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 6
Episode title: Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz
Director: Shawn Levy
Original release date: December 25, 2025
Episode plot: The detonation of the glowing sphere traps Nancy and Jonathan in a room filling with a mysterious liquid, while Dustin tells Steve that the Upside Down is not an alternate dimension but a wormhole to another realm they call “the Abyss”. Believing they will die, Nancy and Jonathan attempt to break up but instead reconcile when the liquid solidifies. Max and Holly uncover a memory showing a man shooting at young Henry, who then kills him in self-defense. Erica and Murray enlist Mr. Clarke to help find Dustin’s group. Henry subconsciously restrains the unconscious Will, using him to locate Max in the real world and sending demodogs to kill her at the hospital. Hopper, Eleven, and Kali return to Hawkins and reunite with the group, and Eleven frees Will. At the hospital, Lucas and Robin rush to protect Max, with Robin explaining the Upside Down to Vickie as they hide from the demodogs. Karen ultimately saves them by detonating a laundry machine. Guided by Lucas’s music, Max escapes, then helps Holly find her own exit by reminding her of her past bravery, allowing both to escape separately.
* * *
Stranger Things – S05E06 – Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz | Transcript
[Dustin] Jonathan! Nancy! Jonathan! Jonathan! Nancy!
[intense music playing]
[Dustin] [grunting] What the hell are you doing? Listen to me! Don’t touch anything!
[music ends]
[rumbling]
[Jonathan] Maybe you missed?
[crackling]
[Jonathan] Maybe we should, uh…
[Nancy] Yeah.
[Nancy screams]
[both grunting]
[dramatic music playing]
[doorbell ringing]
[urgent knocking]
[knocking continues]
[doorbell rings]
[Erica] Before you say anything, I know it’s 5:00 in the morning, but I need you to build me a telemetry tracker.
What? Erica, it is–
[Murray] Five in the morning.
She led with that, buddy.
I’m sorry. Who are you?
[Erica] My uncle.
[Murray] Babysitter. Babysitter.
Who is it, snookums?
It’s okay, sugar lump. Go back to bed. I’ll just be one second.
Okay.
[Erica] The librarian?
[Murray] You get too loud in the sack, she shush you?
Okay, listen. You and whoever you are, this is highly inappropriate. I will see you in class, Erica.
[Erica] Dustin is in danger.
Danger? What kind of danger?
[Erica] Like the life or death kind.
[Murray] What do you say, snookums? You gonna keep playing with your bookworm, or you gonna build us our tracker and save your star student?
[Steve] Henderson! Dustin!
[groans]
[Steve] Dustin. Hey. What the hell was that? Was that the shield generator? Did they find it?
I was wrong. I was terribly, catastrophically wrong.
[Steve] What?
After you left, I found a journal. Brenner’s journal. The key to destroying that wall is in this lab, but it is not a shield generator. It isn’t dark magic. Vecna didn’t make it. Science did. Theoretical physicists call it exotic matter. A single source of energy that is holding that giant wall together, and I think Nancy just shot it.
[Steve] How is that bad? That’s why we’re here, to get through this wall.
[Dustin] You are not listening!
[Steve] I am listening.
Vecna didn’t make the wall. So he isn’t on the other side, which means Holly and the missing kids aren’t either. Nobody is.
[Steve] Then what the hell is on the other side of that wall?
[Eleven] Why’d it stop?
[Steve] Dustin, what’s on the other side of the wall?
[Dustin] Death.
Whoa.
[Hopper] Come on! Come on, let’s go!
[Eleven exhales intensely]
[Steve] Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Let’s go! Let’s go!
Get down! Get down!
[all grunting]
[Dustin] This whole time, everything we have ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong.
[Steve] The gate! The gate!
[Eleven] I can clear a path!
[Steve] No, no, no! You stay behind… stay behind me! No! Goddamnit!
[epic music playing]
[Hopper] No!
No! No!
[grunting]
[Dustin] This place, the Upside Down, it isn’t another dimension. It’s not another world. It’s a wormhole. A bridge between two points in time and space, between our world and another.
[Steve] And if the bridge collapses?
[Dustin] It will take us with it. All of us.
[wind rustling grass]
[cicadas chirping]
[intense music playing]
[both panting]
[Max] Go, go, go, go! Are you okay? Are you okay? It’s okay. We’re safe here. He can’t get us here, okay?
[Holly] Max…
[foreboding music playing]
[Henry] Holly!
[Max] Come on.
[Henry] [gently] Holly, sweetheart. Stop, or I’ll hurt her. I know you believe Max is your friend. But she has tricked you, Holly. She has corrupted your mind. She is a liar.
[Holly] No! No, you’re the liar! I saw you! I saw what you really are! You’re a monster! A disgusting monster!
[Henry] [angrily] Holly! If you don’t come back with me right now and rejoin the other children, I will have no choice but to hurt Max. I may even have to kill her.
[Max] Then why don’t you? Huh? I’m right here. Oh, that’s right. You’re too scared of a stupid cave, you goddamn coward!
