Coke or something caffeinated,

because it's gonna be a long night.

You want one?

No. I'm good. Thanks.

[door opens]

[door closes]

["Running Up That Hill" playing]

Robin!

Rockin' Robin!

Okay. So I have good news, and I have bad news.

What are you doing here?

A good friend once said, "Bad news first, always."

So I have to cancel our date tonight.

Of course.

But the good news is I made us a reservation.

8:00 p.m. tomorrow night at Enzo's.

Enzo's? Okay, how exactly are we gonna be able to afford that?

You mean how am I going to afford it?

Because you, my dear, are paying for nothing.

Double how, then?

I stole money off the dead guy they just wheeled out.

That's not funny. His name was Mr. Pentergast,

and he was very nice.

And very rich.

- Robin… - Look, dinner's on me, okay?

But, uh, maybe for dessert, I could… I could see you in this hat,

and, like, only this hat.

- I hate you. I… [laughs] - [Robin giggles]

[sweet, tender music playing]

[faint laughter]

[Vickie laughs] Was that on purpose?

- Totally. - That's so sexy.

[Robin] So, there any chance I could get you to wear this outfit?

But that's…

[can clattering, fizzing]

[uneasy music playing]

Who is that?

Shit.

[music swells, trails off]

Don't worry, Eddie. Eventually they'll get bored.

[tense music building]

[foreboding music playing]

[foreboding music building]

You should really keep a better eye on your pets, Henderson.

It's dangerous out there. They shouldn't be left alone like that.

Hey there, freak. Long time no see.

Hiya.

- [chuckles] - Something funny, Henderson?

No, I… I was just thinking.

In Eddie's last campaign,

I defeated Vecna's lead acolyte by casting Prismatic Spray.

One D8 turned up a 7.

Violet.

- Is that supposed to be English, freak? - [jocks laughing]

Well, violet Prismatic Spray is the deadliest. You know why?

It causes blindness.

Hey!

[Dustin screams]

[Andy] Hellfire dies with you, Henderson.

And it dies tonight.

[Lucas] Dustin, this is Lucas. Do you copy? Over.

Dustin, do you copy? Over.

Dustin, you're an hour late, man. You're making us nervous.

We need you here at the Squawk.

Dustin, if you can hear us, please respond. Over.

I got off the phone with his mom. She hasn't heard from him.

- Christ, Henderson. - He'll show. He always shows.

Try him again.

Come in, Dustin. Are you there? Earth to Dustin.

This is serious, man. Quit playing. We can't wait around.

[sweet, emotional music playing]

[Lucas] Get your ass to the Squawk.

We can't wait around. We need you here now.

This is not funny. Are you there?

[music trails off]

Dustin, is everything okay?

- [Eleven] Do you think Dustin is okay? - [Lucas] Dustin!

I hope so.

He was acting weird today.

- Weird how? - [Mike sighs]

Just angry, scared, reckless. Not himself.

[Eleven] Hopper's the same.

Not himself.

Maybe it's just getting to us, you know?

Being… Being stuck in here, not knowing where Vecna is,

no end in sight.

I mean, we're really starting to lose it.

I mean, we really need to catch a break.

And maybe we will. Because earlier, Will had a feeling.

- If Will has a feeling-- - Then it means something.

So… So, maybe tonight's our break.

Maybe even our last crawl.

We find Vecna, and we end this once and for all.

And then what happens?

You mean after you totally demolish Vecna?

[chuckles softly]

In my campaigns, if the party wins, then they all live happily ever after.

Happily how?

Well, usually what happens is the party doesn't return to their local village,

because too much has happened.

They've seen too much.

So they travel to a faraway land, a… a peaceful land,

somewhere beautiful, with like three waterfalls or something,

and they all start again, together.

[hopeful synth music playing]

Do you think that could be real for us?

Yeah, of course.

I mean, not the three waterfalls part. But the other stuff, yeah, of course.

If Vecna's gone, then what's stopping us?

Hey, lovebirds! Chief's almost ready.

Let's do this. Come on.

Thank you.

Here.

Good luck.

- Tag's active. - [Robin] Copy.

Harrington, you getting any signal? Tag is active.

Yeah, just give me a second.

Hey, anybody know how Henderson's wheelie thing works?

Uh, any ideas?

There's a safety lock. Look for a small switch under the wheel.

[Robin] There should be a safety lock under the wheel.

Safety lock, real necessary.

Okay.

Okay, getting a signal.

It's pretty quiet, though.

[faint staticky pulsing]

[pulsing accelerates]

Okay, signal's holding a steady 90 dB.

But how am I supposed to monitor this and drive without Henderson?

Uh, hear anything from Inspector Gadget?

Nothing.

I can do it. I… I can monitor.

No. You're staying here.

Mom, I helped Dustin set up the antenna. I know how to work it.

Out of the question. It… It's just a wheel.

It's not just a wheel.

Jonathan, you… you can work it, right?

[Jonathan sighs]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think so.

You better not think. You better know.

You lose me out there, I'm not coming home.

I can handle it.

[Steve] You comfortable back there, Byers?

Or you want me to get you a pillow?

Just focus on driving.

Try to get back to me in one piece, okay?

[breathing heavily]

What?

Sorry, I'm just looking at you.

You get more beautiful every day.

[tender, emotional music playing]

How is that fair?

You didn't answer my question.

I know.

You didn't answer mine.

[music trailing off]

[Karen] Look, she was standing at the fence, talking into thin air.

[Ted] She probably was talking to herself.

[Karen] …standing there talking to nobody.

[Ted] Well, she's hardly the first child to have an imaginary friend, Karen.

I wouldn't be so worried if she was five years old,

but she's not five anymore, is she?

In fact, do you even know how old your daughter is?

- Oh, you don't even know how old she is! - You're ridiculous.

[Ted] I'm not talking to you when you're like this.

First one tonight, or already onto number two?

[Karen] Does it matter?

[moody synth music playing]

[soldier shouting indistinctly]

Squawk to Crow's Nest, anything? Over.

Negative, not a peep.

[Lucas chewing loudly]

Do you have to chew so loud?

Snipers chew gum.

You're not a sniper.

Package incoming. Four trucks, outer east gate on Main.

We got action. Four trucks, outer east gate on Main.

The hole! Clear the hole.

Burners, prepare to deploy.

On my mark! Move, move, move.

[Lucas] Burners heading for the gate.

Burn commencing in five, four,

three, two,

and boom!

[gate shrieking]

[Lucas] Trucks moving in.

Trucks moving in.

Am I clear?

- [Lucas] Clear to the east. - East is clear.

And to the west?

Hold. We got a straggler.

Come on.

Get the hell out of there.

Come on.

Clear.

He's in.

He's in.

[gate continues shrieking]

Open sesame.

He's flipped.

Jonathan, signal?

[static crackling]

Snagged it.

[steady pulsing over radio]

- Should I move? - No.

Hold.

Hold. Hold.

[pulsing increases in frequency]

Hold.

Go!

Van is on the move.

[tense music playing]

Hopper, can you hear us okay?

Yeah, yeah, loud and clear.

Good, good. Okay, hard part's over.

I mean, speak for yourself. I still gotta jump out of this thing.

And is it me, or are we moving faster than normal?

A little faster.

- Just aim for the grass. - [Hopper laughs]

I was gonna go for the asphalt, but now that you mention the grass--

What's going on? Hopper?

- We're losing him! - Wait, what?

Wait! Stop! Stop!

[beeping increases in frequency]

We got him.

[relieved panting]

Hopper, do you copy?

Hopper!

[Hopper] Yeah, I copy.

[Joyce] What the hell happened?

I don't know. We just slammed to a stop.

Wh… Why would they stop?

The soldiers…

they know he's there.

We don't know that.

[soldier] What's going on over there?

There are too many.

He can't take them.

[disorienting audio distortions]

[heavy footsteps thudding]

- [faint clicking] - Whoa!

- [soldier screaming] - [bursts of gunfire]

[roaring over radio]

[screaming over radio]

[dark music playing]

[distorted screaming]

[garbled shouting]

[electricity stuttering]

- The hell's happening? - I don't know.

[gunfire continuing]

[Demogorgon roars]

[driver screams]

[metallic groaning]

[Hopper grunts]

[Will's gasp echoing]

[Joyce] Will! No!

Honey!

[echoing] Will! Will! Will!

[ominous music playing]

[music trails off]

[Hopper grunting, panting]

[clicking in distance]

[creature snarling]

Squawk, do you copy?

Joyce? Anyone?

[snarling in distance]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Joyce] Will, Will, come back! Come on, honey.

Will, come back. Come back.

Will, come on.

Will! Will! Wake up!

[rapid footsteps]

[snarling]

[thunder crashing]

[Joyce, distorted] Come back! Come back!

Will, sweetie. It's okay.

[Will] Mom!

It's okay. It's okay.

I'm here. I'm here.

It's okay. Just breathe. Just breathe.

What happened?

[Will wheezing]

I saw it.

What? What did you see?

The Demogorgon.

It's coming. It's coming for them.

For who? Who's them?

Robin, stay here.

Contact Hopper, the boys. Tell everyone what's going on.

Right. Right.

- Think you can get the power back on? - I can try.

You do, you call my house and tell everyone to get the hell out.

[Robin] Okay.

[Ted grunts]

[Holly sobbing quietly]

[electricity buzzing erratically]

[mysterious music playing]

[erratic, high-pitched buzzing]

[growling]

Mom!

Mom!

[ferocious roar]

["Upside Down" by Diana Ross playing]

[funky disco pop continuing]

♪ I said upside down, you're turning me ♪

♪ You're giving love instinctively ♪

♪ 'Round and 'round, you're turning me ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ Instinctively, you give to me The love that I need ♪

♪ I cherish the moments with you ♪

♪ Respectfully, I say to thee ♪

♪ I'm aware that you're cheating ♪

♪ When no one makes me feel like you do ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ I know you got charm and appeal ♪

♪ You always play the field ♪

♪ I'm crazy to think you're all mine ♪

♪ As long as the sun continues to shine ♪

♪ There's a place in my heart for you That's the bottom line ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

♪ Instinctively, you give to me The love that I need ♪

♪ I cherish the moments with you ♪

♪ Respectfully, I say to thee ♪

♪ I'm aware that you're cheating ♪

♪ But no one makes me feel like you do ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round, 'round ♪

♪ Upside down ♪

♪ Boy, you turn me inside out ♪

♪ And 'round and 'round ♪

[song trails off]

Can you hear the drums, Fernando?

I remember long ago Another starry night like this

In the fire…

Dadgum it!

No!

Help! Help!

Mom!

Mom! Dad!

Mom!

Mom! Mom!

- Holly? - Mom! Mom!

- Mom, the monster! - Baby, what are you doing? What's wrong?

- Mom, there's a monster in there. - Holly, slow down. I can't understand you!

- Mom, there's a monster. The mon-- - Holly.

Whatever you saw, baby, it was just a nightmare.

- No, Mom! Mom! - Baby, it's just a nightmare!

I saw it. Please trust me, Mom.

Please, Mom, please. You gotta believe me. Please.

What the heck?

What's your location? Over.

Pickett, five minutes away.

You're way ahead of us. Radio as soon as you're there!

I will.

And Nancy, be careful.

Hold on.

There was something In the air that night

The stars were bright, Fernando

They were shining there for you and me

For liberty, Fernando

Though we never thought That we could lose

There's no regret

If I had to do the same again

There was something In the air that night

The stars were bright, Fernando

Karen!

Heavens to Betsy.

Karen!

Everything all right?

Holly?

Holly!

Holy smokes.

Oh God. Hey. Stay back. Stay back!

Back!

Go! Go!

Mom!

Oh, God!

Holly, get back!

Stay away from my daughter!

Mom, no!

It's inside.

I see it. Get ready.

Nancy, what's going on? Talk to me! What's happening?

Nancy!

Stay away from my daughter!

Mom!

Don't try to talk, okay? Just stay calm, okay?

You're gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine, okay?

You're gonna be fine.

Holly.

Go. Go, go, go, go! Go!

You're gonna be okay, Mom. I'm right here. Just stay with me. Okay?

Can you do that? Can you please stay with me?

I promise I won't let anything happen to you.

I'm gonna get you help. I just need you to hold on, okay?

Just hold on.

Vitals. Talk to me.

Female, 46 years old.

- Heart rate 120. BP 103/67. - Got a male, late forties.

Multiple blunt impact. Weak abdominal…

Pulse is thready and weak.

Lacerations to the right anterior chest and penetrating neck trauma.

We're right here. You're okay.

I'm sorry. You have to wait outside.

- Can't we stay with them? - We have to let the doctors do their job.

We'll update you as soon as we know something, okay? Okay?

I can't see a damn thing.

Cross-match, get to the bag.

Where’s my X-ray cart?

- Maybe four broken ribs. - Stand by to intubate.

This is our fault.

This is all our fault.

We got there as fast as we could.

I'm not talking about tonight.

We could have acted yesterday, last week, last fall.

We could've tried to get them out of Hawkins,

or… or at least told them the truth.

We could have done something, anything.

We couldn't have known any of this would happen.

Do you really believe that?

After all this time, it comes for Holly?

Holly, who has nothing to do with any of this.

It makes no goddamn sense.

