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), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna / Henry Creel / One), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vicky Dunne), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Robert Akers), Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay), Joe Chrest (Ted Wheeler), Sherman Augustus (Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan), Clayton Royal Johnson (Andy), Hunter Romanillos (Chance)
Season 5 – Episode 5
Episode title: Chapter Five: Shock Jock
Director: Frank Darabont
Original release date: December 25, 2025
Episode plot: In Camazotz, the kidnapped children awaken, and while most believe Henry’s claim that he saved them, Holly and Derek do not. Max and Holly travel through Henry’s memories of Holly searching for an escape as Derek distracts him, but Henry discovers the plan, threatens Derek’s family, finds Holly, and strangles Max. Will’s group reanimates a dead Demogorgon using the radio tower’s voltage so Will can reconnect to the hive mind and attack Henry; Will breaks Henry’s leg and saves Max but collapses before finishing him. In the Upside Down, Hopper and Eleven escape a military base with Kali, who reveals Dr. Kay using her blood, like Dr. Brenner used Henry’s blood, in failed experiments to give children powers, believing Eleven is key. At Hawkins Lab, Dustin theorizes a shield can weaken Henry, but after finding Brenner’s journal and realizing he is wrong, he fails to warn the others before Nancy destroys a glowing sphere.
* * *
Stranger Things – S05E05 – Chapter Five: Shock Jock | Transcript
[tense music playing]
[Vecna] Do you know why I chose them? Why I chose them to reshape the world? It is because they are weak. Easily broken.
[Demogorgon roaring]
[Vecna] Easily reshaped. Controlled. The perfect vessels.
[Joyce] Oh, baby.
[Will] Mom.
[Joyce] Oh, baby. I don’t understand. How did you…?
[Mike] He’s a sorcerer. A real-life, honest-to-God sorcerer.
[Will] Mike.
[Mike] You did it. You really did it.
[Will] The kids. Vecna… he’s got the kids.
[Mike] I know. Derek, Mary, Glenn.
[Will] No. Not just them. The others, they didn’t make it out of Hawkins. I could’ve helped them fight if I had just acted sooner. But I was too late. And now he’s got all of them. All 12.
[Lucas grunts]
[Will] We failed. I failed.
[Joyce] No.
[helicopters whirring]
[Mike] The tunnels. Radio Shack.
[Joyce groaning in pain]
[footsteps approaching]
[Debbie groaning]
[Derek groaning]
[particles pumping]
[pleasant music playing]
[Henry] Your memory of what happened, of how you came to be here might be foggy…
[Holly] Mary!
[Henry] …confused.
Holly!
[Henry] The monsters… they tried to take you.
[girls laughing] Hi!
[Henry] But I saved you just in time.
[Holly] How are you?
[Mary] Good.
[Henry] This place, my home, is now your home too. Your sanctuary. As long as you do not venture into the woods where the monsters live, you will be safe here. Now, I know many of you are wondering when the rest of your friends and family will join us here. The difficult truth is there is more at stake than just the lives of your loved ones. I don’t wish to frighten you. But I believe you are brave enough to know the truth. An evil darkness is spreading across not just Hawkins, but the whole world, and soon it will be too late to stop it. You can think of this darkness like the Black Thing in your book. Just as the Black Thing threatened Meg’s family, so does the darkness threaten yours, but I believe I have found a way to defeat this darkness.
How?
[Henry] I have traveled far and long beyond our dimension. In my travels, I discovered another world. A world far from Earth. This world is much like ours, only… good. Free of monsters and darkness. It is the light. Which brings me to the true reason why you have been chosen. You… are not like other children. Like Meg, you are special. You have dormant powers in here. And I believe if we work together, we can awaken those powers, channel our energy and draw this new world to ours. And as the light… reaches the darkness, the light will expel the darkness, your loved ones will be saved, and you… you will be heroes. … Yes, Holly?
[Holly] Are you going to leave again? To bring more, uh, special kids here?
[Henry] Poor Holly. She was the first one chosen, and she was left here all alone. But don’t worry, I won’t be leaving you. Any of you. Ever again.
[sinister music playing]
[Henry] But for now, eat and play. And most importantly, rest. Because tomorrow? Tomorrow, it begins.
You said no one left this room.
That’s direct from Sec. No one came in or out.
You’re saying what? They vanished like Houdini?
I don’t know, sir.
I want every square inch of this building checked. Every room, vent, access panel. Let’s go. Move. Move!
[rumbling]
[panting]
[Eleven] You okay?
[Kali] I lost it. We’re too far.