[Henry] Things have changed, Max. There are now other ways to get to you. And Holly? When your new friend begins to suffer, and she will suffer, you can either return to me and end her suffering, or you can watch your new friend die. Her life is in your hands.
NOVEMBER 6TH
[Lucas] Can someone please explain to me what the hell happened out there? We burnt out the particles. I watched them fly up the tower. I mean, you guys saw that, right?
[Robin] Hard to miss.
[Lucas] So Will should be unplugged from the hive mind.
[Mike] Theoretically.
[Lucas] But why didn’t he wake up? How did he see Max if she’s with Holly? Is this real? Is Vecna messing with us again? This makes no goddamn sense!
[Robin] The doctors, they never understood why Max was in the coma, right?
[Lucas] What? No. Why?
[Robin] Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay. So let’s just assume for a second that everything that Will saw was real. He saw Max. He saw Holly.
[Lucas] Yeah, but how?
[Robin] I’m getting to that. Let’s say that, uh… this is Will, and this is Holly. And… uh, this, of course, is Max. They’re in three disparate locations, the Squawk, the hospital, and some presently unknown place in the Upside Down. Right?
[Mike] Right.
[Lucas] Yeah.
[Robin] But they share one very essential thing in common. They’re all unconscious. What happens when Vecna captures you?
[Mike] You go into a trance.
[Robin] Which would look a heck of a lot like a coma. No wonder the doctors are so clueless. Max was never in a coma.
[Lucas] She was in a trance.
[Robin] Just like Will. Just like Holly. It is hitting me like a Whitney Houston high note. What if their minds… are all in the same place? In Vecna’s mind. Imprisoned. At least, they were. If Will’s right, then Max and Holly are now making a prison break. And if they succeed, they will return to their physical bodies, and Max will come back to life.
[Mike] And they’ll have been in Vecna’s mind, literally.
[Robin] They’ll know everything. They’ll know where Will is.
[Mike] Where the kids are.
[Robin] They might even know what he’s planning.
[Lucas] That’s endgame.
[Robin] The fate of the planet may very well rest in the hands of your comatose girlfriend and your baby sister.
[Lucas] It’s worth one more shot, right?
[Mike] Can you drive?
[Robin] Not legally.
[Mike] Good enough. Take Joyce’s car. Do not get pulled over. Get to Max. I’ll stay with Will.
[Lucas] Okay.
[foreboding music playing]
[Will gasps]
[slithering]
[Henry] Do you remember this place… William?
[Will] No, no, no…
[Henry] Does it… bring back…
[Will] No.
[Vecna] …memories?
[Will] Max, Holly… They got away, didn’t they? Did the leg slow you down?
[Vecna] You think you are clever, don’t you? But remember, I am the one. The one who invited you in. You were my vessel. My spy. My builder.
[Will] Builder?
[Vecna] How do you think the tunnels came to be, William? You built them each and every night you slept. There is much power within you. But make no mistake, boy. They are my powers, and they are stronger than ever before. Much stronger.
[pulsating]
[Vecna] Now, at last, it is time. Time for my vessels to lead us to a new world. A better world.
[Will] Too bad your world will never exist, now that Max has one of your vessels.
[Vecna] There are ways to smoke a fox from its den, William. And you are going to help me. You are going to be my spy one last time.
[Will] No. Never.
[Vecna] The more you resist… the more this will hurt.
[Will wheezing]
[Will groaning] [screaming]
[Holly] Stupid. … Hey!
[Max] What are you doing?
[Holly] Seeing if he’s still out there.
[Max] He’s not.
[Holly] How do you know?
[Max] Because he knows he can’t get us in here. Let’s go.
[Holly] He said that things had changed, that there were other ways.
[Max] Yeah, and he’s totally full of shit. You should know this by now.
[Holly] So we’re supposed to what? Just do nothing? Accept our fate?
[Max] No, we’re not accepting shit. We’re just staying alive until we’re rescued.
[Holly] Rescued by Eleven?
[Max] Mmhmm.
[Holly] How do you know that was even her?
[Max] Unless you know somebody else with psychic powers who’s able to remotely infiltrate Vecna’s mind, fight him off, communicate through him to tell us to run, then it had to be El. Which means she knows we’re here, and she’ll come and she’ll save us. Now, can you please stop pacing? Seriously, you’re starting to remind me of your brother.
[Holly sighs]
[Max] Thank you.
[Holly] Why can’t Henry come in here anyway?
[Max] I don’t know.
[Holly] You’ve had two years with nothing to do. You must have a theory. If we’re just waiting, we might as well talk.
[Max] This prison…
[Holly] Camazotz.
[Max] Camazotz. Sure. It’s made up of Henry’s memories, right? Including this cave. So I figure it’s like, I don’t know, a memory that, for whatever reason, Henry doesn’t want to face. Something traumatic. Except there’s nothing in here that is even remotely scary, so… maybe not. Anyway, that’s my theory.
[Holly] I like it.
[Max] Thanks.
[Holly] And if you’re right, maybe we can escape through this memory.
[Max] What?
