The gate.
I don't understand. You've seen this before?
- Not exactly. - Then what, exactly?
- All you need to know is it's bad. - It's really bad.
Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad.
And you know about this how?
Um, Steve? Where's your Russian friend?
Shit.
Halt! Halt!
Shit.
- Go, go, go, go, go! - Shit.
Move! Let's move!
Go! Shit! Shit, shit, shit!
Go, go, go!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit!
- Guards! Go! - This way!
- Oh, shit! Oh, shit! - Whoa!
- Come on! Go, go, go, go, go! - Come on!
- Shit! - This way!
- Come on, quick! - Hold the door!
Robin!
Shit!
- Help me, come on! - Here! Come on, let's go!
- Come on! - Go! Just get out of here!
Go, come on, now!
No! Just go get some help, okay?
What are you doing?
Go!
I won't forget you!
Go!
He's here.
- Shit. - Nancy!
Run!
Damn!
Hey!
Come on!
Hey!
Hey, hey, hey! Two at a time!
Oh, my God.
Jonathan...
No! Nancy!
Jonathan!
No, no! Nancy!
Stairs.
Goddamn it!
- Jesus! - What the f...
- Go. - Nancy!
Are you okay? Are you okay?
It's time.
Hey! Excuse me.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
What... what are you doing? What's... what's this doing here?
- What? - Your stand.
It's right in the main thoroughfare.
Where do you want it, sir?
Over there with the rest of the goddamn food stalls.
It isn't rocket science.
Sheesh, do I have to do everything myself?
My friends in state PD,
highway patrol, they're all on the lookout.
I got eyes everywhere.
The second he pops up...
I get a call.
A call?
Yes. A call.
I mean, what more do you people want me to do?
We want you to find him.
Let me explain something to you.
This man is a moron, okay?
He's driving around in a yellow convertible, for Christ's sakes.
He sticks out like a sore thumb.
I will find him.
And, when I do,
may I suggest you bring some backup with you this time?
- Backup. - Some comrades.
Since last time, he got the better of you.
Please...
I... I didn't mean that.
You... You don't need backup.
This man is your fault,
your problem.
You're lucky you still breathe.
Very lucky.
Please.
I'm sorry.
I... I have a bad temper.
I'm going to therapy.
You have one day to find this man for me.
Nod if you understand.
Two Whoppers,
extra ketchup, large fry,
pack of Marlboro Reds,
and one extra-large...
Slurpee.
Burger King is nowhere near the 7-Eleven, by the way.
Never said it was.
Let's try this again. Joyce.
Alexei,
the generators,
what are they powering?
And tell him that we know it is not the Starcourt Mall,
so he can stop selling us that crap.
Those generators you were working on,
what are you powering?
We know it's not the mall.
This tastes like shit strawberry.
- What'd he say? - He says,
"It's strawberry."
I'm sorry?
His... Slurpee.
He says it's strawberry.
So what?
Hop, he did ask for cherry. I mean...
Well, they didn't have cherry.
They didn't have it.
And it doesn't matter,
because it all tastes the same, okay?
It is sugar on ice. You tell him that.
Tell him what?
You tell him that it all tastes the goddamn same!
It's all the same.
Sugar on ice. No difference.
Tell that stupid man it is not the same in the slightest,
and I would like the cherry I requested.
He respectfully disagrees.
It's not the same at all,
and he would like...
cherry.
Oh, yeah? You tell him... he can forget it.
He says forget it. No cherry.
No cherry, no deal.
He says,
"No cherry...
no deal."
Yeah.
Hm.
Mm.
Oh, shit!
No, Hop...
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!
- I'm not gonna hurt him! - What are you doing?
Come on! Come on!
I'm just giving him an opportunity
to get his own damn...
cherry Slurpee!
Jim, that man is an enemy of the state.
Yeah, who's been jerking us around for a full day!
I get him his cherry Slurpee, then what?
He wants a helicopter to charter him to his own private island.
I have dealt with assholes like this
my entire life.
Yesterday in the woods, he could've escaped,
but he didn't.