[Hopper] It’s okay. We’re far enough away they’re not gonna catch up with us now. That’s a hell of a trick you pulled. I mean, maybe I should say it was bitchin’. Wasn’t that the word you added to El’s vocabulary?
[Kali] I’m a… bad influence.
[Hopper] Yeah, join the club. [sighs]
[Mike] Lucas?
[Will] Shit.
[Joyce] Oh, no.
[Lucas] Hey. Hey, guys.
[Joyce] Oh, no.
[Lucas] Hey.
[Mike] Oh, shit.
[Lucas] It’s just a scratch.
[Joyce] God, Mike, first aid.
[Will] Shit. Shit, shit!
[Mike] Let’s see.
[Joyce] Can you lift it? Show us?
[Lucas] Yeah.
[Mike] Ugh!
[Will] [groaning] [spluttering] That’s not too bad.
[Lucas] Oh, shit.
[Mike] Yeah, it looks like just the right amount for a couple of badass scars.
[Lucas] I’m sorry I couldn’t protect the kids.
[Will] You did everything you could. You… You fought. You risked your life. Nice swing, by the way.
[Lucas] You saw?
[Mike] He more than just saw.
[Lucas] So, Demos floating, limbs snapping, dying. That was… That was all you?
[Will] I mean… Yeah.
[Lucas] Holy shit. Holy shit. You know what this means, right? You’re like Will the Wise, but for real.
[Will] Not really.
[Mike] He’s more like a sorcerer than a wizard.
[Lucas] Okay, yeah. I mean, sure. But you get what I’m saying, though, right? Like, this totally changes the game. We got our second El.
[Will] I’m not like a second El. I don’t have powers. I’m just… I’m siphoning. I’m stealing Vecna’s. And to do that, I have to be near the hive mind, and Vecna’s not coming back.
[Lucas] But his Demos might.
[Will] I don’t think so. They came for the kids, and he’s got them all, and he has his vessels.
[Lucas] “Vessels”?
[Will] That’s what he called them. He said, “vessels for reshaping the world.”
[Mike] I just hope your theory’s wrong.
[Joyce] What theory?
[Lucas] November 6th. The day all this started… is the day it ends.
[Lucas inhales painfully]
[Mike] You good?
[Mike] Okay, Lucas, take it slow. Take it slow. I got you. I got you.
[Lucas groaning in pain]
[Mike] Come on, man. One more step.
[Joyce] Hey, hey. Come here. I wonder if there’s a way we can jack back into the hive mind and access his powers again.
[Will] That’s not possible, not unless…
[Joyce] The hive is close, I know. But what happened tonight, none of us thought that was possible either.
[Will] Mom.
[Joyce] Listen, I’m just saying, what if… what if this time, you don’t use your powers against his army. You use them against him, against Vecna. Stab him with his own sword. You didn’t fail tonight. What you did… was extraordinary. You said so yourself. Vecna chose you because he underestimated you. I think we all have. I know I did. And that is a mistake I will never, ever make again. But I’m willing to bet everything that he does. And when he does, it’ll be the last mistake that son of a bitch ever makes.
[thunder rumbling]
[Hopper] It’s a miracle they made it back in one piece. Wish I could say the same thing about Harrington’s precious Beamer.
[Eleven] This is what you’re gonna do? Act like nothing happened, make jokes? You find Vecna, you come home. That was always the plan. That was never real, was it?
[Hopper] Of course it was real.
[Eleven] You’re lying. Just like how you lied about my training. You couldn’t have me on your crawls because your plan was to kill Vecna alone and die.
[Hopper] Hey. Listen to me. What happened today was different. The kryptonite, you couldn’t fight. I didn’t have a choice.
[Eleven] And the bomb?
[Hopper] The bomb was… It was a failsafe.
[Eleven] A failsafe no one knew about. I saw in your eyes tonight. I saw. You were planning to die. And you always were.
[Hopper sighs]
[Kali] Hey! Your friends were supposed to be here, yeah?
[Hopper] Oh, you gotta be shitting me.
[Steve] Well, this looks really promising.
[Dustin] We’re in the lobby.
[Nancy] And… where are we going exactly?
[Jonathan] Right. Like, what is it we’re looking for?
[Dustin] You’ve all seen Return of the Jedi?
[Steve] The one with the teddy bears?
[Dustin] Ewoks.
[Steve] Yeah, it’s the best one.
[Nancy] Is it?
[Dustin] No, but every child loves it, so tracks. In the film, if you recall, the rebels need to destroy a second Death Star, but it’s surrounded by a protective energy shield, which is created by a shield generator.
[Steve] Yeah, cool. Thanks for the summary of a movie we’ve all seen.
