Stranger Things
Created by: The Duffer Brothers
Stars: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven / El), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Matthew Modine (Dr. Martin Brenner), Paul Reiser (Dr. Sam Owens), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna / Henry Creel / One), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Eduardo Franco (Argyle), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson)
Season 4 – Episode 9
Episode title: Chapter Nine: The Piggyback
Original release date: July 1, 2022
Episode plot: The Hawkins group enacts their plan: Max, Lucas and Erica go to the Creel House while Steve, Nancy and Robin go to its Upside Down counterpart to attack Vecna, as Dustin and Eddie draw away the batlike creatures. Eddie sacrifices himself in the process. Eleven’s group creates an isolation tank to enable her to enter Max’s mind and fight Vecna. But Vecna overwhelms her and possesses Max, revealing to Eleven that he has controlled the Upside Down ever since she sent him there, and created the Mind Flayer. Mike professes his love to Eleven, giving her the strength to break Vecna’s control over Max, but after interference from Jason, Max dies from her injuries. Hopper, Joyce, and Murray reenter the prison and kill the remaining Demogorgons, weakening Vecna. Steve, Robin and Nancy set Vecna’s physical form ablaze and shoot him, apparently killing him. Eleven uses her powers to revive Max, but because of Max’s brief death, Vecna’s gates open and tear through Hawkins, killing Jason. Two days later, the town is recovering from a so-called earthquake. Everyone unites, while Max remains comatose. Eleven tries to reach her mind but only finds a black void. Will senses that Vecna is still alive, and the Upside Down begins invading Hawkins.
* * *
Stranger Things – S04E09 – Chapter Nine: The Piggyback | Full transcript
[wind whistling]
[tools clattering]
[indistinct chatter]
[Yuri grunts]
[Yuri humming softly]
[Murray] It’s perfect.
[Murray] Somewhere like…
[Antonov] Yeah.
[Murray] I can totally see it.
You in Indiana.
[Antonov] Indiana?
[Murray] Yeah.
Well, you have a certain stoic…
More Clint Eastwood than…
Good news, my friends.
Katinka feeling better.
Shall we give her another try?
Why not? [chuckles] Asshole.
[Antonov scoffs] This guy.
[Yuri grunts]
[exhales]
[sniffs, hums]
[machinery powering up]
[sighs]
[speaking in Russian]
[engine splutters, wheezes]
[engine continues spluttering, wheezing]
[engine jolts]
Yuri!
That’s enough.
That’s enough! Hey!
The hell you think you’re doing?
Get your hands off me, potato head.
You’re trying to break her, aren’t ya?
Get us captured again so you can get your reward? That it?
What do you two lizard brains know?
You’re engineers now?
I know that sound is not good.
On contrary, those noises you hear, that… [imitates engine whining] …it’s very good sign.
Good sign, huh?
Yeah.
My women make noise when I please them.
You don’t know what that is like.
I understand.
But for those like me who knows what and where to touch, much noise.
[engine splutters]
[stops spluttering]
[spluttering resumes]
[light buzzes]
[Joyce inhales, groans]
Yeah.
These are the smallest I could find.
That’s it for shirts.
[Hopper grunts]
Oh. Well…
Cute.
[Hopper chuckles]
Yuri has good taste. What can I say?
Um…
Oh, sorry.
Sorry.
[chuckles] I’ll go over here.
Okay.
[Joyce sighs]
[delicate, yearning music playing]
[sighs]
[Hopper grunting gingerly]
[inhales sharply]
[sighs]
What did they do to you?
Oh my God.
No, it’s not that bad. It’s… [exhales] You know, I needed to lose weight anyway.
It’s given me time to think, you know?
About who I’ve been and…
And what I’ve done.
I never should’ve sent you that message.
You didn’t know what was gonna happen.
I knew it’d be dangerous.
So did I.
I made this choice.
And I would choose it again, even knowing everything that I know.
I would.
Plus, you know, we do have that date to get to. [chuckles] Remember?
[chuckles] “Remember”?
I’ve been dreaming about it.
Oh, yeah?
[Hopper] Yeah.
I have it all planned out.
Pray tell.
I’m getting two orders of bread sticks. Two.
Those things knock your socks off.
Enzo puts some spice on ’em.
I don’t know what it is, but it’s good.
And you dip it in olive oil?
Forget about it.
And, uh, I’m wavering on the main course between the veal and the lasagne.
But I think I gotta go with lasagne, right?
So, you… you’ve been dreaming about bread sticks and lasagne?
I’ve been on a diet of watery soup, moldy bread, and maggots, so, yeah, I’ve been dreaming about bread sticks and lasagne.
I mean, sue me.
[chuckles]
Should I have been dreaming about something else?
You tell me.
Well, there’s wine.
Oh, well, wine’s good.
I was thinking about a nice “Cheeanti.”
Chianti.
Chianti, right.
Then there’s dessert.
You gotta have dessert.
Gotta have dessert.
And after that?
[tender, emotional music swells]
I don’t know.
Use your imagination.
Who needs imagination?
[bright, hopeful music playing]
[Joyce moans]
[both exclaim]
[both moaning]
[phone rings]
[Joyce groans]
Damn it! [sucks teeth]
Remember, they’re listening!
[phone ringing]
[dramatic stinger]
[owl hooting]
[Nancy] Okay.
I wanna run through it one more time.
[ominous music playing]
Phase one.
We meet Erica at the playground.
She’ll signal Max and Lucas when we’re ready.
Phase two.
Max baits Vecna.
He’ll go after her, which’ll put him in his trance.
Phase three?
Me and Eddie draw the bats away.
[Nancy] Four.
[Robin] We head into Vecna’s newly batfree lair, and…
[liquid sloshing]
…flambé.
Nobody moves on to the next phase until we’ve all copied.
Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what.
Got it?
[all] Got it.
[low, ominous music playing]
[tense, martial music playing]
Be careful.
Thanks, buddy.
[inhales] Here goes nothing.
[grunts]
[gate pulsates wetly]
[mutters sarcastically]
What does he want us to do, applaud?
[grunts] All right.
Let’s go.
[gate squelches]
[Nancy grunts]
[Steve] Gotcha.
[yelps, pants]
[thunder booms]
Hey, guys, listen.
If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort.
Okay? Draw the attention of the bats.
Keep ’em busy for a minute or two.
We’ll take care of Vecna.
Don’t try to be cute or be a hero or something.
Okay? You guys are just…
[Steve, Dustin] Decoys.
Don’t worry. You can be the hero, Steve.
[Eddie] Absolutely. I mean, look at us.
We are not heroes.
[music pulses ominously]
Hey, Steve?
Make him pay.
[sinister industrial synth music playing]
[music swells]
[music fades]
[theme music playing]
[Jonathan] No, no.
Like I said, I… I’ve tried everyone.
Yeah, TWA, Pan Am, Eastern.
No, it doesn’t have to be a oneway.
I’ll take one seat, if you have it.
I mean, please, there has to be something that you can do.
One of our family members is really, really sick, and I don’t know if she’s gonna make it through the night.
Is there any way that you could just…
No. No. No.
[pensive music playing] Like I said before, I… I’ve tried them already.
Okay, well, is there any way that I could speak to a manager?
There… There’s no one there?
No, that’s the problem. I can’t call back.
[Jonathan continues indistinctly]
[music turns enigmatic]
[Terry] Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow.
Three to the right. Four to the…
Three. Rainbow.
[wings fluttering]
[birds cawing]
Get away! [screams]
Damn it.
[Will] What’d they say?
Earliest is tomorrow.
No. That’s way too late.
Shit.
I know.
[Argyle] Hey, dudes?
Ask ’em if we can ride in the baggage compartment.
The baggage compartment?
We’d suffocate.
Dogs ride in there all the time, man.
They don’t suffocate.
Jesus Christ.
Holy shit.
[Eleven] I have a way.
[country music playing faintly]
A way to protect Max.
From here.
This is Max.
When One attacks, he’ll be in her mind.
But I can do that too.
