The D&D campaign meets the Demogorgon
Ten hours into a campaign in the Wheeler basement, the party faces the Demogorgon, Will's fireball roll goes missing, and Karen calls time.
Lucas Sinclair
The group's skeptic, quickest to question Eleven and to act. Played by Caleb McLaughlin.
89 moments · 1h 59m
Will admits the roll was a seven
Mike and Lucas gripe about Nancy, then Will quietly tells Mike the truth about his roll before biking home.
Will bikes home alone and vanishes
A race for a comic turns into Will's solo ride down a dark road, an empty house, and a shed that will not stay quiet.
Freak show: Dustin's teeth and the arm thing
Bullies hold a freak-show auction outside school; Dustin explains cleidocranial dysplasia and Mike calls it a superpower.
Hopper questions the boys about Mirkwood
The party explains Will's route home via a road named from The Hobbit; Hopper orders them straight home with no investigating.
Will cast Fireball: the boys decide to search
Over walkie-talkie Mike reminds Lucas that Will risked himself for the party last night, and sets a meeting in ten.
The boys reach Mirkwood: did you hear that?
Calling for Will in the rain, Dustin argues for turning back right before a noise stops all three of them. Episode cliffhanger.
The boys interrogate the girl and Mike gives her privacy
Dustin and Lucas pepper the shaven-headed stranger with questions; Mike hands her dry clothes and learns she wants the bathroom door left open.
Pennhurst escapee or Michael Myers: the boys debate the plan
Lucas is sure she escaped an asylum, Dustin backs him, and Mike lays out a doorbell scheme to hand her off without their parents finding out.
Lucas pushes El about Will and she slams the door shut
Mike argues El knows what happened to Will; Lucas shouts at her, calls it nuts, and heads for the stairs until the door shuts by itself.
What is friend? The boys explain the spit swear
Over meatloaf in the basement, Dustin blurts out superpowers and El asks a question that leaves the boys defining friendship and promises.
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.
Operation Mirkwood: wrist rocket, snacks and a flying Millennium Falcon
Lucas unpacks Vietnam-era gear, Dustin unpacks candy, and the boys try to get Eleven to fly a toy with her mind.
Why don't you marry her: rock hunting, Troy's taunt and the monster killer
Rock hunting by the creek: X-Men or Green Lantern, 'why don't you marry her', a cruel bully, then the perfect slingshot stone.
Eleven leads the boys to Will's house and Lucas explodes
At the power lines the search ends at the Byers house; Lucas wants the cops, Mike refuses, then sirens pull them away.
A body comes out of the quarry and Mike turns on Eleven
Hopper watches divers pull a small body from the water; the boys see it on the news and Mike screams at Eleven for lying.
Mike spams Lucas on the walkie until he answers
Mike chants Lucas's name over the radio until he picks up, then declares the funeral can wait: this is about Will, get over here stat.
Mike insists Will is alive and Eleven is channeling him
Lucas says it was a baby monitor; Mike argues Eleven is channeling Will like Professor X, and the boys plan to get her to Mr. Clarke's Heathkit radio.
Eleven's makeover: pretty, good
The boys put Eleven in a blonde wig and a pink dress to pass her off at school; Mike fumbles out that she looks pretty good, and she repeats it to the mirror.
Eleven becomes Eleanor, Mike's cousin from Sweden
Caught sneaking to the Heathkit, the boys improvise a cover story for Mr. Clarke: Eleven is cousin Eleanor from Sweden, where it is cold. Subzero.
Mike confronts Troy at the assembly and Eleven makes him wet himself
Mike calls out Troy for laughing at Will's memorial; Troy mocks Will as a fairy, then freezes mid-threat and pees his pants in front of the whole gym.
Eleven reaches for Will on the Heathkit as Papa's word test plays
At the ham radio, Eleven closes her eyes; in flashback Brenner has her listen to a stranger and repeat his words. The classroom lights start to flicker.
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.
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.
Will's funeral and the joke about Jennifer Hayes
The pastor asks how God could take someone so young while the boys, unconvinced Will is dead, note who is crying so they can tell him later.
Mr. Clarke explains the flea and the acrobat
At the wake the boys ask their science teacher how to reach another dimension; he answers with a tightrope, a flea, and a gate that would need enormous energy.
Dustin's compasses do not point to true north
Eleven dodges the question of where the gate is, then Dustin grabs every compass: a gate strong enough to bend magnetic north would also point the way.
Is the weirdo acting weird?
On the compass hike Dustin needles Lucas about distance, Mike wonders if Eleven is off, and Lucas asks whether the weirdo can act weirder than normal.
The compasses loop back and Lucas accuses Eleven
The setting sun shows the party has walked in a circle; Lucas sees fresh blood on Eleven's nose and calls her a traitor, and she can only say it is not safe.
Mike and Lucas fight until Eleven throws Lucas
Lucas calls Eleven a stray dog and maybe the monster, Mike tackles him, and Eleven ends the brawl with her mind, knocking Lucas out cold.
