Original subtitles

Hey, what is going on here?

TV?

Yes, I can see that.

But why is everyone here on our movie night?

-Sorry we're late. -Hey, Chief.

Great. There's more of you.

You guys are right on time. The theme song just started.

What's with the theatrics?

Hopper can't find Nikki.

Nikki's here?

Hey, Hopper. Did you bring me dinner?

I brought me dinner.

And don't you have school tomorrow?

Hey, what was that?

I… I didn't hear anything.

Who else is here?

Whoa, you might… might wanna open a window. You know what I'm saying?

Harrington?

-Sorry. -What are you doing here?

I was just, uh, dropping…

…the kids off at the pool. Get it?

They wanted to watch their favorite show with El, Night Guy.

Knight Rider.

-Knight Rider. Knight Rider. I knew that. -Hmm.

Right.

-Don't you have friends your own age? -He doesn't.

Huh?

Good, solid… craftsmanship.

What? No "bless you"?

Way past my bedtime. Time to go.

Great idea.

All kids but El get out of my house.

Everyone out now.

I will walk them out.

And remember, Sundays are for snacks and Snake Plissken.

You guys can have your TV time tomorrow.

So, Dustin, what happened?

We trapped it in the furnace. Then boom!

Blaaah!

Incinerated.

And those spore things?

All of it incinerated.

It's finally over.

It would've been really over if Hopper had seen Nikki.

What were you thinking? She shouldn't be here with us.

She almost ruined everything.

Yeah, that was pretty close.

She's not the one who went running to Hopper to spill the beans.

Hey, cool it.

My babysitting shift is over.

I've lost my date, my car, and nearly my life.

Henderson.

Don't do anything you wouldn't do.

Yes, or anything you would do.

Just go home, okay?

Hey, Nikki. Crisis averted. Come out, come out, wherever you are.

She probably got cold and took off.

Listen up, guys. We got to talk about Dustin's Polaroid.

Wait. You mean the one Lucas ripped out of my hand?

Um, yeah. About that…

Here.

That's what I'm talking about.

Now, don't tell anyone where you got that, okay?

So we good?

We are really good.

Can't believe you lost the photo.

I didn't do it on purpose.

You guys need to stop arguing about this. We'll figure it out later–

-Hey! -Hey, man, watch where you're--

Man, what's up with Charlie? He looks like he's about to puke.

I'm just gonna say it.

Charlie ate Jeff Nelson.

What the…? That's so gross.

Jeff is still AWOL.

We're all thinking it. I'm just saying it out loud.

Come on, Dustin. Jeff skips school, like, all the time.

Speaking of school, I didn't see Nikki after class.

-Where is she? -Should we go find her?

Bigger fish, my friend.

I've called all you here today

because while I was off kicking interdimensional butt,

Lucas lost the photo of El and a Mulligan creature…

Here we go.

…and it landed in the hands of Keith.

It was an accident.

An accident is spilling a Coke on your English homework.

This was gross criminal negligence.

The only thing gross here is your breath.

Guys! Enough! Right now, we need to figure out a way

to get that picture back before someone sees it's real.

If Keith shows it to the wrong person, and they recognize El's tattoo,

she'll be in real trouble, government trouble.

That's why I have a plan on how to recover the photo.

Here's an actual plan on how best to recover the photo.

That's not a plan. That's a bunch of doodles on a napkin.

-Better than showing up with nothing. -See you tomorrow.

-You're so annoying. -I know you are, but what am I?

Hey, while you two are bellyaching, Keith's leaving.

After him!

Out of my way.

It's my picture.

Yeah, and I'm getting it back.

What the…?

Keith, get back here.

Forget it, Dig Dug girl.

You and your boyfriend's cash offer for the photo has expired.

Better luck next time, losers.

Get back here, Keith!

Ah!

I'm alive.

See if you can handle 10th gear.

Whoa!

Oh crap!

Ate it!

Dang it.

Huh?

Hey!

Mike, I think I can stop him.

Do it.

What?

I'm getting it back.

-You're gonna mess things up. -Lucas! Dustin!