I went into Mama’s mind, into Billy’s.
I can go into Max’s.
She can carry me to Vecna.
I can piggyback.
I can protect her.
From One.
Fight him from here.
Mind fight. Righteous.
Wait, so you actually think this can work?
A bathtub would help.
Yeah. Gotta be clean to enter the mind.
What? No, no.
It’s a sensory deprivation tank.
It helps her calm down and focus on her powers.
Wait, we… we just passed a motel.
Yeah, but they won’t have enough salt.
Well, how much salt are we talking here, my dudes?
Well, depends on the size of the tub, but a lot.
Does 600 pounds suffice?
You know a place that has 600 pounds of salt?
[quirky synth music playing]
Let’s see…
Yep.
Mmhmm.
Yep. It’ll work.
What will work?
I know a magical place that has all you need, my brave, little super powered friend.
That mind fight is on. Come on.
¡Vámonos!
Let’s go! Pronto!
[van door slams]
[engine splutters, revs]
[quirky synth music fades]
[“Running Up That Hill” playing on headphones]
♪ Do you want to know
That it doesn’t hurt me? ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
♪ Do you want to hear about
The deal that I’m making? ♪
[unsettling audio distortion]
[tense, eerie music playing]
[lantern buzzing]
[floorboards creaking]
[eerie music swells]
[lantern buzzing rhythmically]
[Max’s lantern buzzing loudly]
[door creaks open]
[tense music playing]
[discordant notes]
[Erica panting]
[dog whimpers]
[dog barks]
[gunshot echoes]
[gunshot echoes]
[dogs barking]
[door opens, slams]
Hey!
I think we got something.
Send Ryan.
I don’t wanna waste any more time with bullshit leads.
I don’t think you’ll wanna send Ryan on this one.
[foreboding music playing]
You know the murder house on More head?
Yeah.
[flames crackling]
What about it?
[foreboding music intensifies]
Okay, and, uh, who exactly was this mystery woman?
Not sure.
I mean, she wasn’t exactly Miss Talkative.
You know? I spent five minutes trying to convince her I was real.
I’m supposed to be dead, remember?
Anyway, I finally get around to halfconvincing her, she starts to open up a little, then says that she’s…
A friend of the doc’s.
Great, so am I.
Now put me on the phone with him.
I’m afraid the doc is indisposed.
“Indisposed”?
It gets worse.
She said the doc’s with the girl.
And the girl went off to fight some evil in Hawkins.
Then they all went offgrid.
The doc, the girl, everybody.
“The girl,” meaning… El.
Yeah, it has to be.
This is your daughter, American?
Mmhmm.
And they’re not alone.
Joyce’s kids are with ’em.
[tense chord plays]
[Joyce sighs]
Okay, I… I see the mood here is bleak.
And understandably so.
But I do think we need to consider the very real possibility that this mystery woman is, in fact, KGB.
And she’s…
[Joyce] No.
She’s telling the truth.
When we were in the lab, those particles we saw, they were alive.
And if they’re alive, that means a gate’s open in Hawkins.
“Gate”? What does this mean?
It means we have to go home right now.
What is taking so long?
I thought you said he was close.
Yeah, close to sabotaging us, you mean.
We think he’s playing us again.
So put a goddamn gun to his head.
And then what?
He just spits out more lies.
[Murray] It’s moot anyway.
If your kids are truly in some kind of imminent danger, even if we were to leave this very moment, we wouldn’t make it in time.
The earliest we’d get there is late tomorrow.
No, we… we don’t have to make it back.
Not tonight.
Whatever this evil is, we know it’s connected to the hive mind.
And now we know part of that hive mind is in Russia.
So we don’t need to get back to Hawkins to fight it.
All we need is to destroy those particles.
[Joyce] And if we’re lucky, it’ll hurt it enough to give the kids the upper hand.
Wait, time out.
We’re talking about the particles inside the prison?
The prison that we just narrowly escaped from?
We broke out.
We can break back in.
Jim!
The entire Soviet army is looking for us.
Sure. And we’ll be exactly where they least expect.
All right. There is a fine line between courage and stupidity, and this falls very far on the side of stupid.
This is Dirty Dozen stuff.
Except there are, uh, four of us.
Three, actually.
Breaking back in’s gonna be easier than breaking out.
Which is why we need an airlift.
This is where you come in.
I don’t care what it takes.
You get Yuri in line, and you get that bird in the air.
On it.
Yu… Yuri mentioned something about a flamethrower, right?
[crate lid clatters]
[Hopper sighs]
Oh, yeah.
This’ll do.
This’ll do just fine.
[tense music swells, fades]
You gotta be shitting me.
[bright, uplifting music playing]
Trust me on this one, my dudes.
[surfer rock guitar music playing]
Surf’s up, my dude.
Uh, whoa.
Nice shirt, my dude. [chuckles] Thanks, my dude.
Uh, listen, I would love to feed a fellow Surfer Boy, but kitchen closed, like, five minutes ago, so no more pies tonight, man.
[chuckles] That’s all right, my dude.
We’re not here for your tasty pies.
You see this weird girl behind me?
She needs a tub with a bunch of salt so we can enhance her psychic power so she can save the world from this super bad dude.
But to make this salty tub, we require your kitchen.
Ah.
Well, it’s just, uh…
I’m supposed to meet Chaz at Taco Bell in, like, ten. So…
My dude.
We’re not asking you to help for free.
You ever partake in…
Purple Palm Tree Delight?
It’ll make all your troubles float away.
Like the seed pods of a dandelion in the wind.
[tense music playing]
[freezer door slams]
Firstever mind fight held in a pizza dough freezer.
Pretty rad, right?
[fence rattling]
[planks clatter]
[drill whirring]
[hose squeaking]
[drills whirring]
[tense music continues]
[fence rattling]
[drill whirring]
[dough whooshes]
[tense music intensifies]
[thunder booms]
[Eddie] Not bad.
Not bad at all.
[Eddie chuckles]
Now for the fun part.
Jesus Chr…
[Eddie whimpers]
[chuckles] It’s like… she was destined for an alternate dimension.
What do you say, Henderson?
[guitar strings sing]
Are you ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world?
That a rhetorical question?
Let’s do it.
[thunderclap]
[unseen creatures chittering]
[Robin] Uh…
I don’t mean to freak anyone out, but I swear we’ve seen this tree before.
[Nancy] That’s impossible.
That would suck, right?
If Vecna destroyed the world because… ’cause we got lost in the woods?
[Nancy] We’re not lost, Robin.
[Robin chuckles] Robin, hey.
Watch out for the vines! Hive mind.
Remember?
Thank you!
[Steve] Uh, Don’t worry about her.
She’s just stressed.
You know, scared.
Yeah. Yeah. I… I know.
It’s just…
She’s a super klutz?
[chuckles]
She did tell me that it took her longer to walk than most babies, so…
[chuckles] I really shouldn’t laugh.
When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards.
Crawled backwards?
You know, I’d push with my hands like this. Beep. Beep.
Always in reverse, you know?
Come on, it makes sense.
You push to move, right?
No, no, it doesn’t make sense.
Well, it did to my tiny little Harrington brain.
That is, until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head really good.
Yeah.
Wow. That explains so much.
Yeah. [chuckles] I think it kinda does.
I think, like, right out of the gate, like, I’m super confident.
But I’m also, like, an idiot.
Which is just…
I mean, it’s a brutal combination.
But, I mean, the good news is, I get a big enough thump on my head, I can change, you know?
I can learn.
I can crawl forward.
[wondrous music playing]
Listen, I guess what I’m trying to say in a really stupid, roundabout way is, um…
[clicks tongue] …is thank you.
Thank me?
Yeah.
For…?
For giving my head the biggest thump of its life two years ago.
I needed it.
It’s changed my life.
And now I’m crawling forward.
Slowly.
I just wonder sometimes…
You know, if… some other girl had given me a proper thump before we’d met, would things have been different?
Like, if we were meeting together for the first time right now, part of me…
I dunno, part of me thinks we would’ve made it.