It makes perfect goddamn sense.

Vecna told me this would happen.

He showed me.

And not just the four gates.

Holly, Mom, Dad dead.

And we just… we just chose not to believe him.

But now it's all coming true. Like, don't you get it, Mike?

Vecna's come back to realize his vision, to punish us.

He did it with Fred and Chrissy and Max,

and now it's our turn.

And he's not gonna stop.

He's not gonna stop until we're drained of every last ounce of suffering.

I'm not so sure this was about punishment.

Vecna doesn't leave things unfinished.

He doesn't hold back.

Because if this was really about making you guys suffer,

why leave your parents alive?

Why take Holly into the Upside Down

and not leave her body here for you to find?

Why not come here himself?

Why send one of his… his pets?

What are you saying? It's not Vecna?

What I'm saying is I don't know,

and neither do you.

There are just too many questions right now.

I… I just know I'm having serious déjà vu,

because this is exactly what happened to Will

at almost exactly the same time.

You know what date it is, right?

November 3rd.

Will was taken on the 6th.

We are less than three days away.

Three days away from the day that changed everything.

I don't know about you guys, but…

…I don't believe in coincidences.

Not anymore.

But we got Will back.

And we're going to get Holly back, 'cause she's not alone.

Eleven's in there with her.

And if anybody can save your sister--

It's El.

It's El.

Stay indoors!

Stay inside!

The daughter found her mother here.

We believe Mrs. Wheeler was trying to escape when she was attacked.

And no one saw this intruder?

No. By the time she got home, the intruder was gone,

along with her sister.

The daughter, she arrive alone?

That's what she told us, sir.

I want you to pull up all video surveillance

within a two-mile radius of this house.

- You think it could be her, sir? - Now.

Holly! Holly!

Holly!

Hop.

Hop!

Hop?

I'm sorry. Are you okay?

El.

How are you here?

Wait. Wait.

Wait. You gotta…

You gotta get out of here. It's not safe.

- There's-- - A Demogorgon.

I know. It's bleeding.

She must have hurt it.

What? Who?

Karen. With her wine.

What?

When I search for Holly, I can't find her, but she must be close.

- Holly? - We just need to find the blood.

Holly Wheeler? What are you…

El, wait! Goddamn it!

Whoa.

It's like everything went kablooey all at once.

Has this kind of thing happened with his visions before?

Where the lights go kooky and electronics short-circuit?

No.

So this is just, like, a fun, new development.

Aren't there any backup fuses or something?

Yeah, in storage, I think so. I mean, I hope so, right?

Oh! Uh… You'd like me to go get them?

- Yeah. - Right.

Uh, of course. I am totally on it.

I… I'll be right back.

I know it's hard to talk about,

but these… these visions,

were they like before?

Like when you had your now memories?

Only more intense.

It's like I was there. I was right there.

It's… It's like I was the Demogorgon.

I was seeing what it was seeing and thinking what it was thinking.

Do you have any idea why it would go after the Wheelers,

take Holly?

I don't… I'm not sure. It's…

It's so hard to remember everything. It's… It's almost like a dream.

This doesn't make any sense. I…

I… I must have somehow tapped back into the hive mind.

But we severed the connection.

I don't think it was ever… truly severed.

Ever since he took me, it's like I… I was…

permanently changed.

These feelings of connection, they come and go.

But that summer, after the gate opened,

I felt him again.

And it went away when I was in California.

But the day after I got back,

the feeling returned.

And now he's closer.

He's closer than ever before.

Maybe you're like a receiver.

You know, like a radio receiver, just a magical human version.

- I… I don't follow. - Okay.

Imagine that you have an antenna coming up from the top of your head.

And Vecna, he uses Mind Flayer particles like radio waves.

When the antenna is close to the waves, the signal comes through clear as day.

But if you're too far away…

Static.

So maybe that's how we do it.

That's how we find Holly.

What, with your antenna?

Earlier, I had a vision in the woods near the school.

I didn't understand it at the time,

but maybe I was seeing through the Demogorgon's eyes then too.

And maybe if I go back there,

I can connect back to the hive mind, to the signal.

Will.

- I've spied on Vecna before. - And he took control of you.

- I know, but-- - You almost died.

And Holly will too if we don't do something.

We are doing something.

Replacing fuses?

We've got to get the Squawk back up so we can find Hopper.

Hopper, right. This is about your boyfriend.

He's our only connection to the Upside Down, to El.

How does that get us closer to Holly?

She's in there, Mom, all alone. I know what that's like.

I won't just leave her there.

We're gonna get her back,

but we're not gonna risk your life while doing it.

- Are you just gonna stand there? - Right.

Uh, intimate family moment. Sorry.

Fuses, power. On it.

How long is this gonna take?

Not too long.

We just gotta let this sucker charge for a few minutes, then hopefully…

vroom, vroom.

Bopper, while we wait?

Well, this better be quick.

Our good Samaritan's turning sour. I think she might have placed me.

- Placed you? - Stood up her sister. Multiple occasions.

Great.

Did you get a hold of Nance?

Dad's in an induced coma, and Mom's in surgery.

They're not gonna know anything for a couple hours.

Jesus Christ, man.

Yeah.

You think we should go see her at the hospital?

I mean, if we can get this hunk of junk moving.

Mmm…

No. No, we stick to the plan.

Search Zone G1.

- Find Hopper, find Eleven and find Holly. - Right.

Just… That seems complicated.

Like, it might take a lot of time.

Okay.

You know, the hospital is on the way.

We could just swing by,

bring Nance, like, flowers or something.

Jesus Christ.

What?

I just thought that, tonight of all nights,

you might just give it a rest.

Give what a rest?

This bullshit macho competition for Nancy's attention.

- What are you talking about? - What am I talking about?

- Yeah. - Really?

Dude, ever since I got back from Lenora, you are constantly showing off for her.

How you're better than me!

Which is shitty enough on a normal day,

but now her parents are fighting for their lives, her sister is missing,

and all you can think about is giving her flowers.

You selfish, chauvinistic meathead!

You know what, Byers?

You're totally right.

Me worrying about my good friend, my friend,

that makes me the selfish one here.

Or maybe, just maybe, you're the problem, dude.

Ever since you got back,

you've been acting like a paranoid pothead weirdo.

And maybe if you stopped focusing on me and started focusing on her,

maybe then the two of you would finally be happy.

Because right now, the only one

who's more miserable in that relationship than you…

is Nance.

You've got to be shitting me.

And you got there how, exactly?

Get where?

The Wheeler house. Did you take the Henderson shelter?

No. Nancy drove me.

Nancy drove you?

Yes.

We don't drive ever, do we?

- Do we? - No.

No, we take the tunnels,

and we don't surface until it's clear, until it's safe.

I wore my hoodie.

Oh, well, geez, that's great.

I don't know why we've been crawling around in the mud all this time.

We should've just drove you around in your hoodie.

The tunnels are too slow.

Holly was in danger.

Yeah, and now so are you.

If those military guys haven't already caught you on camera, they will.

And when they do,

they'll be coming for you with everything they got.

Then we have to end this before they find us.

Is that what this is about, ending this?

The Demogorgon can lead us to Vecna.

How?

When I searched for Holly, I could not find her, just like Vecna.

So maybe wherever she is, he is, where my powers cannot reach.

I'm sorry. So your… your theory is what, exactly?

It's that the Demogorgon has taken little Holly Wheeler to Vecna

as some kind of early Christmas present?

What does Vecna want with Holly Wheeler? What… How does any of this make sense?

- I don't know! - Exactly, you don't know.

Because you haven't put any thought into anything you've been doing tonight.

You've been acting on impulse, on emotion, everything I taught you not to do!

Goddamn it…

More blood than before.

It's slowing down.

We can still catch it.

And not emotion.

Instinct.

We don't know where Hop or El are,

or if they found each other or Holly, or… or anything.

We're totally in the dark up here.

You don't wanna hurt me

I wish I… I had better news.

Hopefully my next update will be

something like El and Hop saved Holly, and killed Vecna,

and everyone's back home celebrating and everything.

But if I've learned anything over the years…

it's never gonna be that easy.

El's amazing.

But she can't do this alone. She's gonna need all the help she can get.

She's going to need the party, the full party.

Which is why I'm here.

The final battle…

I feel like it started tonight.

And Max, we can't win this without you.

If my theory is right, we're running out of time.

So if you're planning on resurrecting anytime soon, now… now is the time.

Even a sign would be enough to show me you're still in there.

Please, Max.

Please.

Wake up.

Just… something.

I miss you.

Oh, come on, angel Come on, come on, darlin'

Let's exchange the experience

Okay, so, you're not gonna believe this,

but she still won't give us a timeline on seeing Mom.

And… And I wasn't even asking to see Mom.

I was just asking to talk to the doctor, and she just kept saying…

Mike. Mike, are you listening?

Yeah. Yeah, no. Uh…

I was thinking about something Lucas said earlier,

about how he doesn't believe in coincidences anymore, and…

Did Holly ever talk to you about Mr. Whatsit?

Her… imaginary friend from the book?

Well, yeah, it's Mrs. Whatsit in the book. So… So, this is her own creation.

At least that's what I thought.

When I went to pick her up from school today,

she said that Mr. Whatsit told her that there were monsters in Hawkins.

And he warned her that these monsters, they were coming for her.

And on the same day, she's actually taken by a monster?

I mean, as far as coincidences go, that's a hell of a one.

And your theory is… what exactly?

What if Mr. Whatsit isn't a figment of Holly's imagination?

- What if he's real? - Real?

Yeah, what if?

It… It doesn't make sense. How have we never seen him?

Maybe we have, and we just didn't know.

- So who the hell is he? - I don't know.

- How does he know that Holly's in danger? - I don't know.

If he was so worried, then why wouldn't he warn us or Mom

or do something about it?

I don't know, Nance.

My theory, it has holes.

You were right about what you said earlier.

We could have done more to protect Mom and Dad and Holly, and…

I don't want to have any more regrets.

And maybe my theory is wrong.

But if it isn't, if Mr. Whatsit is real, then he would know things.

Like why Holly was taken, or… or maybe even--

Where she was taken.

And how do you propose we go about finding out who this guy is?

I was kind of hoping you'd tell me.

You're the genius investigative reporter after all.

That's not fair. Appealing to my ego.

Okay. I'm gonna need you to talk to that receptionist

and do your best sad, lost boy, puppy dog thing.

My what? Why?

Because she hates me, and you're cute, and we're gonna need her help

if we want to get close to the one person who knows about Mr. Whatsit,

Mom.

And by sheer luck, Jessica was coming back from a party,

and I charmed my way into getting us a jump.

Which brings us to you, arriving looking like Rocky Balboa.

So basically, of all the crawls, this was, like, the one to miss.

So, well done, Henderson. Really, really, like, well done.

Speechless. That's new.

I'm still processing, Steve. It's a lot.

Holly?

Why Holly?

Well, maybe Eleven could tell us, but it's a bit difficult to contact her

now that we've lost our connection to the Upside Down.

Okay. For the future, when the lights go from really bright to really dim,

it means the generator is surging so you have to turn everything off.

- Wow. Great. - Immediately.

Thank you. I'll remember that the next time that happens.

Or, maybe, and this is just a suggestion, you could be where you're supposed to be.

I was en route to the Squawk.

When you fell off your bike. That's right.

Remind me. What did you fall into again? A knuckle sandwich?

Hey, can you keep it down up there?

I'm listening for a signal back here, in case you forgot.

Who was it? It was Andy and his goons, wasn't it?

You poked the bear one too many times.

Your concern for me is overwhelming, Steve.

My concern?

I have shown nothing but concern for you since forever,

and I have been repeatedly ignored, and now look what's happened.

We are totally screwed.

Correction, we are screwed because you don't know

how to do the most basic thing like prevent a power surge.

- See, this right here is your problem. - It's the easiest thing in the world.

- You can't admit you were wrong. - My mother could prevent a surge.

- You can't admit it. - Shockingly, I think your mother--

Jesus Christ! Just do it for once!

Just admit it, Henderson. You're wrong! You screwed up!

Hey! Can you guys shut the hell up?

Jesus Christ.

You two seem to be getting along.

Yeah, well, in this case, I actually like his suggestion.

- I don't wanna talk to you. - I don't wanna talk to you either.

Good.

Good.

Good.

This is Dungeon Master to Scout Battalion. Do you copy? Over.

This is Dungeon Master to Scout Battalion.

Do you copy? Over.

This is Dungeon Master to Scout Battalion. Do you copy? Over.

Great Scott!

- How long has that light been red? - Oh. I don't know.

Shit, shit, shit! The flux capacitor is down again.

- Is that bad? - I mean, it could be.

It's fixable, but it's a two-man job.

Come on.

We'll be right back.

Flux capacitor?

Shh! I was lying, obviously. That light is always red.

Everything's totally fine, except…

- Whoa. - Except for your mom's plan.

I mean, no offense to your mom, but come on.

The boys have already circled Zone G1, like, five times.

Even if they miraculously find Hopper, where does that get us exactly?

I mean, Holly is still missing.

Whereas your plan is genius.

- You think so? - Totally.

You got an antenna in your head, use it.

The Enigma machine won the war. Knowledge is power.

- So… - So… So, you want to…

Skip school, play hooky,

connect your brain into an interdimensional monster's signal,

and save little Wheeler?

