Joyce tells Brenner to go to hell
Brenner asks Joyce to help him find the thing that took her son. Joyce answers with everything he did to her boy, then two words.
S1E8 · Chapter Eight: The Upside Down
20 moments · 28 min of essential viewing in a 54-minute episode.
Moments, in order
Hopper bluffs his way into a deal
Strapped to a chair, Hopper lays out everything the lab did, invents a friend at the Times, and dictates terms to the men holding him.
Hopper trades Eleven's location for a way into the gate
Hopper names his price for giving up the girl, then explains the deal to a stunned Joyce as they are handed suits for the atmosphere inside.
Hopper's breathing and the memory of a princess
Inside the Upside Down, Hopper talks Joyce through a panic attack and is pulled back into a bedtime story he once told his own daughter.
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.
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.
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.
Mike asks Eleven to the Snow Ball
Over a cup of pudding, Mike promises Eleven a bed, a family and real food, fumbles the word 'sister', and asks her to a school dance.
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.
Will is found; Mike promises Eleven the Snow Ball
Joyce and Hopper pull Will out of the thing holding him in the Upside Down while Mike carries a fading Eleven and promises her Eggos and a dance.
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.
Joyce and Hopper bring Will back
Will isn't breathing. Hopper counts compressions, Joyce begs her son to come back, and Hopper's memory of a hospital monitor cuts through it all.
Will wakes up to his mom, his brother and a mix tape
In the hospital Will asks where he is, worries about Jonathan's bandaged hand, and gets a new tape with songs his brother thinks he'll like.
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.
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.
Hopper leaves the party with a plate of food
Hopper claims he only came to the station's Christmas party for the food, then drives his leftovers out to the woods and leaves them in a box.
Christmas dinner at the Byers house
Jonathan documents the turkey, Will guesses the green present is an Atari, slips off to wash his hands, and comes back saying he's fine.
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
Will Byers's Best Moments
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The quiet boy whose disappearance on his way home sets everything in motion. Played by Noah Schnapp.
63 moments · 1h 29mby 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
Jim Hopper & Joyce Byers
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The chief and the mother who refuses to be told she is crazy. 46 scenes together, in story order.
46 moments · 1h 06mby 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
Joyce Byers & Will Byers
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A mother talking to her lost boy through fairy lights, then nursing him back. 34 scenes together, in story order.
34 moments · 48 minby 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