In this episode of Stranger Things, Will is being rushed to the hospital at Hawkins Lab. He claims to be burning up inside. Joyce is very upset that they can’t figure out exactly what is wrong with Will. The now memories are real and are affecting him. Dr. Owens also visits Hopper who is recovering from his experience. He shows Hopper how much The Gate has grown. It has been spreading for the past year and they won’t burn it due to a complication.

Nancy, Jonathan and Murray have made multiple copies of the tapes that will bring down Hawkins Lab and make them responsible for everything (including Barb’s death). The romantic tension right now between Jonathan and Nancy is at an all-time high. Especially after a few drinks and Murray’s offer for them to share a room. They try to play it off but eventually they finally share a passionate kiss and end up spending the night together.

Dustin and Steve are spending some bonding time together. They go to the cellar to try and find D’Art. They realize that he has grown larger and escaped from the cellar. Lucas is finally able to contact Dustin and Dustin tells him to meet up with him soon.

Joyce is bringing Bob up to speed on what is going on. He is surprised at what is going on. Will wakes up and has no memory of who Bob is. Dr. Owens goes to see Will and Will remembers Mike and his mother. He doesn’t remember Dr. Owens, Hopper or what caused him to be in the hospital. Dr. Owens then decides to test a virus theory. He burns a tentacle and it causes Will a great deal of pain. Dr. Owens thinks this is a neurological virus that is affecting the hosts and allowing them to all connect and communicate with each other. He also thinks that this can be cured. Bob mentioned to Joyce the idea of them moving from Hawkins. That idea is sounding great to Joyce right about now.

Murray, Jonathan and Nancy are sitting down to quite the awkward breakfast. Nancy has a smile on her face but keeps avoiding eye contact with Jonathan. Murray knows something is going on and gives them a bottle of vodka as a parting gift. He tells them to watch the papers and to never contact him again.

Lucas goes to see Max and wants her to come with him to prove his story about Will is true. Dustin and Steve are continuing their bonding time. They end up in the abandoned junkyard where they are met by Lucas and Max. They decide to set some traps and get ready for D’Art.

Dr. Owens and the HL staff are discussing their options. The staff thinks they should start burning The Gate again, even if it kills Will. Dr. Owens refuses to do so. Joyce is trying to find answers and Will wakes up. He is shocked and tells Mike he saw something. He tells Will he thinks he knows how to stop the shadow monster.

They are waiting for D’Art in the junkyard and Lucas/Max have a nice conversation where Max opens up a little bit. It is interrupted when they see D’Art arrive. He isn’t going for the bait so Steve goes to confront him. He is shocked to find that D’Art isn’t alone, but with two other Demogorgons. Steve narrowly escapes and they all hide in the bus. They are fighting off the Demogorgonswhen they suddenly leave. As if they are called away to somewhere else.

Will used the photographs that were taken from his house to try and find out where the shadow monster is hiding. They send soldiers into the tunnels to look. The soldiers are quickly surrounded as Will apologizes saying “they are almost here.” The soldiers are quickly wiped out by the Demogorgons. Hopper then looks on in disbelief as we see the Demogorgons climbing out of the tunnels….

Random thoughts on tonight’s episode:

-Only Billy Hargrove would smoke a cigarette while working out.

-Hopper’s message to Eleven was very nice. It’s too bad that Eleven didn’t hear any of it. It’s also surprising that we didn’t see Eleven at all this episode.

-It’s about time that Jonathan and Nancy finally got together. I’m curious to see how they will get involved in the chaos that seems to be moments away from breaking out.

-This was one of the better episodes of this season. Even though we didn’t have Eleven at all. Will she ever get back with The Gang?

Stranger Things 2 is now streaming on Netflix.