Yeah, kind of.

I mean, your mom is gonna be raging mad,

and she's probably right.

It is super dangerous, but…

Isn't everything we do super dangerous?

Precisely. So what do you say?

This is Dungeon Master to Scout Battalion.

Screw it.

When were these taken?

Three hours ago, give or take.

We've had sightings before.

- Yes, but this time is different. - Different.

Don't interrupt me again until you have her in custody.

She's here, Dr. Kay.

What do you mean, "here"?

Hey, come on. Slow down. Hang on.

I found more blood. It must be close.

Oh, you goddamn stubborn punk-ass…

What are you doing?

We're gonna lose her.

It's just a cramp. It's just old age. Just give me a second.

- Hey. - No, hey. Hey! Ahh!

Looks worse than it is.

Where did you learn to do this?

Max.

First clean, then disinfect, then bandage.

- Stop moving. - Yeah, well, it stings. It stings!

That means it's working.

You're more like me than I'd like to admit.

What, a stubborn punk-ass?

You heard that?

You talk loud.

Yeah, I guess I am a stubborn punk-ass.

Or at least I was.

I never listened to my pops either.

Always thought I knew best.

Pissed him right off.

I remember one day it got so heated, he took me to the recruitment office.

He made me enlist right there.

He thought the Army would do me some good. Give me some structure, discipline.

The thing was, I thought I was smarter than the officers.

Were you?

Sometimes.

But mostly, no, I was just dumb.

Naive.

I used to trust my gut and my instinct.

Never… Like you.

Did a lot of crazy things in that war. Reckless things.

You might call them brave,

but there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

Saw a lot of brave men die in that war.

Friends of mine.

My daughter…

Sara.

She was brave.

Bravest person I ever knew.

She stared death in the face. She never got scared. She never wavered.

Fought her heart out.

The doctors said they never saw anything like it.

They thought she was gonna make it too.

So, that's why you don't want me in here?

Because you think Vecna will win,

and I will die?

I don't think…

I don't think anything. I've just…

Just been around long enough to know that…

you can't count on anything in this life.

I don't want to lose you.

I won't.

Which is why whatever happens from here on out,

wherever this blood leads,

I need you to do what I say.

So don't be a stubborn punk-ass like you?

Yeah, don't be a stubborn punk-ass.

Hey, hey, hey!

I lead.

So sorry to disturb you, Doctor, but it's the Wheeler children.

What about them?

They say they need to speak to you. They say it's--

An emergency!

What kind of emergency?

Our… Our sister, she's missing, as you know.

I understand. And I'm very sorry.

Well, we think our mom has something.

Or knows something.

About our sister, about finding our sister.

And I wish I could get you in to see her.

But your mother's recovering from surgery. Her system is still in shock.

And beyond that, her larynx is extremely damaged.

She wouldn't be able to talk, even if she were awake.

Right, but even so--

Listen to me.

Finding your mother when you did saved her life.

Let's not risk it now.

All right, sweetheart.

What now?

So we need to change sheets in 307.

Rooms 202 and 203 are vacant. And they need mopping.

Denise needs help later…

- What? - Come on.

- What are we doing? - Ignoring doctor's orders.

- He said it's too risky. - When has that stopped us before?

Besides, did you smell his breath?

I don't trust doctors who smoke…

or call me "sweetheart."

Hey, man, I'm gonna turn on Irwin. One more loop around the zone?

Yeah. Go ahead.

No, wait. Scratch that.

I think I got something.

- Seriously? - Is it Hop?

Yeah, I… I don't know. I'm not getting a hit on the decoder,

but I can hear something.

Yeah, I definitely hear something.

Is that him?

Yo, dude!

Yeah, uh, we're not sure.

- No, it's not Hop. - What? Then what the hell is it?

I don't know. It could be a million things.

Military broadcast, TV channel, any EMI within our frequency zone.

I do know it's not Hop's telemetry tag,

because if it was, it would show up on the decoder.

So… search continues.

Hey, Mom, um, disregard. It's a false alarm.

Jonathan, is your receiver in any way connected

to the flux capacitor?

Uh, sorry, Mom. Can, uh… Can you repeat that?

The flux capacitor.

Robin said it was down,

but she and Will are working on it.

I wanted to make sure it wasn't messing with your connection.

Hello?

Hello?

You know, we can still turn back if you want.

I'm more scared of my mom at this point, to be honest.

Fair.

Is this where it happened?

Where you had your vision?

Yeah. Right here.

Are you… feeling anything?

No.

What…

So, what are we doing now, exactly?

If your theory's right, and my receiver is proximity-based,

I need to get close to the Demo to tap into the hive mind.

And maybe, earlier, when the Demo was passing by,

it was headed for its monster lair.

Right. Monster lair.

We're already here. Might as well push our luck.

I've been meaning to ask you, were you at the hospital yesterday?

The hospital?

No. No, no, no.

Weird. I could have sworn I saw you there, but…

Vickie, she's a candy striper…

- Oh yeah. - She's my friend.

We're friends. Good friends. But, uh…

The thing is, some people might not understand our friendship.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is if you were there and did see something,

it might just be better if, uh, nobody knew,

if it stayed between us.

I didn't see anything.

Sorry. It's just I tend to be off-topic when I'm nervous,

and you said that thing about monster lair, and I thought,

"What if your mom was right, and you get kidnapped by Vecna, and…"

Holy shit.

What… Where are you going?

It's a mandala. Did you do this, Mrs. Harris's class, fifth grade?

So cool. Though, come to think of it, it's not even really a mandala.

I mean, it's just a spiral. Mandalas are usually concentric circles

but it's the thought that counts.

Speaking of the thought that counts,

is it a mandala, or a mandah-la, or a man-dala?

- I heard laughter. - What?

In my vision.

Kids laughing, playing.

What does that have to do with a monster lair? Will!

That's not a Demogorgon.

Stay close to me.

Hop?

Jesus Christ.

What is it?

Holly was here.

Right here.

Maybe that's why I can't find her in my mind.

It took her…

through the wall.

Incoming, incoming.

- Limp or something. - What?

Limp!

…to New England?

Oh, it is amazing.

Don't look back.

- What kind of limp is that? - It's a limp, a regular limp.

Whoa.

Hi, Mom.

Mom, can you hear us, Mom?

Mom?

Can you hear me?

Mom.

Hi.

Hi there.

Hi, Mom.

Hey, Mom.

Don't try to talk.

It's your throat. It's gonna be okay. It needs time to heal.

Yeah.

But could you… could you maybe write?

Yeah? Okay.

Okay.

"Holly?"

Yeah, that's, um…

That is why we're here, Mom.

Holly's…

She's missing.

Hey, we're gonna get her back.

We just need your help.

We think there's someone that knows where Holly is,

who knows why she was taken and where she is.

We just don't know where he is.

And so, we're hoping that you might.

"Who?"

Um…

We don't know his name, but Holly, she…

she calls him Mr. Whatsit.

Come on.

I don't understand. What exactly are we doing here?

We're looking for this.

"Teacher saw talking to W."

"W" as in "Whatsit"?

"Nobody…"

"…there."

In my vision earlier, the sky was spinning.

So, I think I was here,

right here on this merry-go-round during Ms. Harris's recess.

Blast off!

Derek, stop!

Stop, Derek! Get off! Go away!

I don't understand. I thought you were seeing through the Demogorgon.

I know. So did I.

But you said yourself Vecna controls the hive mind,

which means he's a part of it too. So, when he searches for his victims…

- He invades their minds. - He sees what they see.

Did Holly ever describe Mr. Whatsit to you?

Like, maybe what he's wearing or anything like that?

Holly, time for breakfast.

"Pocket watch."

"Tall. Vest."

Okay, he wears a vest.

Uh, he's gentle and kind.

So, what if I was seeing through the eyes of Vecna's next victim,

this victim he's stalking, which means I was seeing through--

Holly's eyes.

But if that's true, it would mean…

I was him.

I was Vecna.

Did Holly ever say if he has a first name?

Are the others here yet?

No, not yet.

You will save them, too, won't you? Save them from the monsters?

Yes, Holly. Don't you worry. I'm going to save your friends.

Every last one of them.

And my family?

Are they coming too?

Your friends first.

Then after, I'll save your family too, of course.

I have room for everyone here.

Mr. Sandman

Bring me a dream

Make him the cutest That I've ever seen

Give him two lips Like roses and clover

Then tell him that His lonesome nights are over

Sandman

I'm so alone

Don't have nobody to call my own

Please turn on your magic beam

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Make him the cutest That I've ever seen

Give him the word that I'm not a rover

Then tell him that His lonesome nights are over

Sandman, I'm so alone

Don't have nobody to call my own

Please turn on your magic beam

Ah, Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Mr. Sandman

Yes?

Bring us a dream

Give him a pair of eyes With a come-hither gleam

Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci

And lots of wavy hair like Liberace

- Mr. Sandman, someone to hold - Someone to hold

Would be so peachy Before we're too old

So please turn on your magic beam

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Mr. Sandman, bring us

Please, please, please

Mr. Sandman

Bring us a dream

[goo splattering]

[Hopper grunting]

[grunting loudly]

- [gasping] - [yelling]

[wall shifting]

[shouting] God damn it!

I closed the gate.

I can break through.

What are you doing?

I need food for my battery.

You had a fully charged battery. You didn't make a dent.

No. We're not getting through that thing, whatever it is, not this way at least.

We have to.

We don't even know if Holly's on the other side.

The trail could've gone cold for a million reasons.

Battery.

Anything else?

Hey! I… No, I don't have anything else.

I was packing for a party of one, a party of me.

You're lucky I'm sharing with you.

Try it.

You might like it.

Hmm?

[vehicles approaching]

[thunder rumbling]

We gotta go.

[powering up]

[pulsing]

[foreboding music playing]

El?

You okay?

- [pulsing] - What's wrong? You all right?

- [walkie-talkie beeping] - Will, Robin, I need you to answer me.

I'm not mad. I just need to know you're safe.

[Will] Shit.

- Is that, uh… - Yeah.

- You think she saw us? - [tires squealing]

Yeah.

Get in.

I told you, I explicitly told you,

I didn't want him going anywhere that's not safe.

And not only did you take him, you cut off all communication.

Yes, I mean, in retrospect, that was a bit inconsiderate.

Inconsiderate?

We really should've left a note.

Is this funny to you?

Oh. Sorry. It must be my tone.

My mother says I sound perpetually insincere.

Okay, this is my son's life you're playing with.

My son.

So next time I say I do not want him leaving my side,

that means I don't want him leaving my goddamn side.

I'm right here, Mom.

You know, you can talk to me, right?

And I'm not a kid anymore.

Will, I am still your mother.

- Doesn't mean you know what you're doing. - What?

Your plan? It… It sucked.

I'm sorry, but it did.

You only liked it because it was safe,

but we don't have time for safe, not anymore.

We have to act, and we have to take risks, and thank God we did.

Because my plan, it… it actually worked.

I spied on Vecna and tapped back into the hive mind,

and we found out that Holly was just the beginning.

Vecna is gonna take more kids.

I don't know why or what he wants to do with them,

but now we know something we can use against him, his next target.

So next time you order me to stay by your side, I wouldn't count on it.

But, as I said, in the future, we will try to leave a note.

We should go. We have to stop Vecna. We don't have much time.

[engine starts]

[eerie music playing]

[children laughing, playing]

- [echoing] Ready for the biosphere? - Yes, I am.

Okay. Think about the difference between land and water.

Okay, got it. Thank you!

[teacher] Hey!

[eerie music continues]

[synth theme music playing]

[classical music playing on radio]

[Henry exhales]

You still thinking about your parents?

Yeah.

They are in the very best possible hands, Holly, I assure you.

And I'm told that they are improving with each hour that passes.

As soon as they're healed, they'll join us here.

I… I know.

- It's just-- - You wish to be with them.

I understand.

But you cannot offer them comfort in Hawkins, Holly.

The only comfort they have is knowing you are here, safe.

With me.

Safe from the monsters.

I thought blackberries might cheer you up a little.

They're your favorite, aren't they?

How did you know?

That they're my favorite?

Oh, it's, uh…

It's just a hunch.

I'm good with hunches.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll make chocolate chip pancakes.

- He loves those. - Who does?

Your classmate, Derek.

Derek is coming here?

You don't like Derek very much, do you?

Should I just let the monsters eat him?

No. No, you can't… you can't do that.

Well, how about this?

I will tell Derek

that if he misbehaves, or if he hurts you in any way,

I will send him right back, and he can face those monsters on his own.

How does that sound?

[Henry chuckles]

I expect to be gone most of the day.

While I'm out, you'll have the whole house all to yourself.

The whole house?

Everything which is mine is yours.

But in return, I need you to promise me one thing.

Something very important. Do you think you can do that?

Yeah.

You must never, under any circumstance, go out into the woods. Do you understand?

[eerie music playing]

Is that where the monsters live?

But they won't find you. That is, as long as you don't--

Don't try to find them.

You know, I'm very glad I saved you first.

You're the brightest of them all.

Oh, and if you don't mind, bring my mail in, won't you?

[laughs]

How did you know?

A hunch.

