Cold open: the demo-dogs breach the lab
Hopper and the lab staff watch the pack test the glass from the other side; the defences fail and the alarm goes up as the attack starts.
S2E8 · Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer
20 moments · 28 min of essential viewing in a 48-minute episode.
Moments, in order
Will has to be put to sleep
With the lab overrun, Mike argues Will is a spy for the shadow monster. Joyce asks her screaming son if he knows her before holding him down to sedate him.
Neil puts Billy in his place
Max is missing and Billy was supposed to watch her. His father Neil drags him off his date, forces an apology to Susan and makes him go find his sister.
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.
Bob Newby, superhero: Bob volunteers for the breakers
Only Bob knows BASIC, so he insists on going down to the basement alone. Hopper teaches him the gun in four words, and Bob promises to get everyone out.
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.
Guided through the halls: get in the closet
The stairwell is no longer clear. Bob improvises with an extinguisher, hands over the radio, and is talked through the corridors until he has to hide.
Bob's run for the front door
Told he is almost home free, Bob makes a break for the lobby. Joyce arrives just in time to watch and Hopper has to drag her away.
Demo-dogs: Dustin names the enemy
Grieving at the Byers house, the kids remember Bob founded Hawkins AV, then Dustin defends his compound word and Mike realises the army answers to one master.
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.
Dustin apologises and Lucas denies the electricity
Dustin offers to give up his spot in the party for Lucas's girlfriend. Lucas says she is not his girlfriend; Dustin says he could feel the electricity.
Mike tells Max about El
Max says she gets why El was Mike's mage. Mike keeps her at arm's length, then admits El was awesome until the thing took her, just like it took Bob.
Will wakes up tied to a chair
In the shed, Will comes round bound and surrounded by family. Joyce says they only want to talk; he demands to know why he is tied up until his voice gives out.
Joyce's rainbow ship: the crayon memory
Joyce reminds Will of his eighth birthday, the box of 120 colours and the spaceship drawing she hung at work and showed to everyone.
Jonathan remembers building Castle Byers
Jonathan recalls the night their dad left, when he and Will stayed out in the rain building the fort because they just had to finish it.
Mike's first day of kindergarten speech
Mike tells Will about the swings, the question he asked and the yes that was the best thing he ever did. Joyce begs Will to answer, and he does with two words.
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.
The phone rings: it knows where they are
A ringing phone cuts through the shed. Everyone freezes hoping Will did not hear it, but he did, and the house has to move fast.
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.
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