Steve…
Remember the dream I told you about?
About the Winnebago?
Seeing the country with my six lil’ nuggets?
It’s all true.
Every last word.
But I left one part out.
It’s the most important part.
You’re there.
[heartfelt chords play]
You’ve always been there.
[tender, emotional music playing]
[Robin] Hey, guys!
You guys! Awesome news!
[panting]
Looks like we weren’t going the wrong way after all.
[exhales]
[Robin] Come on.
Let’s go!
[Steve] Okay.
Ro… Slow down! Ro… Robin!
[intricate, macabre music playing]
Erica.
[music halts jarringly]
Where are the guards?
Maybe this’ll be easier than we thought.
I don’t know, Jim.
I got a bad feeling about this.
[radio static]
[yelling, gunfire over radio]
[screaming over radio]
[gunfire, terrified yelling]
[dramatic stinger]
[wind whistling]
[gunfire in distance]
[menacing music pulses]
[creature snarling]
[tools rattling]
[in Russian] I have a question.
What if I don’t want to answer?
Have you always been a coward?
[tool clatters]
Yuri Ismaylov is many things, you traitor.
But he is…
No coward.
If that is so, why do you continue to stall?
What do I owe these Americans?
Nothing!
This isn’t just about America, smuggler.
[uneasy music playing]
They have warned us of a great evil in the world.
An evil that does not rest, that does not respect borders.
After it has consumed everything in their land, it will come for us.
For our families.
For our Motherland.
You saw it with your own eyes.
You know it to be true.
And yet you continue to play tricks!
[music fades]
I was told the Peanut Butter Smuggler was once a great man.
Before he lost his way to drink and cards.
That he led his men to victory over the Chinese in Damansky.
Is it true?
It is true.
That hero, where is he now?
Because I do not see him.
[somber synth music playing]
[exhales]
[music swells]
[music fades]
[ethereal music playing]
[“Running Up That Hill” playing faintly]
♪ Be running up that road ♪
♪ Be running up that hill ♪
♪ Be running up that building ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ And if I only could, oh ♪
♪ It’s you and me ♪
♪ Won’t be unhappy ♪
♪ Oh, come on, baby ♪
♪ Oh, come on, darling ♪
♪ Let me steal this moment from you now ♪
♪ Oh, come on, angel ♪
♪ Come on, come on, darling ♪
[tender, emotional music playing]
[pages rustling]
[music swells poignantly]
[music fades]
[tense music pulses rhythmically]
Come on. Come on.
Okay, the lovebirds have copied.
Max is moving into phase two: distracting Vecna.
So far, so smooth.
Yeah, we’re not even at the hard part yet.
[thunderclap]
[creatures shrieking]
[swarm chittering]
[Nancy] Take the bait, you son of a bitch.
Take the bait.
[tense industrial synth music playing]
[music fades]
[“Running Up That Hill” playing over headphones]
♪ Say, if I only could ♪
♪ Oh ♪
[lantern buzzing rhythmically]
♪ You ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ You and me ♪
♪ You and me ♪
♪ Won’t be unhappy ♪
[tape deck clicks off]
[Max inhales] Hey!
Asshole!
I’m here.
No more music.
No more games.
Do you hear me?
What are you waiting for, huh?
Come on! Do you want me or not?
[lantern buzzes, fades]
[lantern buzzes]
[delicate, sinister music playing]
[Mike] Okay, almost done.
[hokey muzak playing]
Okay, so, hopefully this blocks out any peripheral light, right?
And it’s totally dark, which means it works.
But I have one more important question: do I look cool?
[laughs]
Feel like I look really cool.
Are you giggling?
[giggling]
You’re giggling because I look awesome.
I can’t see it, but I know you’re smiling because I look so good. Right?
Mike.
Yeah?
[tender, emotional music playing]
I… Missed you.
[exhales] Yeah.
Yeah, I missed you too.
You know, the last few days, I… I’ve had to think about the last talk we had.
You know, before the cops and…
The whole world went to shit?
I… I guess I just…
I dunno.
I guess I just wanted to say that…
[tray clatters loudly]
Surf’s up, Romeo.
[hokey muzak resumes]
Oh, uh, too much flavor awesomeness can’t overpower your battery, can it?
Dude, this is pineapple.
Try before you deny.
Good.
[Argyle] Hmm?
It’s good? What do you mean?
Really good.
What? That’s insane.
Blasphemous. Putting fruit on pizza?
Did you try? Try before you deny.
No. I…
Try before you deny!
Stop! Enough! I’m not a dog!
No, not a baby! Thank you!
Try some.
Try before you deny!
[Mike] No!
[Mike] No! Stop it! [yelping]
[Mike] Okay! Okay!
[Argyle chuckles]
[hokey muzak continues]
[Mike] No, you’re right. It’s good.
Do you remember that time you told me you had a Lego stuck up your nose?
What?
Yeah.
Like, it was like a…
It was like a construction guy.
You’d call him Larry.
Come on! You don’t remember?
He had the high viz jacket and removable hat?
Yeah.
Vaguely.
Well, I remember it like it was yesterday.
Man, I was… I was freaked.
‘Cause… ‘Cause this Larry…
I mean, Larry was way, way up there.
I don’t even know how you got him that far up.
I had to do surgery.
I… I had to get tweezers to pull him out.
Bull.
[chuckles] No.
No, no, I swear on my life.
[Jonathan sighs]
I don’t know, I just…
I feel like you used to come to me more for help.
Or to just… talk, you know?
‘Cause, like, you don’t do that anymore.
Not like before.
A lot of that is probably my fault.
This last year… [sighs]
[wistful, emotional music playing]
…I know I’ve been distant.
Or stoned.
Or stoned.
Yeah.
But that has nothing to do with you.
And that’s me dealing with my own shit.
Hiding from my own problems.
The truth is, I miss talking to you.
I, like, really miss it.
And I think, right now, we need to talk more than ever.
Because things are getting just complicated.
A lot more complicated than Legos up the nose, you know?
I just…
I don’t want you to forget that I’m here.
And I’ll always be here.
No matter what.
Because you’re my brother.
And I love you.
And there is nothing in this world, okay, absolutely nothing, that will ever change that.
You got that?
[voice quavering] Yeah.
And I’m always here for you too.
I know.
I know you are.
Come here.
[Will stifles sob]
[Will weeping quietly]
[emotional music swells]
It’s gonna be okay.
Yeah?
Yeah.
[Jonathan exhales]
I think it’s ready.
All right.
It’s time.
[resolute synth music playing]
[static droning]
[exhales]
[electricity buzzing]
Wild.
[electricity pulsing]
I found them.
They’re carrying a light.
A blue light.
[lantern buzzing]
[warped tones play]
[restrained, melodic music playing]
[lantern whines, buzzing dies]
What are you waiting for, asshole?
[echoing] Hmm? I’m right here.
I’m right here!
[Mike] Okay, El, what’s going on?
It’s not working.
What? What’s not working?
Max’s plan.
I know you can hear me.
I know you can read my thoughts.
Even the worst ones.
Maybe mostly the worst ones.
[lantern buzzing steadily]
I thought about what you said.
About how I wanted my brother to die.
I thought you were just trying to upset me.
To anger me.
But you weren’t, were you?
You were just telling the truth.
[emotional music playing]
Billy, he made my life living hell.
Every chance he got.
So, sometimes…
When I would lie in bed at night, I would…
I would pray…
[sniffs] …I would pray that something would happen to him.
Something awful.
I knew that he drove too fast, so I would imagine him crashing.
Dying in that stupid car.
I just…
I wanted him out of my life.
Forever.
I wanted him to disappear.
[echoing] The day that he died…
I think that’s why I just stood there.
Watched.
Not because I was scared or… weak.
But because…
I didn’t know if he deserved to be saved.
And I’ve tried to forgive myself.
I’ve tried, but…
I can’t.
I can’t. [sniffs] So now…
Now, when I lie in bed at night…
I pray that something will happen to me.
That something terrible will happen to me.
So that’s why I’m here.
Because…
I just want you to take me away.