[Dustin] It’s an oddly relevant movie, Steve. Look, I think this circular flesh wall is Vecna’s version of an energy shield, except it’s not sci-fi. It’s supernatural, created by Vecna’s dark magic. And this dark magic shield is what’s preventing us from reaching him and saving Holly. But if my math is correct, the generator for the shield has to be in this lab.
[Jonathan] So if we find this dark magic shield generator…
[Dustin] We destroy the wall.
[Nancy] Find Vecna, save Holly.
[Dustin] Medals for all.
[Steve] And it looks like what?
[Dustin] How would you expect me to know that?
[thunder rumbling]
[Nancy sniffs]
[Jonathan clears throat]
[Dustin] Up or down?
[Nancy] I say both. Search in teams of two. Cover more ground.
[Steve] Yeah, that’s cool with me, but can we just switch the teams up? Nance, you and me to go up?
[Nancy] Oh, I mean…
[Jonathan] Are you serious?
[Steve] Me and Henderson need some space.
[Dustin] Please.
[Steve] Please.
[Jonathan] Fine. How about me and you?
[Steve] I think we need some space too.
[Jonathan] So everyone but Nancy. That’s just… It’s convenient.
[Steve] Huh.
[Nancy] Hey, we don’t have time for this. Let’s keep it simple, stick to the usual teams.
[Steve] Nance, I can’t… I can’t–
[Nancy] End of discussion.
[Steve] Awesome. Just awesome.
[playing “Heart and Soul”]
[“Heart and Soul” by Floyd Cramer playing]
[Derek laughing]
[children giggling]
♪ Heart and soul ♪
I’m gonna get you!
Nuhuh.
♪ The way a fool would do, madly… ♪
You’re it!
I’m gonna get you!
I can’t believe you had a whole day here without me. What do you think? I’m never sure. Does green work on me?
[Holly] Yeah, totally.
What’s going on with you?
[Holly] Nothing.
You’re acting weird.
[Holly] I think… I ate too much cake or something. Maybe Mr. Whatsit has some tea?
I’m sure he does. He has everything.
[orchestral music playing on TV]
[kids exclaiming]
[Max] What are you doing here?
[Holly] We need to talk.
[Max] Holly, the plan…
[Holly] Was to wait for Henry to leave. I know. But he was talking and saying all this creepy stuff.
[Max] Did anyone see you come here?
[Holly] No, I was careful. Please, just listen. I know why Henry kidnapped us. He’s going to somehow use us to draw another world to ours, to Earth.
[Max] “Draw another world”? I don’t understand what that means.
[Holly] Henry says it’s to save Earth, but I think it’s really to destroy it. Whatever he’s planning, he’s going to do it tomorrow. We have to get out of Camazotz right now.
[Max] We’ll never make it. As soon as he realizes that you’re gone, he’ll track you down with his powers and catch us.
[twig snapping]
[Max] Are you sure no one saw you?
[Holly] Positive.
[foreboding music playing]
[music halts]
[Max] Who the hell are you?
[Derek] Derek. Who the hell are you?
[Holly] What are you doing here, dipshit?
[Derek] I’m not Dipshit Derek anymore. I’m Delightful Derek.
[Max] How much did you hear?
[Derek] Not much. Just how you wanna escape but can’t because you need Henry to leave first, otherwise he’ll find you with his evil Vecna magic.
[Max] “Vecna”? I didn’t say that name. How do you know that name?
[Derek] Mike.
[Max] Mike?
[Holly] My brother Mike?
[Derek] He’s like my best friend now.
[Holly] You’re best friends with Mike?
[Derek] And also Will and Lucas and Erica and Mrs. Byers and Miss Robin. We tried to save the others, but that didn’t work. So I’m here. I thought I couldn’t trust anyone. Then I saw your face during Mr. Whatsit’s speech, and I was like, “She knows he’s full of shit.” So I followed you into the woods, and obviously I was right on the money. So can I come with you?
[Max] No! None of us are going anywhere. Not as long as Henry’s watching.
[Holly] What if we make sure he’s not? You can’t come with us. But maybe you can help us escape. But you really need to drop this new “Delightful” thing, because if this is gonna work, we need Dipshit Derek.
[Joyce] Okay, the goal is simple. We get Will close to the hive mind. Once he is, he jacks back in. Only this time, he doesn’t go after a Demo. He goes after Vecna. One blow takes him out, ends him, ends his army, ends this nightmare. That’s it. So… What do you think? What? Any ideas, thoughts? There’s no bad ideas.
[Robin] I mean, I think it’s, uh, a great plan. Uh, I mean, it’s a… It’s a great plan, right? Hey.