He stuck with us.
Why do you think that is?
It's because...
he's scared.
He's scared.
Not of us,
of them.
He's scared of that seven-foot-tall Russian freak
who could've killed him just as easily as us.
Smirnoff knows
that if he runs back to his comrades without a scratch on him,
they're gonna think that he spilled his guts.
So, whether he likes it or not, we...
are the best chance he's got.
Ooh!
I give him 30 seconds before he comes knocking on that door,
right back into our arms,
with a new sense of humility.
- Jim... - Uh...
I, uh, believe he has started the car.
Hopper.
You know, testing us. He's just calling my bluff.
I believe he is now driving away.
Jim. Jim, move.
- Joyce, Joyce... - Move, move, move!
I'm sorry, what did he say?
He says he likes strawberry, too.
So, when we set fire to the hub,
we drew the Demodogs away so El could close the gate.
But now, for some insane reason,
the Russians appear to be trying to reopen it,
which just destroys everything we risked our lives for.
By "we", you're including Lucas?
Yes, of course.
So, all that shit you told me, Lucas was there?
- Yeah. - My brother, Lucas Charles Sinclair?
Yes!
I don't believe you.
Wait, so you believe everything about El and the gate
and the Demodogs and the Mind Flayer,
but you question your brother's involvement?
That's correct.
Makes total sense.
- Um, you need help with that? - No.
- Well, I mean, it's taking a while, so... - Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
All right, so if we don't find
a more efficient method to stop these fans,
we're never gonna find help,
and your ice cream buddies are screwed.
Yeah, with that attitude, they are. Jee-zus!
I'm just being realistic.
I mean, we've made it about point-three miles in nine hours.
Then we had to walk three hours down that tunnel,
so I'd estimate ten miles back to the elevator,
which should take us approximately twelve-and-a-half days.
Did you just do all of that in your head?
I'm good with numbers.
Holy shit. You're a nerd.
Come again?
You... are... a... nerd.
Okay, you better take that back, nerd.
Can't put the truth back in the box.
- But it's not the truth. - Let's examine the facts, shall we?
Fact one: you're a math whiz, apparently.
That was a pretty straightforward equation.
Fact number two: you're a political junkie.
Just because I don't agree with Communism as an ideology...
Fact number three: you love My Little Pony.
And what does My Little Pony have to do with this?
Ah, let's recall the ponies' latest adventure, shall we?
The evil centaur team and Tirek
turns Applejack into a dragon at Midnight Castle,
and then Megan and the other ponies have to use Moochick's magic
to defeat his rainbow of darkness,
saving them from a lifetime of enslavement.
All the pink in the world can't disguise the irrefutable fact
that centaurs and castles and dragons and magic
are all standard nerd tropes.
Ergo, My Little Pony is nerdy.
Ergo, you, Erica,
are a nerd.
And how do you know so much about My Little Pony?
Because I'm...
a nerd.
Let's go...
nerd.
You...
That one stung.
Who do you work for?
For the millionth time, I work at Scoops Ahoy!
Scoops Ahoy.
What the hell?
Look at my outfit!
You think I just wear this?
Think I'm a spy in a sailor's uniform?
How did you get in?
I already told you.
I told you before.
My delivery didn't come,
and my friends and I,
we thought that it was left at the loading dock,
so we went in the room, and then it turned into an elevator,
and then... and then we dropped and then,
next thing we know, I open my eyes,
and we're in this...
wonderful facility.
But I swear to God,
nobody knows about us, nobody saw us.
You could just let us go, all right?
And I'm not gonna tell anybody about this, okay?
Shit happens, life goes on.
And, uh... ice... ice cream.
Ice cream, okay?
You guys know what ice cream is. Everybody loves ice cream.
I don't know if you have Russian ice cream
or if that's considered gelato.
I don't know what's what, but whatever you guys want, seriously.
USS Butterscotch, I mean, you gotta try it.
It is out of this world, I'm telling ya!
I like this guy!
"USS... Butterscotch."
Who do you work for?