[Holly] Okay, so… My house, your attic, those were traumatic memories too, and they led us out of Camazotz. So maybe Henry’s memory can too.
[Max] First of all, there’s nothing in here, as I said. Secondly, our memories weren’t simply traumatic. They were memories of the precise moment that Henry stole our minds. And he can’t steal his own mind, can he?
[Holly] How do you know?
[Max] Because that makes no sense.
[Holly] And everything in this place makes sense? I mean, maybe there’s like a… a secret passageway or something.
[Max] Right, yes, I totally forgot about the secret passage.
[Holly] What about out there?
[Max] Sand. Lots of sand.
[Holly] You’ve searched it?
[Max] Yes.
[Holly] All of it?
[Max] It goes on for miles.
[Holly] So, no.
[Max] You are not going out there. Holly, we’re staying here, and we wait for Eleven, end of story.
[Holly] I don’t think Henry was bluffing when he said there’s another way to get to you. We have to find a way out of here before that happens. You coming? Or are you gonna let a child head into the desert unsupervised?
[Max] I take it back. You don’t remind me of your brother. You are your brother!
[vehicle approaching]
[Mike] Joyce? Did someone call the funeral home?
[uplifting music playing]
[Eleven] Mike.
[Mike] El!
[Eleven] Oh, Mike…
[Hopper] I’m here now.
[Mike] You’re okay.
[Eleven] I’m okay.
[car door closes]
[Eleven] This is Kali, my sister.
[Kali] And this must be the famous Mike.
[Mike] I don’t… I don’t understand.
[Hopper] It’s a long story. Probably best just to tell it once. Where’s the rest of our greeting party?
[Mike] He’s just in here.
[Hopper] Oh, Jesus.
[Eleven] How long has he been like this?
[Mike] A few hours.
[Joyce] Do you think you can find him?
[Steve] Any clue in there about how long it takes a wormhole to collapse? Ten minutes, maybe 20?
[Dustin] I thought it’d be instantaneous. Clearly not.
[Steve] Why do you sound disappointed?
[Dustin] I’m not disappointed.
[Steve] You sound disappointed.
[Dustin] I’m confused. As far as I see it, there are two possibilities. Either this is the afterlife, and you and I are spirits. Which seems unlikely.
[Steve] Ooh.
[Dustin] Or Nancy didn’t completely destroy the exotic matter. Because if she did, the walls of the wormhole would have collapsed. And we would have been sucked into oblivion.
[Steve] Okay, so what are we waiting around here for?
[Dustin] Where are you going?
[Steve] To see if I can get a damn signal to find Nancy.
[Dustin] Steve, wait.
[Steve] Let’s go, Henderson.
[Dustin] Wait!
[Steve] Let’s go.
[Dustin] Steve, we don’t know if it’s safe up here.
[Steve] You said the exotic matter wasn’t destroyed.
[Dustin] No, I said it was not completely destroyed. But it was very clearly disturbed. We have no idea what effect this will have on matter, spacetime, gravity. This whole building could very well be a highly unstable, physics-defying death trap.
[Steve] It seems pretty stable to me. Nancy, you copy? Jonathan, are you there? Hello?
[crackling]
[Dustin] Mother of God.
[Steve] Please tell me they’re not up there.
[dripping]
[Jonathan] [grunting] No, no, no, no. No! Nancy! Nancy! No, no, no. Nancy! Come on. Nancy. Come on. Come on. Are you okay? Are you okay? Okay.
[Nancy] Yeah. I think so. What happened?
[Jonathan] I don’t know. I don’t know. I guess we fell. And also clearly didn’t destroy it.
[Nancy] Just pissed it off.
[Jonathan] Come on. Let’s go. Let’s get the hell out of here.
[Nancy] Where’s the door?
[Jonathan] Shit, shit. It’s there. Come on.
[both straining]
[Jonathan] Shit! No, no, no! Shit! Shit! No, no, no, no! Goddamnit. Come on!
[Mike] Nancy, she didn’t leave a note or anything at the church?
[Hopper] No. No, nothing. Which means they’re either a bunch of inconsiderate pricks, or they got captured by the military. To put your mind at ease, I am heavily leaning on the inconsiderate prick theory.
[Mike] Wait, and that flesh wall you found, you don’t think…
[Hopper] They got sucked into the giant vacuum cleaner? No, I don’t. But I don’t really know, Mike. I’m as confused as you. This whole thing, Max, Holly, this wall, it’s all gotta connect somehow, but I can’t figure out how. It’s like there’s a missing piece of the puzzle. A big piece.
[Mike] The pieces are in Vecna’s mind, and now we finally have a way to get in.
[Kali] Except Jane hasn’t found anything.
[Hopper] Oh, boy! Here comes Pollyanna to brighten everybody’s day.
[Kali] She’s struggling up there.
[Hopper] Oh, yeah? Maybe you should give her some time.
[Kali] She’s getting weaker, not stronger.
[Hopper] So you are the expert on El, huh? You’ve known her for what, a day and a half?
[Kali] Longer than you, actually. We were raised together, and her name is Jane.
