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.
S1E3 · Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly
19 moments · 24 min of essential viewing in a 51-minute episode.
Moments, in order
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.
Joyce tells Jonathan that Will is talking through the lights
Joyce begs the flickering lamps to answer; Jonathan calls it bad wiring and asks his mother to stop and sleep.
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.
Mike teaches Eleven three-one-five
Before school Mike hides Eleven in the basement and shows her on the clock when to meet the boys at the power lines.
Hopper talks his way through the Hawkins Lab gate
Deputies joke about space weapons while Hopper leans on the gate guard: a panicked mayor, reporters, ten minutes tops.
No rain on the tape: Hopper knows the lab is lying
The security chief swears nobody gets in, but the footage from the night Will vanished is bone dry during a storm.
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.
Hopper gets chewed out by the librarian he ghosted
Marissa tells Hopper exactly what he should have called to say, then the deputies start digging through newspapers on Hawkins Lab.
Karen brings a casserole and Joyce throws her out
Joyce explains the Christmas lights, worries about Mike, then Holly wanders toward the wall and Joyce abruptly ends the visit.
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.
Eleven's flashback: the cat test, the guards, and 'incredible'
Eleven refuses to hurt a cat, is dragged toward solitary, and shows Papa what she can do; back in the present she escapes to meet Mike.
Friends tell the truth: Mike admits Troy tripped him
Eleven asks about Mike's cut, he lies, and she holds him to the rule; mouth breather and knucklehead get explained.
Blink once for yes: Joyce asks Will if he is alive
Alone with a single bulb, Joyce sets up a yes/no code and gets her first real answers from her son.
Hopper connects Brenner, the CIA and a hospital gown
Powell dismisses the Terry Ives story, but Hopper lays out the lab's old research and the scrap of fabric at the pipe.
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.
The alphabet wall spells RIGHT HERE
Joyce reads Will's answer letter by letter off the painted wall and begs him to tell her what to do next.
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.
Playlists touching this episode
Mike Wheeler's Best Moments
Stranger Things
The leader of the group of friends, the first to shelter Eleven. Played by Finn Wolfhard.
124 moments · 2h 44mby Favseen
Dustin Henderson's Best Moments
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The group's curious, sharp-tongued scientist, never without a theory. Played by Gaten Matarazzo.
101 moments · 2h 15mby Favseen
Eleven's Best Moments
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A girl with a shaved head and telekinetic powers who escapes a government lab and finds the boys. Played by Millie Bobby Brown.
98 moments · 2h 16mby Favseen
Jim Hopper's Best Moments
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Hawkins' police chief, a man with a lost past who takes the Byers case seriously when nobody else does. Played by David Harbour.
94 moments · 2h 11mby Favseen
Lucas Sinclair's Best Moments
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The group's skeptic, quickest to question Eleven and to act. Played by Caleb McLaughlin.
89 moments · 1h 59mby Favseen
Joyce Byers's Best Moments
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Will's mother, who refuses to believe her son is gone and will tear her house apart to reach him. Played by Winona Ryder.
87 moments · 2h 00mby Favseen
Nancy Wheeler's Best Moments
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Mike's older sister, pulled from her own high-school life into the search. Played by Natalia Dyer.
71 moments · 1h 43mby Favseen
Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson & Lucas Sinclair
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The party: the three boys, their walkie-talkies and every argument. 70 scenes together, in story order.
70 moments · 1h 36mby Favseen
Jonathan Byers's Best Moments
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Will's older brother, a loner with a camera who looks for his brother his own way. Played by Charlie Heaton.
63 moments · 1h 33mby Favseen
Mike Wheeler & Eleven
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The boy who found her in the rain and the girl with the powers: their story, scene by scene. 54 scenes together, in story order.
54 moments · 1h 10mby Favseen
Nancy Wheeler & Jonathan Byers
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The girl next door and the loner with the camera, monster-hunting together. 46 scenes together, in story order.
46 moments · 1h 08mby Favseen
Steve Harrington's Best Moments
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The popular senior dating Nancy, more than the hair suggests. Played by Joe Keery.
46 moments · 1h 06mby Favseen
Jim Hopper & Eleven
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A grieving chief and the kid he hides: the makeshift family at the heart of the show. 26 scenes together, in story order.
26 moments · 40 minby Favseen
Nancy Wheeler & Steve Harrington
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The high-school couple whose romance the Upside Down pulls apart. 25 scenes together, in story order.
25 moments · 38 minby Favseen
Karen Wheeler's Best Moments
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Mike and Nancy's mother, holding the Wheeler household together. Played by Cara Buono.
18 moments · 25 minby Favseen
Dr. Martin Brenner's Best Moments
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The scientist who ran the lab and calls Eleven his own. Played by Matthew Modine.
14 moments · 21 minby Favseen
Eleven & Dr. Martin Brenner
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The girl and the man she was taught to call Papa. 9 scenes together, in story order.
9 moments · 13 minby Favseen