Stranger Things
Came out; 2016
Seasons: 5
Where to Watch: Netflix
Rated: TV-MA
Rating 8.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes
Tomatometer: 90%
Popcornmeter: 83%
Caution; Spoiler Alert
Overall Thoughts: We waited until Season 5 was all the way out then decided to watch them all from the beginning. Most people have already watched this as it was such a popular show.
I was hooked from season one, although I found a few spots that could have been taken out it was overall a great show that kept you're attention from the start.
It was certainly different from anything else out there. It had character growth, a revolving plot and excellent transitions from season to season
I feel like there were things about the last season that could have been either left out or added in, but more on that later
Since Characters are pretty revolving I'm going to list them here:
Recurring
Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
David Harbour as Jim Hopper
Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
Milly Bobby Brown as Eleven
Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler
Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler
Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler
Randy Havens as Scott Clarke
Tinsley & Anniston Price as Holly Wheeler
Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler ~ Season 5
Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield ~ Introduced in Season 2
Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove ~ Introduced in Season 2
Paul Reiser as Sam Owens ~ Introduced in Season 2
Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair ~ Pops up in Season 1 but becomes a regular Season 2
Brett Gelman as Murry Bauman ~ Pops up in Season 1 but becomes a regular Season 2
Maya Hawk as Robin Buckley ~ Introduced in season 3 and becomes a regular
Jamie Campbell Bower as 1/Vecna/Friendly Orderly/Henry Creel
Not-Recurring
Shannon Purser as Barbara Holland
Ross Patridge as Lonnie Byers
Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives
Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives
Sean Astin as Bob Newby
Linnea Berthelsen as Kali/Eight
Catherine Curtin as Claudia Henderson
Jake Busey as Bruce Lowe
Andrey Ivchenko as Grigori
Cary Elwes as Larry Kline
Alec Utgoff as Alexei
Gabriella Pizzolo as Suzie ~ In a few episodes during this season and later
Eduardo Franco as Argyle
Grace Van Dien as Chrissy Cunningam
Robert Englund as Victor Creel
Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson
Amybeth McNulty as Vickie
Linda Hamilton as Dr Kay
Season 1
Premise: November 6, 1983 in Hawkins, Indiana. At the Hawkins National Laboratory, researchers force a young girl with psychokinetic abilities, named Eleven, to make psychic contact with an unknown entity. This contact inadvertently creates a rift to a world known as the Upside Down—a decayed, time-frozen replica of Hawkins. A monstrous humanoid creature escapes and abducts a boy named Will Byers and a teenage girl. Will's mother, Joyce, and the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, search for Will. Meanwhile, Eleven escapes from the laboratory and assists Will's friends, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair, in their efforts to find Will
Overall Thoughts: This season kicks thing off to what will become one of the most watched shows. Watching any first episode of any show you have no clue the direction, the characters, the plot beyond the synopsis or if it will even be any good.
This show sucks you in from the start. I do know people who didn't like it but most of us thought it was something totally different. The characters were relatable with real world experiences, then Eleven gets loose and everything changes.
Even re-watching it for probably the 8th time I couldn't stop. It was such an amazing season with so many twists and turns
Episode Guide
Episode 1: Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers
On November 6, 1983, in Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature at a U.S. government laboratory. 12-year-old Will Byers encounters the creature and mysteriously vanishes while cycling home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. The following day, Will's single mother Joyce Byers reports his disappearance to the police chief Jim Hopper, who starts a search but assures Joyce that almost all missing children are quickly found. The lab's director, Dr. Martin Brenner, investigates an organic substance oozing from the lab's basement, claiming that "the girl" cannot have gone far. A nervous young girl wearing a hospital gown wanders into a local diner. The owner, Benny, finds a tattoo of "011" on her arm and learns that her name is Eleven. Brenner, monitoring the phone lines, sends agents to the diner after Benny calls social services. The agents kill Benny, but Eleven manages to escape using telekinetic abilities. Joyce's phone short circuits after receiving a mysterious phone call that she believes is from Will. While searching for Will in the woods, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas come across Eleven.
Episode 2: Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street
The boys bring Eleven to Mike's house, where they disagree on what to do. Mike formulates a plan for Eleven to pretend to be a runaway and seek help from his mother, Karen. Eleven refuses, however, revealing that "bad men" are after her. Will's brother Jonathan visits his estranged father Lonnie in Indianapolis to search for Will, but Lonnie rebuffs him. Hopper's search party discovers a scrap of hospital gown near the lab. After recognizing Will in a photograph and demonstrating her telekinesis, Eleven convinces the boys to trust her, as they believe she can find Will. Using the Dungeons & Dragons board, Eleven indicates that Will is on the "Upside Down" side of the board and is being hunted by the "Demogorgon" (the creature). Mike's sister Nancy and her friend Barbara 'Barb' Holland go to a party with Nancy's boyfriend Steve Harrington. Searching for Will near Steve's house, Jonathan secretly photographs the party. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music playing from his stereo, and sees a creature coming through the wall. Left alone by the swimming pool, Barb is attacked by the Demogorgon and vanishes.
Episode 3: Chapter Three: Holly Jolly
Barb awakens in the Upside Down: a decaying, overgrown alternate dimension. She attempts to escape but is attacked by the Demogorgon. Joyce believes Will is communicating through pulses in light bulbs. Hopper visits Hawkins Lab, and the staff permits him to view doctored security footage from the night Will vanished, leading Hopper to investigate Brenner and discover his involvement with Project MKUltra and that a woman named Terry Ives alleged years earlier that Brenner took her daughter. Eleven recalls Brenner, whom she calls "Papa," punishing her for refusing to hurt a cat telekinetically. Steve destroys Jonathan's camera after discovering the photos from the party. Nancy later recovers a photo of Barb, simultaneously realizing that Barb is missing. Returning to Steve's house to investigate, Nancy finds Barb's untouched Volkswagen and encounters the Demogorgon but manages to escape. Joyce paints an alphabetic board on her wall with Christmas lights, allowing Will to sign to her that he is "RIGHT HERE" and that she needs to "RUN" as the Demogorgon comes through the wall. Believing Eleven knows where Will is, the boys ask her to lead them to him. Eleven leads them, to their frustration, to Will's house. From there, they follow emergency vehicles to a nearby quarry just as Will's body is recovered from the water.
Episode 4: Chapter Four: The Body
Joyce refuses to believe that the body found at the quarry is Will's. Mike feels betrayed by Eleven until she proves that Will is still alive, channeling his voice through Mike's walkie-talkie. The boys theorize that Eleven could use a ham radio at their school to communicate with Will. Nancy notices a figure behind Barb in Jonathan's photo, which Jonathan realizes matches his mother's description of the Demogorgon. Nancy tells the police about Barb's disappearance. She later fights with Steve, who not only does not care about Barb but only cares about not getting in trouble with his father. Hopper has suspicions regarding the authenticity of the body found in the quarry when he learns that the usual coroner was sent home. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found it and beats him until he admits he was ordered to lie. The boys sneak Eleven into their school to use the radio, while Joyce hears Will's voice through her living room wall. Tearing away the wallpaper, she sees him. Eleven uses the radio to channel Will talking to his mother. Hopper goes to the morgue and finds that the body is a fake, and, suspecting that Brenner is responsible, breaks into the lab.