[Hopper] Jane Hopper.
[Kali] I’m just here to help.
[Hopper] You’re just here to help. Well, I’m sorry I’m all out of gratitude. I thought you said this fight was pointless.
[Mike] You said this whole thing was pointless?
[Kali] I never said that.
[Hopper] Really? It sure as shit sounded to me like you did. I leave you alone for two seconds with El, and you worm your way into her head. She’s probably having trouble finding Will because you’ve thrown her off track.
[Kali] She was off track when I met her because of you. Because of your lies.
[Hopper] Everything I have done…
[Kali] …is to protect her. Keep telling yourself that, but if you really want to protect her, she needs to know the truth, and she needs to be ready to deal with what’s waiting for her on the other side of this. Killing Henry won’t end this.
[Mike] What does that mean?
[Hopper] It means nothing. She’s a child. She has no idea what she’s talking about. She’s talking a bunch of nonsense.
[Kali] I think you know I’m not. But just as you lie to Jane, you also lie to yourself. You ask why I’m still here? I’m here to make sure that this never happens again.
[Mike] El. El! Hey, is everything okay?
[Eleven] I can’t reach him. He keeps slipping away.
[Mike] Well, we have plenty of food in there, so eat, rest, and recharge your battery, and we’ll try it again.
[Hopper] Or… we improve your signal.
[Eleven] The tank.
[Hopper] Yeah. It’ll take a while to set up. But you’ve gotta recharge your battery anyway. Plus, that thing was a pain to build, so I’d like to get some use out of it.
[Lucas] Doris, I’m gonna sign in later.
[Robin] I’m here for emotional support.
[Nurse] Miss Buckley! Miss Buckley! Oh! You know what?
[Vickie] Hey. We need to talk.
[Robin] Yeah.
[Lucas] Wait, Robin!
[Robin] I’ve gotta deal with this. Just go!
[Lucas] What about the plan?
[Robin] Vickie. Listen, I know you’re pissed, and you have every right to be.
[Vickie] They’re looking for you.
[Robin] Who is looking for me?
[Vickie] Security. MPs.
[Robin] Why?
[Vickie] You wanna play dumb?
[Robin] I have no idea what you’re talking about.
[Vickie] Okay, all right, let me give you a hint. You, Mr. Bailey’s room, benzos. Well, does it ring a bell yet? Robin, you’ve gotta start telling me what is going on with you right now.
[Lucas] Okay, Max, time to come home.
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush playing]
[Max] I think we’ve been at this long enough.
[Holly] We’ve searched an inch of this place.
[Max] At last, you get my point. I’ve spent I don’t know how long searching out here, but too long. You’re not gonna just suddenly find something that I haven’t, okay?
[Holly] Did my brother ever tell you about Uncle Eric?
[Max] Uncle Eric?
[Holly] He’s a metal detectorist. Do you know what that is?
[Max] He searches for metal.
[Holly] Yeah, with his metal detector. Looking for super old treasures and stuff that dead people have left in the ground. Anyway, his favorite place to search is Indiana Beach Amusement Park. I mean, he searched there for years, but all he ever found was a bunch of cheap trinkets. Then one day, he opens up the newspaper and boom, front page, some random tourist found a tin can filled with gold and silver coins worth like millions of dollars.
[Max] Right, so let me guess, in this scenario, I’m Uncle Eric…
[Holly] And I’m the tourist. … So stupid.
[intriguing music playing]
[Holly] “M” marks the spot.
[Max] Where are you going?
[Holly] I have an idea.
[Max] What idea?
[Holly] I’ll show you when we’re closer.
[Max] Holly!
[Holly] You said you wanted to go back. Well, we’re going back.
[Steve] Guys, if you can hear us, we’re coming. I repeat, we’re coming.
[Dustin] Steve, slow down! The higher we go, the more dangerous it gets.
[Steve] All the more reason to speed up.
[Dustin] We’re no use to them if we’re dead. Steve! … As I was saying…
[both grunting]
[Jonathan] Come on! [grunts] Damn it! What are you doing?
[Nancy] A few floors down, it looked like one of those soldiers cut through that door. Watch out.
[Jonathan] Shit! Get back! Shit! Shit! Oh, God! Holy shit! The table! Get to the table! Now what?
[Nancy] Help! Help!
[Jonathan] Help! Help!
[Nancy] Steve!
[Jonathan] Help! Help!
[Nancy] Hey! Help!
[Jonathan] Help! Help! Help!
[Nancy] Help! Help! Help!
[Hopper] Almost ready out here. El’s gonna fix this. She’s gonna fix it.
[Joyce] It was my idea, Hop. It was… my idea for him to go in there. I don’t know. I just thought maybe, after everything that happened, after everything I saw him do, that… I started thinking maybe all this time that I’ve been trying so hard to protect him, I’ve really just been holding him back by not listening to him, not trusting him. And so if I just… I don’t know. If I just believed and let go, that, I don’t know, somehow this could all work out. And… It’s like every choice that I make is wrong.