Oh, come on. No, no! No, seriously...
Get your hands off me!
Hey...
Steve?
Steve? Steve?
Steve?
What did you do to him? What did you do?
Put them in the chairs.
Don't touch me!
Steve...
Steve, wake up. Steve?
What did you do?
Don't touch him.
Steve? Steve, can you hear me?
I think your friend need a doctor.
Good thing...
we have the very best.
You are going to regret that, little bitch.
Bastards.
Let us outta here!
Bastards! Let us out! Let us out!
It can't be good for her to be in there for this long.
Mike, you need to relax.
What if she gets brain damage or something?
Oh, shit. Is that, like, a real thing?
No, it's not. He made it up.
Mike doesn't know what he's talking about.
- Oh, and you do? - No, I...
Yes, from The Hawkins Post.
I... I called a couple days ago about the...
Yes, yes, um...
I was just...
following up to see if anything else had gone missing,
or if... Okay.
Um, sorry to bother...
- Who's next? - There is no next.
Unless you want to start calling random people's homes.
- It doesn't make sense. - What part of any of this makes sense?
There's a pattern, okay? A consistency to their behavior.
They've been feeding on these chemicals since this started,
and... and, what, they just stop, out of the blue?
Maybe they have all the chemicals they need.
Maybe they've all turned into those... things.
But what about the source?
I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people?
And even if the flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?
Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?
Who do you think should decide El's limits?
Mike or Eleven?
The way that you frame that is such bullshit.
It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem.
And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass.
El dumped you?
Yeah, because she is conspiring against me.
She's corrupting her.
No, enlightening her.
The fact is, she's not yours.
She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions.
She's risking her life for no reason.
For no reason?
Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what.
- Killing, flaying... - Transforming into monsters.
And El's not stupid.
She knows her abilities better than any of us.
- Exactly, thank you. - And she is her own person.
- Exactly. - With her own free will.
Exactly.
El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her.
You wanna talk about trust, really?
After you made Eleven spy on us?
- Wait, what? - Oh, she didn't tell you this?
- No. - Your girlfriend used El's powers
- to spy on us. - No, no, no, I did not make her.
It was her idea.
And why are we even talking about this, seriously?
Yeah, who cares?
- I care. - Yeah.
I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy.
We were just joking around.
Wouldn't it've been so funny
if I was taking a massive shit or something?
- You weren't. - But what if I was?
- Then gross! - Seriously, Mike?
I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless
Max is with Eleven's powers.
In fact, how careless all of you are.
You're treating her like some kind of machine
when she's not a machine,
and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed
when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth.
So can we please just come up with a new plan
because I love her and I can't lose her again.
What's going on?
Nothing. Nothing.
Just a family discussion.
Oh.
I found him.
Found who?
He calls it the key, and this key emits a great energy.
It requires much strength, power.
Those houses, like the one you found,
they're located near, uh, transformers.
They're stealing from your town's power grid.
Why build this key here?
Why are they not doing this in their own backyard?
What are they trying to do, blow us to smithereens?
There were many of these, uh, keys before in Russia,
but they turned out wrong.
They had to come to where the... where the, uh...
Where the what?
- I don't understand what he's saying. - I thought you were fluent.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Are my free translation services not good enough for you?
Because you can just go ahead and file your complaint
right up my ass!
What is Smirnoff doing?
He's showing me.
Oh, okay.
Uh, he says the straw,
they're using it to penetrate a hole
in... a box?
Okay, sorry, sorry.
The straw represents the key, which emits a great energy.
They're using this energy...
to break through a barrier,
to open...
a doorway.
A doorway between worlds.
But it seems this key was only half the equation.
Location... Location was the other half.
Oh, what...
In Hawkins, this door had been opened once.
It was still...
healing.
Jesus Christ.
So, this door is open now?
He says it is...
opening.
- Where are you going? - To call our children.
Can we watch Looney Tunes now?
Nyet.
- Can I help you with something? - Whiskey.
- You have whiskey? - No, but I do have vodka.
Oh!