[foreboding music playing]

[foreboding music builds]

[music fades out]

[indistinct chatter over walkie-talkie]

Base, Alpha 1 checking in.

We're arrived at checkpoint H, H for Hercules.

No sign of freak.

We'll recon this area, then proceed to next checkpoint. Over.

[Base] Alpha 1, Base. Acknowledge your location at Hercules. Over.

Alpha 1, out.

Recon?

Meaning, I take a leak,

and you guys take five.

You heard the man. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

[Eleven moaning in pain]

[sizzling]

Some jackass messing with the wall, Lieutenant?

Some jackass, yeah.

But not one of ours.

Come on.

Get on the hedgehog.

Yes, sir.

[whirring]

[Eleven moaning in pain]

[pulsing]

[screaming]

[pulsing increases]

[moaning in pain continues]

[tense music playing]

- Oh! - Hey!

Come up! Come up!

Base, Alpha 1, we're taking enemy fire. Need backup and air cover now.

- [gun clicking] - [soldier] Move!

[tense music rising]

[Eleven grunting]

[Hopper] Okay.

- [Eleven screams] - [soldier] Who's there?

[Hopper grunts]

[pulsing fades out]

It looks like Robin sent up the Bat-Signal.

Hey. I'm so sorry.

- Are you okay? - Yeah.

Here.

Holy shit.

Yep.

Bike crash. Flew headfirst into a light post.

Look, I'm sorry about missing the crawl, about everything.

It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up.

Yeah, looks like he already did.

- Is that broken? - I dunno.

- Let me… - Don't touch it. Why--

- I wasn't…. I wanted to… - You were going to.

Hey, this isn't a social call, kiddos. Let's go.

[Steve] Derek?

Derek Turnbow?

As in the Turnbow family? Like Turnbow Realty?

The one and only.

Whole family's a menace.

[Nancy] How can you be sure?

Sure that Derek's the next target?

Because I saw.

I've learned that when I'm close enough to the hive mind,

I can tap into it, into Vecna's mind.

I can see who he's targeting.

The first time it happened, I saw through Holly's eyes

the same day she was taken.

And this morning, it happened again.

Only this time, I wasn't Holly.

- [kid] What the hell? - I was someone else.

- Watch where you're going, dipshit. - [Derek] Suck a fat one!

I was Derek Turnbow. I'm positive.

Hold on. I'm a little lost.

Shocking.

Were you seeing through the eyes of… of Vecna or of Derek?

Both.

I… I was Vecna,

but inside Derek's mind.

[Robin] Vecna's like a psychic serial killer.

He stalks his victims, but he does it by invading their minds.

That's what he did with Chrissy and Max.

Yeah, but the way he's doing it this time is different.

We did some digging at the hospital. It turns out that before he took Holly,

Vecna stalked her.

But… he didn't appear as Vecna. He appeared as Henry.

As a friend.

We think he was trying to earn her trust.

Now, why he went to all that trouble, we don't know.

But I highly doubt his long-term goal is friendship.

Whatever it is, whatever he's planning,

we have to stop him.

And we have to save Derek.

[Will] The Turnbows live here.

We wait in a van across the street.

As soon as they're asleep, we move in, we grab Derek,

and we take him to here,

the McCorkle farm. It's completely isolated. It's abandoned.

The only thing is, we need to make sure he doesn't see us or know where he is.

So we'll need to blindfold him.

Wait. Hold on. What?

So that Vecna can't find him.

Yeah. What, and Mom, you're okay with just kidnapping a child?

No, we're saving a child via kidnapping.

And yeah, it's fine,

I think.

Yes. Now's not the time to play it safe, Jonathan.

[Dustin] If I may,

though I'm not morally opposed to any of this, there are a few holes.

Yeah. Like what if Derek falls asleep before the Demogorgon attacks him?

That's one.

Or what if Derek wakes up before we grab him, alerts his family?

- We'll go to jail. - [Dustin] There's another.

But the third and most gaping hole is

even if by some miracle this plan even works,

Holly's still missing.

Hop and El, still MIA.

This doesn't bring us any closer to finding Vecna.

This plan just buys us and Derek some time.

That's it.

[Mike] Not necessarily.

There might be a way.

A way to save Derek and find Holly.

This is Derek.

And this is the rest of the Turnbow family.

We're gonna need to recruit someone that the family trusts,

someone that can gain access to the house.

This person will knock the family out.

Then we'll extract the family.

Knock them out?

Well, safely. With sleeping pills or something.

I might know where we could get some benzos.

Those things could knock an elephant on its ass.

[Mike] Perfect. That way if Vecna spies,

he'll just assume Derek is fast asleep in bed.

He'll send his Demos to grab him.

Only he won't find Derek. He'll find us.

And we'll be ready.

We'll get Murray to supply us with the traps.

We'll burn the sucker. Send him scampering home to its master,

but not before we stick him with one of these.

We'll track the Demo across the Upside Down

in the Squawk van just like we did with Hopper.

And if we're lucky, the Demo will lead us back to its lair,

to Vecna,

to Holly.

Holes?

["I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany playing]

♪ Children behave ♪

♪ That's what they say When we're together ♪

[Holly singing along] ♪ 'Cause what would they say ♪

♪ If they ever knew and so we're ♪

[rooster crowing]

♪ Running just as fast as we can ♪

♪ Holdin' onto one another's hand ♪

♪ Tryin' to get away into the night ♪

♪ And then you put your arms around me ♪

♪ And we tumble to the ground And then you say ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ There doesn't seem to be anyone around ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

[music continues in distance]

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ There doesn't seem to be anyone around ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

[song fades out]

[doorbell rings]

[doorbell rings repeatedly]

Henry?

[ringing stops]

Derek, if this is you, it's not funny, you barf bag!

[heavy footsteps receding]

[Holly] "I need your help."

"Meet me at the X."

"Henry."

East.

[medic] Move aside. Coming through! Make way, please!

You're gonna be okay, man. Just hang in there.

[soldier] Sir!

Orders?

Find who did this.

Bring them to me.

And I will disembowel the son of a bitch!

[soldier] Sir!

Let's go! Move out!

Got that Humvee hid pretty good.

If they don't know it's missing yet, they will soon.

Got more birds.

They all got those speakers, whatever they are.

I don't know how, but…

seems like our military friends found your kryptonite.

Hey.

Any movement from our guest?

Better not be brain-dead.

[Eleven] He peed on it.

What?

That soldier.

You said he peed on the big wall.

Yeah, no, I heard what you said.

I just don't know why you're talking about it.

Maybe he knows what it is…

or how to get through it.

That's highly doubtful.

What he will know, though,

is the schedule for the next supply convoy,

which is our way out of this hellhole.

What happens then?

We go back, we tell everybody what we saw, and we… we…

make a new plan.

The others? You think they'll know how to get through the wall?

I don't know. Maybe, yeah.

They won't.

We'll be back to the first square.

- Square one. - He peed on it.

Even if he knows something,

he's been trained to resist interrogation.

The Russians took two weeks trying to break me,

and they still couldn't.

We don't have two weeks. We don't have two hours.

Convoy information, I might be able to get out of him.

Classified information? That's not gonna happen.

With my help, it will.

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry.

I forgot about your extensive training in interrogation tactics.

My battery's charged.

I don't see how that helps us.

- I can break him. - El…

Twenty minutes.

You get to ask him about the convoy.

You get what you want,

then I get what I want.

Compromise. "C-O-M-promise." Remember?

Halfway happy.

- [banging] - [lieutenant] Hey, what is this?

Get me outta here! Get me the hell outta here!

You're a stubborn punk-ass. You know that, right?

Einstein-Rosen bridges,

more commonly known as wormholes,

are often depicted in an hourglass-like shape,

such as this.

While the existence of wormholes is entirely theoretical,

they have captured the fascination

of scientists and science fiction writers alike.

Can anyone tell me why that is?

Come on. This is easy. Just…

What's neat about wormholes?

[sighs]

Okay. Erica.

Wormholes are neat

because they allow matter to travel between galaxies or dimensions

without crossing the space between.

Yes. Exactly right.

Again.

And, uh, just think of all the places mankind could go.

Another galaxy.

- Another time, even. - [mouthing]

- So why aren't we doing it now? - [mouthing]

If wormholes did exist, they would be extraordinarily unstable.

Their enormous gravitational force would rip them apart

at the very moment they formed. Now…

You have 60 seconds to explain why you interrupted my favorite class.

Erica, this is really serious.

57, 56…

It's hard to explain everything in 56 seconds.

But basically, everything went bad at the crawl last night.

Wouldn't know. I wasn't invited.

- That's why I'm ex-- - [Mike shushing]

That's why I'm explaining.

Things went bad at the crawl, and a lot of stuff happened,

and now we think Tina's little brother's in trouble.

That literally makes no sense.

And even if it did, why would I care that Dipshit Derek is in trouble?

You're just gonna have to trust us, okay?

And to help Derek, we're gonna need you to get us into the Turnbow house.

- Tonight. - Not possible.

Of course it is. Make plans to hang out with Tina.

- Tina and I don't hang. - You hang nonstop. She's your best friend.

- Was. - Was?

- We are now enemies. - Enemies?

- Arch. - Since when?

Since PE class 12 days ago.

Then apologize for what happened in PE class 12 days ago.

- No can do. - Yes, can do.

All you have to do is use your mouth to form a word that rhymes with "starry."

I'd rather learn about wormholes than apologize to Tina

and help you all save Dipshit Derek.

- Sorry. - [watch alarm beeping]

Time's up.

This isn't about saving Derek. It's about saving Holly.

Vecna took her.

And yeah, now he's after Dipshit Derek. But we have a plan.

A plan to both save Dipshit Derek and find Holly.

But the plan is…

It's a bit insane.

But after it's over,

I don't think Tina's gonna wanna talk to you ever again.

Well, why the hell didn't you just start with that?

Hi, Doris.

Oh! You here to see Mrs. Massey?

- You are just psychic, I'm telling you. - I am. Thank you, baby.

- Thank you. - Y'all go on back there.

Mm!

Who's Mrs. Massey?

My sweet granny who fell down a flight of stairs

and broke nearly every bone in her frail old body.

Oh God. I'm sorry.

Don't be too sorry. She's not my real granny.

I use her name so I can visit Vickie.

I know it sounds unethical, but I always bring her cookies,

and I think Mrs. Massey loves me more than her own family at this point.

More importantly, she has got, like, a mondo stash of benzos,

and her nurse is a slacker who never locks the medicine cabinet.

[nurse] …this story I heard.

- Shit. - Oh!

- What… What are we doing? - Hiding.

- Hiding? Right. Why? - Down.

[Robin] Jesus, she talks so much.

- I know. I'm a hypocrite. - I…

We have to go!

I promised Vickie that I would take her to Enzo's tonight,

and now I can't, obviously,

meaning I have to ditch her again

for reasons that she just can't understand.

A massive fight will ensue, and we'll never make it to my fake granny's room.

I can't be the reason Wheeler's plan fails.

- Okay? - Okay.

Shoot. Stay low.

You know, you could always just kiss her again.

I knew that was your goddamn bowl cut.

Yeah, I mean, they're not that popular anymore.

Did I look like I knew what I was doing at least?

I mean, yeah. To me.

I guess that's something.

So, how did you know that, with Vickie, right?

How did you know that Vickie wanted to…

- Make out? - …to date?

Oh. Well, we volunteered together. You know, there were, like, signals.

Signals?

Yeah, you know, like a brush of the knee, a bump of the elbow, a shared look.

It all just kind of accrued, like a snowball rolling down a hill,

until it was obvious.

How obvious?

Let's say the, uh, snowball became an avalanche.

[man wheezing]

Oh God, that looks awful.

[Robin] Sure does.

And he's in the same wing as my fake granny.

- Meaning? - Same slacker nurse.

Jackpot.

Jesus, we could knock out half of Hawkins with this shit.

- Okay, load me up. - Okay.

[Murray] Okay, so, I couldn't get any ethanol,

but I was able to scrounge up a gallon of acetone.

Be very careful.

You smoke a Virginia Slim too close to this stuff, it'll catch fire, okay?

Snare wire, various gauges.

A creepy, child-sized CPR dummy.

Its purpose a mystery to me.

Shotgun shells, per our lovely lady's request.

Three 20-packs of water balloons. Purpose also a mystery.

But I did take the liberty of selecting the grenade style

as it felt thematically appropriate.

Do keep those far away from…

these 3,000 feet of barbed wire.

[chuckles] Oh, I almost forgot.

Some sparkling new spark plugs for Bilbo Baggins.

Spark plugs, that's it?

I'm also giving out free hugs.

- You didn't get the turbocharger? - No.

- The suspension kit? - No.

- The aerodynamic spoiler? - No.

It wasn't a goddamn Christmas list, Murray.

That's exactly what it was.

And the fact that Santa Murray scrounged all this up in a single afternoon

and smuggled it into what is likely the most heavily secured location

outside of the White House, Fort Knox, and Area 51

is a goddamn Christmas miracle.

So, count your blessings,

hang some mistletoe, pucker up,

and kiss my jolly ass!

Thank you for the spark plugs.

- What are you doing? - You gonna help or just stand there?

I'd rather not herniate a disc over a lost cause.

Yeah, that's the attitude.

This van once stalled out chugging up Pickett Road

like it was the Little Engine That Couldn't.