Lucas refuses the handshake and goes to the gate alone
Dustin invokes the Bloodstone Pass to keep the party together, but Lucas calls Eleven a traitor and leaves to find Will by himself.
Eleven confesses she opened the gate
Drained after the quarry, Eleven apologises and calls herself the monster; Mike tells her she is the one who saved him.
Lucas's walkie warning: the bad men are coming
A frantic, half-audible call from Lucas reaches Mike's basement: the lab knows about Eleven and is on its way.
The bike chase and the flipped van
The boys race through Hawkins on bikes with lab vans closing in, until Eleven sends one flying overhead.
Lucas and Mike make up: friends don't lie
After the chase, Lucas takes back calling Mike a traitor and the party's rule gets said out loud.
Nancy and Hopper radio Mike: We're here
Nancy uses the AV room ham radio to reach her brother; the boys debate a Lando Calrissian trap until Mike finally answers.
Waiting in the bus: shut up about Lando
Dustin paces and panics that the chief set them up, Lucas has had enough of Lando, then headlights appear.
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.
Dustin calls Mr. Clarke about curiosity doors
At ten on a Saturday Dustin phones his science teacher for sensory deprivation tank plans, and learns they need 1,500 pounds of salt.
Dustin goes hunting for chocolate pudding
The boys argue over whether to stay hidden in the school gym; Dustin's answer is a raid on the lunch lady's secret stash so Eleven can recharge.
The agents storm the school
Lab agents sweep the building and corner the boys in the hallway; the chase ends in silence and Eleven slumps, bleeding and unresponsive.
Papa comes for Eleven and the lights go out
The boys refuse to hand Eleven over, Brenner scoops her up with soothing words, and she answers him with a single word before the monster arrives.
Eleven faces the Demogorgon alone
Rocks from a wrist rocket do nothing, so Eleven gets up, tells the boys to stop, pins the monster to the wall and says goodbye to Mike.
The party tells Will about Eleven
Mike, Dustin and Lucas pile into Will's hospital room with news of his funeral, Troy's accident, and a new friend who is basically a wizard.
Will the Wise fireballs the thessalhydra
A month later the campaign ends in the basement: Will rolls a fourteen, the boys complain the ending is too short, and Dustin gets blamed for the smell.
Dustin, Lucas and Mike scrape together arcade money
Couch-cushion pennies, a mowed lawn and a raid on Nancy's savings: the boys radio each other to tally quarters before arcade night.
A mystery player called Mad Max beats Dustin's Dig Dug record
Dustin loses at Dragon's Lair, then finds his top score smashed by someone named Mad Max. Keith will only talk in exchange for a date with Nancy.
Max skateboards into Hawkins Middle and corrects her name
The boys clock a new skater in the schoolyard; in class Mr. Clarke introduces Maxine from California, who insists on Max.
The boys spy on Max and get caught
Lucas and Dustin debate whether a girl can be Mad Max while watching her through binoculars, until she leaves them a note.
Dustin and Lucas stake out the arcade for Max
Waiting for Max to show, Dustin brags about his new teeth while Lucas watches her argue with her brother, then play like a pro.
Ghostbusters costume photo shoot
Parents snap pictures of the boys in proton packs before school; Will and Jonathan pose for Joyce while a little sister calls her brother a nerd.
Two Venkmans and nobody else in costume
Mike and Lucas fight over who gets to be Venkman and why nobody wants Winston, then realise they are the only kids at school dressed up.
Dustin and Lucas invite the new girl trick-or-treating
The self-described non-stalkers pitch Max on bullies, a working ghost trap and full-sized candy bars; she calls them presumptuous and they panic over the word.
Billy's car: 'Say it' and the near miss
Max's stepbrother makes her say whose fault Hawkins is, then swerves at the boys in the road for bonus points. The kids finally learn who Mad Max is.
The 3 Musketeers debate and a masked ambush
The boys argue whether 3 Musketeers is just nougat or top three, then get scared out of their skins by a new party member in a mask.
Totally tubular, and Mike sulks
Dustin and Lucas butcher California slang for Max's benefit while Mike complains to Will that nobody asked him about adding her to the party.
Will's episode on Halloween night
Shoved by bullies, Will slips into a vision of the shadow and freezes; Mike finds him shaking and takes him home while Max shrugs it off.
Dustin presents Dart to the party as a new species
In the AV room the boys meet the slimy thing from Dustin's trash; he rules out tadpoles and reptiles and claims a brand-new species.
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.
Dustin finds Dart in the bathroom and keeps him for himself
Dustin radios that he has found Dart, then quietly reclaims him; the others arrive to an empty bathroom and realize nobody knows where Will is.
Joyce and Dustin find Will frozen on the field
Cold open: Dustin leads Joyce to Will, locked in another episode on the school field, as she pleads with him to wake up.