If there's a way to start this key,
there's gotta be a way to stop it, yeah?
Turn it off?
- Right. - Right?
The key, is there a way to turn it off?
He says, "Of course he could turn it off. Could...
Edison not turn off a lamp, could Bell not hang up a phone?"
Cocky bastard. "But..."
But what?
But he is now...
"naked".
Sorry, "exposed". Compromised.
Hey, I will get you there.
I will get you to your key.
You wanna ask him what the hell's so funny about that?
He says he likes your courage.
You remind him of a...
fat Rambo.
But he says that even thin Rambo couldn't get there.
This key, it is in an underground fortress
designed by the greatest Russian minds,
guarded by their greatest warriors.
Breaking in is...
impossible.
Jackpot.
Oh-ho-ho!
Do you even know how to drive?
How hard can it be? Max did it.
- Aw, come on. - You seriously thought
- they'd just leave keys in there? - There's gotta be a spare.
- Hey, Dustin? - Yeah?
How big did you say that Demogorgon was?
Big. Nine feet or so. Why?
Found 'em.
Erica?
What the hell is that?
A deadly weapon.
Could be useful.
- For what? - What do you think?
Taking down Commies, saving your friends.
Thought you were more realistic than that, nerd.
We don't even know where they are,
and even if we did, there are a million guards up there
with weapons way deadlier than that.
The best thing we can do for them
is to get out of here and find help.
Easy with that.
Our chance of surviving, and theirs, rises substantially.
Just trust me on this. Please?
Help!
- Help! - Hey, would you stop yelling?
Steve! Oh, my God!
Steve...
Are... Are you okay?
My ears are ringing, and I can't really breathe,
my eye feels like it's about to pop out of my skull,
but, you know, apart from that, I'm doing pretty good.
Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor.
Is this his place of work?
I love the vibe.
Charming.
Yeah, tell me about it. So, okay,
do you see that table over there to your right?
No, your other right.
- Oh. - Yeah, okay.
- And do you see those scissors? - Uh-huh.
Yeah, well,
I think that if we move at the same time, we could get over there,
and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them into your lap.
- And I could cut the binds. - Yeah, and we could get out of here.
- Gotcha. Okay, yeah, we can do that. - Yeah.
Those morons. They left scissors in here?
- Yeah, morons. - Total morons.
- Okay. - Okay, so,
on the count of three, we're gonna hop.
- Okay, good, hop on three. I gotcha. - All right.
One, two, three.
- Okay, that worked. - Okay.
- All right. Uh, let's try again. - Right.
One, two, three.
- Holy shit, this is gonna work! - We're close. Ready?
Okay, one, two, three.
It's okay, it's okay.
Don't cry. Robin.
Are you laughing?
- Yeah. - Jesus!
I'm sorry!
I'm so sorry. It's just...
I can't believe...
I'm gonna die in a secret Russian base
with Steve "The Hair" Harrington.
- It's just too trippy, man. - We're not gonna die.
We're gonna get out of here, okay?
Just... You gotta let me just think for a second.
Do you remember, um, Mrs. Click's sophomore history class?
What?
Mrs. Clickity-Clackity.
That's what us band dweebs called her.
It was first period,
Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you were always late.
And you always had the same breakfast.
Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel.
I sat behind you
two days a week for a year.
Mister Funny.
Mister Cool.
The King of Hawkins High himself.
Do you even remember me from that class?
Of course you don't.
You were a real asshole, you know that?
Yeah, I know.
But it didn't even matter.
It didn't matter that you were an ass.
I was still...
obsessed with you.
Even though all of us losers pretend to be above it all,
we still just wanna be popular...
accepted,
normal.
If it makes you feel any better,
having those things isn't all that great.
Seriously.
It just baffles me.
Everything that people tell you is important,
everything that people say you should care about, it's all just...
bullshit.
But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?
I hope so.
I feel like my whole life has been...
one big error.
Yep.
At least it can't get any more messed up than this.
You know, I wish I'd known you in Click's class.
- Yeah? - Really, I do.
Maybe you could've helped me pass the class.