And I want you…
To make me disappear.
[Lucas] Is that all true?
You wanted Billy to die.
Why are you talking?
You ever have thoughts like that about me?
What?
No, Lucas, never.
Normal people don’t fantasize about killing other people, Max.
[sinister music pulses]
You realize that, right?
Lucas, please.
I thought you were getting better.
But you’re not, are you?
You are sick.
Lucas, you don’t mean that.
[music pulsing rapidly]
Maybe it is good he takes you.
Maybe it’s for the best.
In fact…
[ragged breathing]
…I’m glad it’s going to be you.
[distorted] You will be the chosen one.
The fourth. The final sacrifice.
[Vecna and Lucas] It’s going to be you that breaks the world.
[menacing chords play]
Max? Can you hear me?
Max!
[echoing] Max!
He has her.
[electricity flickering]
Max.
Where are you going? Don’t be scared.
Stay away from me.
Max, I thought you said you were ready.
Ready to disappear!
I said, stay away!
[grunts]
[music swells]
[music fades]
Max. It’s okay.
[Max panting]
I’m coming.
I’m coming. Just hold on a little longer.
[Max breathing heavily]
[anxious synth music playing]
[heart beating steadily]
[music intensifies]
[electricity flickers]
[Max] I dunno if you can hear this.
I’m sorry.
I’m so, so sorry, Billy.
[Max’s mom] Max, sweetie.
[Max] Mom? It’s gonna be okay, baby.
[Max] Ready?
♪ Turn around ♪
♪ Look at what you see ♪
Hi.
[kids] Trick or treat!
Should’ve seen the look on your faces.
[Mr. Clarke] Maxine.
[music builds to climax]
[suspenseful music playing]
[skateboard clattering]
What’s happening now?
I think I am in a memory.
A Max memory.
[indistinct hollering, chatter]
[wheels whooshing, distorted]
Do you see her? Do you see Max?
[Eleven] No.
But she’s here.
[echoing] She has to be here.
[suspenseful music continues]
[music fades]
Okay, she’s in. Initiate phase three.
She’s in. Move on to phase three.
Copy that. Initiating phase three.
Let’s hope they hear this.
[amp whining]
[feedback crackles]
Chrissy, this is for you.
[yelps, strums out heavy metal chords]
[plays “Master of Puppets” by Metallica]
[creatures gurgle]
[snarls]
[swarm chittering]
[Nancy] Okay, it’s working.
Let’s go.
♪ End of passion play ♪
♪ Crumbling away ♪
♪ I’m your source of self-destruction ♪
Where are you going, Maxine?
♪ Veins that pump with fear… ♪
You see her?
Yeah.
I see her.
[engine revs]
[brakes screeching]
♪ Taste me, you will see ♪
♪ More is all you need ♪
♪ Dedicated to how I’m killing you ♪
♪ Come crawling faster ♪
♪ Obey your master ♪
♪ Your life burns faster ♪
♪ Obey your master ♪
♪ Master ♪
Max!
Let me out of here!
♪ Where’s the dreams
That I’ve been after? ♪
♪ Master, master ♪
Max! Open the door!
Open the door!
[glass shatters]
[Billy yells]
Get off!
♪ Laughter, laughter… ♪
[creatures shriek]
Eddie!
We gotta lock down in T-minus 30 seconds!
[bellows]
[swarm chittering]
T-minus 20!
[ferocious guitar riff]
[shreds guitar solo]
[Billy] Max! Let me out!
Max! Max!
[Billy raging]
[continues solo]
T-minus ten!
Max!
[chain rattling] Five!
One!
[solo swells, trails away]
Holy shit.
[chuckles]
[Eddie] Move! Move! Move!
Let’s go!
Eddie, come on!
Hurry!
[Eddie] Go, go!
[Dustin] Shit! Shit!
Hurry! Eddie, shut it!
[fence clatters]
[Eddie grunts]
[creatures shrieking]
[Dustin] Hurry! Come on!
[panting]
Dude!
Most metal ever!
Oh my… Oh my God.
[both hollering in excitement]
[excited hollering fades]
[light buzzes, flickers]
[distant baying]
Oh dear God.
[chilling music playing]
[shaky gurgling]
[gasping for breath]
[in Russian] What happened here?
[strained wheeze]
[speaking in Russian]
[in English] The monster got in.
[officer continues in Russian]
The guards, they tried to stop it.
[speaking Russian]
The gunfire shattered the tanks.
[speaking in Russian]
The others came alive.
The particles.
Ask him about the particles.
[speaking in Russian]
[speaking Russian]
[speaking Russian]
[in English] He says they call it “the shadow.”
The shadow went into them.
Into who?
[speaking in Russian]
[speaking Russian]
[wordlessly gasping]
[repeats in Russian]
[chilling music swells, fades]
[sighs]
[Demogorgon, Demodogs bellowing]
[flamethrower whooshes]
[intense synth music playing]
[Murray] I think this answers your question, Jim.
The shadow is in them.
[intense synth music swells]
[door hinges squeak, creak]
[tentacles roiling wetly]
[Steve] Oh shit.
That’s not good.
[Robin] Shit.
It’s okay.
You got this.
[resolute synth music playing]
Shouldn’t you be playing with dolls or something?
Shouldn’t you bag your face?
[bully scoffs]
[mysterious music playing]
[echoing] Max.
Max!
I found her.
But she’s young.
She can’t see me.
Can’t hear me.
Do you see anything weird in this memory?
Any sign of Vecna or… or the Mind Flayer?
No, everything is normal.
[“Every Breath You Take” by the Police playing, distorted]
There is something that doesn’t fit.
[uneasy music play]
I think it is another memory.
A memory within a memory?
♪ …breath you take ♪
♪ Every move you make ♪
♪ Every bond you break
Every step you take ♪
♪ I’ll be watching you ♪
♪ Every single… ♪
[jolting explosion]
[menacing music builds]
[sinister industrial music pulses]
[record warps, distorts]
♪ …do love you ♪
♪ Dream a little dream of me ♪
[“Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Ella Fitzgerald playing]
♪ Say nighty-night and kiss me ♪
♪ Just hold me tight
And tell me you’ll miss me ♪
♪ While I’m alone and blue as can be ♪
♪ Dream a little dream of me ♪
[disconcertingly jaunty music continues]
[Louis Armstrong]
♪ Stars fading but I linger on, dear ♪
[Fitzgerald] ♪ Oh, how I do linger on ♪
[Armstrong] ♪ Still craving your kiss ♪
[Fitzgerald] ♪ How you crave my kiss ♪
[Armstrong] ♪ Now I’m longing ♪
[enigmatic synth music playing]
[desiccated withering]
[thunder booms]
[dramatic music builds]
[music fades]
[harsh, claustrophobic chords play]
Oh shit.
[lantern buzzing]
[Lucas panting] What the hell is taking so long?
Let me go, you meat head!
Shut your mouth or I’ll break your arms.
Hear me, you little shit?
[floorboards creaking]
Shit.
[ominous stinger]
Jason?
You can’t be here right now, man.
The hell have you done?
Jason.
You need to leave.
Is this what you did to Chrissy?
Just listen, Jason.
Hey.
You need to go, man.
Hi. Can… Can you hear me?
Jason, don’t touch her.
I’m not messing around.
Hey.
Please, just…
Hear me?
Hey, back up! Back up!
[dramatic stinger] Not another step.
Wa… Wait. We… We don’t have to do this.
We don’t have to do this.
I hope you’re right.
[Lucas] Wait.
Is there anyone else in the house?
No. No.
Turn around.
What?
Turn around!
Okay, okay. Relax, relax.
And put down your flashlight.
It’s okay. Okay.
[flashlight clatters]
[Jason] And empty your pockets.
Empty your pockets!
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Okay.
Now, this is what’s gonna happen.
I’m gonna back away to the top of the stairs there.
Then I’ll watch as you wake her up from whatever the hell this is.
I can’t.
Jason.
If I wake her too soon, we all die.
No.
You don’t wake her up right now, you die, Sinclair.