It's not fast enough to keep up with a Demo without serious modifications.

What the hell do you think I'm doing? Modifying.

A lighter van is a faster van.

If we're just tracking, we don't need half of the crap in here.

Speaking of, can you go empty the window washer fluid?

The window washer fluid. That'll do it. Good job, Steven.

We should go back to the agreement from yesterday.

- What agreement? - The no-talking agreement.

["Oh Yeah" by Yello playing]

♪ Oh yeah ♪

What are you doing? Henderson, I'm using that.

Hey. You little shit!

I said I'm using that, man.

What are you-- Yo, hey!

Get off the Beamer, man. Get off!

You were right. For once.

We don't need half the crap in there for our mission.

In fact, the only thing we really need is a telemetry tracker,

which I can affix to any vehicle.

Henderson…

Don't you touch her.

Henderson!

Henderson, I'm dead serious.

- No talking. - Wait, wait, wait!

Hey, hey! What are you…

No! What the…

- Okay, transmitter? - Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Children. Children.

- What are we doing? - What does it look like?

Well, it looks like you're loading my telemetry tracker into a shotgun shell

in what I presume are the hopes

of firing it into an interdimensional being.

You told me that these transmitters

were designed specifically to withstand harsh conditions.

Blasting it out of a shotgun into some beast isn't a harsh condition.

It's deadly.

If the heat from the exploding gunpowder doesn't destroy the transmitter,

the force from the recoil will.

And is that a fact

or… a theory?

A theory.

Oh. Okay.

[transmitter beeping]

Let's test it then.

[Murray] What's her deal today, huh?

Her deal?

Yeah.

Her sister is missing. Her parents almost died.

- Sure, sure. But what about, you know? - No, I don't.

Coltrane, Love Supreme.

- Did you give it a whirl? - Yeah.

- And? - It was very nice.

- And? - What? Thank you?

Christ, man! You haven't done it yet, have you?

I thought you were desperate, that things were stagnating,

that your mating competition was making moves.

- [Jonathan] Whoa! - Hey!

Whatever you two are conspiring about back there, please do it later.

Our apologies, milady.

And hurry up. We don't have all day.

Why the delay?

Have you forgotten the fact

that her sister is missing and her parents are in the hospital?

Could one ask for better conditions?

The death of a loved one is the painful but necessary reminder

that life is delicate, precious,

that one must not take those around us for granted,

that one must strengthen bonds.

I mean, hell, man,

the two of you were brought together by shared trauma in the first place.

This is the stuff of fate, of destiny.

So, if not for your sake, then for mine.

Grow some balls and get it over with already.

Hey! If you don't shut up right now, Santa,

I swear to God I will shoot this tracker into your potato sacks.

I'm a good enough shot to hit any mark,

no matter how small.

Jesus.

Now set up my target.

Okay.

[gun cocking]

Quite large, actually.

My… potato sacks.

Hmm.

[beeping]

[Nancy sighs]

Well, would you look at that, Santa? Another miracle.

At the very least,

couldn't hurt her mood.

[thunder rumbling]

[Hopper] Hey!

How's the head?

You'll get nothing out of me.

So if you're gonna kill me, get to it.

It's tempting.

But no.

Just need a little information, okay?

I need to know about that fleshy wall.

Don't know a thing about it. I'm just a grunt.

A grunt? [laughing]

Is that funny to you?

Let me get this straight. You're telling me you just,

like all the other boots on the ground, came to Hawkins to direct traffic

and save kitty cats out of trees.

- You're just a red, white, and blue grunt. - That's what I said.

I used to be a grunt.

So I know the difference.

You're something else.

Some kind of special forces puke.

I used to have to put up with guys like you in Nam.

Guys who cut the ears off enemy corpses,

make a necklace out of them.

Pretty sick, you ask me.

Grunt, my ass. You're one of Sullivan's attack dogs.

You're the psychos he lets slip off the leash

when he wants to, I don't know, go into the desert

and massacre a group of unarmed scientists all in the pursuit of one little girl.

Little… Little girl?

She's a freak!

She took down a helicopter just by looking at it.

I had friends in that Huey, man.

Oh my God! My heart is breaking for you.

You, whoever you are, you just took out more of my guys,

so go to hell.

I'm already there. Look around you.

I gotta tell you something about this old ex-grunt.

Those guys I killed, I'd kill them a hundred times over.

I'd kill a thousand guys like you

to protect the one person that I love.

[clanging]

[Hopper] All right.

So you don't know about the wall, huh?

Who does?

Dr. Kay?

- Who? - Kay.

The one that even Sullivan takes orders from.

- Don't know who you're talking about. - Really?

Then why'd you tell us her name?

What?

Her name. You told us her name.

Us?

That little girl you're looking for?

She's rooting around in that tiny brain of yours as we speak.

She can see everything.

Everything you've ever thought, everything you've ever seen.

So you might as well start talking.

'Cause if you don't give me answers, she'll find them.

So why don't we save some time?

Where do I find Dr. Kay?

I… I don't know where she is.

You can lie to me all you want. You can't lie to her.

- I'm not lying to you. - Yes, you are.

You know this Dr. Kay. Where is Dr. Kay?

I don't know--

[groaning]

[echoing] Is it really necessary to take these lashings from Kay in person?

Just shut up and drive, Akers.

There's a base in the Upside Down.

Gable Ridge Road.

- Gable Ridge Road Base. - What the hell is she doing to me?

I don't exactly know how it works, but I know it's probably not a good idea

to have her rooting around there for too long.

What was this meeting about with you and the good doctor?

The freak. She wants the freak. That's her mission. That's all I know.

[Akers groaning]

You have one more month, Lieutenant Colonel.

Then I find someone else to lead this operation.

[Lt. Colonel] Thank you, ma'am.

Akers, let's go.

[mysterious music playing]

[lock beeping]

[Eleven] There's a door at the end.

Big, metal,

like a vault.

There's a door, a big door, secure door, down a corridor, down a hallway.

- What's behind that door? - I don't know.

What's behind that door?

I told you I don't know. God!

There's something back there. He doesn't want me to see.

[groaning loudly]

- My head! My head! - Hey, I can make it stop.

What's behind the door?

Secret shit. I don't know. Just get the freak out, man.

[intense music playing]

I can make it stop, but you gotta tell me the truth.

What's behind that door?

Does it have something to do with the wall?

I told you I don't know.

Come on! What's behind the door?!

[creaking]

I swear to God, I don't know!

Just get her out of my head! Get her out of my head!

[screaming]

[Hopper] Hey, hey, hey!

Hey!

[intense music continues]

Hey! Hey!

What the hell was that? What happened?

- El, are you all right? El? - [music fades out]

Kryptonite.

What?

I heard it behind the door, louder than before.

The doctor's keeping someone there,

someone powerful like me.

It has to be.

It has to be what?

The military,

they have him.

[foreboding music building]

They have Vecna.

It doesn't make sense. Henry said never to go into the woods. Never, ever.

Why am I talking to you anyways?

You're a pop star. What do you know about monsters?

[aggravated groaning]

What would you do?

[hopeful synth music playing]

[music trails off]

Stupid.

[ominous music playing]

[game beeping]

[door opening]

It smells like ass in here, dipshit.

Probably from all my farts.

Disgusting.

Mom wants you down for dinner.

Mom can suck a fat one.

[grumbles]

Hey!

Tina! Give it back, Tina!

[Tina laughing]

Tina!

Ah, ah, ah. Enough.

How many times must I repeat myself? This home is not a playground.

[doorbell ringing]

Derek, wash up. Tina, get the door, and be polite.

Unless it's a Mormon.

Or a Democrat.

Listen, I know you probably hate me right now,

but I thought you might want your favorite pie.

And also, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.

[sniffling] I'm so sorry, Tina.

[Dustin] She's in.

She's in.

Hey. What…

Sinclair, come in. Do you copy?

Yep, this is Sinclair. Copy. Go ahead.

Sinclair, I'm confused. I thought your sister said that Tina was mean.

Oh, no, no. She's not mean. She's a villain.

Kill the puppies for a fur coat kind of villain.

Trust me.

How long before the drugs kick in?

- Depends how much pie they eat. - And how fast they eat it.

- What they had for lunch. - [Mike] Caffeine intake, alcohol intake.

It's a lot of variables.

Yeah, what could go wrong, right?

Aside from everything.

- [classical music playing] - [Turnbow parents laughing]

Aw, you know, I'm so happy you girls made up.

We've missed you, Erica. Haven't we, dear?

- We missed this pie, that's for sure. - Hmm.

Now, Erica, you've done something different this time.

Sorry?

Your pie. It's got a little… something extra tonight.

A little hint of…

Nutmeg.

Nutmeg! Of course.

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brill… Brilliant.

Tina, aren't you gonna try some?

Oh, I wish. Looks super good. Just gotta watch those calories, you know.

Fatty McFatFat.

Derek, remember what we talked about.

If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all.

[slurring] This is how you alienate your spears, Derek.

My spears?

Your spears. Sph… Spheres. Peers.

Holy shit, Dad's wasted again.

Derek. Please, language.

Well, I used a low-fat creamer, so you can enjoy guilt-free.

Thanks, but I'm just not hungry.

But I made it for you.

I said I'm not hungry.

Just a bite or two.

- [Tina] Okay, why are you being so weird? - What?

Why do you care so much if I eat your stupid pie?

Because it's for you.

Oh my God. It's because you want me fat, isn't it?

- Girls, please. - Why would I want you fat?

Because you're still jealous of me and Josh,

and you wanna sabotage our chances of being together.

[Erica] I was never jealous of you and Josh.

- Then how do you explain PE? - It was an accident.

Ken, where are you going?

I'm not feeling good.

It wasn't an accident.

[Erica] It was dodgeball. In dodgeball, you throw balls at people.

[Tina] Not that hard. You gave Joshy a black eye. Now he won't even look at me.

[Erica] That's stupid. You didn't throw the ball.

[Tina] It doesn't matter. He associates us.

He associates us. And you humiliated him.

He humiliated himself by crying like a goddamn pussy.

- [Mrs. Turnbow gasping] - [cackling loudly]

Ken?

Oh my God.

Mommy!

Mommy!

[cackling slows to a stop]

Mom.

Erica, call 911! Erica!

Mom, wake up.

Erica!

Mommy, wake up. Daddy.

Erica, I told you to call 911.

And I told you to eat your damn pie.

[upbeat music playing]

[marker squeaking]

[pumping]

[transmitter beeping]

[gun cocking]

[music ends]

- This is gonna work. - It better work.

It's not like we're conspicuous or anything.

[Robin] Hey. Talk to me, guys. How's it looking out there?

It's boring.

[Steve] How are the Turnbows holding up?

They're still in their "food comas," but I swear to God, this Demo better show.

If we took out an entire family for nothing,

- my conscience will never recover. - [chuckles softly]

I thought you quit.

Quit what?

[both laugh]

Pretty smooth.

Thanks.

Where's your coat?

It's in the barn.

Well, you should get it if you're gonna be out here.

Mom,

about this morning…

Will, it's fine.

No, no, it's not.

I shouldn't have talked to you that way, and I was a jerk, and I'm sorry.

Honey, I'm sorry too.

I know I can be…

I can be a lot.

That's not true.

It's just, when I couldn't find you this morning…

I don't know.

[Joyce takes a deep breath]

I think about that night all the time.

The night it came for you,

the night all this started.

- [emotional music playing] - I wasn't even home.

My shift ran late.

When I finally do get home, what do I do?

I smoke cigarettes, drink cheap wine, and watch Cheers reruns until I pass out.

I didn't know you were missing for eight hours.

Mom, what happened to me, it's not your fault.

Eight hours.

What kind of mother doesn't check on their 11-year-old boy?

[Robin] That is ridiculous!

The jury's still out on your new friend.

She certainly is interesting.

But one thing I know for sure,

she's not your mom.

She hasn't seen what I've seen,

and I am not gonna look away.

Not again. Not until this is over, and you're safe.

You don't have to look away, Mom. I… I just… I need you to trust me.

I do trust you, Will.

But, you know, trust is a two-way street.

Even though my plan last night kind of sucked…

- Kind of? - Hey!

[both chuckle softly]

Let's get your coat on.

It's a lot harder to save the world if you have the sniffles.

So, like, what kind of criminals does your uncle defend exactly?

You know, are they, like, white-collar criminals?

Because that does seem like a Harrington thing to do,

like, defend rich douchebags.

And in this situation,

I think that the rich douchebags would be coming for us.

[crackling]

[Robin] Steve?

Steve? Are you there?

Yeah, I hear you. Just stop talking.

I think we've got company.

[dark music playing]

Moving south down Arlington, T-minus 30 seconds.

South down Arlington, T-minus 30 seconds.

Status check. Taggers?

In position and set. Launcher?

Set. Catcher?

Set. Trackers?

Set. Let's do this thing already.

It's inside.

Minimize chatter.

It's inside. Keep your traps shut.

[electricity buzzing erratically]

[dark music rises]

[Demogorgon growling]

[Demogorgon clicking]

[snarling]

[roaring]

Catch this!

[Demogorgon shrieking]

[Lucas screams]

Get him!

Now!

Nancy!

Nancy! Hurry! Come on!