[Hopper] I know. I mean, you can push them into situations they might not be ready for. You can be like me, and you can be overprotective, and they just resent you for that. Joyce, one of the joys of being a parent… is that you’ll have a constant reminder your whole life that every choice you’ve made has been wrong. It’s not on you, Joyce. It’s not on you.
[water sloshing]
[Mike] That looks nice. Murray find that for you?
[Eleven] Yeah.
[Mike] Santa Claus has good taste. Hey. Back at the Squawk, Kali, she said something weird about this not being over even if we kill Henry. Do you know what she’s talking about?
[Eleven] It doesn’t matter. I should warm this up.
[Mike] Okay, well, if it doesn’t matter, then why was Hop so angry at her?
[Eleven] It’s nothing, Mike, really.
[Mike] Friends don’t lie.
[Eleven] I’m not lying.
[Mike] You’re avoiding. That’s a cheat. I just want to help.
[Eleven] You can’t help. Not with this.
[Mike] Let me be the judge of that. El, come on.
[Eleven] There’s a lab in the Upside Down. They’re restarting Papa’s program. Trying to make new numbers.
[Mike] The military? Okay. So, after we kill Vecna, we destroy this new lab. End the program. Like a side quest.
[Eleven] Mike, no, you don’t understand. They don’t need a lab to make new numbers. Henry’s blood. It’s in me. I’m not a monster. I know that now. But with me, with my blood, they can make more monsters. They can make more Henrys.
[Mike] The military will always be looking for you. We’ve always known that. Which is why we aren’t staying in Hawkins. When this is all over, we’re leaving. Escaping to some far off land. Remember? Somewhere where they can’t find us. Somewhere where there’s at least one waterfall.
[Eleven] Mike. This isn’t like one of your campaigns. You don’t get to write the ending. Not this time.
[Mike] Maybe I don’t. But we do. You, me, Lucas, Will, and Dustin. Because this is our story. And it starts with getting Will back.
[intense music playing]
[Will] [whispering] Max.
[Max] You realize you don’t need your spyglass anymore? That’s my cave.
[Holly] Yep.
[Max] Also, the cap is still on.
[Holly] Yep. Look. Cap on.
[Max] Okay, it’s very dark.
[Holly] But not totally. You see that cutout of light? It’s in the same shape as the cave entrance. What are the chances it cracks in the same shape as the cave, the cave we know Henry visited? I think the cap is a map, a map Henry made when he was young, a map that’ll lead us to some kind of secret location. We just have to get the shapes to line up.
[Max] And you think in this secret location, we’ll find what? Henry’s traumatic memory?
[Holly] That. And a way out of Camazotz. At least… that’s my theory.
[Max] I like it.
[Holly] Thanks.
[Max] There’s one tiny hole in your theory, though. We’re near the secret location, and I’ve got eyes, and I still see absolutely nothing but more goddamn sand…
[Holly screaming]
[Max] Hold on! Hold on!
[both straining]
[both panting]
[Holly] “M” marks the spot.
[Robin] Vic, do you want to maybe verbalize something? It’s just unclear what your face is trying to communicate here. I know that it’s a lot to absorb, especially all in one go. Monsters and alternate dimensions, and I realize that the drugging of the Turnbows was a bit unethical
[Vickie] Okay, stop, Robin. Please, just stop.
[Robin] I tried to tell you like a million times.
[Vickie] No, you lied. And then you kept lying over and over and over again. I knew something was wrong.
[Robin] I know! I’m sorry!
[Vickie] “Crazy day at work. Call you tomorrow.” “Sorry, there’s another crisis at the Squawk.” I mean, who works all night at a radio station? And who is stupid enough to believe that? Apparently me, Vickie, who’s sitting at home, waiting for the phone to ring while you’re off with your friends, getting high.
[Robin] Getting high?
[Vickie] Come on, Robin. You are going through withdrawal.
[Robin] You have the wrong idea. I am not on drugs.
[Vickie] Right, sorry.
[Robin] Just look at me!
[Vickie] You have been busy with your friends hunting monsters! God! All right, maybe you even believe it yourself. With the amount that you were clearly on, if you just go cold turkey, it can cause confusion, paranoia, hallucinations…
[Robin] These are not hallucinations!
[Vickie] Okay. So let’s recap. There is a dark wizard…
[Robin] Uh-huh.
[Vickie] …who is stealing children…
[Robin] Yep.
[Vickie] …and putting them in a dream world.
[Robin] Right. Vickie, the earth has split in four. The military has taken over our town. Is what I’m saying really so insane?
[Vickie] Batshit! You wanna know what my face is communicating right now?
[Robin] Yes.
[Vickie] Anger. But with a dash, and it is a very, very reluctant dash, of worry. Because as furious as I am with you right now, you are not well, Robin, and you need help. You need serious help.
[door closing]
[man] I got a call about some drugs…
[Robin] Hang on.
[man] Have you seen her?
[woman] Robin Buckley? Yes, she’s here. I just saw her go into that room right there.
[Robin] Vickie, I’m so sorry.