[safety clicks]
Just you.
[tense music pulses rapidly]
[music fades]
You shut off this fence, right?
Yeah.
Good. So you can turn it back on again.
[chuckles] Jim, you wanna clue us in on what you’re thinking here, or are we supposed to read your mind?
This pit was designed to trap monsters.
We get ’em in here, we lock it up, we rain fire from above, and we hope to hell that gives El and the kids an upper hand.
Okay.
I’m with ya.
Except the whole, uh… [chuckles] … “getting them all in here” part.
It’s a hive mind.
You draw one, you draw ’em all.
[dramatic synth music playing]
You’re the grill master.
Okay.
And you, you’re the jailer.
You get that fence turned on.
And once they’re all in here, lock that door behind ’em.
What about you?
I’m the bait.
[dramatic music swells, fades]
[Hopper] That one there.
See him? In the laundry room?
It’s not far from here.
He’s all alone.
[sorrowful music playing]
He’s our target.
[muffled scream]
[snarls]
[slowed down] No!
Let’s go!
[Hopper] Hey.
I’m gonna die someday.
But not today.
[hopeful synth music playing]
[whispers softly]
I still got a date to make, remember?
[exhales]
I don’t know, Hop.
This time, it’s gonna be different.
It better be.
I am not having another funeral.
[thunder booming]
[swarm screeching, thrashing]
[creatures slamming against walls loudly]
[swarm stops screeching, thrashing]
Hey, dip shits!
Give up that easy, huh?
Shh!
Is that really necessary?
[clattering]
They’re on the roof.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
[swarm trilling]
[ceiling creaking, rattling]
[clattering continues]
They can’t get in through there, can they?
[jarring stinger]
[shrieking]
[both yelling]
Die! Die!
[creature shrieking] Die! Die! Die!
[tentacles undulating moistly]
[Robin grunts]
Ugh.
[thunder rumbles]
Easy.
[rumbling]
[all panting]
[tentacle trilling]
[tentacle adheres wetly]
[Robin yelps]
Steve!
Nancy!
[tentacle trills, shrieks]
[Steve grunts]
[Steve struggling]
[yelps]
[panting]
[tentacles slither wetly]
[grunts]
[Robin, Nancy choking]
[grunts, struggles]
[lights buzzing erratically]
[Joyce breathing shakily]
[rhythmic thumping]
[rhythmic thumping continues]
[flesh tearing]
[bones crunching]
[Demodog trills]
[Demodog chittering]
[whistles]
[roars]
[frantic percussive music playing]
[metal clanging]
[Dustin, Eddie yell]
Eddie!
I need you!
Get out of the way! Get out of the way!
[yells]
[creature trilling]
[both panting]
[Eddie breathing heavily]
Holy shit. Holy shit.
Nice.
Thanks.
Are there other vents?
Oh, shit.
Shit!
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
[shrieking]
Shit!
Shit!
[swarm thrashing] That’s not gonna hold!
Let’s go! Let’s go!
[Dustin grunting]
Come on! Quickly!
[gate oozing]
Ah!
[loud thud]
Eddie, come on!
[door cracking]
[Dustin] Eddie, come on! Let’s go!
Eddie, you’re so close! Eddie! Let’s go!
[somber, thoughtful music play]
Eddie.
[creatures chittering]
Eddie!
What are you doing? Eddie, no!
[yells]
Eddie!
Eddie, stop! Eddie, stop!
Stop! Stop!
Eddie, what are you doing?
I’m buying more time.
No!
Eddie, please!
[swarm screeching]
[snarls]
[frenetic synth music playing]
[“Dream a Little Dream of Me” playing]
♪ Stars shining bright above you ♪
♪ Night breezes seem to whisper ♪
♪ I love you ♪
♪ Birds singin’ in the sycamore trees ♪
[ominous stinger]
♪ Dream of me ♪
[door creaking]
[Vecna] You can’t hide from me, Max.
[low, unnerving synth music playing]
[mysterious music playing]
You think I don’t see what you’re doing?
Is Mike a good kisser?
[both giggle]
[Vecna] You think I don’t see everything?
Please.
[Vecna] You thought you could trick me? You thought your friends could stop me? I see them. I see your friends. Just as clearly as I…
Stop!
…see you. I can feel them. I can feel them dying.
[gasping]
[clock chimes]
It’s time, Max.
[“Dream a Little Dream of Me” continues, warped]
[disturbingly distorted]
♪ Dream a little dream of me ♪
♪ Say nighty-night… ♪
It’s time.
[ominous music playing]
[yells]
[crying out in pain]
[Max whimpering]
[wet footsteps squelch]
[Lucas] We call him Vecna.
He lives in another dimension.
That’s why you can’t see him.
And Eddie Munson and his… his Hellfire acolytes, what, you all summoned this Vecna?
No, no, you’re not listening. Just listen.
There… There’s no cult.
There never was.
You expect me to believe that?
It’s the truth.
Then why was Chrissy at Eddie’s trailer?
She was buying drugs.
Liar!
[safety clicks]
Okay. [panting] Okay.
Chrissy…
She was seeing things.
Terrible things.
Things Vecna forced her to see.
She was scared.
No.
She just needed help.
That’s how I know you’re lying.
If Chrissy was scared, if… if Chrissy wanted help, she would’ve come to me!
Not Eddie!
Not that freak! Never!
You’re wrong about Eddie.
No.
But I was wrong about you.
I never should’ve let you in the door.
And I never should have knocked.
I thought I wanted to be like you.
Popular.
Normal.
But it turns out, normal’s just a raging psychopath.
You have five seconds to wake her up.
Four.
Three.
[grunts]
[gunshot]
Hey! Hey!
[groaning in pain]
Crit hit!
[Lucas] No! No!
[both grunting]
[tense music continues]
[Max struggling]
[eerie, distorted synth music]
[Vecna growling]
[whimpering]
You are brave, Maxine.
[panting]
Much braver than your brother.
But in the end…
You are weak and fragile, just like him.
Like all the rest of them.
And you will break.
[eerie, distorted synth music continues]
[high-pitched tones whining]
[Vecna panting]
[resolute synth music playing]
[low rumbling]
[growling]
You.
Hi.
[music intensifies]
[Vecna grunts]
[wheels rattling]
[swarm shrieking]
Come get me, you sons of bitches!
[tense industrial synth music playing]
Screw it.
[yells]
[strains]
[swarm chittering]
[Eddie grunts]
[Dustin yells]
[pained scream]
[breathing erratically]
[jarring stinger]
[introspective music playing]
[Eddie] I didn’t know what to do, so I… I… I ran away.
I just ran, and I left her there. I mean, look at us.
We are not heroes.
[resolute, determined music playing]
[spearhead rings out]
[chittering]
[bellows]
[grunts]
Shit!
[snarls]
[tense music playing]
[breathing shakily]
[frantic industrial synth music playing]
[Lucas, Jason grunting]
[Lucas grunts]
[Lucas panting]
[thunderclap]
Max, are you okay?
Huh?
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Are you…
Are you real?
Di… Did I make you?
I’m real.
How?
I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer.
What?
Uh…
[rustling, clattering]
[wood creaking]
[Vecna grunting]
[wood splintering]
[boards creaking]
[raspy growling]
[low, menacing music playing]
[neck cracking]
Stay back.
[raspy growling]
If you touch her again, I will kill you again.
Is that what you did?
Hmm?
Did you kill me?
I am so glad you are here, Eleven.
This…
Is going to be beautiful.
[intense industrial synth music plays]
So beautiful.
[boards splintering]
And it’s all thanks to you.
[grunts]
[grunts]
[exclaims, pants]
[lights buzzing, flickering]
She’s fighting him.
[eldritch thrumming]
[ominous percussive music playing]
[grunts] Eddie!
Eddie!
Eddie!
[dire choral vocalizations]
[swarm chittering]
Eddie!
[Eddie grunts]
[creature yelps] Come on!
