Stranger Things React

"The Upside Down"

In Hawkins National Laboratory, Martin Brenner sits down with an enraged Joyce Byers, who wants retribution for the faking of her son's death. Jim Hopper is repeatedly tasered and interrogated by Connie Frazier, who threatens to kill him and make it look like a drug overdose. Hopper tries to deal for their freedom to venture into the Upside Down and find Will in exchange for forgetting the lab's illegal activities. Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler set up several traps for the Demogorgon in the Byers house, and Jonathan creates a weapon by hammering several nails through a baseball bat.

"Your absolutely insane! Why would you all risk your lives!?" Jason questions.

"Because he's my son you insolent arse!" Joyce angrily fires back.

Brenner agrees to Hopper's deal on the condition that he gives up Eleven, and Hopper agrees so long as Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair are not harmed.

Eleven looks down at this. She knew realistically that it was expected and Hopper didn't know her then but it still hurt.

As the soldiers and scientists leave for Hawkins Middle, Frazier wonders what will happen if they find Will, which Brenner assures will not happen. Hopper and Joyce suit up and go through the lab's gate. As Joyce begins to panic once in the Upside Down, Hopper tries to calm her and remembers doing the same thing for his daughter Sara when she had trouble breathing, the first sign of her cancer.

Everyone stayed fairly quiet for this with occasional gasp.

Nancy and Jonathan slit their palms and end up holding hands. Before they can say anything, Steve Harrington knocks on Jonathan's door, wanting to apologize for fighting him. Noticing Nancy's slit palm and the house's state, Steve becomes confused and Nancy points her gun at him to get him to leave just as the lights flicker.

"Damn, Miss perfect Nancy Wheeler with a gun!" Carol teased. Nancy and the others ignored her as Eddie smirked.

"So that's when your obsession started then eh?" Eddie questioned jokingly.

Nancy threw a cushion which hit him straight in the face in response.

The Demogorgon bursts out of the ceiling and they run to Will's room, where they have set up a signal to alert them to it getting caught in a set bear trap. The lights go back to normal and they realize it has vanished. Hopper and Joyce find a broken egg and the ruins of Castle Byers. As Hopper looks at a stuffed animal among the planks of wood, he remembers Sara having the same toy in the hospital.

"Wait so where are you?" Ted asked confused.

"Have been asleep this whole time dad?" Mike muttered in annoyance and mocked him.

Steve flees the house, but notices the lights flickering from outside and decides to go back in to help. The Demogorgon leaps on Jonathan, but is attacked by Steve with the nail bat. He beats it into the bear trap and Jonathan lights it on fire, causing it to flee, badly wounded, to the Upside Down.

"So really Steve, that was the first fight you won? Or does your fleeing disqualify it?" Dustin teased jokingly. Steve pulls a face at him in response.

Inside the Upside Down version of her house, Joyce hears Jonathan's voice and Jonathan hears hers, her presence signified by the lights.

"Cool!" some kid mutters.

Mike invites Eleven to live with his family when Will is found. When she asks if he will be like her brother, Mike disagrees. He invites her to a school dance known as the "Snow Ball" and tries to explain the concept of a crush to her, failing and instead kissing her, leaving her stunned as he goes to investigate a car pulling up outside. He sees the lab's agents emerge and runs back inside. Frazier and several agents corner the kids, but Eleven kills them by telekinetically collapsing their brains.

"What the f-."

The effort makes her pass out. Eleven awakens to Brenner standing over her and her friends being restrained, and asks to go with them instead of him.

"Ugh again, piss off!"

Drawn by the blood from the dead agents, the Demogorgon bursts out of the wall and kills the agents, attacking Brenner as the kids flee.

Everyone cheers at this except the California lot. The others in the group, didn't know the full extent of what happened to El with NINA, just the Owens was there.

Hopper and Joyce follow a trail of blood to the library where the bodies of several people and Will with a tentacle down his throat are. They pull it out and Hopper shoots the moving tentacle dead. Will is not breathing, so Hopper instructs Joyce on CPR, having her breathe into his mouth while he performs chest compressions. As he does, he remembers doctors unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate Sara, pushing him to try harder until Will breathes again.

"Oh thank god!"

Mike promises a weakened Eleven that they will go to the Snow Ball together as the Demogorgon kills the rest of the soldiers. The Demogorgon enters the classroom and attacks the boys, but Eleven pins it to a wall with her powers and tears it apart, tearfully saying goodbye to Mike before the force of her power vaporizes them both.

Tears fall down peoples faces at this. Mike calling to El and El's goodbye was sad.

As Karen Wheeler arrives on the scene just as the police do, a distraught Mike hugs her.

Will awakens in the hospital to his mother and brother at his side, the latter having brought him a new mixtape. Hopper, Karen, Steve and Nancy all wait outside, along with an asleep Ted Wheeler, Lucas, and Dustin, the boys sleeping on each other. Mike sits awake, deep in thought, until the boys are approved to see Will. They excitedly tell him of the events of the past several days while Nancy leaves the room, quietly distraught over Barb Holland. Outside the hospital, a car pulls up and Hopper gets inside.

Barb finally gets up at moves over to her best friend. Screw the fact she was dead, she was going to enjoy this while it lasted.

On Christmas Eve, the boys have another Dungeons & Dragons campaign in which they fight a thessalhydra and win thanks to Will's fireball spell. As Jonathan picks Will up, Mike looks over at Eleven's untouched blanket fort sadly. On the way out, Nancy gives Jonathan a Christmas present: a new camera, actually from Steve, who she is back together with. Hopper drives out to Mirkwood and places an Eggo in a lockbox. At dinner with his family, Will goes to the bathroom and vomits up a slug that slides down the drain before seeing a brief flash of the Upside Down. He goes back out and continues the dinner, seemingly unfazed.

"Oh for the ever loving god, why!?"

Same.