Maybe instead of being here, I'd be on my way to college right now.
And I would have no idea
that there were evil Russians beneath our feet,
and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck.
Gotta say, though,
I liked being your schmuck.
It was fun while it lasted.
It was.
Where were you two going?
Try telling the truth this time, yes?
It will make your visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful.
Wait a second. Wait. Hold on.
Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What is that thing?
It will help you talk.
Did you even clean that thing?
What's he doing now?
And that's not normal, right?
Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?
No, that's not normal.
He wants us to find him.
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.
If we go to Billy, then
the rest of the flayed know where we are.
It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed.
We won't be surprised.
We'll know that they're coming,
and we will kick their flayed butts.
You mean El will kick their butts.
Papa!
No.
Rainbow. Three to the right, four to the left.
Sunflower. Rainbow.
- It's too risky. - Yeah, and unnecessary.
Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer.
We have to find out where it's spreading from.
We have to find the source.
Billy knows it.
Billy's been there.
To the source.
- Yeah, but... - It's a trap. I know.
We can't go to Billy,
but I think there's another way.
A way for me to see where he's been.
El, I know you think you have to do this, but you don't.
It's just, you've only done this before once.
And your mom, she loved you,
and wanted you to know what happened.
And Billy's mind is... is sick, diseased.
The Mind Flayer is in him.
He can't hurt me.
Not in there.
We don't know that.
Mike.
I need you to trust me.
Yeah.
Just... be careful.
Billy.
Can you hear me?
I want to see.
I want to see what happened.
Something's wrong.
Stop! No! No! No!
No!
El, are you okay?
Are you okay?
I'm okay.
What's going on?
I'm... on a beach.
Okay, I may be dense,
but the last I checked,
there weren't any beaches in Hawkins.
What else do you see?
A woman.
She's...
pretty.
I...
I think she's looking at me.
Woo!
Yeah!
You did it!
There's...
a boy.
Did you see that?
Yeah, I saw that!
That was at least seven feet.
I don't know what it was,
but it almost gave me a heart attack.
Ten more minutes?
- Yeah, okay, ten more minutes. - Okay.
But any longer than that, Dad's gonna be mad, okay?
Okay!
Billy?
Watch out for rip currents!
I know.
It's Billy.
It's California.
It's a memory.
I think I see it.
The source.
Two minutes, Jim.
It's a secure line,
but any longer than that and they could trace you.
Yeah, I want 'em to trace me.
What?
Philadelphia Public Library.
Uh...
This is Jim Hopper...
uh... police chief, Hawkins.
I got this number from Dr. Sam Owens.
What is your identification code?
Identification code?
You don't know it?
You must be joking.
Oh, no, no, I got it, I got it.
I got it.
You wrote it down and kept it in your wallet?
"Antique Chariot". Listen.
Um, tell Owens that the Russkies are opening the gate.
Now, he'll know what that means.
Not about the Russkies, but about the gate.
Tell him that there's an entrance at Starcourt Mall.
I know how to get in,
but I need backup, a lot of backup.
Have him call me back here at 618-625-8313.
Your message will be relayed.
- So, now what? - Now, we, uh...
we wait.
You compromised me, Jim.
You do realize that, don't you? I'm gonna have to relocate.
- How long do we wait? - As long as it takes.
How can you just sit there being calm?
I am not calm!
Our kids are in danger!
You said they were at the festival!
Which is, like, ten minutes from the gate!
What are you doing? Joyce?
What are you doing?
Philadelphia Public Library.
Yes, hello.
Uh, this is, uh, Antique Chariot's partner...
Wheelbarrow.
I don't think Antique Chariot
properly conveyed the urgency of our situation.
What are you doing?
Can't just sit around and wait for a call.
- Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to stay calm. - No.
Don't you dare patronize me!
I don't know who you are,
if you're some glorified secretary or what,
but if you don't wanna lose your job,
here's what's gonna happen.
When I hang up,
you're gonna get up off your ass,
and you're gonna go find Owens and tell him what's going on.