[music trails off]
[whimpering]
[rapid footsteps]
[yells]
[yelps]
[thunderclap]
[Eleven whimpering]
[hand unfurling creakily]
[low growl]
[Eleven grunts]
[ominous dirge playing]
[hand unfurls creakily]
[Eleven chokes, seethes]
Before I kill you…
[sinister vocalizations]
…I want you to watch.
[music swells]
[scream echoes]
[grunts]
[tentacles slither]
[disturbing choral music playing]
[ichorous tentacles constrict]
[disembodied screaming]
[clock chimes]
[clock ticking]
[gasps]
[wet squelching]
[Eleven echoing] Papa is dead.
[music fades]
[grunts]
I know what he did to you.
[panting] You were different.
[sobs] Like me.
And he hurt you.
He made you…
Into this.
He is the monster, Henry.
Not you. [shuddering breath] Not you.
You’re right.
You and I, we are different.
And Papa did hurt me.
But he was no monster.
He was just a man.
An ordinary, mediocre man.
That is why he sought greatness in others.
In you.
And me.
[breathing shakily]
[Vecna] Hmm.
But in the end…
He could not control us.
He could not shape us.
He could not change us.
Do you not see, Eleven?
He did not make me into this.
You did.
[deep, unsettling chord playing]
[screaming]
[wailing]
[Vecna] At first, I believed you had sent me to my death. To purgatory.
But I was wrong.
I was somewhere new.
[disturbing choral music playing]
I became an explorer.
[Demogorgon trills]
An explorer of a realm unspoiled by mankind.
I saw so many things.
And one day, I found the most extraordinary thing of all.
Something that would change everything.
[droning]
I saw a means to realize my potential. To transcend my human form. To become the predator I was always born to be.
[unearthly rustling]
[dissonant gibbering]
[disturbing choral music intensifies]
[thunderclap]
[blows]
It was…
It was you.
Always you.
All I needed was someone to open the door.
And you did that for me.
Without even realizing it.
Didn’t you?
[flesh squelches]
[roars]
[screams]
And when you did realize, you chose to resist.
[screaming]
[shrill shrieking]
So I sought a means to open my own doors.
I sought…
Your power.
All this time, we’ve been building it.
For you.
[grunts]
So, don’t you see?
Once again, you have freed me.
No.
You don’t have to do this.
You can still stop this.
It is over, Eleven.
Your friends have lost.
[sorrowful music playing]
No!
[Jason grunting]
[choking]
[screaming] Eddie!
[plaintive piano line playing]
There is nothing…
Nothing you can do to stop this now.
[Demodog chittering]
[grunt echoes]
[flesh rending]
[anguished wail] Hawkins will burn and fall.
And the rest of this senseless, broken world. And I will be there.
[Erica echoing] Lucas!
[Vecna] I will be there to pick up the pieces when it does.
Lucas!
And remake it into something… beautiful.
[Vecna grunts]
There was a time when I had hoped to have you by my side.
But now I just want you to watch.
[Eleven whimpering]
[sinister music builds]
[whimpering continues]
[airy whimpering]
[Vecna growls]
Don’t be afraid.
[sobbing]
Try and stay very still.
No.
It will all be over soon.
Max!
[labored breathing]
[menacing audio distortions]
[sinister music continues]
[Vecna grunts]
[Max struggling]
[labored breathing]
El! El, can you hear me?
El, come on. Wake up! Wake up, El!
Wake up! El!
[Jonathan] She can’t breathe.
[tentacles constricting]
[Mike] El, get outta there!
God, El! Wake up! Wake up!
Help me! Help me!
On the table. Get her on the table.
[choking, spluttering]
El, can you hear me?
[Mike] El! El! Can you hear me? El! El! El!
[coughs, gasps]
Mike.
[emotionally] Don’t stop. Okay?
You’re the heart.
Okay? Remember that.
You’re the heart.
[tense chord holds]
El?
I don’t know if you can hear this, but… but if you can, I want you to know I’m here, okay? I’m right here. And…
I love you.
El, do you hear me? I love you.
I’m sorry I don’t say it more.
I… It’s not because I’m scared of you.
I’m not.
I’ve never felt that way.
Never. But I am scared that one day you’ll realize you don’t need me anymore.
And I thought if I said how I felt, it would somehow make that day hurt more.
But the truth is, El, I don’t know how to live without you.
I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods. You were wearing that yellow Benny’s Burgers T-shirt.
And it was so big, it almost swallowed you whole.
[chuckles]
[Mike] And I knew right then and there, in that moment, that I loved you.
And I’ve loved you every day since.
I love you on your good days.
I love you on your bad days.
I love you with your powers, without your powers.
I love you for exactly who you are.
You’re my superhero.
And… I can’t lose you.
Okay? Do you hear me? I can’t lose you.
You can do anything.
You can fly. You can move mountains.
I believe that.
I really do. But right now, you just have to fight.
Okay?
El.
Do you hear me?
[Max struggles]
[Mike] You need to fight!
[dramatic synth music playing]
You have to fight.
Fight!
Fight!
[epic synth music building]
[lights buzzing]
That’s it, El.
Fight, El.
Fight.
Fight!
[epic synth music intensifies]
[both grunting]
[glass shatters]
[forceful blows]
[Max grunts, gasps]
[bones cracking]
[Demodog snarls]
[anguished wail]
[flesh rending] Eddie!
[bones cracking]
Max!
Fight!
[Eleven yells]
[music trails off]
[thunder crackling]
[muted yelling]
[muted screaming]
[Demodog chitters, snarls]
[electricity crackles]
[prod sizzles]
[Demodog trills]
[muted screaming]
[Vecna grunts]
[tentacles whip]
[snarls painfully]
Joyce!
[Joyce] Hop!
[snarling]
[Joyce gasps]
[tense music playing]
[Demogorgon snarls]
[gunshots]
[grunts]
[both gasp]
[growls]
Hey, assholes!
[Demodogs shriek]
[yells]
[pained howling]
[yelling]
[all gasp]
Yeah!
[Demogorgon, Demodogs shrieking]
[panting]
[flames crackling]
[tentacles slithering]
[Nancy, Robin, Steve coughing]
I don’t believe in a higher power or divine intervention.
But that was a miracle.
Then we better not waste it.
[gun cocks]
Phase four.
Flambé.
[guttural growling]
[trigger clicking]
[steady, measured music playing]
[feral roar]
[Vecna struggling]
[steady synth beat continues]
[steely, resolute chords play]
[straining] You and your friends believe you have won.
Don’t you?
But this is only the beginning.
The beginning of the end.
[lighter clinks]
[flames whoosh]
You have already lost.
No.
[steady exhale]
You have.
[ethereal piano line playing]
[epic synth arrangement of “Running Up That Hill” playing]
[powerful drum line builds]
[beat increases in tempo]
[Hopper grunts]
[Vecna bellows]
♪ It doesn’t hurt me ♪
♪ Do you want to feel how it feels? ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
♪ Do you want to know
Know that it doesn’t hurt me? ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
♪ Do you want to hear about
The deal that I’m making? ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
Max! Max! Max!
[baleful, threatening chords play]
♪ Building, building, building ♪
♪ Building, building ♪
[Vecna’s flesh sizzling]
[lighter clinks]
[music swells]
[music halts]
[triumphant drum line playing]
♪ And if I only could ♪
♪ I’d make a deal with God ♪
♪ And I’d get him to swap our places ♪
♪ Be running up that road ♪
♪ Be running up that hill ♪
♪ Be running up that building ♪
♪ Building ♪
♪ Building, building ♪
[reload echoes]
♪ Building, building ♪
♪ Building ♪
♪ Building ♪
♪ Building, building ♪
[blood splattering]
[Vecna grunts]
[Demogorgon roars]
[Hopper yells forcefully]
♪ And if I only could ♪
[nightmarish howl]
♪ I’d make a deal with God ♪
♪ And I’d get him to swap our places ♪
♪ Be running up that road ♪
♪ Be running up that hill ♪
♪ Be running up that building ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ Say, if I only could, oh ♪
[echoing thud]
[music fades]
[understated, hopeful music playing]
[blades whirring]
Son of a bitch!