[Murrey] Yeah, no. Yes, it’s a… It’s a great plan. It’s just… [chuckles] It’s just…
[Robin] Will, you took out that Demo with your mind?
[Will] I mean…
[Mike] Three to be exact.
[Lucas] Simultaneously.
[Murrey] Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!
[Robin] A real-life wizard.
[Erica] A sorcerer, actually. His powers are…
[Mike] Innate. Yes, thank you.
[Lucas] What does that matter?
[both] It matters.
[Joyce] Can we all just focus, please? Okay, I will start. [exhales] We could build another telemetry thingy. And then we could find El and Jonathan and the others, and hope they have a track on Vecna.
[Mike] Dustin hand-built that tracker himself. I have no idea how it works. Maybe we could put our heads together and try to figure it out, but it’ll probably take…
[Lucas] Days, days that we don’t have.
[Robin] What if we put Will in the back of the van and drive him around like a human antenna? What? She said no bad ideas.
[Joyce] Okay, what else? Come on, guys, what else? Anything. Anything.
[Murray] Is anyone else starving?
[Will sighs deeply]
[Murray] Bugles?
[Joyce] The world is ending.
[Murray] Precisely. The human mind needs energy and nutrients to sustain focus and creativity. Hmm? Eat.
[popping]
[Erica slurping loudly]
[Lucas] I got it! I got it!
[Erica] I got it! I got it. I got it. Okay, I’ll go first. Dustin is MIA, but his mentor… is not.
[Mike] Mr. Clarke?
[Erica] He’s the biggest nerd in Hawkins. He taught Dustin everything he knows. If anyone can build a new tracker, and build one fast, it’s him.
[Mike] That could work.
[Lucas] Yeah, but that’ll just take time. My plan is faster, bolder, better. As I was heating up my popcorn, I thought about Billy in the sauna. We heated him up to activate the particles, right? They were dormant, just like these kernels, just like the particles inside the Demos Will killed. To bring ’em back to life, we have to heat ’em up. There are 50,000 watts flowing through that tower.
[electrical hum powering down]
[Lucas] We pump the dead Demos with electricity, shock those particles back to life, and voilà , we’ve got ourselves an instant hive mind.
[Erica] You want to Dr. Frankenstein a dead Demo? That’s your big idea?
[Lucas] Your plan is slow as shit.
[Erica] Your plan is stupid as shit.
[Murray] Hey, hey, children, stop it! Let’s be clear. They each have flaws. Many, many, many flaws.
[Joyce] So we try both. We throw two darts and pray for a bullseye.
[Steve] Okay, that was too many stairs.
[Dustin] Treasures are always hidden in the deepest depths of the dungeon.
[Steve] What is it, a treasure or a magic shield generator? Keep your metaphors straight, dude.
[Dustin] Analogy.
[Steve] Okay. Did not expect to find a daycare in this hellhole. That’s a perk. [laughs] Holy shit, Henderson. You were right. Treasure.
[Dustin] Okay, you know what?
[Steve] What?
[Dustin] This is the perfect spot for you, considering your arrested development. While I search the rest of the basement, why don’t you stay here and play with your balls?
[Steve] Perfect, yeah. Finally, a plan I can get behind.
[Dustin] I can imagine.
[Steve] Yeah, good luck looking for your… treasure. I mean, shield generator. I mean, made-up bullshit.
[Dustin] Thank you.
[Jonathan] I’m starting to worry Dustin might be wrong this time. I mean, this place is dead. I dunno. The whole thing just seems… increasingly unlikely.
[Nancy] Well, we’re here now. Might as well search the place.
[Jonathan] [sighs] Hey. Did I do something… to piss you off or something?
[Nancy] What are you talking about?
[Jonathan] I don’t know. There’s a tone.
[Nancy] A tone?
[Jonathan] Yeah.
[Nancy] Okay.
[Jonathan] See, that was it. The tone.
[Nancy] Yeah, well, now there’s a tone because you’re being ridiculous.
[Jonathan] Yeah, well, was I being ridiculous downstairs also?
[Nancy] Oh, you mean when you and Steve started up your macho crap again?
[Jonathan] Wait, no, you mean when Steve asked you to go with him, and you hesitated.
[Nancy] Um, actually, I said we should stick to the usual.
[Jonathan] Yeah, after you hesitated.
[Nancy] I didn’t hesitate.
[Jonathan] I know you, Nancy. You hesitated.
[Nancy] Okay. So what if I did, which I didn’t? It doesn’t matter. My sister is missing.
[Jonathan] Yeah, which is exactly why it does matter. After everything that has happened, that is happening, I’m scared, Nancy, okay? I’m really scared. I don’t know what’s on the other side of any of this. But what I do know is that if we wanna stand a chance of surviving this, all right, we need to be a team. A team like we used to be.