[Vickie] Don’t.
[Robin] But I gotta go.
[Vickie] Robin!
[man] Hey! Hey, I’m talking to you! Buckley, stop! Where do you think you’re going?
[both shouting] Help!
[Nancy] Help!
[Jonathan] Dustin!
[Nancy] Help! Steve!
[Jonathan] Hey!
[Steve] Oh, thank you.
[Dustin] Steve, what the hell are you doing? That’s never gonna work. Stop! Stop! Steve, stop. I’m serious. It’s not safe. You’re gonna fall.
[Steve] It’s unstable. I got it already, okay?
[Dustin] No, don’t! Stop being an asshole!
[Steve] I’m not being an asshole. I’m trying to get to them!
[Dustin] You always try to get yourself killed, and I can’t let it happen again. Stop being so selfish, please. If you go on there, you’re gonna die, and I can’t deal with it again. You can’t die ’cause I can’t deal with it again. Don’t let it happen again. Please. Please don’t let it happen again. Not you. [sobbing] I’m sorry.
[Steve] No, no, no.
[Jonathan] Help!
[Nancy] Help!
[Jonathan] Come on! Help! Hey!
[Nancy] Help!
[Jonathan] Whoa, whoa, whoa!
[Nancy] Down. Get down. Get down.
[Jonathan] What are we doing?
[Nancy] Sitting spreads our weight out. Mr. Goldstein, physics. We can buy ourselves some time. They must have heard us by now.
[Jonathan] Then why haven’t they called back? And even if they did, what could they even do?
[Nancy] Something. Anything.
[Jonathan] Yeah. Yeah. They’re not coming.
[Nancy] Don’t say that.
[Jonathan] You wanted honesty.
[liquid bubbling]
[Jonathan sighs]
[Nancy] I hate The Clash.
[Jonathan] What?
[Nancy] I hate The Clash. Every time you put them on, I just try to disassociate from reality.
[Jonathan] Yep. I hate reading your articles. You don’t actually wanna hear my thoughts. You just want me to tell you they’re great.
[Nancy] Because they are.
[Jonathan] Most of the time.
[Nancy] Most of the… Wow. Okay. I never read Slaughterhouse-Five. I just read the Cliff notes and pretended I liked it.
[Jonathan] I never read Anna Karenina. I just read the Cliff notes and pretended I liked it.
[Nancy] You are always exactly six minutes late, and I never say anything, but really, I wanna punch a wall.
[Jonathan] I took your pink sweater to Goodwill.
[Nancy] What? I was looking for that.
[Jonathan] You know I hate pink. But I felt guilty afterwards if that makes you feel better.
[Nancy] I flushed the last bag of Purple Palm Tree Delight down the toilet, and I didn’t feel guilty about it after.
[Jonathan] Come on.
[Nancy] I hate it when you’re high.
[Jonathan] I hate it when you’re drunk.
[Nancy] I hate it most of all when you’re high and I’m drunk.
[Jonathan] Me too.
[Nancy] Why do we do that?
[Jonathan] No idea. … I never applied to Emerson.
[Nancy] I know.
[Jonathan] Why didn’t you ever say anything?
[Nancy] Why didn’t you?
[Jonathan] I’m not sure. I just felt like I was… doing something wrong. Like I was going against the natural order of things. You know, with… with what we’ve been through, it just…
[Nancy] You mean our shared trauma?
[Jonathan] Yeah. How could anyone else possibly understand? It’s like this… this thing that… ties us together forever. You know? It made me feel safe. But also… I don’t know.
[Nancy] It can be suffocating.
[Jonathan] Yeah.
[Nancy] That spring break, when you were in Lenora… I didn’t really have to stay behind to work. I could have had Fred cover for me. But I think that’s why I stayed. That feeling that I just… I needed space.
[Jonathan] Space to be with someone else?
[Nancy] Steve’s a good guy. He makes me laugh. And, he has better hair than you. Like, way better. But no. No, it was never like that with him. We’re just different people. You know what he told me? He wants six kids.
[Jonathan] Six kids?
[Nancy] Six little nuggets.
[Jonathan] That’s like a Happy Meal.
[Nancy] But my point is… he knows what he wants, and that’s great. But I… don’t. And… I guess I was hoping I’d have time to figure that out. But then…
[Jonathan] The world split in four.
[Nancy] And now… And now…
[Jonathan] Hey… One last confession. A big one. John Coltrane. I figure that… I’ve screwed up enough with you. It’d be nice to get something right for once in the end. Here.
[melancholy music playing]
[Jonathan] Nancy Wheeler. Will you… not… marry me? I tried to convince myself that this would somehow fix everything. But it was just gonna make things worse. Which is why it has been sitting like a cannonball in my pocket for the last two days.
[chuckles softly]
[Jonathan] So what do you say? Do you accept my un-proposal?
[Nancy] I accept your un-proposal.
[Jonathan] I loved you. I love you, Nancy Wheeler.
[Nancy] I love you, Jonathan Byers.
[both crying]
[tinkling]
[hopeful music playing]
[Nancy] Oh my God. Jonathan! Oh my God!
