previously on stranger things in a flashback to 1979 we see dr brenner getting ready to go to work at hawkins lab which is occupied by many children who have extraordinary powers but something goes wrong and brenner wakes up to find mangled bodies everywhere with only one person left standing 11. jumping forward to 1986 in lenora hills california will 11 jonathan and their new friend argyle are settling into their new surroundings under the watchful eye of joyce who has started a job working from home though it is soon apparent that 11 is not fitting in quite as well as everyone else and is consistently picked on by other kids however 11 doesn't let mike know any of this and the letters they're sending each other mike remains in hawkins with nancy and the rest of the gang dustin is staying in touch with his long-distance girlfriend susie along with steve robin max and lucas who are all returning for another school year lucas has joined the basketball team and has befriended the team captain jason and his group of jock friends during a basketball game jason professes his love for his girlfriend chrissy and robin appears to have feelings for fellow band member vicky after the game lucas chooses a basketball game over the dungeons and dragons meeting known as the hellfire club leaving mike and dustin one player short things are also awkward between lucas and max max hears chrissy in the bathroom being sick and we see that chrissy is experiencing hallucinations of the upside down or are they we meet the leader of the hellfire club eddie munson who is no friend of the jocks nancy is busy working on a newspaper with fellow reporter fred chrissy leaves school grounds and heads into the forest where she sees a grandfather clock extruding out of a tree but is interrupted by eddie who is selling her drugs much to his surprise as she is a model student back in california eleven's bullying is escalating and leads to 11 attempting to use her powers against the main bully angela leading to further ridicule joyce receives a suspicious parcel in the mail which contains a russian doll unsure what to do she calls murray for advice who tells her there's probably something inside the doll scared that it may be dangerous joyce smashes the doll open from a distance and finds a note inside saying hopper is alive mike and dustin found their third player in lucas's sister erica and during the dnd session the players are introduced to a villain named wekner who the players defeat whilst lucas's team wins the basketball game but lucas doesn't have his usual friend group around him anymore and spends the night partying with the jocks meanwhile at max's home she sees eddie meeting chrissy who becomes possessed by an unknown creature who puts her in a trance eddie yells for chrissy to wake up but it's too late the next day police arrive at the scene and speak to eddie's uncle and there is no sign of eddie anywhere just chrissy's mangled body in california mike comes to visit 11 and there's an awkward tension between him and will but mike isn't the only one coming to town lucas is feeling sorry for himself after partying too hard the night before and the police arrived to talk to jason news of the apparent murder has reached nancy and fred who decide to investigate and max talks to dustin about what she saw the night before and eddie running away dustin being close friends with eddie doesn't believe that he could be the murderer and that there must be more to the story murray starts working with joyce on figuring out the ransom note she received and we see that hopper survived the explosion and has since been tortured in a russian prison mike 11 and will decide to go roller skating and eleven is continuing to keep up the facade that she is fitting in with the kids from school much to will's dismay the police tell jason what has happened to his girlfriend chrissy and he wants vengeance dustin and max recruit steve and robin and fill them in on what they think is going on they then get to work on finding where eddie may be on their way to the crime scene fred starts experiencing some all too familiar hallucinations eleven's lies about the other kids from school begin to unravel as angela publicly humiliates her revealing the truth to mike joyce and murray decide to call the number on the ransom note which is answered by a prison guard named enzo who asks for money for hopper's release the jocks begin planning their revenge on the primary suspect eddie and the military begins an investigation of their own robin figures out a way to locate eddie and nancy interviews eddie's uncle who mentions the similarities of the events to what happened to a family called the creels nearby fred's hallucinations are worsening the tension rises between will and mike and it all becomes too much for eleven who attacks angela for what she's done max and company find eddie in an old boat shed and fill them in on what they know and how this could have happened fred is overcome by this unknown creature who appears all too familiar to the kids a real-life wekner who resides in the attic of a house in the upside down surrounded by demo bats the military pays dr owens a visit as 11 has had a similar mo in the past and he's likely to have more information which he does not share after a traumatic time at the skate rink the kids return home integrated by murray and eleven is reminded of the massacre at hawkins lab lucas finds himself caught up in the jock's plan to track down eddie who is still hiding out with the gang in the boat shed nancy is questioned about the events surrounding fred's death before joining the rest of the gang to figure out how all this could happen mike and eleven fight as she feels she's nothing without her powers and mike disagrees 11 then pointing out the fact that he never says that he loves her but then the police arrive and take 11 away for assaulting angela nancy has filled in on what is known so far and max recalls seeing chrissy in the bathroom before her death the gang split up to find out more information and nancy and robin go to investigate the lead they have on the creel family meanwhile wekner is on the prowl for more victims and ominous gateways are appearing at the crime scenes jason starts threatening eddie's friends to find out where he is and 11 is processed at the police