Episode 5: Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat
Hopper searches the lab before being knocked out by the lab's guards. The boys ask their science teacher, Mr. Clarke, if it would be possible to travel between alternate dimensions, to which he answers that there could be a theoretical "gate" between dimensions. Hopper awakens at his house and finds a hidden microphone, realizing that Joyce was right the whole time. The boys follow their compasses, searching for a gate that could disrupt the Earth's electromagnetic field. Eleven recalls memories of being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically eavesdrop on a Soviet man speaking Russian; while listening, she accidentally came across the Demogorgon. Fearing another encounter with the Demogorgon, Eleven redirects the compasses. Lucas misinterprets this as an act of betrayal, leading Mike and Lucas to fight and Eleven to telekinetically fling Lucas away from Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven runs off. Nancy and Jonathan formulate a plan to kill the Demogorgon. While searching in the woods, they come across a small gate to the Upside Down. Nancy crawls through it but inadvertently draws the Demogorgon's attention. Jonathan unsuccessfully tries to look for Nancy, as the gate to the Upside Down begins to close.
Episode 6: Chapter Six: The Monster
After finding the small gate, Jonathan pulls Nancy back through the gate. That night, Nancy is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay in her bedroom. Steve, attempting to reconcile with Nancy, sees them together through her bedroom window and assumes they are dating. Joyce and Hopper track down Terry Ives, who is catatonic and tended by her sister Becky. Becky explains that Terry was a Project MKUltra participant while unknowingly pregnant and that Terry believes Brenner kidnapped her daughter Jane at birth due to her supposed telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Nancy and Jonathan stockpile weapons to kill the Demogorgon, theorizing that it is attracted by blood. Steve is brutally beaten up in a fistfight with Jonathan after he insults Will and calls Nancy a slut. Jonathan is arrested and held at the police station for beating up Steve and inadvertently punching one of the responding officers in the face while Steve's group flees. Eleven walks into a grocery store and shoplifts several boxes of Eggo waffles. Searching for Eleven, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by two bullies, Troy and James, who try to kill Mike. Mike is rescued by Eleven, who uses her powers to break Troy's arm. Eleven collapses and recalls being asked by Brenner to contact the Demogorgon and, in her terror, inadvertently opening the gate. She tearfully admits to Mike and Dustin that she is responsible for allowing the Demogorgon to enter this dimension. Lucas sees agents, who have tracked down Eleven, preparing to ambush Mike's house.
Episode 7: Chapter Seven: The Bathtub
Lucas warns Mike that agents are searching for Eleven. Mike, Dustin, and Eleven flee the house while Brenner and his agents chase the kids using vans. Eleven telekinetically flips one of the vans that block their path as the kids escape. Lucas reconciles with Mike and Eleven, and the kids hide in the junkyard. Nancy and Jonathan reveal their knowledge of the Demogorgon to Joyce and Hopper. Hopper learns from Troy that Eleven is with the kids. The kids, teens, and adults all meet at the Byers' house, where Joyce and Hopper realize that Eleven is Jane Ives. The group asks Eleven to search for Will and Barb telepathically, but her earlier feats have weakened her. They break into the middle school and build a makeshift sensory deprivation tank to amplify Eleven's powers. After telepathically entering the Upside Down again, Eleven finds Barb dead and Will alive, hiding in the Upside Down version of his backyard fort. Realizing that the gate is in the basement of the lab, Hopper and Joyce break into the lab and are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan sneak into the police station to retrieve the weapons they purchased previously, planning to lure and kill the Demogorgon. In the Upside Down, the Demogorgon breaks into Will's fort.
Episode 8: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down
Hopper, haunted by the death of his daughter Sara from cancer years earlier, gives up Eleven's location to Brenner, who in exchange allows Hopper and Joyce to enter the Upside Down to rescue Will. Nancy and Jonathan cut their hands to attract the Demogorgon at the Byers' house. Steve, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight, arrives just as the Demogorgon appears. Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan fight the Demogorgon and light it on fire, forcing it to retreat back into the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Eleven and the boys hide in the middle school when Brenner and his agents arrive to kidnap Eleven; she kills most of them before collapsing from exhaustion. As Brenner and his remaining agents pin Eleven and the boys down, the Demogorgon appears, attracted by the dead agents' blood, and attacks Brenner and the remaining agents as the boys escape with Eleven. Hopper and Joyce enter the Upside Down's version of the Hawkins library, where they encounter several corpses of the Demogorgon's victims, including Barb, and find Will unconscious with a tendril down his throat. Hopper revives him using CPR after removing the tendril. The Demogorgon corners the kids, but Eleven recovers from her exhaustion and disintegrates it, causing them both to disappear. Will recovers in the hospital, reuniting with his family and friends. One month later, it is Christmas and Nancy is back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Will coughs up a slug-like creature and has a vision of the Upside Down, but hides this from his family.
Season 2
Premise: In the fall of 1984, one year after his disappearance, Will Byers and the town of Hawkins, Indiana, once again find themselves as the target of the Upside Down. A mysterious plague begins to consume pumpkin patches around the town during Halloween season. During this, Will perceives a large and many-armed shadow entity, which the party eventually names the "Mind Flayer", that is able to possess him after an attack. Meanwhile, the larger group, including Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson encounter "Demogorgon dogs" or "Demodogs", which terrorize the citizens of Hawkins. Will's family and friends alongside Jim Hopper, Mike's sister Nancy, Nancy's boyfriend Steve Harrington, Californian newcomer Max Mayfield and a missing Eleven, must join forces to contain the threat.
Overall Thoughts: The first season was so big, it was hard to know how they were going to top it. The magic of being new was gone with this season however it still kept you on edge. We were introduced to Max and Billy.
We are also more introduced to Murry, he made a pop up in season one but becomes a recurring character in this season
This season was also a little brighter because it was in the “real world”.
We had great character development from the first season we also find out the fate of Eleven
I felt like they could have changed the sister, meeting Kali was important to this story line, but it was later so now I understand why it was included.