[Nancy] We are still a team.
[Jonathan] No, we’re not. Not anymore.
[Nancy] So, what, you wanna solve all of our relationship issues here? In Hawkins Lab? In the Upside Down?
[Jonathan] No. No, Nancy. I just want you to stop running away from me. Start being honest with me.
[Nancy] Oh, and that’s what you’ve been? Honest with me?
[Jonathan] Yeah. Yeah, I’ve been honest with you.
[Nancy] You hesitated.
[Jonathan] No, I didn’t.
[Nancy] I know you, Jonathan, and that hesitation was the size of a Mack Truck.
[emotional music builds]
[Jonathan] [grunting]
[Nancy] What are you doing? Jonathan!
[Jonathan] What the hell?
[Nancy] What is it?
[Jonathan] Is it too late to take back what I said about Dustin’s theory?
[Hopper] Nancy, Jonathan, do you copy? Over. We are at the church, and we are wondering where the hell you are. You copy? Jonathan! Nancy, do you copy? Come on, guys.
[Kali] After you and your policeman came all this way, it must have been quite the surprise finding me instead of Henry.
[Eleven] I’m sorry, Kali. I’m sorry for not finding you sooner.
[Kali] You couldn’t have known.
[Eleven] I have a bath, a tank at home. I can search far, even here. I think I was afraid to look for you. How much did you know about Henry?
[Kali] Everything, except… that he was still alive.
[Eleven] Help me find him. Kill him.
[Kali] Then what?
[Eleven] It ends. We can finally live. We can really live.
[Kali] That’s just a dream, Jane.
[Eleven] It doesn’t have to be.
[Kali] I had the same… dream. That I could put a stop to all this, that I could… heal our wound. But they found me. Found my friends.
[Kali] No!
[Kali] They killed them. And they took me.
[dramatic music playing]
[Kali] I didn’t understand why I was still alive. I thought maybe this doctor was hired to torture me. But this was not about revenge. Dr. Kay needed me. She needed my blood. And her need was endless. She just kept taking… and taking. And I began to think of her as a kind of vampire. I don’t know how long I was there. They had me drugged. All I knew was I needed to get out. And the only way out… was death. Dr. Kay thought she had stopped my tricks with that… awful sound of hers. But not all tricks require powers.
[gasping]
[lock beeps]
[Kali] If I had known what was on the other side of that door, I never would have left.
[girl] We thought of that. He must’ve made it.
[boy] What were they doing?
I was playing…
Go away, dipshit!
[Derek] You read my mind, numb nuts!
Derek, what are you doing?
You’re not allowed to go in the woods.
It’s against the rules.
[Derek] According to who, Mr. Rogers? He can suck my fat one!
Mr. Whatsit!
Mr. Whatsit!
Derek went in the woods!
Mr. Whatsit!
[Holly] What if Henry catches Derek? You think he’ll hurt him? Or worse?
[Max] As long as Derek makes it to the cave, he’s safe. We just need Henry to take the bait.
[Holly] How long is it gonna take to find the exit?
[Max] Let’s hope not long.
[Holly] Right, it’s just you had your friend Kate to guide you, and…
[Max] All I’ve been doing for the past two years is moving through this maze. I’m all the guide we need. Once we find his first memory of you, we follow the memory trail to the night he captured you. And if I’m right, the exit to the real world will be there.
[Holly] And then we escape Camazotz.
[Max] Then we escape Camazotz.
[Robin straining]
[drill whirring]
[Robin] Hey, so, um, I realize, and I know that I’ve waited just long enough to make this super awkward, but I never thanked you for saving my life, which is, you know, kind of, sort of a big deal. Especially to me.
[both chuckle]
[Will] You’re welcome. I… I… I mean, I should be thanking you.
[Robin] Thanking me? Why?
[Will] For talking to me about Tammy and… and your life. It was… It was so… helpful.
[Robin] Me? Talking? Helpful? Someone should really tell my mother.
[Will] So… after… after this Tammy and this whole tape epiphany, is that when you and Vickie started to…
[Robin] No, no, no. Um… I mean, I never would have had the guts to talk to Vic back then. I was finally cool with myself, but sharing that part of myself with someone else, that was a whole other thing. But eventually, I… I did it. You know, I told someone. Looks like we’re all set.
[Will] But… Wait. But… But who did you tell?
[Robin] Oh. The obvious. Steve.
[Will] Wait, what? Robin, I… I mean, I don’t understand. I mean, not the same… As in your Steve, like Steve… Steve “The Hair” Harrington, my once sworn enemy. All right, watch out!
