Steve pitches a study date, ninja-style
In the school bathroom Steve talks Nancy into a night out, promising to sneak through her window unseen. She calls him an idiot and says yes.
Nancy Wheeler
Mike's older sister, pulled from her own high-school life into the search. Played by Natalia Dyer.
71 moments · 1h 43m
Wheeler dinner: house arrest and Ted's chicken
Mike wants to search, Nancy wants Barb's, Karen locks the house down. Doors slam, Holly gets juice, and Ted asks what he did.
Nancy and Steve study chemistry in her room
Flashcards, a strip-quiz proposal Nancy shuts down, a kiss she stops, and Steve's reply when she says she is not another notch.
Barb warns Nancy about Steve's party
Parked three blocks from Steve's house, Barb tells Nancy what the empty-house invitation really means, and notices the new bra.
Nancy shotguns a beer, Barb cuts her hand, Nancy goes in the pool
Nancy proves she is no cliché at Steve's party, Barb's attempt ends in blood, and Tommy shoves Nancy into the water.
Nancy sends Barb home from the pool
Soaked and heading upstairs with Steve, Nancy tells Barb to go home; Barb says this is not her, and Nancy insists she is fine.
Barb wakes alone in a rotting mirror of Steve's pool
Cold open: Barb comes to in a dark, decaying copy of Steve's backyard and something hunts her while Nancy and Steve are upstairs.
Karen catches Nancy sneaking in wearing Steve's sweatshirt
Nancy comes home hours late in Steve's sweatshirt; Karen asks if he is her boyfriend and begs her to talk about what happened.
Nancy lies to Barb's mother on the phone
Nancy calls the Hollands to check on Barb and ends up covering for a sleepover that never happened.
Steve's crew finds Jonathan's photos and smashes his camera
Tommy grabs Jonathan's bag, the photos from the party come out, and Steve breaks the camera while Nancy watches.
Nancy walks out on Steve over Barb and the beers
Steve is more worried about his dad finding out about the party than about Barb; he asks Nancy not to mention the beers and she leaves him standing there.
The police pull Nancy out of class to ask about Barb
Nancy admits she told Barb to go home and that something may have taken her; the cops suggest Barb ran off jealous and ask about her clothes.
Nancy describes the faceless man and Jonathan already knows
At the funeral home, Nancy tells Jonathan the cops think Barb ran away and that she saw a weird man in the woods; he finishes her sentence: no face.
The darkroom: Jonathan's photo shows what took Barb
Jonathan admits he would rather observe people than talk to them; the enlarged print reveals the thing behind Barb, and Nancy connects it to Will.
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.
Nancy and Jonathan map the monster and decide to kill it
Over a map of every sighting, Nancy and Jonathan realise the creature stays within a mile, and Jonathan loads a gun rather than take another photo.
Steve apologises to Nancy and asks her to a movie
Steve admits he was a total dick, mentions the baseball bat, and offers a night of pretending things are normal; Nancy, busy with the funeral, says no.
Jonathan teaches Nancy to shoot and remembers the rabbit
Target practice: Jonathan recalls the birthday hunt his father forced on him, Nancy describes her parents loveless marriage, and both say screw that.
Pretentious creep versus suburban girl
Nancy asks why Jonathan took her photo; the answer stings, and each admits they had almost started to think the other was okay before the insults fly.
The wounded deer is dragged into the dark
Nancy and Jonathan find a deer hit by a car; Nancy insists she is not nine anymore and takes the gun, but something pulls the animal away before she can shoot.
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.
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.
Nancy asks Jonathan to stay the night
Shaken after the woods, Nancy does not want to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay, lights on, neither sure they are safe.
The shark theory: the monster hunts by blood
Awake at night, Nancy and Jonathan reason that the creature hunts alone and smells blood, and decide to test it; then Karen walks in.
Monster hunting: Nancy buys bear traps
At the hardware store Nancy reflects on how fast life changed from shopping with Barb to buying traps with Jonathan.
Steve confronts Nancy over Jonathan
After the slur painted on the marquee, Steve accuses Nancy of lying about the night before and demands she finish her sentence.
Jonathan beats Steve in the alley
Steve insults the Byers family and Will; Jonathan snaps and pummels him until the police arrive and the kids scatter.
Only love makes you that crazy
At the station Nancy says Jonathan is not her boyfriend; the officer suggests someone should tell him that, then Jonathan brings her ice.
Joyce tells Jonathan he is not alone
At the station Joyce lays into Jonathan for hunting the monster himself and reminds him he has a family.
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.
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.
Nancy and Mike: no more secrets, and Eggos
Setting up the pool, the Wheeler siblings swap confessions, Mike reveals what Eleven eats, and both deny any crushes.
Eleven finds Barb in the Upside Down
In the void Eleven calls Barb's name and finds her; she surfaces screaming one word while Joyce holds her, then names Castle Byers.
Joyce insists on going for Will: He's my son, Hop
Hopper wants Joyce to stay back; she refuses outright and tells Jonathan to watch the kids before they head for the lab.
Nancy and Jonathan cut their palms on three
With the trap set in the Byers house, Nancy and Jonathan run the plan one last time and bleed to bait the monster, Jonathan still trying to talk her out of it.