Episode Guide
Episode 1: Chapter One: Mad Max
On October 28, 1984, a woman with the power to make people see things and with a tattoo reading "008" on her arm is part of a gang that robs a bank in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and flee the cops using those powers 008 have. Hawkins, Indiana, prepares for Halloween. Maxine "Max" Mayfield, a new girl at school, captures Dustin and Lucas's attention. Joyce is dating her old high school classmate Bob Newby. Hopper investigates a field of mysteriously rotting pumpkins and conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman investigates people who saw Eleven, believing her to be a Russian spy. Mike and Nancy deal with losing Eleven and Barb, and Will has been having apparent hallucinations of the Upside Down, with an enormous, tentacled shadow monster. Joyce and Hopper take Will to Hawkins Lab to the new lab's director, Dr. Sam Owens, who has been giving Will routine medical exams since his return. Owens theorizes that Will's episodes are PTSD brought on by the anniversary of his disappearance. The inter-dimensional gate in the lab's basement has been growing, worrying Owens. Nancy and Steve have dinner with Barb's parents, who still believe their daughter to be missing and who have hired Murray Bauman to find her. Hopper goes home to a cabin in the woods where he secretly lives with Eleven.
Episode 2: Chapter Two: Trick or Treat
Flashbacks reveal that after killing the Demogorgon, Eleven awoke in the Upside Down. She escaped back into the real world, but hides in the woods after seeing government officials interrogate Mike at his home. In present time, it is Halloween and Eleven asks Hopper if she can go trick-or-treating. Hopper insists that she remain hidden until he and Owens come up with an arrangement that would allow her to live a normal life, which frustrates the homebound Eleven. More pumpkin fields rot across town and Hopper discovers an organic substance in the fields. Nancy wants to tell Barb's parents the truth about her death, but Steve fears that Hawkins Lab could come after them if they tell anyone the truth. They attend a Halloween party where Nancy gets drunk and berates Steve for his lack of empathy for Barb's parents. Before leaving, Steve requests Jonathan to take Nancy home. The boys go trick-or-treating and are later joined by Max. Will has another episode and tells Mike about his visions, leading Mike to admit that he is trying to contact Eleven. Dustin returns home after trick-or-treating and finds a strange creature in his trash can.
Episode 3: Chapter Three: The Pollywog
Flashbacks reveal that Hopper found Eleven in the woods and agreed to take care of her in his grandfather's old hunting cabin if she agreed not to leave the cabin. In the present, Bob encourages Will to face his fears, not understanding the nature of Will's episodes. Nancy persuades Jonathan to help her tell Barb's parents the truth. They arrange a meeting with Barb's mother in a public park the following day, fearing that Owens may be tapping the phone lines. The creature Dustin found in his trash can is a small, slug-like animal that he names D'Artagnan ("Dart"). He shows Dart to the other kids, and Will concludes that it is from the Upside Down, as it makes a noise similar to one Will heard in his visions. Hopper accuses Owens of failing to keep the gate contained, becoming increasingly concerned about the pumpkin fields. Frustrated with being stuck in the cabin, Eleven leaves to look for Mike; at the school, she sees him arguing with Max but thinks they are flirting. Will suffers from another episode and follows Bob's advice to confront the shadow monster, but it latches to him.
Episode 4: Chapter Four: Will the Wise
Joyce and the kids awaken an unconscious Will. Joyce takes Will home, but finds him acting strangely, scribbling furiously on pieces of paper and demanding that the house be kept cold. Eleven returns to the cabin and argues with Hopper over her sneaking out, destroying the cabin's windows in a fit of rage. Joyce calls Hopper and together they discover that Will's scribbles line up. Hopper recognizes that the drawings represent vines, and he leaves. Nancy and Jonathan are captured by Owen's agents when they try to contact Barb's mother and are taken to Hawkins Lab, where Owens shows them the gate to the Upside Down. He admits Barb died in the Upside Down, and says that he wants to prevent foreign governments from learning of it. They are released, and it is revealed that Nancy was secretly recording Owens. An infatuated Lucas tries to get closer to Max, but her violent older stepbrother Billy Hargrove intervenes. While cleaning up her mess the following morning, Eleven finds Hopper's research of her biological mother, Terry Ives, and tries to contact Terry with her powers. A horrified Dustin finds that Dart has broken out of its cage, devoured his pet cat, and is an infant Demogorgon, also known as a Demodog. Hopper digs into one of the pumpkin fields and finds a tunnel resembling the Upside Down.
Episode 5: Chapter Five: Dig Dug
Hopper becomes trapped in the tunnels and passes out. Mike sleeps over at the Byers' house to help Will recover. Will has a vision of Hopper, leading Joyce to recruit Bob's help to determine its meaning. Bob identifies Will's drawings as a map of Hawkins and the pumpkin field as the place Hopper was going. Nancy and Jonathan take the tape of Owens' admission to Murray, who realizes the public will not believe the truth and suggests watering it down to make it more palatable. Lucas reveals the truth of Will's disappearance to Max. Dustin traps Dart in his storm cellar and enlists Steve's help to recapture it. Eleven tracks down Terry and Becky Ives. Terry and Eleven are able to communicate using their psychic powers, and Terry reveals to Eleven that she tried to rescue her at the lab and was subjected to a brain-damaging dose of shock therapy by Dr. Brenner. Eleven learns that there was another girl trained like her. Joyce, Bob, Will, and Mike rescue Hopper, and scientists from the lab soon arrive and set the tunnels on fire. As this happens, Will collapses and begins convulsing and screaming in agony.
Episode 6: Chapter Six: The Spy
Will is rushed to the lab, demonstrating memory loss. Owens theorizes that the shadow monster is a virus that has spread to Will's brain and is controlling him, and that the creatures from the Upside Down share a hive mind. Therefore, damaging the tunnels will be lethal to the now-infected Will. Nancy and Jonathan spend the night at Murray's, who forces them to admit their feelings for each other. The following morning, the trio send copies of the tape of Owens' admission to numerous newspapers around the country. Nancy and Jonathan discover Will's drawings upon returning to the Byers' house. Lucas and Max regroup with Dustin and Steve, and the group attempt to lure Dart to a junkyard. Max apologizes for being hostile to Lucas, explaining that Billy's violence results from his father getting re-married to Max's mother. Dart arrives in the junkyard flanked by a pack of adolescent monsters. Steve and the kids are cornered until the pack unexpectedly run away. Steve realizes that the Demodogs are being summoned elsewhere. Will discovers a location that the monster prevents him from seeing. Unaware that the monster is manipulating Will, Owens sends a team to investigate. The team is killed by the demodogs, who make their way into the lab.
Episode 7: Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister
Eleven travels to Chicago, Illinois, and finds the other girl from Terry's memories, named Kali. Realizing they have similar tattoos and were both experimented on by Brenner, Eleven and Kali consider themselves sisters. Kali can project images into people's minds and leads a street gang to seek revenge on Brenner. Eleven tells them that Brenner is dead, so the gang decide to kill the man who tortured Terry instead. Kali helps Eleven hone her abilities by demonstrating that channeling her anger is the key to strengthening her powers. After Eleven uses her powers to find the gang's target, named Ray, the gang travel to Ray's apartment to kill him. Eleven begins to choke Ray with her powers, leading him to reveal that Brenner is still alive. Eleven refuses to kill Ray after seeing a photo of his two young daughters, who are discovered at that same moment to be contacting the police. Eleven stops Kali from killing Ray. The gang flees to the hideout, and Kali insists Eleven either stay and avenge her mother or return to Hawkins. Eleven has a vision of Mike and Hopper's plight at the lab and decides to return while Kali and her gang escape from the police.