-Guys! -Watch it!

Hey! Watch out!

My appendix.

Oh, yeah!

Give it up, Sinclair. It's game over.

Come on, man. We just want our photo back.

That photo was mine, fair and square.

I-- Wait. What do you mean "was"?

I mean The Weekly Watcher coughed up big bucks for that photo.

Those tabloid suckers will believe anything.

So long, nerds!

What?

This is bad.

The Weekly Watcher is Hawkins's number one trash magazine.

Everyone and their mother reads these at the checkout line.

The pictures are wild. Fake, but wild. Snake Boy is my favorite.

95% of my leads come from The Weekly Watcher.

That explains a lot.

How are we supposed to get the picture back from this place?

Everything has a weak point. We just need to figure out where.

That photo of El and those creatures can't get out, or it's game over.

Sounds like a recon mission to me.

And I approve of this mission.

-Let's do it. -Let's do it.

It's settled.

We'll split up, gather some intel, and meet back at my place.

We are getting that picture back.

I'm here. I'm here. Grabbed these on the way.

Nice. I love Cheetos.

Really, Dustin? You took the time to stop for snacks?

Hey, my blood sugar gets low when I'm on assignment.

Well, now that we've made sure Dustin doesn't pass out,

what did we learn, guys?

That it's gonna be tricky,

but I managed to see where all eyes are planted in the building.

There are cameras all over the facility

and a security guard watching the monitors 24/7.

Hm.

Okay, security's an issue. Max, entry and exit points?

Who says you can't ride a skateboard in the winter?

I spotted three main weak points.

One is the main entrance.

Two is the fire escape door at the side of the building.

Third is the rooftop access door,

technically connected to the fire escape exit door at the side.

So, let's make it two and a half.

Will?

Okay, best view of the action is this billboard.

It's, uh, pretty high.

I was able to get a clear view into the offices using Lucas's binoculars.

The Weekly Watcher occupies one whole floor

on the second story of the building.

I saw some boss man open a Trapper Keeper and pull out a Polaroid.

Like a school Trapper Keeper?

Yep. He put the folder in his top-right desk drawer.

It had a Palace Arcade sticker and everything.

Keith!

So that's our target!

Wait, where the heck is Lucas? He was on intel--

And intel you will get.

What? Every good private eye knows

you learn the most about people by going through their garbage.

And this is from The Weekly Watcher.

-Really, Lucas? -What did you find?

Garbage.

And this key card.

Great, except it's broken, doofus.

It still works. I mean, probably.

Lucas, Dustin, please.

El and I will keep an eye on everything from across the street.

We're gonna need a believable distraction to get past the security guard.

Max is right. Without that, everything else is a no-go.

Guys, I know this looks hard, but that's why we have to work together.

Dustin, part of this mess is my fault. I should have never quit the H.I.C.

We can get mad at each other, but we never let it break up the party.

Not ever.

We may have lost the photo of El using her powers,

but if we stick together,

we can get it back before it becomes front-page news.

You lost a photo of El using her powers?

No! He said he lost a photo of El losing her flowers.

I mean…

Mike?

Okay!

Here's the truth.

Keith sold a picture of El, taken months ago--

-And that makes it better? -No.

But we're trying to make it right.

We could really use some help.

I could use help.

Okay, then. How do we fix this mess?

By you giving the greatest performance of your life.

You!

I need to speak to someone immediately.

My boyfriend is an alien.

Uh, excuse me, do you have an appointment?

People need to know the truth!

Take me to your leader!

-My leader? -Or… editor!

Uh…

-She is really good. -Mm-hmm.

Operation Trap That Keeper is a go.

The orange stuff it leaves on your fingers is the best part.

I saw his bulbous head and huge eyes! I was led to this big mountain!

There were blinding lights in the sky and weird electric keyboard music!

He was trying to communicate!

Jeez. Ma'am, this kind of sounds like the plot to--

-He wants to take me to prom in his UFO! -Ma'am…

-Then make me his space queen! -I'm gonna need you to step down.

What would people say? What would I wear?

-You're looking at me like I'm crazy. -No.