[electricity crackling]
[Will] That’s good! But wait, Robin. I mean, I like Steve. I just… I don’t understand. He seems…
[Robin] Like a bonkers choice?
[Will] Yeah.
[Robin] Believe me, I know. To be fair, we had just been injected with truth serum by evil Russians, which is kind of like liquid courage on steroids. Really, drugs or not, just saying it out loud to someone and hearing him be cool with it, you know? It’s like this weight lifted. And, you know, if I hadn’t have told Steve, then I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to open up to Vickie about it, and probably wouldn’t be talking to you about it either. You know, you’re only audience member number three. I’m hoping to double my audience by the end of this year, but that’s only if you out-sorcerer the sorcerer, and we don’t all die.
[both exhale]
[Will] You don’t by any chance have any of that truth serum left, do you?
[Robin laughs]
[crackling increases]
[Robin] Holy shit! Step back!
[Holly] This is it. This is where I woke up.
[Max] Good. So, look for anything that’s out of place. It’ll be hidden. Hard to find, but…
[Holly] There.
[Max] Oh. Or not hard.
[mysterious music playing]
[roaring]
[girls screaming]
[Max] It’s just a memory. Whatever’s down there, it can’t hurt you.
[screaming continues]
[door slams]
[creaking on TV]
[electricity on TV crackling]
[Holly] I don’t understand. This was Halloween. I hadn’t met Henry yet.
[Max] Just because you didn’t see him doesn’t mean he wasn’t here.
[thunder crashes]
[Max] Hey, remember…
[Holly] Just a memory.
[Max] Mmhmm. There should be another memory close by. Do you know when you first actually met Henry? Holly, I need you to focus, okay? When did you first meet him?
[Holly] After school, I think.
[Max] Okay, where at school exactly?
[Holly] The library.
[Max] Library.
[woman on TV] I used to live in this house.
[Max] Bingo.
[Henry] I absolutely adore that book. Hello. My name is Henry. What’s yours?
[Steve] Come on, man. Piece of shit.
[Dustin] Really? You’re actually playing in here?
[Steve] I’m just following orders, dude. Judging by your pissy look, I assume you didn’t find the shield generator.
[Dustin] It’s here somewhere.
[Steve] But you didn’t find it.
[Dustin] Yeah, not on this floor.
[Steve] So you were wrong.
[Dustin] You would just love that, wouldn’t you?
[Steve] No, I’m just stating a fact.
[Dustin] No, you’re gloating. Despite the fact that if I am wrong, we don’t reach past the wall, and don’t find Holly and the other kids. Do you understand how selfish you’re being?
[Steve] Me? Selfish? You wanna talk about selfish? How about when we finally reach Hop and El, we promptly ditch them to pursue this bullshit theory of yours? Not to mention, you’re the reason that we lost contact with them because of your no-show at the crawl. So this whole mess is actually your fault. And I haven’t heard so much as a sorry.
[Dustin] Shit. Again, it’s not like I just didn’t show up. I was attacked.
[Steve] No, you wanted a fight, and that’s what you got. Just look at your face. You’ve done some stupid shit in the past, but this? Man, this takes the cake.
[Dustin] You wanna talk about dumb shit? How about chasing somebody else’s girlfriend while the world is ending?
[Steve] Nancy is a friend. She’s a friend, okay? You remember what that’s like? Having friends?
[Dustin] Yeah, I do. I remember what it was like to have a good friend, a real friend who actually believed in me, and who was actually kind to me.
[Steve] Aha! Aha!
[Dustin] What? What?
[Steve] There we go. What this has all been about, really, is Eddie. All your bullshit, pushing everyone away, it’s because no one could ever be as perfect as he was.
[Dustin] He wasn’t perfect, but at least he knew that, unlike you. He was never fake. He didn’t care what other people thought about him. He was just himself. And you know what? He was the smartest, kindest person I’ve ever met. And he would’ve solved this in 30 seconds flat.
[Steve] If I’m such a goddamn idiot, how come I’m the one still standing here?
[Dustin] What the hell is that supposed to mean?
[Steve] That night, I told you not to be heroes. I told both of you. What did Eddie do? He charged into a swarm of killer bats.
[Dustin] To save my life.
[Steve] He saved no one.
[Dustin] He saved everyone!
[Steve] You can keep telling yourself that. But deep down, the reason you’re so goddamn pissed is because you know the truth. Eddie wanted to play hero, and he made a dumb call, and he got himself killed.
[Dustin] Shut up!