Episode 8: Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer
The pack of Demodogs attack the lab, killing all of the scientists minus Dr Owens. Will is sedated, after Mike deduces he is a spy, so that Will doesn't know where they are. Mike, Joyce, Hopper, Bob, Owens, and an unconscious Will escape and take refuge in a room when the power goes out. Bob leaves and manages to restore the power and open the doors. Mike, Hopper, Joyce, and Will escape, with Owens staying to guide Bob. After hiding from a Demodog, a broomstick falls to the floor, triggering a chase by the Demodog. Bob is attacked and killed by a second Demodog as Joyce watches in despair. The group is rescued by Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, and the other children. At the Byers house, they name the monster the "Mind Flayer", who wants to conquer their world and kill them all. They manage to get Will to contact them in Morse code by telling him good memories of his childhood, with Will telling them to close the gate. With a noise, Will detects where he is and sends a Demodog. Eleven arrives and kills the Demodog with her powers and reunites with Mike.
Episode 9: Chapter Nine: The Gate
Mike is angry at Hopper for hiding Eleven from him. The group and Eleven come up with a plan to close the gate without killing Will. Hopper and Eleven go to the lab while Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, and an unconscious Will go to Hopper's cabin to burn the Mind Flayer out from him. Meanwhile, Steve, Mike, Dustin, Max, and Lucas, stay behind to stay safe. Billy arrives to find Max and has a fight with Steve; after Steve was knocked out by Billy, Max sedates Billy and makes him promise to leave them alone. In a cabin, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy turn up the heat and successfully drive the Mind Flayer out of Will. While not part of the plan, Steve, Mike, Dustin, Max, and Lucas enter the tunnels and burn the core and attract the demodogs; as they flee, they encounter Dart, who lets them through after Dustin gave it nougat chocolate. Hopper finds Owens injured in the lab. Eleven tries to close the portal and the remaining demodogs try to stop her; Hopper neutralizes them. Eleven manages to close the gate. A month later, Owens facilitates Hopper's adoption of Eleven as Jane Hopper. At the winter formal "Snow Ball", Max and Lucas dance and kiss, as do Mike and Eleven, and Nancy dances with a heartbroken Dustin. In the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer watches the group at Hawkins Middle School.
Season 3
Premise: In the summer of 1985, the popular new Starcourt Mall has caused many of Hawkins' other stores to close. Jim Hopper intervenes in Mike Wheeler's relationship with his adopted daughter Eleven, and Eleven becomes friends with Max Mayfield. Still recovering from Bob Newby's death, Joyce Byers considers moving out of Hawkins with her children. Magnetic disruptions lead her to believe that the Upside Down has returned, though, and she enlists Hopper's help in uncovering the cause. While Mike and Lucas Sinclair attempt to repair Mike's relationship with Eleven, Will Byers begins experiencing premonitions from the Upside Down even though Eleven closed the original gate, believing the Mind Flayer, a many-armed shadow creature from the Upside-Down which previously possessed him, is still alive in Hawkins. As Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers investigate the effects of the Mind Flayer's influence, Dustin Henderson, Steve Harrington, newcomer Robin Buckley, and Erica Sinclair begin investigating a potential Soviet infiltration of Hawkins. Meanwhile, Max's stepbrother Billy Hargrove is taken over by the Mind Flayer, who possesses other citizens of Hawkins to fulfill its plan.
Overall Thoughts: Although overall I really liked this season. Loved the introduction of Robin and the nostalgia of the mall. I like the story line of the Mind Flyer but what I didn't like, was that the “secret Russian lab” was literally under the mall.
I understand that it went back to the Mayor and he knew, but come on. This is a small town and not one person noticed that equipment was brought it while this mall was being built?
I loved how Erica was looped into the fold during “Operation Child Enlargement” She turns out to be the sassy little sister that was really needed to shake things up
Nancy and Jonathan working for newspaper really brings you back to a time when women weren't always taken seriously
I also felt that this season was the start of “How disgusting can we make things without making them to bad”
To this day I still ask my kids “How many kids are you friends with”
Episode Guide
Episode 1: Chapter One: Suzie, Do you Copy?
In June 1984, scientists in the Soviet Union attempt to open a new gate to the Upside Down but fail. One year later, around late June 1985, in Hawkins, the popularity of the new Starcourt Mall has forced many local businesses to close, angering townspeople. Eleven and Mike Wheeler have begun a romantic relationship, much to Jim Hopper's chagrin; he later threatens Mike into agreeing not to see her. Dustin Henderson returns from summer camp and, with Lucas Sinclair's, Max Mayfield's, and Will Byers's help, sets up a radio tower to contact his new girlfriend from camp, Suzie. Dustin's friends leave, and he intercepts a Russian radio transmission. Will senses that the Mind Flayer may still be alive. Rats flock to a mill and explode into an organic mass. Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers work as interns for the Hawkins Post. Nancy experiences sexism from her older male staff. On his way to a rendezvous with Karen Wheeler, Billy Hargrove is run off the road by an unseen creature and dragged inside the mill.
Episode 2: Chapter Two: The Mall Rats
Billy is released from the mill after the creature induces a vision of the Upside Down, which includes a doppelgänger. Following Hopper's threat, Mike lies to Eleven, leading her to seek Max's advice. Dustin reunites with Steve Harrington, who works at the mall's ice cream parlor with Robin Buckley, a former classmate. Nancy and Jonathan investigate the home of Mrs. Driscoll, an elderly woman concerned about rabid rats eating her fertilizer. Eleven and Max bond, going shopping at Starcourt Mall to distract themselves from Mike and Lucas. Tormented by visions and voices, Billy is guided by the creature into kidnapping his fellow lifeguard, Heather Holloway, and bringing her to the creature. Eleven breaks up with Mike after she sees him at the mall and realizes that he has been lying. Joyce tries to figure out why magnets at her home and workplace have stopped working. She goes to the home of Scott Clarke, the kids' science teacher, to ask him why the magnets have stopped functioning, accidentally standing Hopper up for a date. Dustin, Steve, and Robin translate Dustin's intercepted Russian radio message, surmising that it must be a code.