Dustin feeds Dart, then the boys search the trash
Dustin leaves breakfast for Dart and heads to school, where Lucas and the new girl are digging through garbage looking for the escaped creature.
Party members only: the boys plan to find Dart
Mike shuts the new girl out of the AV room; the party debates whether Will's shadow can hurt him and decides Dart is the key.
Max quits the party after Lucas keeps secrets
The new girl calls out Lucas for hiding things from her, asks whether they kept secrets from El, and storms off saying she is out.
Lucas asks his dad how to un-anger Mom
Sinclair family breakfast: Lucas's dad lays out the only two steps for getting back in Mom's good books.
Lucas asks Max to accept the risk
In the arcade back room Lucas offers Max the whole truth about last year, if she accepts it could get her killed.
Max calls Lucas's story derivative; Lucas swears friends don't lie
Max treats the whole tale as a prank until Lucas, dead serious, tells her the party's first rule and asks her to just trust him.
Lucas gets the code red: Dart is a baby Demogorgon
Lucas's action-figure romance is interrupted by his little sister's mockery, then Dustin radios in with news about Dart and a meeting at the junkyard.
Lucas shows up at Max's house with proof
Lucas interrupts Max's chores to say he can prove his story. She covers for him with her stepbrother and hops on the bike.
Junkyard reunion: Dustin and Lucas fight over Max
Steve approves the bus as a fort, Max arrives with Lucas, and the two boys bicker about who told her until Steve yells at them to help.
Lucas and Max on the bus roof
In the fog, Max tells Lucas about California, the divorce and an angry stepbrother she does not want to become; he tells her she is totally tubular.
Steve walks out as bait for Dart
Dart will not take the meat, so Steve steps out of the bus with the bat and offers himself as dinner while the kids watch from the windows.
Demodogs swarm the bus
Dart is not alone. Steve sprints back as the pack attacks the bus, Dustin screams into the radio, then the creatures suddenly leave.
Dart ate Mews: the party learns the truth in the car
Steve lets slip that Dustin's pet ate the cat. Lucas and Dustin trade rule-of-law accusations until Steve notices the demo-dogs are all heading to the lab.
Demo-dogs: Dustin names the enemy
Grieving at the Byers house, the kids remember Bob founded Hawkins AV, then Dustin defends his compound word and Mike realises the army answers to one master.
The Mind Flayer: the kids explain the hive mind
The party lays out the shadow monster as a hive mind and reaches for a D&D analogy. Hopper calls it a kids' game; Dustin says the manual is not for kids.
Dustin apologises and Lucas denies the electricity
Dustin offers to give up his spot in the party for Lucas's girlfriend. Lucas says she is not his girlfriend; Dustin says he could feel the electricity.
Morse code: Will spells out the answer
Will is talking without words. The group feeds him memories while Dustin and Lucas decode the taps letter by letter into a two-word instruction.
Demo-dogs surround the Byers house
Hopper orders everyone from the windows and Nancy takes the shotgun. The pack circles outside, then one comes crashing through, already dead.
On the bench: the kids plot the tunnels, Steve says no
Mike and Dustin work out how to lure the Demo-dogs away by burning the tunnel hub; Steve shuts it down and demands a yes from every one of them.
Steve vs Billy brawl, and Max ends it with a syringe and a bat
Billy goes after Lucas, Steve lands the first punch, and the fight turns ugly until Max sedates her stepbrother and makes him swear to leave them alone.
Steve wakes up with Max at the wheel of Billy's car
A battered Steve comes round in the back seat to find a thirteen-year-old driving them to the tunnels, with the boys shouting directions.
Dustin's party-rules speech gets Steve into the hole
At the pumpkin-field hole, Dustin invokes the duty of a party member to help another, and Steve caves and takes the lead into the tunnels.
Dustin gets a face full of spores, then the party finds the hub
A vine sprays Dustin in the mouth and he panics while the others laugh; moments later they reach the hub and start dousing it with gasoline.
Dustin says goodbye to Dart with a bar of nougat
Cornered in the tunnel, Dustin recognises Dart, apologises for the storm cellar, and feeds him his favourite candy so the party can pass.
The Demo-dogs come running and the party scrambles for the rope
Eleven channels her rage at the gate as the horde turns back; the boys sprint through the tunnels and Steve hauls them up the rope one by one.
Getting ready for the Snow Ball
Joyce films Will's dance moves, Karen photographs a mortified Mike, Lucas's sister ambushes him with a kiss, and Dustin hunts for his hairspray.
Snow Ball arrivals: pure fuel, Dustin's hair, and two first dances
Nancy spikes the punch, Mike and Lucas roast Dustin's new hairdo, Lucas awkwardly asks Max to dance, and a girl asks Zombie Boy Will.
Every Breath You Take: the Snow Ball slow dance
The couples sway to The Police as Mike shows Eleven the steps and the season closes on the Snow Ball dance floor.