[Murray laughing]
[Murray] Whoo! [laughs]
Yeah!
Yeah! [laughing] Katinka!
[Murray continues hollering]
Yeah!
[suspenseful music playing]
[jarring stinger]
Eddie!
[creatures mewl pathetically]
Eddie!
[Eddie struggling, choking]
Oh God!
Oh God, Eddie.
Bad, huh?
No. You’re gonna be fine.
Just gotta get you to a hospital, okay?
Okay.
All right. All right.
I think…
[Dustin] Come on.
I think I just…
I think I just need a second, okay?
Okay.
[Eddie choking]
[“When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die” by Moby playing]
I didn’t run away this time, right?
No. No. No. No. [sobs] You didn’t run.
You’re gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?
No, you’re gonna do that yourself.
Nah, man.
Say, “I’m gonna look after them.”
Say it.
[tearfully] I’m…
I’m gonna look after…
[Eddie] Good.
‘Cause I’m actually gonna graduate.
[chuckles weakly]
I think it’s my year, Henderson.
[struggling] I think it’s finally my year.
I love you, man.
[voice trembling] I love you too.
Eddie…
[Eddie choking]
Eddie?
Eddie?
[Eddie stops choking]
♪ Where were you ♪
Eddie!
Come on.
♪ When I was lonesome? ♪
[wails] Eddie!
♪ Locked away ♪
♪ In this freezing cold ♪
[Dustin sobs]
♪ Someone flying ♪
♪ Only stolen ♪
Lucas!
We need a doctor!
Call an ambulance!
Hurry! Call an ambulance!
[sobs]
Lucas…
Yes, yes I’m here. I’m here.
I… I can’t feel or… [gasps] …see anything.
I know. I know. It’s okay.
We’re gonna get you help, okay?
Just… Just hold on.
Lucas, I’m scared.
I’m so scared. I’m so scared.
[tearfully] I know. I know. I know.
I don’t wanna die. I’m not ready.
You’re not gonna die. Hang on.
I don’t wanna go! I’m not ready.
You’re not gonna die!
Just… Just hang on!
Max. Max! Max!
No, no, no, Max. Stay with me.
[sobs] No.
Stay with me! Don’t go, Max.
Max, stay with me.
Just look at me, Max. Max, look.
No. Stay with me, Max.
Hang on. Just hang on.
Erica, help!
♪ I don’t want to swim the ocean ♪
Max?
Max? Max? Max?
Max, stay with me.
Max, stay with me.
[desperately] No! No!
Max! Max! Please, stay with me!
[wails] No!
[anguished sob]
[Lucas’s sob echoing]
[song distorts]
Max!
Max!
[song fades]
[ticking]
[ticking increases in pace]
[high-pitched ringing]
[gears whirring frantically]
[clock chimes]
[clock chimes]
[clock chimes]
[clock chimes]
Four chimes.
Max.
[loud rumbling]
[frenzied ticking]
[floorboards cracking]
[clock chimes]
[Jason howls in agony]
[clock chiming]
[chiming increases in frequency]
[frenetic ticking]
[clock chiming]
[Holly screams]
Holly! Holly!
[rhythmic chiming pulses, stops]
[rhythmic chiming fades]
[Mike breathing heavily]
Come on.
Come on.
Come on. I know you’re in there.
I know you’re in there. Wake up.
Wake up.
Wake up.
[echoing]
[water lapping]
[softly] No.
You’re not going.
No.
[inhales deeply]
[Eleven’s breathing echoing]
[mysterious synth music playing]
Hi.
Hi…?
[Eleven] Max wanted to have a sleepover.
Which one?
This is Wonder Woman.
AKA Princess Diana.
Not Hopper. Not Mike. You.
[Max, Eleven laughing]
[Max singing] Holy shit. This is insane.
Is this really gonna work?
See? What’d I tell you?
There’s more to life than stupid boys. Against the rules?
We make our own rules.
[music swells, fades]
[vehicle approaching]
[somber synth music playing]
[helicopter blades whirring]
[reporter] It’s been less than 48 hours since a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked the quaint town of Hawkins, 80 miles outside of Indianapolis, in an event that seismologists are calling “a natural disaster of near-unprecedented scale.” The death toll now stands at 22. But with hundreds more filling Roane County hospitals and many more still missing, officials expect those numbers to rise.
Go! This way! This way! Let’s go!
[reporter] This is only the latest tragedy to befall this once-safe town. Most recently, a string of high school students were killed in a series of ritualistic murders, which have been linked to a local satanic cult known as “Hellfire.” Eddie Munson, the leader of this cult and prime suspect in the murders, has been missing since the earthquake and is presumed dead. But this offers little comfort to the people of Hawkins, who are scared, angry, and searching for answers. Why their town? What have they done to deserve so much suffering? A growing chorus believes the two recent tragedies are linked, claiming the Munson murders opened a doorway between worlds. A doorway, they say, into hell itself.
Are you hearing this?
They’re now calling it a doorway into hell.
Great. More hysteria. Just what we need.
Well, it’s the news.
Now indistinguishable from the tabloids.
Hey, Nance!
I found some more of your old stuff in the attic.
[gasps]
Mr. Rabbit.
It’s okay if you wanna save him, you know?
No, he’ll be more loved in a new home.
[vehicle approaching]
Someone order a pizza?
Pizza?
[horn blaring]
[gentle, emotional music playing]
[Mike] Mom!
[Jonathan] Hey!
You are never going on vacation again, you hear me?
In fact, you can forget about college.
You are staying right here.
[Jonathan] Are you okay?
Yeah.
Yeah, I’m okay.
But, Jonathan…
This isn’t an earthquake.
I know.
I know a lot more than you think.
How?
We’ve been trying to call you…
I know.
I know. I’m sorry.
We just couldn’t risk contact.
“We couldn’t risk contact”?
Hey, hey, I’ll tell you everything, okay?
Okay.
I promise.
But, for now, I’m just glad you’re safe.
[Will] Where’s Lucas?
He’s at the hospital.
Was he hurt?
No. No, he’s…
Oh God.
You don’t know.
[Lucas] “He opened his eyes, and further words died in his throat.”
“He forgot about the need to sick up that horrible parody of wine.”
“He forgot about his mother, and Uncle Morgan, and his father, and almost everything else.”
“Speedy was gone.”
“The graceful arcs of the roller coaster against the sky were gone.”
“He could feel the hair stirring on the nape of his neck, could feel a goofed-up grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.”
“Speedy! I’m here, my God!”
“I’m here in the territories!”
[door opens]
[Lucas] Oh my God.
We’ve been calling you guys like crazy.
[Mike] I know.
We came as soon as we heard.
[breathing shakily]
I’m sorry.
[monitor beeping]
[poignant, melancholy music playing]
Do they know…
When she will wake?
No.
They say she might not.
Her heart stopped.
For over a minute.
She died.
I… I mean, clinically, but…
Then she came back.
[inhales deeply]
The doctors don’t know how.
They say it’s a miracle.
I’m here, Max.
[dramatic stinger]
[crowd chattering indistinctly]
[mysterious music playing]
Hi.
Hi.
Uh, so these are blankets and sheets.
And some… some clothes and… and some kids’ toys.
Wow. It’s already so organized.
We appreciate that.
Do you want a tax receipt for it?
Um…
No. I don’t think that we need one.
Thank you, though.
But is there anything else that we can do to help?
[volunteer] Okay, then we sort by age.
We’ve got infants, girls, boys, men, women…
Oh, if anything is in too bad shape, we really don’t want that.
I found another jar of peanut butter, and it’s crunchy…
Robin.
Hi.
What are you doing here?
I am…
I… I am making PB&Js.
Right, yeah. No. Duh. Of course.
Uh, I… I am also making PB&Js, as it so happens.
[Vickie chuckles]
Cool.
Hey, uh, I… I’m sorry if that came out weird.
I didn’t mean it like, “What are you doing here?”
I just meant, “What are you doing here?”