Episode 3: Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard
While having a sleepover with Max, Eleven jokingly uses her powers to spy on Mike, Lucas, and Will. She later spies on a suspicious and strange Billy, who senses her presence. She and Max discover that Heather has gone missing. Nancy and Jonathan find reports of missing fertilizer and strange behavior among rats across town, and they discover Mrs. Driscoll herself eating fertilizer in her home. After his attempts to play Dungeons and Dragons like old times, Will fights with Mike and Lucas as they are upset over Eleven and Max. He retreats to Castle Byers, and upon recalling his childhood memories with his friends, he destroys it. Robin decodes the Russian communication, which leads to a shipment arriving at Starcourt that night precisely at 21:45; she, Steve, and Dustin spot armed Russian soldiers handling the delivery. Joyce forced Hopper to go to the abandoned Hawkins Lab to answer queries they have about the falling magnets; when they investigate, Hopper is attacked by Grigori, a Russian soldier. Eleven and Max track down Billy and Heather at the home of Heather's parents. After they leave, Billy and Heather subdue her parents, which Will senses while Mike and Lucas find him, and he reveals to them that the Mind Flayer has returned.
Episode 4: Chapter Four: The Sauna Test
Billy and Heather bring her parents to the mill, where they are possessed by the Mind Flayer, now a physical creature composed of flesh from the rats. Hopper recalls Grigori meeting with town mayor Larry Kline; he and Joyce force Kline to reveal that Starcourt Mall is a Russian front for buying abandoned properties across Hawkins. At Starcourt, Dustin, Steve, and Robin, alongside Lucas' sister Erica, discover that the mall's loading dock is an elevator, which traps them beneath the mall. Nancy and Jonathan are fired by their boss Tom, Heather's father, for harassing Mrs. Driscoll; Nancy visits Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital out of suspicion and watches her become possessed by the Mind Flayer. Will reveals his connection with the Mind Flayer to Eleven, Mike, Lucas, and Max, speculating that it has possessed Billy. They devise a plan to trap Billy in the pool's sauna to confirm he is possessed, but Billy escapes and nearly kills them until Eleven subdues him. Billy returns to the mill, where dozens of townspeople have since been possessed by the Mind Flayer.
Episode 5: Chapter Five: The Flayed
Hopper and Joyce search one of the abandoned properties, discovering a hidden laboratory. Grigori arrives to kill them, and they narrowly escape with a hostage–a Russian scientist named Alexei–in tow. Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica arrive in a Russian lab underneath Starcourt and hide from Russian soldiers unloading crates from the elevator. Attempting to find a communications room, the group discover a large testing area where scientists try to force open a portal to the Upside Down. As Alexei does not speak English, Hopper and Joyce take him to Murray–the only Russian speaker they know–to translate. Grigori tries to follow them but loses the trail. Nancy and Jonathan regroup with Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Max, and Will and then theorize that Billy and Driscoll are both possessed by the Mind Flayer, who uses them to "flay" (possess) people to create an army. The group decides to visit Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital to learn more but discovers she is missing. They are attacked by Tom and Bruce, who are now part of the Flayed and dissolve into a single organic mass resembling the Mind Flayer after Nancy and Jonathan kill them.
Episode 6: Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum
Eleven, who had just then reconciled with Mike, uses her powers to incapacitate the bio-massed Mind Flayer, forcing it to flee to the mill. In the Russian lab beneath Starcourt, Steve and Robin are captured, drugged, and interrogated, but Dustin and Erica manage to rescue them. With Murray translating, Hopper and Joyce hold Alexei hostage, forcing him to reveal that the Russians are attempting to access the Upside Down and that they are opening a portal beneath Starcourt. Hopper calls Owens to warn the U.S. Government of the threat, but Joyce insists they return to Hawkins immediately, fearing that their kids may be involved. Grigori corners Kline at Hawkins' Independence Day fair, demanding he step up efforts to find Hopper. Mike argues with Max about relying on Eleven's powers and inadvertently admits his ongoing love for Eleven. To find the Mind Flayer, Eleven uses her powers in an attempt to psychically communicate with Billy, learning of his traumatic childhood and finding the Mind Flayer at the mill. Billy senses Eleven's presence, giving the Mind Flayer access to her location, and reveals that the Mind Flayer plans to kill her to avenge her closing the gate. The Flayed converge on the mill, dissolving into an enormous organic mass and merging with the Mind Flayer.
Episode 7: Chapter Seven: The Bite
Eleven and the others determine that the Mind Flayer is coming for her, since she was the one who previously closed the gate and thus its only threat. Will senses the Mind Flayer approaching. The Mind Flayer attacks the group, and though Eleven defends the others, the Mind Flayer manages to injure her before they flee. Dustin and Erica hide a drugged Steve and Robin in the Starcourt movie theater. Eleven's group breaks into a supermarket to help treat her wounds and gather more supplies. Dustin contacts them over a walkie-talkie to try to explain the situation before he loses battery power. Eleven uses her powers to find Dustin, and the group take off for the mall. Steve admits that he has feelings for Robin, but she comes out to him as a lesbian. Hopper's group make their way to the fairgrounds in Hawkins to find the children, where they are spotted by Kline, who alerts the Russians. Grigori fatally shoots Alexei in front of Murray. Murray, Hopper, and Joyce evade several Soviet agents and learn the agents are looking for the children at the mall. Eleven's group arrive at the mall in time to stop the Russians from shooting Dustin's group. Exhausted and in pain, Eleven collapses, her wound pulsing.
Episode 8: Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt
Eleven rids herself of the piece of the Mind Flayer embedded in her wound, rendering her powerless. Hopper's group arrives, and plans are made to take Eleven's group to safety. At the same time, Hopper, Joyce, and Murray destroy the machine, with Dustin and Erica navigating them from his radio tower. Billy and the Mind Flayer trap Eleven's group at the mall. The others attack the Mind Flayer with fireworks as Eleven frees Billy from its control. Billy sacrifices himself to protect Eleven, Mike, and Max. Hopper fights and kills Grigori, getting trapped with the machine in the process. Out of time, Joyce is forced to trigger an explosion, closing the gate, with Hopper seemingly being disintegrated in the process. The Mind Flayer's physical body dies as Dr. Owens arrives with military forces. Three months later, the deaths are covered up, Starcourt is dismantled, and a disgraced Kline is arrested. The Byers family and a still-powerless Eleven prepare to move out of Hawkins. Eleven confesses her love for Mike and they make plans to meet at Thanksgiving. In Kamchatka, Russian guards are instructed to feed a prisoner, but "not the American", to a captured Demogorgon.
Season 4
Premise: Set in March 1986, eight months after the events of the third season, the fourth season is split between three different plot lines.
The first plot line takes place in Hawkins, Indiana, where a series of mysterious teenage murders begin haunting the town. Eddie Munson, leader of the Hellfire Club, Hawkins High School's Dungeons & Dragons group, becomes a prime suspect in the murders after senior cheer leading captain Chrissy Cunningham dies in his trailer, so Dustin Henderson, Lucas and Erica Sinclair, Max Mayfield, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, and Robin Buckley begin investigating to clear Eddie's name. While other classmates, lead by Jason Carver, hunt Eddie. The group discovers that the true perpetrator is a powerful being who resides in the Upside Down, whom they dub "Vecna" after a Dungeons & Dragons character.