station before being taken away in a transport vehicle joyce and murray fly to russia in their quest to save hopper who is planning an escape of his own lucas sneaks away from the jocks and warns dustin of what they're planning to do to eddie and eleven's transport is intercepted by dr owens nancy and robin review old newspaper clippings to see if there's any resemblance to what is going on and find a reference to the creel family victor creel the father of the family is currently locked away in an asylum following the supernatural events that occurred to his family dr owens feels an 11 on what's going on in hawkins and how they need to try to get her powers back for her to save the world once again but time is running out as now max is starting to experience hallucinations will jonathan and mike are put under protection due to the dangers they may be facing and two armed guards are posted in their house lucas catches up with dustin and joins the crew in their investigation nancy and robin fill them in on their findings deciding they're going to visit victor creel in the asylum meanwhile max's hallucinations are starting to worsen in russia we are introduced to yuri who agrees to assist them in their search for hopper who has made plans of his own with the prison guard enzo victor creel tells the story of his nightmares that surrounded the family which ultimately led to the death of his wife and daughter briefly mentioning that hearing a familiar song during the hallucinations managed to bring him back to reality will jonathan and mike are attacked and their guards overcome they make a quick escape with one of the injured guards in argyll's van yuri explains his plan to joyce and murray whilst hopper hides away in a nearby building but he is promptly caught and yuri is revealed to have betrayed them to take them to the kgb the gang goes to the cemetery for max to visit billy's grave but when steve goes to check on her she has been possessed by vector and trapped inside the nightmare he's created robin contacts dustin and lets him know that music may help break the curse and they desperately attempt to snap max out of the trance [Music] the music playing reminds her of happier times and assists her in breaking free of vectors grasp [Music] still on the run the guard passes away in the back of argyle's van and the military finding letters between mike and eleven are hot on their tail eleven is taken to a compound in nevada where she's taken underground and introduced to the nina project which is their attempt at returning eleven's powers but the project is run by an all too familiar face traumatized by memories of dr brenner or papa as she calls him 11 attempts to escape but is incapacitated elsewhere hopper is brought back to the compound with now disgraced prison guard enzo and yuri attempts to fly joyce and murray to the kgb max tries to remember details of what she saw whilst in wekner's trance and they pieced together what appears to be the creole household eleven awakens to find herself in a memory from her childhood in the facility and we are introduced to one of the orderlies peter who seems to be her only ally in hawken's lab it is then revealed that eleven is reliving her memories of her time in hawkins lab from inside the nina device which is being monitored by dr brenner and dr owens the crew in the van has no choice but to bury the body of the guard in the desert and will seems to have something to say to mike the hawkins crew arrive at the creel house to see what they can find and lucas and max's relationship sees a flicker of hope but that's not the only thing that's flickering in this house the kids at hawkins labs are being tested to determine the strength of their powers and levin finds herself continuing to have flashbacks of the events of the massacre in russia joyce and murray overpower yuri and get a crash course in flying a plane at the krill house the crew investigate the flickering lights and determine that vechna is likely nearby in the upside down vechna is otherwise occupied though as he has his sights set on his next victim the jocks have now caught up with eddie who is making his escape in a rowboat but before they can catch him one of the jocks is possessed and killed opening another gateway under the water eleven awakes and attempts to make another escape this time with explosive consequences but dr brenner reminds her of the importance for her to be there and she agrees to continue with the experiment the military meanwhile and becoming increasingly desperate to get their hands on levin the police begin investigating the death on the lake and the crew informs eddie that he is likely to be blamed again and that would be correct as jason tries to get the whole town involved on his munson hunt the van crew think of an idea to track 11 down and locate susie who gives them some coordinates joyce and murray rethink their plan and hide out with yuri as their captive eleven has just as much luck with the kids in hawken's lab as she did with the kids in california but cannot shake the images of their dead bodies the hawkins crew head to the lake to see if they can find any further leads and steve gets pulled into the underwater gateway trapping him in the upside down he is promptly joined by eddie nancy and robin who help him to find off fechner's demo bats before venturing further into the unknown murray sneaks into the russian base pretending joyce and yuri are the americans they were promised and they witness hopper and his fellow prisoners preparing to face a familiar foe dustin lucas and erica try to find a way to get steve and company out of the upside down who have meanwhile figured out a way to use light to communicate they think of a way they could escape by having them meet at one of the gateways that have opened and both crews had there immediately in hawken's lab peter befriends 11 and lets her in on the secret to escaping the lab hopper and enzo face the demogorgon but murray takes one of the guards hostage to force them to save them once safe hopper turns around to find joyce waiting for him in the upside down both crews meet up at the gateway whilst levin and peter's escape plan is foiled but peter is not who he appears to be [Music] those in the upside down climb out of there but nancy is caught just before she can escape