[Steve] No! What the hell, man? What are you doing, man? Stop it. Hey! Stop! Stop it, man! Henderson! Hey! Hey! Henderson! Hey, what are you doing? Calm down! Calm… Henderson, Henderson! Jesus! You’re gonna hurt yourself, man!
[both grunting in pain]
[Steve] All right, Dustin.
[Dustin screaming]
[Steve] Enough, man! Enough! Enough! Stop!
[both groaning in pain]
[Steve] You know what, man? I’m done. I’m done.
[Dustin] [crying] All right, yeah, just go and crawl back to Nance! You dumb, fake asshole!
[door creaks open]
[Dustin] What the hell?
[Jonathan] What do you think?
[Nancy] Maybe some kind of nuclear explosion, like Chernobyl?
[Jonathan] Yeah. That’s what I was thinking, but in a nuclear explosion, everything would burn. It wouldn’t just melt like this. Do you notice the air?
[Nancy] The air?
[Jonathan] Yeah. Look, it’s clean. There’s no spores. Whatever happened here, Vecna’s behind it. Had to be.
[Nancy] Dark magic. Whoa! Shit! Okay. All right, okay.
[Nancy] Yeah.
[Jonathan] You all right?
[Nancy] I’m fine.
[Jonathan] Okay. Oh, Jesus.
[Nancy] Oh.
[Jonathan] Christ.
[Nancy] What the hell happened here?
[both breathing uneasily]
[Jonathan] You just had to pick up, didn’t you?
[alarm blaring]
[both grunting]
[gunshot echoes]
[thunder crashes]
[Kali] I never knew how close I was to making it out. Now, thanks to you and your policeman, I do. Ten yards. Ten yards. One more corner, and my life would have been… different.
[guard] Gun!
[guard grunting]
[guard grunting] Open the goddamn door! Open up!
[Kali] In my search for a way out, I found something else. I found the answer to why I was there. They were infusing her and her unborn child with my blood. And it was killing her, along with her unborn child.
[wheezing]
Help.
[pounding on door]
[guard grunting]
[pounding on door continues]
[Kali] I don’t know how many there were, but they were all sick. Dying.
[tasers crackling]
[Kali groaning]
[Kali screaming]
[Eleven] I… I… I don’t understand.
[Kali] Pregnant women. A secret government program. Does that not remind you of anything?
[Eleven] Mama.
[Kali] It was not drugs that gave us our powers, Jane. It was Henry. Now, Dr. Kay is trying to restart Papa’s program, but my blood is not working. Not as Henry’s did. The truth is, Papa’s children were always just pale imitations of Henry. Only one of us… was truly like him.
[Eleven] This is just an illusion. This isn’t real. None of this is real.
[Kali] Why do you think Kay is so desperate to find you? They will find you, and they will create more! More like you! Like Henry. There are no happy endings, Jane. Not for us.
[Hopper] Hey, it’s okay. It’s just me. It’s just me.
[Derek] [whispering] Northwest. Northwest.
[dark music playing]
[Henry] A little lost, are we? Who gave you this map?
[Derek] Your mom!
[Henry] Look at me! You lie to me again, and I will kill your fool of a father… your snake of a mother… and that bitch of a sister too.
[bell ringing]
All right, my dears. Playtime’s over. Come on.
[Miss Harris] Come on. What is with that grumpy face? Come on. We have books to read, art to create, wisdom to unlock.
[Max] Are you positive nothing else happened before the Demo showed up?
[Holly] Yes.
Walk me through everything again from the beginning.
[Holly] I’ve told you already.
Tell me again.
[Holly] Mary and I were at the merry-go-round.
Stop, Derek! Get off! Stop!
Hold on tight!
[Holly] Derek was a dipshit to us, like usual, and then Henry called me over there. He told me he’d protect me from the monsters, and I didn’t see him again until the field. I just got in trouble for having an imaginary friend, and Mom got all weird, and she got into a big fight with Dad.
[Max] What is it?
[Holly] That’s wrong. It should be yellow.
[Mary] Stop!
[distant screaming]
[Holly] Mom! Mom! Mom! Dad! Please, please let me go! Let me go! Mom! Mom! Mom! Help! Help, Mom! Mom! Dad!
[roaring]
Get back!
[glass shattering]
[Max] Holly. Holly. You all right?
[Holly] I don’t know. I don’t know. I feel…
[Max] Scared? We’re close to the final memory. You might start to… feel things, some things that you felt that night. I know I did. But it’s just like an echo. It’s a good sign. It means you’re almost home. Come on. Follow me.
[Holly] You said I’m almost home. But you’re coming too, right?
[Max] Mmm. No. I’m gonna stick around here, actually. Of course. Are you kidding? Come on.
[Robin] Hey!
