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.
S1E1 · Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers
20 moments · 27 min of essential viewing in a 48-minute episode.
Moments, in order
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.
Joyce realizes Will never came home
A frantic school morning at the Byers house: Will's bed is empty, Jonathan took a late shift, and a call to Karen gives no comfort.
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.
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.
Hopper: mornings are for coffee and contemplation
Hopper shuffles into the station late and hungover, waves off garden gnomes and a missing kid, and delivers his morning rule.
Joyce begs Hopper to find her son
Hopper says kids his age play hooky and quotes 99 out of 100; Joyce demands to know about the one. Nothing bad happens in Hawkins, he insists.
Dr. Brenner inspects the breach at the lab
Hazmat teams seal off the east wing of Hawkins Lab as Brenner descends to see where it came from, and asks about the girl.
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.
Joyce remembers Will and Poltergeist
Castle Byers password, a surprise movie night and a witch voice: Joyce's memory of Will, cut against her calling for him in an empty house.
Benny feeds the girl who calls herself Eleven
A diner owner coaxes a silent, shaven-headed runaway into talking; all she offers is a number on her wrist and one word, so he calls for help.
Hopper searches the Byers shed and calls a search party
Will's bike is found but not Will. Hopper checks the house, then the shed, and comes out rattled enough to summon every volunteer in town.
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.
Hopper and Mr. Clarke talk about Sarah
On the night search Will's teacher introduces himself; Hopper mentions his daughter loved the stars, and a deputy fills in what he left out.
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.
Ice cream at Benny's, then Social Services knocks
Benny coaxes a smile out of the girl, then greets the caseworker who drove in fast; something about her voice is off.
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.
Joyce picks a photo of Will, then the phone breathes
Joyce tells Jonathan it is not his fault and that she feels Will is close; then a call comes with only breathing on the line.
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.
Playlists touching this episode
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