[both laughing]
[Jonathan] My God.
[Joyce] Thank you.
[Eleven] I will find him. I will bring him home.
[Hopper] Okay. Now remember, if you want out of there…
[tense music playing]
[Eleven] Will, I’m here. I need you to show me where you are. Show me where you are.
[slithering]
[Eleven] Will. Will. Will, can you hear me? Will, wake up! [grunting]
[Max] Can I have that?
[Holly] Do you think someone fell?
[man panting]
[Holly] It… It’s just a memory, right? Nothing in here can hurt us.
[Max] Nothing can hurt us.
[panting continues]
[Max] Just stay behind me, okay?
[Holly] But you said…
[Max] I know what I said.
[man moaning]
[man] How did you find me? [shouting] How did you find me?
[Holly] He sees us. He sees us. How does he see us?
[young Henry] I won’t hurt you. Please, mister, don’t shoot.
[man] Who are you?
[young Henry] Henry. Henry Creel. I live near here.
[man] Who sent you?
[young Henry] Nobody sent me.
[man] They sent you.
[young Henry] I was in the caves. I heard a scream.
[man] They sent you!
[young Henry] You’re just confused. You need a doctor.
[gunshot]
[intense music playing]
[both straining]
[young Henry] Please! Please!
[grunting]
[Max] Holly! Holly!
[Max] Shit! Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.
[Holly] Why did that man try to hurt Henry? Hurt Henry? He was only trying to help.
[Max] I don’t know.
[Holly] Is this what made Henry bad?
[Max] I don’t know. But it’s over now, okay? We have to keep moving.
[young Henry crying softly]
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush playing in distance]
[intense music continues]
[air hisses]
[Max] You were right. The way out of Camazotz, it’s here.
♪ Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill ♪
[heart monitor beeping]
[Lucas] Max?
[beeps accelerate]
♪ …make a deal with God
And I’d get Him to swap our places ♪
[Vecna] You are going to spy for me one last time.
[Will screaming]
[heart monitor beeping]
[Vecna] Found you.
[Eleven] Will. Will, it’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here.
[Will] El…
[Eleven] I’m here.
[Will] El… El…
[Eleven] It’s me. It’s me. I’m here to bring you home. It’s okay.
[Will] I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t. He saw.
[Eleven] He saw what? What did he see?
[Will] Max. He knows where she is now. And he sent them after her. They’re coming for her. In Hawkins.
[Mike] El!
[Hopper] El, what’s up?
[Mike] Are you okay? El, what’s wrong?
[Eleven] Is he all right?
[Joyce] Yeah.
[Eleven] Vecna’s going to kill Max. We have to get to the hospital right now.
[Vicki] Hey! Are you deaf or what? She’s in withdrawal.
[Robin] I am not.
[Vicki] You know what that means? She needs to be in a hospital, not a prison. Would you look at that? She’s in a hospital.
[soldier] This is Hawkins, Candy Cane. Not our first junkie.
[gasping]
[soldier] Power outage in a hospital. Can’t be good for Granny. Not our problem.
[Robin] You don’t understand. We need to evacuate.
[soldier] We don’t need to do shit. Keep moving, junkie.
[Robin] I’m not a junkie. If we don’t get everyone out of here right now, we are all going to die.
[footsteps pounding]
[soldier] There is nothing you can say on God’s green earth that is going to keep you out of a cell. So save your junkie breath.
[Robin] We need to evacuate.
[soldier] I actually don’t need to do shit.
[screaming]
[Demodog snarling]
[soldier] Holy shit!
[soldier] Run!
[flesh crunching]
[Robin screaming]
[Robin] They’re not after us.
[Vicki] Huh? What?
[Robin] They’re not after us. Do you know another way out?
[Vicki] The basement. The basement! It leads to staff parking.
[Robin] Okay. Come on, Lucas, pick up. Pick up.
[phone ringing]
[Robin] Pick up. Pick up. What are you doing?
[Vicki] Can those things understand English?
[Robin] No.
[Vicki] Then this doesn’t need to be private.
[Robin] What?
[Robin] Lucas, it’s Robin. A Demo is headed your way. Do you hear me? A Demo is headed your way. You need to get Max out of there now. Take the elevator. They’re on the stairwell. We’ll meet you in the basement.
[lights buzzing]
[roaring]
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” continues on stereo]
[Lucas] Come on. Come on.
[elevator dings]
[Lucas] Shit. Shit. Come on!
[tense music playing]
[Max] [straining] Goddamnit! It’s not budging. We’re just gonna have to try, okay? Come on. You good?
[Holly] I… I’m good.
[Max] Okay. I need you to grab my hand, okay?
[Holly] Okay.
[Lucas] [grunting]
[Robin] Whoa! Jesus!
[Lucas] Okay. They’re coming! We gotta go!
[Robin] Which way?
[Demodog roaring]
[Lucas] Here! What the hell is going on?
[Demodog snarling]
[Vicki] Here!
[Lucas] How are they finding us?