Get him, Mike! Get him, Mike! Mike, get him! Get him!

[Lucas] Ah!

It flipped! It flipped!

Signal acquired. Headed our way.

How close?

Dustin, how close?

- [electricity buzzing erratically] - Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Shit.

- [both yelling] - Jesus Christ!

[Jonathan] Where is it?

Hold your horses.

Bearing northwest and fast.

- Oh, come on. - Demo tagged and released.

Trackers in pursuit. Repeat, trackers in pursuit. Hit it!

[tires squealing]

All right, signal holding. Just keep steady.

Holding. Turn right.

- Right? - Right! Turn right! Right now!

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

[Dustin] Whoa! You're gonna crash!

- You said right! - Jesus Christ!

Stop! Stop! Stop right now! Stop here!

God damn it! Henderson, what are we doing?

We lost the signal!

- Come on. Come on! - Shit, shit, shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

- I got it! It's headed southeast now! - God damn it.

- Jesus! - [Dustin] Sorry!

It's okay.

- [Dustin] Whoa, whoa, whoa! Shit! - Hang on!

Shit, shit, shit!

Jesus Christ.

All right, I've got it.

- You got it? - Yes, I got it.

[Joyce] Why would they turn around?

Maybe he's trying to shake them?

No, that's impossible. It doesn't know it's being tracked.

[rattling]

[Derek grunting]

Stay away from me! Stay away!

No, no, no, no, no.

I'm so, so sorry, okay?

I'll probably explain this at some point, but for now, don't move.

- I thought he ate, like, two slices. - He did!

Why is he awake then?

It doesn't matter.

Not anymore.

[foreboding music playing]

We're southeast.

That's why it turned around.

Vecna's seen.

He knows where we are.

[birds chirping]

[mysterious music playing]

[mysterious music builds]

[soft, eerie music playing]

[echoing] Hello?

Henry?

Are you there?

Henry?

[intense music playing]

[grunting]

[footsteps approaching]

Hi.

["I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany playing]

♪ Children behave ♪

♪ That's what they say When we're together ♪

♪ And watch how you play ♪

♪ They don't understand and so we're ♪

♪ Running just as fast as we can ♪

♪ Holdin' onto one another's hand ♪

♪ Tryin' to get away into the night ♪

♪ And then you put your arms around me ♪

♪ And we tumble to the ground And then you say ♪

♪ I think we're alone now ♪

♪ There doesn't seem to be anyone around ♪

♪ I think we're alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

♪ Look at the way ♪

♪ We gotta hide what we're doin' ♪

♪ 'Cause what would they say ♪

♪ If they ever knew and so we're ♪

♪ Running just as fast as we can ♪

♪ Holdin' onto one another's hand ♪

♪ Tryin' to get away into the night ♪

♪ And then you put your arms around me ♪

♪ And we tumble to the ground And then you say ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ There doesn't seem to be anyone around ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ There doesn't seem to be anyone around ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ There doesn't seem to be anyone around ♪

- ♪ I think we're alone now ♪ - ♪ Alone now ♪

♪ The beating of our hearts Is the only sound ♪

[child panting]

Hey.

[Derek grunts]

I know you're scared, and I know you're angry,

but I promise you, we are here to help you.

- [grunting] - Hey, Derek, Derek.

If you keep doing that, you're gonna hurt yourself.

Just calm down so we can talk, okay?

Do you know who I am?

An evil child kidnapper.

Okay, I understand why you would think that,

but I'm not evil.

I'm just a mom, a regular mom.

That's my son, Will.

Zombie boy.

You know why they call him that?

Because he died and came back to life.

But what people don't know is that when he went missing,

he was taken by a terrible, scary monster.

And now, that scary monster is after you.

Yeah, I know. Mr. Whatsit told me, which is why you need to let me go.

No, no. Mr. Whatsit is not who he says he is, okay?

He is lying to you. All these monsters, they work for him.

That's why we took you here to this barn. We thought this barn was safe,

but he's found us.

So we have to move you again, somewhere he can't find you.

So if I untie you, will you cooperate and come with us?

Please?

Okay, great.

You're a very brave kid, Derek. I want you to know that.

Very--

- [yelling] - [grunting]

- Let me go! Get off of me! - Derek. Please!

- The door! Get the door! - Help me!

Let me go! Get off me!

- Stay down! - Get away!

Somebody help! I'm being kidnapped!

Get away from me! Let me go!

Mom, the rope! I need the rope!

- Let me go! Eat dirt! - Ah!

Come try us, dipshit!

Shit!

Dude! She's not lying to you, okay?

Mr. Whatsit is a very bad guy. He sent the monsters after you.

Suck my fat one!

Jesus! What?

You just signed your death warrant, dipshit!

You're a psycho, and you're going to jail!

- There is a monster coming! - We're trying to help you.

- La, la, la, la. - Derek, please!

You gotta come down.

I'm not listening. La, la, la, la.

[chattering continues]

[distant clicking]

[foreboding music playing]

[Demogorgon snarling and panting]

[Demogorgon shrieking]

Stay back!

[roaring]

You want him, you're gonna have to come through me!

[audio distortions]

- [grunting] - [snarling]

[Demogorgon shrieking]

[screaming]

[laughing] Yeah, we got him! We got him!

[transmitter beeping]

It flipped! It's headed back towards us!

Come on. What are you doing, man? We gotta turn around!

Wait. Gates are like Peanut Butter Boppers, right?

- What? - The outside is, like, crunchy and tough.

But bite down on it, it gives way to a gooey, creamy core.

Dude, what the hell are you talking about?

I drive fast enough, the beamer can punch a hole into the gate,

and then we can track the Demo on its home turf in the Upside Down.

- Follow it back home. - We're losing the signal!

We won't be able to follow anything if we crash!

We won't crash if it's like a Bopper!

It's almost gone!

Do it.

- Oh my God! Oh my God! - Jesus.

- Oh my God! Oh my God! - I got it! I got it!

Oh God, no!

- It's not gonna work. - We're not gonna make it!

- It's not a Bopper. Stop! - Slow down! Jesus Christ!

- Shit! Oh my God! - Hang on!

[screaming]

[laughing]

We did it! Woo!

[all laughing, chattering]

Signal?

- Strong! - Oh my God!

We got you, son of a bitch! We got you!

[thunder cracks]

[roars]

[screaming]

Will!? Will!

- [Will gasping] - I'm right here, Will.

It's okay.

I got you. I got you.

I got you, sweetie.

[synth theme music playing]

Uh, hockety-pockety?

Oh, yes, yes, that's right.

♪ Hockety-pockety wockety wack Odds and ends and bric-a-brac ♪

- I'll be with you in just a minute, son. - What?

Packing's almost done!

[orchestral music continues on TV]

Shush!

Jelly!

[pounding on door]

Alan Miller?

[sputtering] I'm sorry, what is this about?

It's your daughter, sir.

[somber music playing]

Our boy's taking us on a shortcut through Roane Cemetery.

- That's almost at the county line. - Doesn't this thing get tired?

Unfortunately, it looks like the opposite. I think he's speeding up.

- What? - I'm losing the signal.

You've gotta be shitting me!

- Can you go faster? - Let's see.

- [engine revs] - [tires screeching]

Henderson, you've gotta talk to me. What do you got?

- Henderson, what-- - I'm picking up interference.

- How is that important? - It means I can't hear the signal.

- Listen harder. - What do you mean?

- You wanna put these on? - I'm driving!

You do the driving. I do the navigating.

- What is that? - I don't know.

Steve, slow down.

[Steve] Is he ahead of us or not?

- Steve! - Steve, watch out!

- [Nancy] Steve, watch out! - Shit!

- [Nancy screams] - [splattering]

[Joyce on walkie-talkie] Jonathan, it's Mom. Answer me, please. Over.

Jonathan, please answer.

Jonathan, Nancy, Dustin, it's Joyce. Please answer me.

[Robin] Hey.

Any luck?

Well, on the plus side, I guess that means they made it through.

Do you wanna see where they're headed?

What is it?

[Will] I don't know,

but I could feel it's important to him.

To Mr… Whatsit?

His real name is Henry.

AKA Vecna.

AKA One.

That's too many names.

Why won't you just zip it and listen, dipshit?

I had this feeling he didn't want me there.

I wasn't supposed to see it.

You've never been this close to the hive mind before.

I mean, that thing was, like, feet away.

Sometimes at The Squawk, when a signal comes in too strong,

it overloads the whole system.

I think that's what this was, an overload.

You didn't just tap into the hive mind.

You jacked right in to the goddamn control center.

And Holly. Where was Holly?

Holly. Holly, she was…

She was attached to this… this spire.

And she became a part of it somehow, like it was doing something to her.

And… And there were others.

There were three others.

I thought Vecna was just coming for dipshit.

So did I. But I only knew about Derek because he walked right past me.

Serendipitous timing.

- You hear that? Serendipitous. - I don't know what that means.

I'm really not loving all of these extra spires.

I mean, night one, Vecna kidnaps Holly. Night two, he takes three more.

He's escalating. And he's coming for more.

Eight more, if this is accurate, which brings him to a total of 12.

What does he want with them? And why kids?

- And why 12? - I don't know.

But we have to stop him before he takes any more

and buy Dustin and the others time to find this place, to find Holly.

If we can pinpoint his exact targets, we could get them out of Hawkins.

And out of Vecna's reach.

Did you forget we're quarantined?

- That's not all. - There's another problem.

On the way here, we saw soldiers load Debbie Miller

onto a bus with a bunch more kids.

We followed them for two blocks more, and they loaded more kids onto it.

I don't think they were taking them to school.

Vecna's not the only one that wants these kids.

[Dr. Kay] Eleven was at the Wheeler house the same night Holly was taken.

Twenty-four hours later, we've got three more missing kids.

There's 73 children in Hawkins between the age of nine and ten.

If the pattern holds, our next target will be from this group.

And you believe Eleven has taken these kids?

For what purpose?

Killing them, protecting them. The reason doesn't matter.

These children? Where are they now?

Arriving at the MAC-Z any moment, which is where I want you.

I should be looking for Lt. Akers. I find Akers, I find--

You'll find a dead man.

Report to the MAC-Z, Colonel. That's an order.

Major General.

With all due respect, these kids are in danger.

To use them as bait seems…

Seems what, Sergeant?

Reckless.

It's only reckless if you fail to protect them.

Are you telling me you can't protect them, Sergeant?

No, ma'am.

Good.

[birds chirping]

I'm sorry for scaring you.

I haven't seen anyone in… a really long time, so…

I guess I got excited.

Good news is it doesn't look that deep.

Not enough for stitches.

I bet it stings though, huh?

You can talk to me, you know.

I won't bite.

You do remember me, right?

I've been to your house.

Like, a lot.

You're Max, Max Mayfield.

You skateboard and never take off your Walkman.

- That's me. - But--

How am I in here when I'm in a coma in Hawkins General?

- That's a very reasonable question. - [branch cracks]

[tense music playing]

We should get going. It's not safe here. Come on.

[Holly] Where are we going?

[Max] My home.

Well, I can't go far. I came here to meet Henry.

- Do you know Henry? - You could say that.

He left me this note. See? And he told me to meet him right here at the X.

I think he's in trouble with the monsters.

Henry is a lot of things, but in trouble with the monsters is not one of them.

- But the note says-- - I know what the note says.

How do you know he's not in trouble? He said hurry!

Holly, I know what the note says because Henry didn't write it. I did.

[tense music cuts out]

[spluttering] I don't… I don't understand.

I'm sorry.

I didn't want to lie. I… I just… I had to make sure that you came here.

You're one of them, aren't you?

- One of what? - The monsters.

- Do I look like a monster? - I don't know. Maybe you're in disguise.

You're dressed weird, and you're in a coma.

Okay.

Well, would a monster know that your brother tried to get a mohawk

until your sister stopped him,

saving him from possibly the greatest social humiliation

that a freshman has ever experienced at Hawkins High?

What color was this mohawk?

Hot orange.

And personally, I think the use of the word "hot" is a bit ironic, but…

People say I'm too negative.

I just think I'm honest.

[ethereal music playing]

Come on.

Welcome.

Hey.

It even comes with a view.

Where are we?

In a memory.

Which exists inside a world of 1,000 memories.

I know it might look nice,

but it's not.

This place, this world…

It's a prison.

[music becomes unsettling]

Henry's prison.

[panting]

It's okay, sweetie.

These are the good guys. They're going to keep everyone safe.

Just try and think of this as a field trip.

Mm-hmm. A learning expedition.

Cargo has arrived. I repeat, cargo has arrived.

They're taking them into a barracks second from the library.

Tunnels.

Yeah. See? The north tunnel of the MAC-Z runs right underneath the barracks.

- Lucky break. - Bound to happen one of these days.

Gonna need more luck if we want this plan to work.

If we're right, the military is trying to protect these kids.

So this barracks is gonna be heavily guarded.

We have to dig up into the barracks, unnoticed,

grab the kids, get them to Murray, smuggle them out of Hawkins.

All before anyone notices they're gone.

- Dick. - What?

What? Oh.

Sorry. Did I say that out loud? I thought I was talking in my head.

But you guys know Tom, Dick, and Harry, right?

Seriously? None of you have seen The Great Escape?

- ["Theme from The Great Escape" playing] - Basically, it's about these POWs, right?