Steve knocks at the worst possible moment
Steve shows up at the Byers house to apologize and finds gasoline on the floor and Nancy pointing a gun at him just as the lights start to blink.
Steve comes back with the bat
Steve gets as far as the driveway, turns around, and swings a nail-studded bat at the monster while Jonathan lights the trap.
Nancy's Christmas present for Jonathan
Nancy stops Jonathan in the driveway with a gift he didn't expect; in the car, Will opens it and Jonathan finds out who helped pay for it.
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.
Nancy marks up Steve's college essay
Steve's essay ties a basketball game to his granddad's war; Nancy gently tears it apart and Steve admits he may just work for his dad.
Nancy invites Jonathan to the Halloween party
Nancy won't let Jonathan spend Halloween alone with his records and a Vonnegut novel; Steve arrives in sunglasses to break it up.
The Hollands tell Nancy they've hired a detective to find Barb
Over KFC, Barb's parents reveal they are selling the house to pay Murray Bauman, and say they feel hopeful for the first time. Nancy cannot bear it.
Nancy breaks down over Barb; Steve asks for one stupid night
In the bathroom Nancy says everyone forgot Barb and wants to tell her parents the truth; Steve warns what the lab could do and begs for one normal night.
A new Keg King is crowned over Steve
Billy downs forty-two seconds and the party chants his name; Nancy pours herself pure fuel while Steve reminds her of their deal.
Drunk Nancy: 'You're bullshit'
Steve takes the punch bowl away; Nancy ruins her dress, accuses him of pretending everything is fine about Barb, and calls their love bullshit.
Steve confronts Nancy about what she said drunk
At the gym Steve tells Nancy what she said at Tina's party and who really took her home; he asks her to say she loves him and she cannot.
Nancy and Jonathan on the weight they both carry
On the bleachers Nancy wonders if she meant what she said drunk; Jonathan admits Will came home changed. Nancy proposes skipping fourth period.
Nancy calls Barb's mother from a payphone
After a stiff run-in with Karen at the store, Nancy phones Mrs. Holland and arranges a secret meeting, warning that the line is dangerous.
Nancy and Jonathan wait for a contact and get picked up
Nancy and Jonathan sit in the park watching a man play duck-duck-goose, then a stranger offers them a lift they cannot refuse.
Dr. Owens apologizes: mistakes have been made
Released from a holding room, Nancy and Jonathan get a walking lecture from the lab's new boss; Nancy says flatly that they killed Barbara.
Owens shows them the gate and talks of pulling weeds
Owens reveals what really killed Barbara, explains why the truth must not spread, and makes clear he will stop it by whatever means necessary.
Let's burn that lab to the ground
Nancy and Jonathan replay their recording of Owens admitting the lab's mistakes, then decide what to do with it.
Nancy and Jonathan share a motel room
A double room, deja vu and lingering tension: Nancy asks Jonathan why he disappeared after last year, and Steve comes up.
Nancy and Jonathan meet Murray Bauman
The conspiracy theorist shows off his wall of Barbara leads; Nancy tells him his timeline is wrong and who the girl really was.
Murray on why nobody will believe the tape
Thinking with vodka and loud music, Murray tells Nancy the public likes the curtain and will nod along the moment authority calls it bullshit.
Murray's plan: water the story down
Diluting his vodka gives Murray the idea to make the truth tolerable, a lab leak scary but familiar enough to take Barb's killers down.
Murray calls out Nancy and Jonathan's two lies
Over vodka, the conspiracy journalist reads the pair cold: shared trauma, trust issues, and a couple who keep insisting they are just friends.
Nancy and Jonathan agree Murray is wrong, awkwardly
Neither can sleep after the reading. They meet in the hallway, insist a drunk stranger cannot have them figured out, and say good night.
Open sesame: Bob gets the doors open
Alone in the dark basement, Bob resets the breakers and reboots the system while Nancy and Jonathan rattle the gate outside. The locks release and he cheers.
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.
Joyce decides: we have to kill it
No one trusts the military to stop this. Joyce says she wants to kill it, Hopper agrees, and Mike points out the one person connected to the thing is Will.
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.
Demo-dogs, and why closing the gate could kill Will
Dustin names the Demo-dogs, Eleven insists she can close the gate, Mike realises that would kill Will, and Joyce decides to burn the thing out of him.
Steve the babysitter sends Nancy off; Mike and Eleven promise
Steve tells Nancy to go with Jonathan and owns his new role as babysitter, then Mike makes Eleven promise he won't lose her again.
Jonathan begs Joyce to stop as the heaters torture Will
With Will strapped to the bed and the room blazing, Jonathan screams that they're killing him while Joyce refuses to back off.
Joyce burns the shadow out of Will, and Jonathan radios: Close it
Joyce screams for the thing to get out of her son; Will finally wakes and says Mom, and Jonathan tells Hopper over the radio to close the gate.
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.
Dustin gets turned down, and Nancy asks him to dance
Every girl refuses Dustin and he breaks down alone, until Nancy pulls him onto the floor, teaches him the rhythm, and tells him he's her favourite.
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.