The acrobat and the flea: Eleven tries to find Will
Nancy hugs Mike and notices her dress; the boys explain the Upside Down with a flea and a tightrope; Eleven reaches and comes up empty.
Tag
#upside down
12 moments.
Jonathan pulls Nancy back through the tree
Cold open: Nancy is lost in the dark other world while Jonathan shouts to guide her back to the opening in the tree.
El flips the game board: Will is hiding
With the boys watching, El uses the D&D board to answer where Will is, then shows them what he is hiding from.
The party decodes Will's radio message: the Upside Down
Piecing together 'home, dark, empty', Eleven flips the board and the boys name the Vale of Shadows, a dark echo of Hawkins where Will might be.
Nancy crawls through the tree and vanishes
Following the blood trail, Nancy climbs into a hollow tree and comes out somewhere wrong; Jonathan calls her name into empty woods.
Hopper's breathing and the memory of a princess
Inside the Upside Down, Hopper talks Joyce through a panic attack and is pulled back into a bedtime story he once told his own daughter.
Will is found; Mike promises Eleven the Snow Ball
Joyce and Hopper pull Will out of the thing holding him in the Upside Down while Mike carries a fading Eleven and promises her Eggos and a dance.
Joyce and Hopper bring Will back
Will isn't breathing. Hopper counts compressions, Joyce begs her son to come back, and Hopper's memory of a hospital monitor cuts through it all.
Will's voice: Joyce through the wall, the boys through the radio
Will calls for his mom from a place like home but dark and cold; Joyce tears into the wallpaper while the boys hear him on the Heathkit, until it blows.
Will slips into the Upside Down outside the arcade
Will steps out for air and the arcade goes dark and empty around him. Mike finds him shaken and coaxes him back inside.
Will describes the storm and the evil that wants to kill everyone
Dr. Owens warms Will up with candy talk, then Will recounts being frozen in the Upside Down under a storm that felt like it was watching him.
The party argues Dart is from the Upside Down, then he escapes
Will says he saw something like Dart last year; Dustin's True Sight theory and Death Star defense end when the trap opens and Dart bolts.