And they're stuck in a barracks just like this one.

They need to escape, so they dig these tunnels,

and they call their tunnels Tom, Dick, and Harry.

They have to hide the tunnels from the Nazis.

So they put Tom in this dark corner, and they put Harry under the stove,

and they put Dick in the washroom. And personally, for us, I like Dick.

Oh, um… Sorry. The washroom. I actually don't even… Never mind.

Okay, say we go with Dick.

How do we find the washroom?

And how do we get the kids to it?

How do we know which kids are being targeted by Vecna?

We use an inside man, someone who could get into the barracks,

measure the distance to the washroom, find out which kids have seen Mr. Whatsit,

and somehow avoid the military.

Well, that's a lovely plan, but isn't it a tad…

Mission Impossible-y.

Yeah. I mean, Mike, who are you gonna get to do this?

Bond? Magnum?

No, no, we don't want a superspy.

We want the opposite. We want someone no one would suspect.

Someone that could just walk in, no questions asked.

The one kid the military failed to wrangle.

What?

- [thunder rumbling] - [hand aggressively slams wall]

Two grunts in the tower by the west gate.

One more in the tower by the east gate.

One, two, three, four on the ground.

I hope to God you're right, and Vecna is in there,

because we might just die trying to break in.

I am right.

You can't be right about everything. Your theories aren't exactly lining up.

- Why not? - You heard kryptonite.

If Vecna's in there, he doesn't have his powers.

If he doesn't have his powers,

how could he have anything to do with Holly's kidnapping?

You can ask him before I kill him.

How high is that fence?

Hey, you're not jumping that.

Why not?

Because this is not training. This is a real-world situation.

And that roof is metal.

You hit that on a jump, you're gonna alert the whole damn base.

Not if I time it with the thunder.

[laughs sarcastically] Yeah.

It's seven seconds.

[thunder rumbles]

One, two, three, four, five, six…

[thunder rumbles]

Seven.

Okay. You got lucky.

- [Dustin] Hopper, do you copy? - Dustin!

Over. This is Dustin.

Hopper, do you copy? This is Dustin.

Hey, hey, it's Hop. I copy.

Holy shit! Okay. They're alive!

El! Ask about El.

El. Is El with you? Over.

Yes. I'm here. Over.

Okay. Yay. Terrific.

I don't know if you're caught up in something important, but--

- Dustin. Come on. - Meet us!

Meet us at Roane Cemetery church, please.

Roane Cemetery. How the hell are you contacting us from there?

Right. You don't know. We're in the Upside Down.

What?

Long story short, we're here to track a Demogorgon using our telemetry tracker,

only to then hit a wall. Literally. Now, Steve's beamer is stuck,

so we need El to come and pry it loose using her powers

so we can resume the search for said Demogorgon

which will, in theory, lead us to Holly. Does any of this make sense?

Do you need additional details? Questions? Concerns? Over.

You hit a wall?

What kind of wall, exactly?

Uh… it's a bit… hard to describe.

- Sort of… - [Nancy] Huge?

[Jonathan] Disgusting.

[Steve] Smells like Henderson's armpit.

We hit the same thing, but not at the Roane Cemetery.

We hit it a quarter mile southeast of the old Hagen Bridge.

That's the opposite side of town.

Fascinating.

We don't know what it is, but we think Holly's behind it.

Don't bother trying to break through. You can't.

We're working on a solution.

- Nancy. - Solution? What kind of solution?

[helicopter whirring]

Wait, what kind of solution? Hopper!

Listen, we gotta keep the airwaves clear, all right?

We'll come get you. Just stay put.

[Eleven] You think they're safe?

I mean, compared to us? Yeah.

Okay.

Let's go see if that training has paid off.

You're gonna let me jump?

Let's go before I change my mind.

[Max] Vecna's curse,

it never goes away.

Never leaves you.

With each victim that he took, he created a new gate.

A gate to the Upside Down?

When he took me, he opened the fourth, final gate,

splitting Hawkins in two.

Wait, but if Mr. Whatsit… I mean Henry, took you, how are you here?

You mean, shouldn't I be dead?

It's okay. It's a fair question.

I definitely should be.

And for a moment…

I was.

[bone crunching]

[Lucas screaming]

[Max] I don't know how long I was gone.

But then I felt something… calling to me.

- [Max gasping] - [light buzzing]

[bell ringing]

[people chattering]

["Sh-Boom" by The Chords playing]

♪ Life could be dream ♪

♪ If I could take you up In Paradise up above ♪

♪ If you would tell me I'm the only… ♪

[Joyce] One night only. Don't miss it. Tickets are only 50 cents.

That's two quarters for you poindexters.

- Joyce! This that stupid play of yours? - I better see you there, Harrington.

Friday night? You wish.

♪ Life could be dream ♪

Nice shot, jerk.

♪ If only all my precious plans Would come true ♪

[Max] Somehow, I was in another time.

Hawkins.

Thirty years ago.

Time travel.

Only, I wasn't actually there.

Not really. I was just…

an observer.

And that's when I understood.

I was trapped inside Henry's mind, his memories.

Like a nightmare prison world

ruled by an evil, psychopathic piece of shit.

Like Camazotz.

Cama… What?

Camazotz. From A Wrinkle in Time.

- Never read it. - You should. It's amazing.

Camazotz is like this dark planet that's under the control of IT,

which is this giant, disembodied, evil brain.

Anyways, Meg's dad… Meg's the main character.

…he gets taken prisoner there.

So, Henry's kinda like IT, and you're kinda like Meg's dad.

Okay. Well…

I don't know if Meg's dad would agree, but the way I see it,

when you're a prisoner in a messed up prison world,

you really only have a few doors open to you.

Door one, you take your own life.

Door two, accept your fate.

- Or door three… - You escape.

- I chose door three. - That seems like the best door.

So, I kept moving.

From memory to memory.

Only, this place is a maze.

I became lost, turned around. I got so turned around,

I actually ended up right back at the beginning.

[dark music playing]

And that's when I heard her.

["Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush playing]

I heard Kate Bush.

Is she one of your friends?

You could say that.

♪ Do you wanna hear About the deal that I'm making? ♪

[Max] Music has a way of finding you, even in the darkest of places.

Lucas had used it before, to reach me, to guide me out of Vecna's mind,

back to the light.

♪ If I only could make a deal with God ♪

♪ And I'd get him to swap our places ♪

♪ Be runnin' up that road ♪

So, this music was coming from Lucas, from the real world?

Even after all this time,

he hadn't given up on me.

If you follow this music,

then what?

Then it would lead me out of here.

Back home.

At least, that's what I thought.

But then…

everything went wrong.

♪ Oh, come on, angel Come on, come on, darlin' ♪

♪ Let's exchange the… ♪

[loud ripping]

[tense music playing]

[soldier chattering on walkie-talkie]

Hey!

What the hell are you doing? Can't you read, kid? No trespassing.

Right, I see that, officer.

It's just… my school is missing.

- [Derek grunts] - [soldier] Let's go.

Move it.

Holy shit! Are those laser blasters?

Might just be.

And they'll blast you if you don't keep it moving.

- Boys. - Can't get me!

Boys!

All right. Absolutely not.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

This is Private Chapman. You do exactly as he says.

You got any questions, direct them to him.

Where might I relieve myself?

Breaking bar.

Shovel.

Five safety goggles.

A surveyor's wheel and…

Hold for applause.

Santa's sleigh is ready for his reindeer.

We got built-in benches, seat belts, foam padding.

Everything a kidnapped child could desire.

Foam padding?

Don't want to break any eggs en route, now do we?

[Derek] I'm in. Do you copy? Repeat, I'm in. Do you copy?

Yes, yes, we copy. We copy. Where are you?

Bathroom. Back stall. 45 of my paces from the front entrance.

Good job. Now round up anyone who's seen Mr. Whatsit,

and we'll be there soon.

And remember, you're not Dipshit Derek. You're--

Delightful Derek.

[Hopper] Okay, once you get that gate open, and I'm inside…

- You lead. - That's right.

And you?

I will destroy your kryptonite. Don't worry.

[softly] Okay.

[exhales sharply]

[thunder rumbles]

[thunder cracks loudly]

[intense music playing]

All right, come on. Come on, you got this. You got this.

[thunder cracks loudly]

[grunts]

[exhales sharply]

Wait. You're too early. You're too early.

[grunts]

- [clattering] - [grunts]

God.

[thunder rumbles]

Sorry.

[grunts]

You trying to give your old man a heart attack?

Nice job, by the way.

Hop?

Yeah?

Thank you.

For what?

For teaching me.

And trusting me.

Always.

[Derek] The day of reckoning has arrived.

With this in mind, I've been sent by Mr. Whatsit

to gather the chosen ones.

If you've been visited by Mr. Whatsit, speak now.

And when night falls, follow me to the latrine,

and I will lead you to our savior, to safety.

Derek's gone mental.

The monsters are coming, and you're all gonna die.

[laughs sarcastically]

[Debbie] Derek?

Were you talking about Henry?

[Lucas] Any word from Derek yet?

[Joyce] Not yet.

Just give him time. It hasn't been that long.

I just can't get over the fact

that the fate of the world rests on Derek freakin' Turnbow.

When you look in the mirror, do you see a Navy SEAL looking back at you?

Sometimes people need someone to believe in them.

And then they can do amazing things.

Your mom and Robin are getting along better.

Well, it didn't hurt that Mom scared off that Demo.

Saved Robin's life, everybody's life.

So, when your mom, when she had her axe,

you could see her?

- Like, through the Demo's eyes? - Yeah.

And I was so close to the hive,

it's like I could feel what it was feeling, like this anger.

That I was still in there too.

And I was afraid. I was afraid for my mom.

- You wanted to protect her. - Yeah. But I… I just couldn't.

It was like this scary movie you just can't turn off.

[Murray grunting] Open sesame.

Oh. Well, have fun.

Thanks.

- Are you positive you didn't? - Didn't what?

Turn off the scary movie.

Protect your mom, not the other way around.

No offense. I know she's badass and everything, but you know.

- Yeah, she's 5'3". - Yeah!

And Vecna likes to control the hive mind like a puppet master.

So maybe when you tap into the hive, you can pull the strings too.

Except I'm not Vecna.

You sorta are.

You're trying to say that I'm evil and hell-bent on destroying the world?

Totally.

No, I'm just saying that, you know, you're like a wizard like him.

In D&D, Mike, not real life.

True. In real life, you're more like a sorcerer,

because your powers don't come from a book of spells. They're innate.

[chuckling]

Listen, as far as crazy theories go, I've had crazier.

And with Eleven in the Upside Down, we really need some magic up here.

[mysterious audio distortions]

Working on a solution?

I mean, if Hopper has a solution to get through this and to get to Holly,

he should… he should share it with us!

I just say we ignore the old man.

We keep moving. Look for a door or something.

Yeah, and just curious.

This door of yours, it's soft like a Peanut Butter Bopper?

You got something to say, Byers, why don't you say it?

I'm just saying maybe you shouldn't be making the calls from now on.

It was not just his call. It was mine because it's my sister.

And…

I agree with Steve. Okay, we can't just sit here.

I don't know about a door, but this wall can't go on forever.

There has to be a way around it.

There isn't.

This wall is a circle.

A circle completely surrounding the Upside Down.

Oh yeah? How do you figure that?

Because unlike you, I didn't sleep through Algebra 1.

[thunder rumbling]

My telemetry tracker picked up a weird frequency coming from the wall,

and it took me a bit to place, but I've heard it before.

Rather, we have. Remember when we were out looking for Hop,

and you heard that sound off of Irwin Road?

- Yeah. You said it was interference. - It was.

But this interference, it wasn't coming from a military broadcast or an EMI.

It was coming from this wall, which is important,

because that gives us three known locations.

So, I connected the dots,

measured the midpoints, drew the perpendicular bisectors--

All right! Yeah, we're not your teachers. We don't need to see your work.

We get it. You think it's all a big circle.

I don't think. I know. I triple checked, and my calculations are correct.

Whatever! I still don't see how this gets us closer to finding Holly.

Because it's not about the circle. It's about the center.

The DOE. The Department of Energy.

- That's-- - Hawkins Lab.

What are the chances that the center of this wall

happens to be in the place where all of this started,

where the Upside Down was created?

So, the lab created the wall?

No idea. But I think we should find out.

Don't you?

[Max] The music, it led me to a new memory.

Only, something was different about this memory.

- [disorienting audio distortions] - I was there.

It was the day that Henry cursed me.

It was his first memory of me.

I know, as if this goddamn place wasn't heady enough, right?

But I still had the music to guide me.

So I followed it.

And it led me through new memories.

[voice breaking] Terrible memories.

- Let go! - Follow me into death.

[growling]

And it felt like they would never end.

But then eventually, they did.

It was the night that Vecna killed me.

["Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush resumes]

[Max] The night he took me prisoner.

♪ Yeah, yeah, yo ♪

♪ Do you wanna know Know that it doesn't hurt me? ♪

[Max] I'd finally found it.

♪ Do you wanna hear About the deal that I'm making? ♪

The way out.

[distant rumbling]

♪ It's you and me ♪

♪ And if I only could I'd make a deal with God ♪

♪ And I'd get him to swap… ♪

[hopeful music playing]

And I was so close.