-Do you think I'm crazy? -Get down from there.

I can tell when people lie by looking into their eyes.

I do not think you are crazy.

-Look at me! In the eyes! -Okay.

Come on!

-Please let go of my head! -Just keep looking!

Let go of my head!

We're in!

Yes!

Take cover!

Dustin, coast is clear. You're up.

Ma'am, please, if you could just settle down,

we'll get this all sorted out, okay?

Settle down?

Cameras are blind.

-Okay, Nancy, time for a curtain call. -Copy.

Let me just get you some water, okay? Here we go.

No! We mustn't drink the water!

They use it to make us slaves!

-They are space hooligans! -Okay.

They're everywhere! Run!

Well, that was embarrassing.

Activate phase three. Get the editor out of his office.

Cue Eleven!

Confirmed. Hold for window.

Today's proofs, Cosmo.

Oh. "Snake Boy returns to Hawkins."

I… I wrote the Snake Boy story.

And we have done it to death!

Ghosts, Bigfoot, serpents in the sewer!

Our readers may be gullible idiots,

but they ain't gonna fork over the big bucks

for the same old headlines.

Now, I just bought a photo that's leagues above all this bunk.

I mean, even I can't tell if it's real or not.

Now, let's prep the cover and blow some minds!

Come on! Chop, chop!

Cosmo, baby, you are about to go nationwide.

What the heck?

Is this some kind of joke?

-Hey, Cosmo, before you leave… -Yeah, yeah, give me a minute.

Mm.

All right, what'd I miss?

The orange is the best part. Look!

Editor's office is clear.

Max, Lucas, you're up.

Copy.

Dustin, we gotta go dark.

Any luck finding the main power cable?

Nada. Still looking.

"Sewer serpent"? Man, this magazine is ridiculous.

Ugh, it's locked.

I got it.

Oh no.

The photo's not here.

Nobody panic.

At the school paper, if the editor already approved the photo,

it goes to one of two places, in layout or with the typesetter.

I'm in a cubicle that says "typeset department,"

but I don't see the photo anywhere. Over.

Then it's gotta be with the layout.

Can anybody see a cubicle with a drafting table in it?

We found layout. And I can see the Trapper Keeper folder.

This is it, guys. Dustin, any luck on the power?

Found it.

But it's gonna be tough.

The power line is as thick as Lucas' head.

It's thick because it's full of brains that you don't have.

Okay, just like we planned.

Max, we need that stairwell exit door propped open.

As soon as Lucas grabs the folder, Dustin, hit the lights,

and we all get into that exit.

Nancy, Will, El, we'll meet you at the side fire escape exit in five.

Copy.

Yes!

He's got it.

-All right! -Yeah!

Hey, Ralph, did you see this thing roll all the way over here by itself?

Yeah. Wouldn't be the strangest thing I've seen in Hawkins.

Huh?

What in the…

Let's go.

Oh no! The editor's back!

Dustin, go dark! Now!

Ow!

Ow again!

Oh no!

No, no, no, no, no, no! Shoot!

Hey, you!

Hey, kid, what are you doing with my photo?

Um, well, I can explain.

You're in big trouble, kid.

El, it's Lucas!

What?

Get back here!

You go that way!

Stop right there!

Sir, he's over here!

We're compromised! Save yourselves!

It's over, kid.

Now hand me back that folder, and I won't call the cops.

Easy, kid. Easy.

Mike, look!

What's this crazy wind?

It must be the storm!

Hey!

No!

Hey, thanks for the assist.

Of course.

Just because I was mad doesn't mean I don't always have your back.

Sorry I called your club stupid. It's actually pretty awesome.

It's our club, and your membership is still valid.

Come on, let's get out of here.

Come on! Come on! Let's go!

You lost the Trapper Keeper?

Lucas really tried, Mike.

Yeah, and besides, who needs the Trapper Keeper

when you got the photo?

Yes!

Yes! Yes!

-Yes! -We did it!

Here. This belongs with you, man.

Thanks.

And I know just what to do with it.

Good riddance.

By the way, you guys are all banned from taking pictures ever again.