and finds herself an observer in vechna's memories showing that the child of victor creel was the cause of the events that occurred to them leaving victor the one being blamed eleven follows peter through the lab and now sees the true reason her massacre occurred eleven tries to stop peter who fights back but ultimately is overcome by eleven who banishes him to the upside down and wekner's true identity is revealed those that escape the upside down desperately try to get nancy back who narrowly escapes wekner before waking up in russia hopper joyce murray and enzo regroup and try to find a way out of the prison whilst the demagogue organ is on the prowl while searching the prison they find other creatures from the upside down that are being kept on the premises before they find a way out eleven's powers have officially returned thanks to the revelation she had about her past and wekner meanwhile jonathan argyle mike and will are headed to the coordinates they were given on their way will gives mike a painting he has been working on which represents mike being the hero of the group and that everyone stands behind him will's feelings appear to be deeper than what he's letting on and he's not telling mike the whole truth nancy tells the gang what she saw whilst in vechna's mind and eleven now has the ability to telepathically see what the group is doing and saying the russian crew finally escapes the prison and they force yuri to help them escape the country as he has another aircraft that may be able to help them in hawkins the gang realized they're going to need more firepower to face wekner and steal an rv to head to a gun store on the way steve confesses that he has always had feelings for nancy despite their complicated history and lucas and max are slowly warming to each other yuri reveals his aircraft is actually a worn down helicopter that is unlikely to get them anywhere let alone out of the country but yuri promises to get it fixed up in no time at the gun store robin sees a friendly face in vicki but is hurt by seeing her with a guy nancy however sees a not so friendly face as jason is there and threatens the group before they make a quick getaway and prepare for war in nevada the group finds tracks which may lead to 11 but they're not the only ones that have found the location wanting to save her friends in hawkins 11 tries to leave the facility again but is stopped by dr brenner she wakes up back in her room in the facility which is now being breached by the military dr owens is taken captive and dr brenner takes 11 out of back exit and into the nevada desert however they're spotted by a military helicopter and brenner is shot down just before shooting 11 argyle's van is spotted heading their way to rescue 11 but it would appear she does not need much help [Music] 11 is reunited with the group and says her last goodbyes to papa before narrowly escaping the military back in hawkins the crew is split up in their plan to defeat wekner max erika and lucas head into the creel house meanwhile yuri is secretly sabotaging the repair of the helicopter joyce murray and hopper decide to have enzo force yuri to complete the repairs whilst they return to the facility to destroy the remaining upside-down creatures as they have a hive mind and doing so would benefit the world and give the kids a better chance at winning the rest of the hawkins gangs steve nancy dustin robin and eddie head into the upside down whilst 11 thinks of an idea to help with wekner by telepathically traveling there through max's memories all she needs is a salt bath to do so at the cruel house they are using lanterns to help hunt vechna whilst jason is hunting them argyle thinks of a way to make a makeshift salt bath at the local surfer boy pizza franchise and eddie and dustin prepare to make a big enough distraction for vechna's demo bats to leave vechna vulnerable and eddie thinks of just the thing max and lucas decide to go on a date once this is all over before being interrupted by wekner with the salt bath complete eleven telepathically finds max in the creel house who has fallen victim once again to wekner's curse eleven enters max's memories to try and find where she is gone eddie performs a face melting guitar solo which does exactly what they'd planned it to do as nancy steve and robin enter the creel house in the upside down the jocks finally catch up to erica lucas and max who is being stalked by wekner and now trapped in her memory of the snowball back in the russian prison they find all the creatures have now escaped as parts of the upside down have leaked into the facility and resuscitated them making them a lot more difficult to eliminate in max's memory eleven finds a table out of place belonging to the snowball which leads her to believe that that's where max is jason arrives at the attic and accuses lucas of harming max as she's unresponsive hopper and joyce say their goodbyes as hopper goes to face the upside down creatures and the vines in the upside down trap the trio in the creel house dustin and eddie prepare to fight the demo bats before making their escape but eddie decides to stay behind to lure them away from the gateway lucas and erika attempt to fight off the jocks and wekner arrives at the snowball to meet max but they're not alone eddie lures the bats away as far as possible and dustin re-enters the upside down to assist him and eddie stands his ground eleven fights wechner but is thrown into his memories alongside max wekner tells the story of how he came to do the mind player's bidding before taking hold of max [Music] it was time to defeat wagner once and for all [Music] hopper joyce and murray are picked up by yuri and enzo and dustin finds eddie who was overcome by the bats but he didn't run away this time [Music] the upside down is opening and kills jason in the process hawkins has fallen [Music] the entire group is reunited and max is seen recovering in hospital from her injuries everyone goes to help out with the unfortunate citizens of hawkins and robin and vicky get a chance to talk dustin tells eddie's uncle that he's not coming home and the story of bravery that led to his death back at hopper's cabin eleven is visited by someone she thought to be dead [Music] but all is not well in hawkins and now is the beginning of the end [Music] [Music] you