The second plotline involves Mike Wheeler visiting Eleven, Will Byers, and Jonathan Byers at their new home in Lenora Hills, California. Due to the events in Hawkins and the imminent danger to her friends, Eleven, after being arrested for assaulting her bully, goes with Dr. Sam Owens to a secret facility in the Nevada desert to regain her powers, an operation titled the Nina Project, where she is reunited with Dr. Martin Brenner and forced to confront her past in Hawkins National Laboratory with the aid of an isolation tank. While the U.S. Military, lead by Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan, is simultaneously searching for Eleven, Mike, Will, Jonathan, and their new friend Argyle attempt to reach Eleven before she regains her powers.
The third plotline follows Joyce Byers and Murray Bauman as they venture to Russia upon learning that Jim Hopper may still be alive. Meanwhile, Hopper is held in a Soviet prison camp in Kamchatka, where he and the other inmates, including Dmitri Antonov, are forced to battle a Demogorgon that the Russians have captured.
Overall Thoughts: Although past seasons had a few story lines mixed in, it wasn't this much. In this season we have the characters all over, we meet new characters and learn the root of the upside down
Love that they let Elle aka Jane be a regular girl for a few episodes. They really had her try and she tried to hard to deal with the bully the regular way
Murray really came into the fold in this season, helping Joyce and getting stuck with her trying to rescue Hopper
The kids were in two different groups, working very much on the same issues.
We also get a very brief intro to Suzie's way of life while she helps the boys find Elle.
The only thing that bothered me about this season is at this point, everybody knows what's going on with everybody else and the Upside-Down. Why does Joyce lie? Had she at least told Jonathan what she was doing it would have avoided some worry the group had
Episode Guide
Episode 1: Chapter One: The Hellfire Club
In a flashback to 1979, Dr. Brenner is experimenting on children with supernatural abilities until a mysterious incident kills all the children except Eleven. In 1986, eight months after the events at Starcourt Mall, Joyce, Will, Jonathan, and Eleven have moved to California, where Eleven struggles with the loss of her powers and is routinely bullied by other students. Joyce receives a porcelain doll in the mail, seemingly from Russia, and finds a hidden note stating that Jim Hopper is alive. In Hawkins, Mike and Dustin have joined their high school's "Hellfire Club," a Dungeons & Dragons club run by the iconoclastic Eddie Munson. As a result, they miss seeing Lucas win the basketball team's championship. Max, who broke up with Lucas, struggles to grieve Billy's death. Chrissy Cunningham, a student on the cheerleading squad, is tormented by visions of her abusive mother and a ticking grandfather clock. While buying drugs from Eddie, Chrissy is possessed and killed by a sentient humanoid creature from her visions.
Episode 2: Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse
Hopper survived the explosion beneath the Starcourt Mall, but was captured by Soviet soldiers and sent to a prison camp in Kamchatka. Joyce and Murray call the phone number listed on the note they sent him and speak to Dmitri Antonov, a prison guard Hopper has bribed. Antonov asks them to deliver a $40,000 ransom to his contact in Alaska. Mike flies to California to visit Eleven, where he and Will witness her classmate Angela bullying her; Eleven eventually retaliates by hitting Angela in the face with a skate. Max tells Dustin that she saw Eddie fleeing the night Chrissy died. Along with Robin and Steve, they track down the traumatized Eddie and explain the Upside Down to him. Eddie and Dustin dub the entity that killed Chrissy "Vecna." Nancy and her fellow journalist Fred investigate Chrissy's death; Eddie's uncle Wayne tells Nancy he believes the killer is Victor Creel, a Hawkins resident who was institutionalized after allegedly murdering his family in the 1950s. Fred is lured to the woods by visions of a student he accidentally killed before Vecna murders him.
Episode 3: Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero
Sam Owens is visited by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Jack Sullivan, who believes Eleven is responsible for Chrissy's death. Eleven is arrested for assaulting Angela, but Owens takes her away, explaining that Hawkins is in grave danger and that he has been working on a program to help Eleven regain her powers. Eleven agrees to go with him. Joyce and Murray fly to Alaska to deliver Hopper's ransom. Hopper bribes a fellow inmate to break his shackles with a sledgehammer. Nancy and Robin go to the library to research Victor Creel and discover that Creel believes his family's murders were committed by a demon, which they believe to be Vecna. Chrissy's boyfriend Jason leads the basketball team to hunt for Eddie, whom he believes is Chrissy's murderer, but Lucas abandons them when Jason becomes violent. Max remembers that Chrissy had visited the school counselor before being killed by Vecna. She steals Chrissy and Fred's files from the counselor's office and discovers they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms similar to her own. Max hears Vecna call her by name and imagines a grandfather clock.
Episode 4: Chapter Four: Dear Billy
Joyce and Murray deliver the ransom payment to Antonov's contact, Yuri, but he drugs them and plans to hand them (and Hopper and Antonov) over to the Russians for a larger profit. Hopper escapes from the prison camp but is soon recaptured. Jonathan, Mike, and Will prepare to escape from Wallace and Harmon, agents sent by Owens to watch them, but armed soldiers attack the house. They escape with the help of Jonathan's friend Argyle, bringing the wounded Harmon with them. Nancy and Robin interview the imprisoned Victor Creel, who recounts how his family was tormented and killed by supernatural forces while he was being arrested for their murders. Max, fearing that Vecna is about to kill her, writes letters to her friends and family and goes to the cemetery to read Billy's letter at his gravestone. She is soon possessed by Vecna and finds herself at an altar within her mind. Steve, Dustin, and Lucas learn from Nancy and Robin that playing music can break Vecna's spell, and they put Max's favorite song, "Running Up That Hill," on a cassette tape. This opens a portal through which Max narrowly escapes Vecna's control.
Episode 5: Chapter Five: The Nina Project
Owens takes Eleven to an abandoned ICBM silo in Nevada, where he and Dr. Brenner have developed a specialized isolation tank (called "NINA") that will allow Eleven to access memories of her time with other kids at Hawkins Lab. After her first time in the tank, Eleven tries to escape and briefly regains her powers in the process, convincing her to continue the experiment. In California, before dying, Agent Harmon gives the kids a pen containing a phone number for Project NINA that connects to a modem; Mike decides to enlist the help of Dustin's girlfriend, Suzie, in Salt Lake City. After Yuri's betrayal, Hopper is imprisoned along with Antonov. While flying to Russia, Joyce and Murray subdue Yuri and crash in the desert. Max, Lucas, Steve, and Dustin reunite with Nancy and Robin and investigate the Creel house. Inside, they encounter flickering lights, which they attribute to Vecna's movements in the Upside Down. Jason and his teammates locate Eddie attempting to escape in a boat on Lover's Lake; Jason and Patrick swim after him. In the water, Vecna kills Patrick in front of Jason and Eddie.