Like, “Nice surprise. Great to see you.”
Uh…
I didn’t take it as anything negative.
Okay, good. Good.
No, I… I’m sorry.
My brain’s been a little frazzled lately.
‘Cause…
Of everything?
Yeah. [chuckles] Yeah, and Dan.
Um, he’s my boyfriend.
Well, was my boyfriend.
He was visiting, took one look at this, and it’s not what he was envisioning for spring break.
He was like, “I’m outta here.
Back to Purdue. Good luck.”
Which, ultimately, it’s bordering on a good thing, ’cause he was grating on me.
He is the type who trashes Fast Times ’cause it has no plot.
I should’ve just ended things right there and then.
[knife clatters]
Sorry. [exhales] I’m so sorry.
I am rambling about my dumb boyfriend when there are people out there suffering.
Who need… food.
And I have just made a peanut butter on peanut butter monstrosity.
[Robin chuckles]
Um…
[tender, emotional music playing]
I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
Um, it’s like sometimes my mouth is moving faster than my brain, and it’s like this runaway train, and I cannot seem to get it to stop, no matter how hard I try.
You know what I mean?
Uh, yeah, I think I know what you mean.
It’s a gift.
Oh, for me?
You’re welcome. Mmhmm.
You really shouldn’t have.
Oh, but I did.
I just don’t even deserve it.
But I did.
I mean, thank you.
Early birthday.
Thank you so much. Oh, oh, wow.
H2O?
Vital for all forms of life.
[indistinct chatter]
[Dustin] Mr. Munson?
I’m Dustin Henderson.
Can we talk?
I can’t imagine we got anything to talk about.
My nephew is innocent.
He’s still missing.
I’ll put up as many posters as I need until he’s found.
Good day to you.
I was with him.
I was with him when the earthquake hit.
[sorrowful synth music playing]
And… where is Eddie now?
[voice quavering] I’m…
I’m so sorry.
[gentle, heartfelt chords playing]
[breathing shakily]
I wish everyone had gotten to know him.
Really know him.
Because they would’ve loved him, Mr. Munson.
They would’ve loved him.
Even in the end…
He never stopped being Eddie.
Despite everything.
I never even saw him get mad.
He could’ve run.
He could’ve saved himself.
But he fought.
He fought and died to protect this town.
This town that… hated him.
He isn’t just innocent…
Mr. Munson, he’s…
He’s a hero.
[sobs]
[Mr. Munson weeps]
[birds tweeting]
[inhales, exhales]
Oh Jesus.
Holy shit.
This place is a total disaster.
[Jonathan] Yeah.
Well, that’s a bit of a problem.
[Argyle] I get we gotta hide Supergirl, but this isn’t exactly the Fortress of Solitude, man.
It’s more like a fortress of grodiness.
Come on, guys, seriously.
I’ve seen Mike’s room look worse than this.
[Argyle] Ah, brutal, dude.
[pipes rumble]
Ah! See?
Water still works.
And, voilà . Cleaning supplies.
[dramatic stinger]
[Jonathan] All right. That’s good.
Hold it right there.
What’s he doing?
[Jonathan] Looks like he’s gathering mushrooms.
He’s a little on the eccentric side.
Welcome to the club, right?
Yeah, welcome to the club.
[Nancy hammering]
Hey, Nancy?
Yeah?
I’m sorry I wasn’t here.
Oh. I mean…
To be honest, I’m kinda glad you weren’t.
[tender, emotional music playing]
I just mean, I’m glad you were with Mike.
And Will.
And I’m… I’m glad you were here too.
Otherwise, who’d have been in charge?
Steve? [chuckles] He’s actually grown up quite a bit, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah, I’m sure.
Hey.
Yeah?
Are we okay?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah, totally.
Yeah, it’s… it’s just…
You know, it’s hard.
I feel like life keeps throwing things in the way of our big plans.
Yeah, sure seems like that.
You think it’s too late to throw “saving the world” on your college resume?
Your… Your application letter…
Not that it matters at all anymore, but…
Did it ever come?
No. No, uh…
Not yet.
[whooshing]
[door creaks] Did she… talk to you at all?
Not much.
I mean, a little bit.
[Mike sighs]
Dr. Brenner.
He says that she wasn’t ready.
And now she’s starting to think he was right.
That’s crap.
If it wasn’t for her, if she hadn’t left the lab,
Max wouldn’t be alive right now.
I know.
It’s just, she’s, um…
She’s never lost before.
Not like this.
She’ll have another chance.
Let’s hope not.
Let’s hope One is dead and rotting.
He’s not.
[haunting music playing]
[voice quavering]
Now that I’m here, in Hawkins, I can feel him.
And he’s hurt.
He’s hurting.
But he’s still alive.
It’s strange, knowing now who it was this whole time, but…
I can still remember what he thinks, and how he thinks.
And he’s not going to stop.
Ever.
Not until he’s taken everything.
And everyone.
We have to kill him.
And we will.
We will.
[vehicle approaching]
[ominous stinger]
Government.
[exhales]
[exhale echoes]
[bottle rattling echoes]
[bottle rattling]
[steady beating]
[medical monitor beeping]
[gasps]
Max?
Max?
Max!
Max!
[bottle rattling]
Max!
[suspenseful music builds]
[music fades]
[shuddering gasp]
[ticking]
[door opens]
[footsteps approach]
[door creaks]
Hey, kid.
[emotional gasp]
[tender, sentimental music playing]
[chuckles]
[voice cracking] Hi.
[Eleven breathing tremulously]
I kept it open.
I kept the door open three inches.
I know.
I never stopped believing.
[chuckles] Oh, I know. It’s okay.
It’s okay.
[sobs]
It’s okay. I’m here.
I’m here.
You look… [sniffs]
Not fat?
[chuckles] And your hair.
My hair?
Look at your hair.
[Eleven chuckles]
Yeah. [exhales] I kinda stole your look, kid.
Yeah. [sniffs] Well, what do you think?
Bitchin’. [chuckles]
Hmm.
[indistinct, overlapping chatter]
You aren’t the only one that didn’t stop believing.
Oh!
I’m happy you went to your…
Conference.
That was quite the experience.
[Joyce] Oh.
[car door slams]
[engine starts] Hey.
You’ve grown.
Yeah.
You shrunk.
[Hopper chuckles]
[sibilant trilling]
[sinister theme music playing]
[clouds rumbling]
[thunder rumbling]
Mom, it’s snowing!
[crowd murmuring]
[music builds]
[desiccated withering]
[dire choral vocalizations]
[thunder rumbling]
[music crescendos]
[music fades]
[“Spellbound” by Siouxsie and the Banshees playing]
♪ From the cradle bars
Comes a beckoning voice ♪
♪ It sends you spinning
You have no choice ♪
♪ You hear laughter
Cracking through the walls ♪
♪ It sends you spinning ♪
♪ You have no choice ♪
♪ You hear laughter
Cracking through the walls ♪
♪ It sends you spinning ♪
♪ You have no choice ♪
♪ Following the footsteps
Of a rag doll dance ♪
♪ We are entranced ♪
♪ Spellbound ♪
♪ Following the footsteps
Of a rag doll dance ♪
♪ We are entranced ♪
♪ Spellbound ♪
♪ Spellbound, spellbound ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ Spellbound, spellbound ♪
♪ Spellbound, spellbound ♪
♪ And don’t forget
When your elders forget ♪
♪ To say their prayers ♪
♪ Take them by the legs ♪
♪ And throw them down the stairs ♪
♪ When you think your toys
Have gone berserk ♪
♪ And it’s an illusion you cannot shirk ♪
♪ You hear laughter
Cracking through the walls ♪
♪ It sends you spinning
You have no choice ♪
♪ Following the footsteps
Of a rag doll dance ♪
♪ We are entranced ♪
♪ Spellbound ♪
♪ Following the footsteps
Of a rag doll dance ♪
♪ We are entranced ♪
♪ Spellbound ♪
♪ Spellbound ♪
♪ Spellbound ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ Spellbound ♪
[song ends]