[heart monitor beeping]

So close that I could feel his hand on mine.

And it was like I was there.

Like I was with him in that hospital.

["Running Up That Hill" continues in distance]

[hopeful music rises]

♪ Come on, Angel Come on, come on, darling ♪

♪ Let's exchange the experience ♪

[heart monitor gets louder]

[music ends]

No.

No.

[cassette rewinding, whirring]

Lucas!

Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!

[intense music playing]

Hello, Max.

- [music ends] - I ran.

And I kept running.

[intense music resumes]

[Max] I'll never forget the look on his face that day.

- He was scared. - [shuddering]

More than scared, he was terrified.

There's something about this cave…

this memory.

He won't come in.

In here,

I'm safe.

So I turned it into my sanctuary.

My home.

I took door two.

Shitty door two.

Accept your fate.

That was,

until you showed up.

And now door three is back.

Escape.

I have a plan, a plan to get us out of here.

And it's gonna take time, more time than we have now.

Henry will return to his house soon.

And when he does, he cannot know that you're gone.

You want me to go back there?

Back to him? Back to Henry? No, I--

I know. It's scary.

But if you wanna get out of here, if you wanna escape Camazotz,

this is the only way.

It's the only way.

Tell me what I need to do.

[clicking]

Hey, wh--

- Hey. - Hi.

Do you, um, by any chance, remember Tammy Thompson?

Yeah. Isn't she that terrible singer?

[laughs] Yeah.

But in the ninth grade,

I thought that she sounded like Whitney goddamn Houston.

I mean, the first time I saw her, oh my God, like, time slowed down.

It was like a scene from some lame-o movie.

You know, her hair blew in the wind, and she just looked perfect.

So goddamn perfect.

And, uh, it was right then and there that I knew she was the one.

That with Tammy, I would finally be able to be myself, you know, all of myself.

Because there was always this part of me that kind of scared me, you know?

But I thought that if Tammy loved me, all of me,

you know, I wouldn't be so scared anymore.

And then he showed up, Steve "The Hair" Harrington.

[chuckles] Oh God.

You probably can guess the rest.

Tammy fell for him hard.

And my entire fantasy life with her, along with the rest of my life,

pretty much imploded before my eyes.

I mean, my grades plummeted. I got grounded.

I had to stay home every weekend doing chores.

But then one day, I was cleaning bat shit out of my parents' garage,

and I found this 8-millimeter film reel. You know?

And it was just from this silly movie that I made in fourth grade,

but I got it up on the projector,

and all of a sudden, I was looking at this little version of myself.

And that little me, I could hardly recognize her.

You know, she was so carefree

and, like, fearless.

She just loved every part of herself.

And that's when it hit me.

It was never about Tone-deaf Tammy.

It was always just about me.

I was looking for answers in somebody else, but…

I had all the answers.

I just needed to stop being so goddamn scared.

Scared of… who I really was.

Once I did that, oh,

I felt so free.

It's like I could fly, you know? Like, I could finally be…

Rockin' Robin.

Yeah. Rockin' Robin.

[Lucas] Hey, guys!

Take your time, will ya?

Did you finally hit Dick?

- Hit the Dick. - Yep.

Let's just hope it's not too hard.

If it is,

I'll soften it.

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Take me to Kay.

Damn it! Damn it!

Make a sound, it'll be your last. Nod if you understand.

[intense music playing]

Move! Move it! Come on, let's go!

Come on!

[lock beeping]

It's not working.

- How do we get through? - I don't have clearance.

I didn't ask if you have clearance. I asked, how do we get through?

You can't.

Dr. Kay, your boss, she got clearance?

I don't know.

You don't know.

- Thanks for your help. - [grunting]

Plan B.

[doors creaking]

[power cuts]

[alarm blaring]

- Stop! Stop! - El!

[pulsing]

- El! - Stop!

[soldiers chattering]

We're through.

- Oh, shit. - [clanging]

[clanging continues]

[pipe creaking]

[creaking grows louder]

Oh, shit.

[creaking fades out]

[scoffs]

[kids chattering]

[Derek] I want you to close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Breathe in and out.

As you continue breathing,

I want you to picture yourself on a beach.

The water is blue. Blue as a Smurf.

You listen to it lap the sandy shore, like a dog slurping from his bowl.

[slurping]

It's called visualization.

Mom does it when she's out of Valium.

[walkie-talkie beeping]

[whispering] Go.

[tense music playing]

[door creaking]

[pounding]

[straining]

[exhaling sharply]

Howdy.

[walkie-talkie beeping]

[Derek] Feel the sand under your butt. It feels cool and soft.

[Lucas] …time. There you go.

Good job, good job. All right.

Hey, sweetie. Um, what's your name?

Debbie.

Do you work for Mr. Whatsit?

Mr. Whatsit.

Oh. Um, yes. Of course. I'm one of his elves.

You know, like a… a magic elf.

[walkie-talkie beeping]

[pipe creaking]

[Lucas] Right here. A couple more steps.

All right. Yes, okay.

All right. Great job. Step by step.

[water trickling]

Shit.

[alarm blaring]

[intense music playing]

[music stops]

[Eleven groaning]

Eleven.

[moaning]

I have been looking for you for a very long time.

My name is--

Dr. Kay.

[foreboding music playing]

I know who you are.

I know who you've taken.

And I also know…

that you and your men…

are going to die.

What the hell?

[steam hissing]

[both grunting]

[blade ringing]

- [burning] - [screaming]

[creature screeching]

[groaning]

[Dr. Kay] It's best not to struggle.

The greater the perceived threat, the more aggressive its response.

[Mary] Miss Robin, what about the others?

Uh, just Robin. And don't worry. They're right behind us.

- [boy] Something's wrong, isn't it? - No. No, siree.

Everything is going exactly according to plan.

- Airlock-- Wrap it with your jacket. - I got it.

Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.

Here. Try it--

Hey. Sorry. Bit of a plumbing problem here.

Are you by chance looking for Mr. Whatsit?

- Right through there. - Right there.

[both straining]

[walkie-talkie beeping]

[Derek] There's a little breeze in the air telling you a secret.

You look up at the sky, searching for clouds, but all you--

Mr. Whatsit?

Shit!

Officer! Officer!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, calm down.

- What's going on? - Shitballs.

Good job, man.

- Lucas! We've been spotted! - No, no!

Get 'em out of here. Go.

- What about the others? - Just go! Go, go, go!

Damn it! Okay, come on, guys.

- [clicking button] - [beeping]

Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move!

Hey, stop right there!

Ashley Klein is a snitch!

Hey!

Open the door! Open the goddamn door!

So you're the reason.

The reason she's been so hard to track.

The thorn in my side.

And after all that effort to hide her, you bring her here, of all places?

Why?

Why risk her life for the other?

What do you know that I don't?

[groaning]

It's actually holding back, if you can believe it.

That heat you feel…

weakens it.

[panting]

But in the cold, it thrives.

- [straining] - I can stop it.

But you're gonna have to start talking.

[Eleven grunting]

[panting]

Go to hell.

[loud bang]

[straining]

In your current state, I'm afraid that won't work.

[yelling]

Not the sharpest, are we?

You're too late. Cavalry's on its way.

That's all right.

I'll be quick.

[pounding]

Grocery delivery.

Where's everyone else?

Coming.

Come on, sweetie. Come on down. Come on.

You get down here right now, or a monster's gonna eat you.

Open the door!

You little shit!

Get out of the way!

About goddamn time!

[Joyce] I got you. That's good. Good, good.

Hey there. Where do you think you're going?

[Hopper yelling]

What are you doing?

Hey, you gotta go. You gotta go. Come on.

We're gonna get to the woods.

The kryptonite shit can't get you there.

Hop, we can't. We can't leave. We came for Henry.

Hey. You take this compass. You're gonna follow it northeast.

That'll take you to the graveyard. You're gonna find Nancy and the others.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey. Hey.

What is that?

It's just a failsafe, okay?

- It's a failsafe. - No.

I gotta make sure he goes down with me.

- No. No, Hop. - It's the only way. It's the only way.

I'm not gonna risk losing you.

I will not risk it.

- Hopper. No. - Listen, I want you to know something.

From here on out,

I want you to know how proud I am of you.

I am so proud of you. I am so proud of what you've overcome.

[melancholy music playing]

I'm proud of who you are.

No.

No. No, Hop. Hopper!

- I love you, Jane. - Hopper! No! Hopper!

[music builds]

[groaning]

Hop!

Hopper!

Hopper!

Hop!

Hopper!

[beeping]

Hopper!

Hopper! Hopper!

Hopper!

[crying softly]

[heart monitor droning]

[doctor] Pulse ox is falling.

Flatlining!

[chattering happily]

[lock beeping]

All right, kids. Come on. Find a seat in the back.

[Murray] Hi.

All right.

Okay, let's have some fun, huh? This is gonna be great, huh?

Okay. Let's get our seat belts on, hmm?

Safety first. Come on. Time's a-wastin'.

Pretty comfy, huh?

Not really.

[sarcastically] Oh, sorry.

[Erica] Robin, Lucas, do you copy? Over.

Copy. It's Robin.

Lucas. I copy.

We've got a problem here at the MAC.

What kind of problem?

Let go of me, you asshole!

You want to explain to me what in God's name is going on here?

Get the hell off me.

- We've got five missing kids, sir. - You've lost five kids?

- How is that possible? - This woman--

Joyce Byers.

She broke into the barracks.

She's been helping them escape through some kind of tunnel.

I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?

Listen. These kids, they are not safe, okay? They are in danger.

And why exactly do you think they're here, ma'am? Hmm?

They're under our protection.

If I may interject, officer. I've seen what's coming.

And no disrespect meant, but you and your men can't protect shit!

- [soldier] Private! - Hey! Hey!

- Get off him! - Hey, Private!

[soldier] What the hell is wrong with you, Private? Keep your hands off him.

[footsteps approaching]

Is that all the military does? Hit kids?

- Will! - Will! Will! Will!

Are you okay? Baby, are you okay?

[panting]

They're here.

[electricity crackling]

[guns cocking]

[loud banging]

[distant snarling]

[loud banging]

[Demogorgon growling]

Take the nearest threat! Engage on sight!

We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!

Guys! Guys! Guys! Get behind me! Get behind me!

[roaring]

Get back!

[intense music playing]

[soldier screaming]

[roaring]

Under the beds! Under the beds!

Under the beds! Under the beds! Under the beds! Under the beds!

[screaming]

Stay behind me. Stay behind me.

Move! Move! Move!

[Joyce] Will!

We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack.

We gotta go. We gotta go!

What about the other kids? Shit!

[Lucas panting]

Go, go, go, go, go!

- [engine sputtering] - [Robin] Come on, shall we?

We shall!

[snarling]

[loud gunshot]

We're getting out of here, all right? Eyes on me! Stay close!

Okay, okay.

Will, come on. Come on!

- Come on. - [Mary] Wait for me, please! Wait!

[Derek] I'm not ready to die!

- [Mary] Wait up! - [Mike] Stay close!

[Mary] Derek! Hurry up, let's go!

- Is everybody okay? Are you guys okay? - Yeah.

Okay. The Radio Shack. If we move quick enough, I think we can make it.

Get into the tunnels and get out of here.

- [Mary] Okay. - Okay?

Eyes on me. Remember?

Stop, stop, stop, stop!

All right, go!

[soldier] Get some!

[Derek] Go, go, go! Oh my God.

Oh my God!

[roaring]

[Demogorgon screeching]

Just hold on, baby! Hold on!

[screeching]

- What the hell just happened? - I have no idea, but I love it!

[laughing]

[Will screaming]

- [power cuts out] - [gasps]

- [powering down] - [alarm blaring]

[metallic banging]

[lock clicks]

[mysterious music playing]

[hopeful synth music playing]

Sister.

Sister.

[foreboding music playing]

[low growling]

[screaming]

[screams]

Unload!

Watch out!

[screaming]

[sinister music rising]

Murray!

[intense music playing]

Son of a bitch!

Oh, shit, shit, shit!

Whoa!

The kids!

Hold on!

Move, move, move! Let's go, guys!

Back up, guys! Back up!

[low growling]

[low growling]

Stay away from him! You stay away!

[panting]

[groans]

[foreboding music playing]

Can you see them…

William?

Can you see the children?

Do you know why?

Why I chose them to reshape the world?

[Lucas grunting]

[Vecna] It's because they are weak.

Weak in body and mind.

Please!

[Vecna] Easily broken.

Easily reshaped.

Controlled.

The perfect vessels.

And you…

Will.

You were the first.

And you broke so easily.

You showed me what was possible,

what I could achieve.

Some minds, it turns out,

simply do not belong in this world.

[dark music rising]

They belong in mine.

[music halts]

[Demogorgon screeching in distance]

[roaring]

[Robin] I was looking for the answers in somebody else, but…

I had all the answers.

[boys laughing]

Do you wanna be friends?

[Robin] I just…

needed to stop being so goddamn scared.

Scared of who I really was.

[gasping]

Wow! It's so good!

[Robin] And once I did that,

I was so free.

It's like I could fly.

[panting]

[distorted shrieking]

[hopeful music playing]

[crunching]

[music fades out]

[intense electronic music playing]

[music fades out]