Episode 6: Chapter Six: The Drive
Eleven relives memories of befriending a lab nurse, who warns her not to trust Brenner. She also recalls being threatened by other test subjects, leading her to believe she was responsible for the lab massacre. Suzie helps Mike's group locate the coordinates for Project NINA. Hopper and the other inmates are given a large feast, which Hopper attributes to the Russians preparing to feed them to the Demogorgon. He later manages to steal a lighter, remembering that the Demogorgon's weakness is fire. Joyce and Murray force Yuri to take them to a nearby town where he stores his belongings and decide that Murray will impersonate Yuri to infiltrate the prison. Jason galvanizes the residents of Hawkins at a town hall meeting against Eddie's alleged Satanic cult, the "Hellfire Club." The Hawkins group finds Eddie; Dustin notices his compass is malfunctioning and realizes there must be a new portal to the Upside Down nearby. They trace the portal to Lover's Lake, where Steve dives in to inspect it before being pulled into the Upside Down by a tendril and surrounded by bat-like creatures; Nancy, Robin, and Eddie jump in after him.
Episode 7: Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab
Joyce, Murray, and Yuri enter Kamchatka and witness Hopper and his fellow inmates fighting the Demogorgon. Hopper stops the creature with a flaming spear while Murray and Joyce subdue the guards and open the prison gates, allowing Hopper and Antonov to escape. Joyce and Hopper are reunited. Dustin, Lucas, and Erica theorize that Vecna has created a portal at the site of each murder, which they communicate to the older teens in the Upside Down. Both groups meet inside Eddie's trailer at the gate where Chrissy died. Robin and Eddie emerge unharmed, but Vecna possesses Nancy. She discovers that he is Victor Creel's son, Henry, who killed his mother and sister with his psychokinetic powers before falling into a coma and being placed in Brenner's care. Henry became Subject 001 in Brenner's attempts to replicate his powers and later the orderly whom Eleven befriended. Eleven finally remembers that Henry committed the lab massacre and tried to kill her when she refused to help fulfill his murderous ambitions; Eleven overpowered Henry and sent him to the Upside Down where he eventually became Vecna.
Episode 8: Chapter Eight: Papa
Vecna shows Nancy, who is still possessed by him, a vision of the future in which Hawkins is torn apart by rifts before freeing her. The group determines that Vecna needs four portals to implement his plan; Max volunteers to lure Vecna into possessing her so the others can attack him while he's distracted. Eleven, using her powers, learns of this plan and gets Owens to arrange transit to Hawkins. However, Brenner betrays and secures Owens and traps Eleven, insisting she needs to complete her training. Eleven realizes that Brenner had been using her for years to try to retrieve Henry from the Upside Down. Sullivan and his forces arrive and kill all the staff; Brenner escapes with Eleven, but is shot himself. Sullivan's crew tries to kill Eleven from a helicopter, but she uses her powers to eliminate them just as the California group arrives. As Brenner bleeds out in her arms, he asks for her forgiveness; Eleven silently leaves him to die. In Russia, Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Yuri, and Antonov escape the base after discovering several more creatures from the Upside Down, as well as a shadowy fragment of the Mind Flayer, which is being studied at the prison.
Episode 9: Chapter Nine: The Piggyback
The Hawkins group puts their plan into action: Max, Lucas, and Erica go to the Creel House while Steve, Nancy, and Robin go to its Upside Down counterpart to attack Vecna, with the bats being lured by Dustin and Eddie. Eddie sacrifices himself in the process. Eleven's group creates an isolation tank so she can enter Max's mind and fight Vecna. However, Vecna overwhelms her and possesses Max, revealing to Eleven that he has controlled the Upside Down since she sent him there. Mike professes his love for Eleven, giving her the strength to break Vecna's control over Max, but after Jason interferes, Max dies from her injuries. Hopper, Joyce, and Murray re-enter the prison and kill the remaining Demogorgons, weakening Vecna. Steve, Robin, and Nancy set fire to Vecna's physical form and shoot him, seemingly killing him. Eleven uses her powers to revive Max, but Max's brief death allows Vecna's portals to open and pass through Hawkins, killing Jason. Two days later, the town recovers from an "earthquake." Everyone unites, while Max remains in a coma. Will senses that Vecna is still alive, and the Upside Down begins to invade Hawkins.
Season 5
Premise: Set in November 1987, a year and eight months after the events of the fourth season, the group seeks to find and kill Vecna following the opening of rifts throughout Hawkins. Their mission becomes complicated when the military establishes a quarantine in town and begins hunting Eleven. As the anniversary of Will Byers' disappearance approaches, the group must unite for a final battle against the forces of the Upside Down.
Overall Thoughts: This was bittersweet knowing it was it, it was done after this season. All the waiting between seasons. Going in you wanted it to be worth it, to have a big win for once.
Mrs. Wheeler comes into the fold and finds out exactly what her children have been up to, she almost looses her life in the process. Through all season Karen & Ted have hilariously been the hang out house and yet have no clue what's actually going on
We found out why Max is unable to wake up, although it turns out to be a good thing that she didn't.
We also get to know Vickie more, we met her in the last season but didn't really get to know her. She plays a vital role in everything
As expected there were twists and turns but one major story line. The only thing that drove me crazy is the cry speech that Will gives about being Gay. I understand times were different and that couldn't have been easy, however this scene was too overboard and could have been cut down
I very much loved the ending
Episode Guide
Episode 1: Chapter One: The Crawl
While hiding in the Upside Down in 1983, Will is caught by a Demogorgon and is brought to Vecna, who infects Will with a tentacle. In 1987, 19 months after the Rifts incident, a contingent of the US military, led by Dr. Kay and Lt. Robert Akers, have placed Hawkins under quarantine and created a base camp within the Upside Down while still on the hunt for Eleven, who trains in hiding with Hopper and Joyce. Will, Lucas, and Mike lay low, though Dustin provokes the school basketball team by continuing to honor Eddie. Steve, Robin, Jonathan, and Nancy work at WSQK, a local radio station, where they relay coded messages to the group about opportunities to sneak Hopper into the Upside Down, which they call "crawls", to find Vecna's hideout. Dustin is viciously beaten at Eddie's grave, causing him to miss the next crawl, which goes awry when a Demogorgon attacks a military caravan, forcing Hopper to take shelter within the Upside Down. Will telepathically witnesses the attack and sees the Demogorgon head towards the Wheeler residence just as it tears open a gate in the bedroom of Mike and Nancy's younger sister Holly.