[Robin] I don’t know, but we gotta get out of here.
[Lucas] Okay. Come on.
[Robin] Come on. Let’s go.
[Vicki] Go, go, go.
[Robin] Come on. Shut the door. Shut the door!
[Demodog roaring]
[yelps]
[Lucas] Oh, shit.
[Robin] Go! Just keep going!
[Vicki] Come on.
[Lucas] Damn it!
[Robin] We gotta go!
[Vicki] The door! Open the door! Go, go, go!
[urgent slamming on door]
[Lucas] Shit. This way, guys! Come on! Come on! Get down!
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” continues on stereo]
♪ If I only could… ♪
[Vicki] [whispering] I’m really sorry I thought you were a druggie.
[Robin] I’m sorry for lying to you for, like, a ludicrously extended period of time. For the record, I wasn’t lying about Enzo’s. And if by some miracle we survive this, I am going to take you there, and we are getting dessert. Deal?
♪ Unaware I’m tearin’ you asunder
Yeah, yeah, yo ♪
♪ There is thunder in our hearts ♪
[roaring]
♪ It’s you and me ♪
[Robin] [whispering] We have to turn it off.
[Lucas] We can’t. We can’t. No. No. Max is coming back.
[Robin] We have to.
[Lucas] She’s coming back.
♪ Come on, darlin’ ♪
[Holly] Are you okay?
[Max] Go.
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” continues in distance]
[dramatic music overlapping]
[Max] Okay. You ready to go home, tourist?
[Holly] Yeah.
♪ If I only could make a deal with God ♪
♪ I’d get him to swap our places ♪
♪ Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill ♪
[growling softly]
♪ If I only could make a deal with God ♪
♪ I’d get him to swap our places ♪
♪ Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill ♪
♪ Be runnin’ up that building ♪
[Demodogs growling]
[snarling]
[loud buzzing]
[clanging]
[clanging continues]
[Demodog growling]
[growls inquisitively]
[Robin and Vickie exclaiming]
[Robin groans]
[uplifting music playing]
[grunting loudly]
[“Running up that Hill (A Deal With God)” continues in distance]
♪ Let’s exchange the experience ♪
[Max] Lucas… Holly. Wait. You can’t come with me.
[Holly] What? What do you mean?
[Max] This way leads to me, to my body, not yours. You have to find your own way.
[Holly] How? I don’t have Kate Bush. I don’t even know who Kate Bush is.
[Max] You don’t need Kate Bush to get out of here. Turns out, I don’t either. Music isn’t the only way back. You just need something that connects you to the real world, to home. Something powerful, meaningful. Lucas, when… when he took my hand in the hospital, I could feel it. Right here. But then I could also feel it in here.
[Holly] But I don’t have a boyfriend.
[Max] You don’t need a boyfriend. You just need something that’s special to you, something that makes you feel safe, something that brings you strength, something that gives you hope.
[Holly] Holly the Heroic.
[Max] She’s here with you now. But she’s also with you in the real world. Wherever you are, all you have to do is follow her home.
[Holly] How?
[Max] Just… try and remember what it is that she means to you.
[Holly] She doesn’t mean anything important. She’s just a toy.
[Max] If she’s just a toy, why do you always carry her with you?
[Holly] Mike. He said that she had divine powers and that she never gets scared, and so if I ever got scared, I could just… become her. But I keep trying, and it never works. No matter what I do, I’m still me. The girl who needs a stupid nightlight. When my mom was attacked, I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t even save myself.
Holly, get back!
[Holly] I just stood there. And then when Henry attacked you…
[Holly] Stop!
[Holly] [growls] I stood there again. There’s nothing heroic about that.
[Max] There was nothing that you could do in those moments, Holly. I mean, you’re a Wheeler. You’re smart. You honestly think that you could’ve stopped those monsters with a fire poker? And I think you’re leaving a few important things out. The day that we met, you went into the woods even though Henry told you that dangerous monsters live there. And then you followed me into the cave even though you had no good reason to trust me. And then when I told you to go back to Henry, to go back into danger, you didn’t hesitate. And today, when I gave up, you didn’t. I’ve been here for so long, Holly. So long. And I could never make it out. But you? You found a way through Camazotz. Because of you… I get to see my friends. I get to see Lucas. You saved me, Holly Wheeler. You saved me. So you see, Holly the Heroic is not just a toy. She’s you, Holly. She’s you.
[Holly] How did you know that would work?
[Max] I didn’t. You still have a long journey ahead. I don’t know where you’re gonna wake up. But I figure Vecna’s holding you in the Upside Down. But remember, the Upside Down, it’s just like Hawkins. So find your way back to your house and hide there. We will come and find you. Okay?
[gentle instrumental music builds]
[Max] I’ll see you on the other side.
[Holly] On the other side.
[dramatic music playing]
♪ If I only could make a deal with God ♪
♪ I’d get him to swap our places ♪
♪ Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill ♪
♪ With no problems ♪
♪ Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill ♪
♪ With no problems ♪
[heart monitor beeping]
[somber music playing]
[music fades out]
