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.
Steve Harrington
The popular senior dating Nancy, more than the hair suggests. Played by Joe Keery.
46 moments · 1h 06m
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.
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.
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.
Tommy and Carol tease Steve for being in love
Parked outside the Wheeler house, Steve admits he is worried about Nancy and gets roasted for having feelings.
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.
Steve turns on Tommy and Carol
Steve refuses to laugh at jokes about Nancy and Jonathan, calls his friends what they are, and walks out of the pharmacy.
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.
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.
King Steve: Billy humiliates Steve on the court
The new kid outplays Steve at basketball practice, then needles him in the showers about Nancy skipping school with Jonathan.
Dustin recruits Steve and his nail bat
Steve rehearses an apology with flowers on the Wheeler porch when Dustin hijacks him for a bigger problem than his love life.
Dustin recruits Steve to hunt Dart in the cellar
Dustin explains why his pet is not a lizard, then Steve climbs into the storm cellar with his bat and finds what Dart left behind.
Steve's guide to girls: lions, ninjas and electricity
Walking the tracks, Steve coaches Dustin on acting like you do not care and reading the storm before you move, then warns him not to fall in love.
Steve reveals the secret of his hair
Dustin finally asks. Steve names the shampoo, the conditioner and the exact number of puffs, on pain of death if anyone finds out.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dustin and Steve stuff Dart's dead cousin into the fridge
Dustin insists a Demo-dog corpse is a scientific discovery that belongs in the Byers refrigerator; Steve makes him promise to explain it to Mrs. Byers.
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 stonewalls Billy at the Byers' door
Billy turns up hunting for his stepsister and Steve plays dumb at the door, trading insults until Billy spots the kids through the window.
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.
Steve's pep talk: pretend you don't care, slay 'em like a lion
Steve drops Dustin at the Snow Ball and coaches him one last time on hair, attitude and the lion, then gently bans the roar.