Episode 2: Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler
The Demogorgon attacks and severely injures Mike and Nancy's parents, Karen and Ted, before disappearing with Holly to the Upside Down. Eleven follows the Demogorgon through a gate into the Upside Down and finds Hopper. The two then search for Holly until they encounter a giant wall surrounding the edge of Hawkins. Jonathan accuses Steve of competing for Nancy's attention before a bloodied Dustin finds them, while Lucas continues tending to a comatose Max in hopes she will wake up. As Karen and Ted remain hospitalized, Nancy and Mike theorize that "Mr. Whatsit", Holly's imaginary friend, may be real and involved in Holly's disappearance. Robin proposes using Will's telepathic link to Vecna's hive mind to track Holly in the Upside Down. Karen informs Nancy and Mike that Mr. Whatsit's first name is Henry, whom they realize is Vecna's human form, Henry Creel. Will discovers that his earlier visions were actually from Henry's point of view as he stalked Holly, realizing he can know Henry's targets before they are taken.
Episode 3: Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap
Henry targets Holly's classmate and bully, Derek Turnbow, as his next victim. Hopper and Eleven fail to break through the massive wall and are ambushed by soldiers, but manage to overpower them. Hopper and Eleven interrogate Akers, concluding that Dr. Kay is holding Henry at the base. Will, Nancy, and Mike inform the group that Henry lured Holly by claiming he was her imaginary friend, prompting them to devise a plan to use Derek as bait to trap the Demogorgon, and implant a tracker in it to reach Holly before more children are taken. The group arms themselves using weapons smuggled in by Murray and enlists Erica to drug Derek and his family. The team splits up, transporting the unconscious family to an abandoned barn while converting Derek's house into a trap for the Demogorgon. The plan unravels when Derek wakes up and Will realizes the Demogorgon has located his group. Meanwhile, Holly finds herself in Henry's childhood home. In the nearby forest, she encounters Max.
Episode 4: Chapter Four: Sorcerer
Hopper and Eleven infiltrate the military base, intending to kill Henry. They defeat Dr. Kay and her soldiers, discovering that the captive inside is Eleven's adoptive sister, Kali. Max explains to Holly that they are trapped inside a psychic realm made of Henry's memories, nicknamed "Camazotz" by Holly, where Max has remained ever since her brief death. Will's group is attacked by a Demogorgon until Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan chase it into the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the military detains children in Hawkins who could be potential victims. Will experiences a vision of Holly and three other children being restrained by tentacles in Vecna's lair, with empty spots for eight more. Will's group infiltrates the base to smuggle the children out of Hawkins. However, Henry, in his Vecna form, and three Demogorgons emerge from the Upside Down, slaughter most of the soldiers at the Hawkins base, and kidnap Henry's targets, including Derek. Before retreating into the Upside Down, Henry tells Will that he intends to use the children, whom he calls "perfect vessels", to reshape the world. Will then unlocks psychic abilities and kills the Demogorgons to save Mike, Lucas, and Robin.
Episode 5: Chapter Five: Shock Jock
In Camazotz, the kidnapped children awaken, and while most believe Henry's claim that he saved them, Holly and Derek do not. Max and Holly traverse Henry's memories of Holly to search for an escape as Derek distracts him. Henry discovers the plan, threatens Derek's family, turns into Vecna, finds Holly, and strangles Max. Will's group reanimates a dead Demogorgon using the radio tower's voltage so Will can reconnect to the hive mind and kill Vecna. Will possesses Vecna's body, breaking his leg and speaking through him to tell Max and Holly to run; Henry expels him from his mind soon after, causing Will to pass out. In the Upside Down, Hopper and Eleven escape the military base with Kali, who reveals Dr. Kay was using her blood, just as Dr. Brenner used Henry's blood, in failed experiments to give children powers. At Hawkins Lab, Dustin theorizes that the wall surrounding the Upside Down is a protective shield that, if destroyed, can weaken Henry. Nancy and Jonathan find a mysterious sphere on the roof of the lab. Dustin finds Brenner's journal and realizes he is wrong, but fails to warn the others before Nancy shoots the sphere.
Episode 6: Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz
Dustin explains to Steve that the Upside Down is not an alternate dimension but a wormhole to another realm, held together by a mass of "exotic matter", which they realize is the sphere on the roof. The exotic matter detonates upon being shot, causing the building to begin melting; Nancy and Jonathan become trapped in a collapsing room. Believing they will die, they end their relationship on good terms; the melting eventually halts. Max and Holly find a memory of a young Henry killing a man in self-defense in a cave. Erica and Murray recruit Mr. Clarke to help locate Dustin's group. Henry uses the unconscious Will to track Max in the real world and sends Demodogs to kill her at the hospital. Hopper, Eleven, and Kali reunite with the others in Hawkins, and Eleven frees Will. At the hospital, Lucas, Robin, and her girlfriend Vickie protect Max from the Demodogs, with Karen ultimately saving them by detonating a laundry machine to kill the creatures. Seeing her exit from Vecna's mind formed via Lucas's music, Max tells Holly she needs to find her own way out and reminds her of her past bravery, allowing both to escape separately.
Episode 7: Chapter Seven: The Bridge
Max awakens safely in the real world, while Holly awakens inside Vecna's lair and escapes through a gate, falling through the Upside Down before being pulled back by Vecna. Erica, Murray, and Mr. Clarke map Dustin's location in the Upside Down to the lab, and Eleven opens a rift so the group can reunite. Dustin deduces that the Upside Down was created when Brenner forced Eleven to contact Henry, and now serves as a bridge to a separate realm, "the Abyss", which Henry plans to merge with their world, likely that night. The group decides to let Henry draw the worlds close enough to climb the WSQK radio tower into the Abyss, rescue the children, and then destroy the Upside Down with by detonating a time bomb near the exotic matter to stop the worlds from merging. Max volunteers to guide Eleven through Henry’s mind, and Kali insists on joining. Will comes out as gay to the group, reasoning that confronting his fears weakens Vecna's hold. Henry manipulates the kidnapped children into turning against Holly; she is forced to join hands with the children and Henry, who puts them in a trance.
Episode 8: Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up
As the others make their way to the Abyss, Eleven, Kali, and Max enter Henry's mind and stop him from merging the worlds, but he transforms into Vecna, escapes, and tricks Hopper into breaking the link. Akers' forces assault the lab and kill Kali; Eleven kills them in return. Holly leads the other children out of Henry's mind while Eleven enters the Abyss to fight Henry. Will witnesses Henry's past and learns he was corrupted by a fragment of the Mind Flayer, which he fully embraces despite Will's pleas. The Mind Flayer rises as a giant kaiju, which the group kills while Eleven and Will overpower Henry. The group rescues the children, and Joyce decapitates a dying Henry. Upon returning to Hawkins and detonating the bomb they placed in the Upside Down, the group is arrested by Dr. Kay, but released when Eleven chooses to stay behind in the collapsing Upside Down. 18 months later, life returns to normal; the young adults reunite, Hopper proposes to Joyce, and the party graduate and finish a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Mike imagines their futures and theorizes how Eleven may still be alive, with the others choosing to believe him.
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