[Mike] What are you doing?
[Will] Cables won’t reach the ground.
[Robin] We’re gonna have to do our little science experiment up here.
[Will] Okay. Take it really slow.
[Mike] Okay.
[Robin] Ready? Ready?
[Lucas] Yeah.
[Robin] Ready!
[Robin] Okay, we’re all set.
[Joyce] If anything happens, you just get out of there.
[Will] I will. I promise.
[Lucas] And if shit really hits the fan, we just crank up the voltage, burn out the particles, unplug him from the hive.
[Will] Mom?
[Joyce] Yeah?
[Will] Thank you for trusting me.
[Joyce] Kill the bastard.
[Lucas] All right. You got this.
[Mike] Light her up, Frankenstein.
[Robin] It’s pronounced “Fronkensteen!”
[electricity crackling]
[Mike] It’s working. It’s working!
[Robin] We’re at 50%!
[Lucas] Come on. Come on.
[Demogorgon shrieking]
Dipshit!
Where is he? Where’s Mr. Whatsit?
[Will] I think I’m Derek.
[Lucas] Derek?
[Will] He’s with the others. The other lost children.
[Mike] What about Holly? Do you see Holly?
[Will] No.
Spit it out, dipshit!
Mr. Whatsit, where is he?
[Derek] Searching for Holly.
[Will] Henry is searching for her.
Holly would never run away.
She isn’t like that. You’re lying.
[Derek] I’m not lying. A monster tricked her. It’s disguised as a girl with weird clothes and red hair. She calls herself…
[Will] Max.
[Lucas] Wait. What about Max?
[Will] She’s with Holly. But Vecna… Vecna’s hunting them.
[Holly] I just stood there. Why didn’t I fight? Why didn’t I help her?
[Max] That was old Holly. You would now.
[Demogorgon roaring in distance]
[Holly] No! Mommy! Mommy, please!
[Max] Come on.
[ethereal music playing]
[Holly] What is that?
[Max] Our exit.
[Holly] It doesn’t look like an exit.
[thunder rumbling]
[Holly] You sure you’re not a monster?
[Max] Pretty sure.
[both gasp]
[Henry] I told you, Holly.
[sinister music playing]
[Henry] [groaning] Never go into the woods.
[Max] Shit!
[Holly] Max, he’s coming! No!
[Max] Holly, give me that.
[Holly] Max, hurry! [gasping]
[Vecna growling]
[Holly] Max!
[Vecna] At long last, the fox is caught.
[Holly] Stop!
[growling]
[heart monitor beeping rapidly]
[Holly] Max!
[beeps get slower]
[heart monitor beeps stop, drone]
[Vecna grunting]
[beeps rapidly increasing]
[Vecna straining]
[Mike] It is working.
[Lucas] Sorcerer.
[Vecna screaming]
[Holly] Max! Are you all right?
[Vecna moaning]
[Will, through Vecna] Max! Max! If you… can hear me, you… need… to run! Run!
[piano keys clanging]
[Henry] Get out.
[groaning]
[Henry] Get out! Get out!
[Robin] What is happening?
[Henry] Get out! [shouting] Get out!
[Joyce] Will, can you hear me?
[Mike] Come on!
[Joyce] I’m right here.
[Mike] Come on, Will.
[Lucas] Crank it! Crank it!
[screeching]
[Joyce] Will, come back to us.
[Mike] Come back to us, Will. Will!
[Joyce] Will, come back to me! Come back!
[Lucas] Will! Will!
[Jonathan] Whoa! Just more of this melted shit.
[Nancy] Jonathan. You see this?
[Jonathan] See what?
[Nancy] My light. Watch.
[Jonathan] Whoa.
[Nancy] Something’s there.
[rumbling, crackling]
[Jonathan] Dark magic.
[Dustin] Oh, God.
[Jonathan] Dustin, Steve, you guys copy? We found the shield generator. Do you copy?
[Dustin] Jonathan, it’s Dustin. Do you copy?
[Jonathan] I can’t hear you. Can you hear me? We have found the shield generator.
[Dustin] Just listen to me, okay? Don’t do anything. Don’t touch it! [static] Don’t touch anything! Shit!
[Jonathan] They’re out of range.
[Nancy] Well, I guess they’ll miss the show.
[Dustin] Jonathan! If you can hear me, I was wrong! The shield generator, it’s not a shield generator! It’s not dark magic! It’s something else! Jonathan! Nancy! [shouting] Jonathan! Nancy! If you destroy it, you will die! We will die! Holly will die! Everyone will die! Do you copy?
[Jonathan] You sure about this?
[Nancy] No.
[dark synth music playing]
[music fades out]
