Joyce and the rest of the crew find Will in the middle of the football field during this episode. He is still trapped in the Upside Down while the shadow creature continues to shove tentacles into him. The crew knows Will is getting worse. Joyce tries to get Will to tell her the truth. Will finally gives in and tells her and breaks down and just wants it all to stop.
Hopper is furious when Eleven finally returns to the cabin. They get into a heated exchange where she calls him a liar and he replies he is just protecting her. Hopper ultimately decides to ground her (with no Eggos). She then goes into a full meltdown and shatters all of the windows in the cabin and slams her door shut. This episode is off to quite an intense start.
Jonathan and Nancy are skipping class to go meet up with Barb’s parents. They are waiting in the park when they get the paranoid feeling like they are being watched. They go to leave and quickly surrounded by people and, of course, his car won’t start. Dustin says good morning to D’Art then goes to school and finds the rest of the crew actually searching for D’Art.
Mr. Clarke’s science class is talking about the physical and emotional state of fear. Will is feeling all of that right now. Joyce runs Will a bath but Will responds with “he likes it cold.” Creepy. Hopper shows up to the Byers house after Joyce’s eight phone calls. Will confesses to them about the shadow creature and how he likes things cold. Will also claims to know things now. He is having troubling explaining so Joyce suggests that he draw his feelings or “now memories.”
Mike wants to talk in the AV Room (without Max). Mike tells Lucas and Dustin the truth about what Will saw. Mike will go to the Byers house to gather info and he wants Dustin and Lucas to look for D’Art. Max’s feelings are hurt and she wants nothing to do with the group now. Her creepy brother Billy warns her about being close to Lucas. Billy’s purpose of this episode was to taunt Steve and stare awkwardly at Lucas.
Eleven still has no TV. She starts cleaning up the cabin and finds a door in the floor leading to the basement. She finds a box that reads HAWKINGS LAB. She goes through the files and finds a file with the name Terry Ives. She finds a picture of her walking with her father. She attempts to contact her through her mind and we think Eleven might have found her mother. She tries to reach her and keeps screaming out “Mama!” Eleven has a had rough go of it so far this season. Hoping things turn around for her soon.
Nancy and Jonathan are inside Hawkins Lab when Dr. Owens greets them. He explains about the mistakes they have made and how that affected what happened to Will and Barb’s death. He shows them a Gate into the Upside Down. They can’t destroy it but they keep it from spreading further. Like the truth, Dr. Owens doesn’t want this knowledge to spread. They leave and we find out they wanted to be captured so they could recorded this conversation. Very smart. Nancy ends it by suggesting they burn the lab to the ground.
Dustin returns home from school and finds D’Art’s tank smashed. He follows a trail of black slime and finds D’Art eating his cat. He comes to the terrible realization that D’Art is a young Demogorgon.
Joyce and Hopper start putting Will’s drawings together. Blue is the dominant color with black lines. It looks like a giant maze. It finally clicks to Hopper. Will is drawing vines. Hopper races out to the pumpkin patch and starts digging. He digs a hole and jumps down and finds more bad news. He finds a large network of tunnels that all seem to be corrupted by the Upside Down.
Stranger Things 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.