We don't have time to talk about it and neither does he.
He's gotta get to Hawkins,
and he's gotta bring his men right now!
Do you understand me?
Yes, yes, ma'am.
Thank you. And good day.
It's been exactly one minute, Joyce.
That's one minute too long.
Alexei.
What's going on?
We gotta go. Vroom, vroom.
Back to Hawkins. Come on.
Come on.
Honestly, I don't really feel anything.
Do you?
I mean, I... I feel fine.
- I feel normal. - Yeah, I feel... I feel fine.
I kinda feel good.
- Wanna know a secret? - What?
I like it, too!
- I feel good. - Morons. They messed up the drug.
They messed it up!
- Morons. Hey, morons! - Morons!
- Moron! Mor... - Hey!
Whoa-oh!
Oh, no. There's definitely something wrong with us.
Something's wrong.
Would now be a good time to tell you that I don't like doctors?
Let's try this again, yes?
Who do you work for?
Scoops.
Scoops Ahoy.
How did you find us?
Totally by accident.
More lies.
What is that shiny little toy?
Where you going with that, doc?
Whoa, whoa, hey, hey. Wait! No! Wait! Wait!
- Whoa! - There was a code! We heard a code!
Code.
What code?
"The week is long.
The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west."
Blah, blah, blah.
You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town,
and we picked it up on our Cerebro,
and we cracked it in a day.
A day!
You think you're so smart,
but a couple of kids who scoop ice cream for a living
cracked your code in a day, and now, people know you're here.
Who knows we are here, little bitch?
Uh, well, Dustin knows.
Hey, Steve?
- Yeah, Dustin Henderson, he knows. - Steve!
Dustin Henderson.
It is your small, curly-haired friend?
Oh, curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like a 'fro. Yeah.
Where is he?
He's long gone, you big asshole.
And he's probably calling Hopper,
and Hopper's calling the US cavalry.
They're gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin',
and kick your sorry asses back to Russia.
You're gonna be two pieces of toast.
Is that so?
Yeah.
Hey! Henderson!
That's crazy, I was just talking about you.
- Oh, my God! - Get ready to run.
Hey! Billy, stop!
What the hell is wrong with you? What did we talk about, huh?
You gotta slide!
- I know. - Wait.
- Afraid you're gonna get hurt, is that it? - No.
Well, what then? What?
What did I raise, a pussy for a son?
- Leave me alone! - Hey!
That's right, run! Like you always do!
Where were you last night? Where were you?
- I told you, I was with Wendy. - Stop lying to me!
- I'm not lying to you! - You saw him again, didn't you?
- Didn't you? - Get away from me!
- I said, get away! - You... You whore!
- Stop it! - Bitch!
- Don't hurt her! - No!
- Don't hurt her! - You bastard!
Mom!
I don't understand. Why not?
Please, Mom, don't do this.
Please come home.
No. How long? How long?
I miss you.
Get back here!
Get up! What, are you scared to fight me?
You scared?
Get up and fight me, pussy! Pussy!
Billy, come over here, I want you to meet someone.
This is your new sister. Her name's Maxine.
Max.
- Shake her hand. - Who's there?
I said, shake her hand.
I said, who's there?
I think I found it.
The source.
Where, El? Where are you?
Brimborn...
Steelworks.
Here. Okay, uh, steelworks, steelworks...
Uh...
Here, steel.
Uh...
Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive.
- That's close. - El, El, we found it. Get out of there.
Get out.
Mike?
Mike!
He can't hear you.
You shouldn't have looked for me.
Because now I see you.
Now we can all see you.
You...
let us in.
And now...
you are going to have to let us stay.
David, where you going?
David?
Adam!
You're gonna miss it!
Adam!
Don't you see?
All this time,
we've been building it.
We've been building it...
for you.
All that work,
all that pain...
all of it... for you.
And now it's time.
Time to end it.
And we are going to end you.
And when you are gone,
we are going to end your friends.
- No! - And then we are going to end...
everyone.
Get away!
No!
El, you're okay. It's... It's okay.
El.