Stranger Things Season 1 Recap: The Vanishing of Will Byers & The Arrival of Eleven

 Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers

• The Rundown: After a 10-hour D&D session, Will Byers bikes home, encounters a terrifying creature, and vanishes into thin air. Meanwhile, a mysterious young girl with a shaved head (Eleven) escapes a secret government lab and wanders into a local diner.

• Highlight: The chilling opening sequence at the Hawkins Lab where a scientist is snatched by an unseen monster in an elevator.

• Cliffhanger: Mike, Dustin, and Lucas go into the woods during a rainstorm to find Will, but instead, they stumble upon Eleven.

Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

• The Rundown: The boys hide Eleven in Mike’s basement, realizing she has telekinetic powers. She recognizes Will in a photo from Mike's room. At a suburban party, Nancy’s friend Barb is left alone by the pool, and we see the monster stalking her from the shadows.

• Highlight: Eleven uses her powers to stop Mike’s "supercom" from making noise, proving she is more than just a girl in trouble.

• Cliffhanger: Barb is pulled into a different dimension (the Upside Down) while sitting alone on a diving board.

Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly

• The Rundown: Joyce becomes convinced Will is communicating through the household lights despite everyone thinking she's crazy. Barb wakes up in a decayed version of the pool and is attacked by the creature. Hopper starts investigating the Lab and Dr. Brenner.

• Highlight: The "Christmas lights" scene. Joyce paints the alphabet on her wall and Will uses the lights to spell out "R-I-G-H-T H-E-R-E."

• Cliffhanger: The police pull a body—looking exactly like Will—out of the local quarry, devasatating the town.

Chapter Four: The Body

• The Rundown: Everyone thinks Will is dead, but Joyce refuses to believe the body is his. Eleven proves Will is alive by channeling his voice (singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go") through a radio. Hopper grows suspicious of the state police.

• Highlight: Hopper breaks into the morgue, cuts open "Will's" body, and finds it is a high-quality fake filled with cotton.

• Cliffhanger: Hopper realizes the conspiracy is massive and breaks into the Hawkins National Laboratory to find the truth.

Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat

• The Rundown: The boys learn about the "Upside Down" theory from their science teacher, Mr. Clarke. They realize Eleven is intentionally messing with their compasses to keep them away from the "Gate" because she’s terrified of what's inside.

• Highlight: Nancy and Jonathan team up to hunt the monster in the woods. Nancy finds a portal in a tree and crawls through into a dark, snowy world.

• Cliffhanger: Nancy is trapped in the Upside Down, staring face-to-face at the Demogorgon.

Chapter Six: The Monster

• The Rundown: Jonathan pulls Nancy back through the portal just in time. Steve sees them together through a window and a fight breaks out. Eleven saves Mike and Dustin from school bullies by breaking a bully's arm with her mind.

• Highlight: The flashback showing Eleven accidentally opening the gate while in a sensory deprivation tank at the lab.

• Cliffhanger: Hopper and Joyce find Eleven’s "mother," Terry Ives, and realize Eleven was stolen at birth.

Chapter Seven: The Bathtub

• The Rundown: The kids, the teens, and the adults finally unite. They build a makeshift sensory deprivation tank in the school gym to help Eleven find Will and Barb psychically.

• Highlight: The "Van Flip." As government agents close in on the boys on their bikes, Eleven uses her mind to flip a van over their heads.

• Cliffhanger: Eleven confirms Barb is dead, but finds Will alive in the Upside Down "Castle Byers." Hopper and Joyce are caught breaking into the Lab.

Chapter Eight: The Upside Down

• The Rundown: Hopper and Joyce enter the Upside Down to rescue a dying Will. A massive showdown occurs at the school between the agents, the kids, and the Demogorgon.

• Highlight: Eleven pinned to the chalkboard, turning into a cloud of black smoke as she disintegrates the Demogorgon and herself to save her friends.

• Cliffhanger: One month later, Will is home but coughs up a slug and sees a flash of the Upside Down.