Stranger Things

God damn it!

I closed the gate.

I can break through.

What are you doing?

I need food for my battery.

You had a fully charged battery. You didn't make a dent.

No. We're not getting through that thing, whatever it is, not this way at least.

We have to.

We don't even know if Holly's on the other side.

The trail could've gone cold for a million reasons.

Battery.

Anything else?

Hey! I… No, I don't have anything else.

I was packing for a party of one, a party of me.

You're lucky I'm sharing with you.

Try it.

You might like it.

Hmm?

We gotta go.

El?

You okay?

What's wrong? You all right?

Will, Robin, I need you to answer me.

I'm not mad. I just need to know you're safe.

Shit.

-Is that, uh… -Yeah.

You think she saw us?

Yeah.

Get in.

I told you, I explicitly told you,

I didn't want him going anywhere that's not safe.

And not only did you take him, you cut off all communication.

Yes, I mean, in retrospect, that was a bit inconsiderate.

Inconsiderate?

We really should've left a note.

Is this funny to you?

Oh. Sorry. It must be my tone.

My mother says I sound perpetually insincere.

Okay, this is my son's life you're playing with.

My son.

So next time I say I do not want him leaving my side,

that means I don't want him leaving my goddamn side.

I'm right here, Mom.

You know, you can talk to me, right?

And I'm not a kid anymore.

Will, I am still your mother.

-Doesn't mean you know what you're doing. -What?

Your plan? It… It sucked.

I'm sorry, but it did.

You only liked it because it was safe,

but we don't have time for safe, not anymore.

We have to act, and we have to take risks, and thank God we did.

Because my plan, it… it actually worked.

I spied on Vecna and tapped back into the hive mind,

and we found out that Holly was just the beginning.

Vecna is gonna take more kids.

I don't know why or what he wants to do with them,

but now we know something we can use against him, his next target.

So next time you order me to stay by your side, I wouldn't count on it.

But, as I said, in the future, we will try to leave a note.

We should go. We have to stop Vecna. We don't have much time.

-Ready for the biosphere? -Yes, I am.

Okay. Think about the difference between land and water.

Okay, got it. Thank you!

Hey!

You still thinking about your parents?

Yeah.

They are in the very best possible hands, Holly, I assure you.

And I'm told that they are improving with each hour that passes.

As soon as they're healed, they'll join us here.

I… I know.

-It's just-- -You wish to be with them.

I understand.

But you cannot offer them comfort in Hawkins, Holly.

The only comfort they have is knowing you are here, safe.

With me.

Safe from the monsters.

I thought blackberries might cheer you up a little.

They're your favorite, aren't they?

How did you know?

That they're my favorite?

Oh, it's, uh…

It's just a hunch.

I'm good with hunches.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll make chocolate chip pancakes.

-He loves those. -Who does?

Your classmate, Derek.

Derek is coming here?

You don't like Derek very much, do you?

Should I just let the monsters eat him?

No. No, you can't… you can't do that.

Well, how about this?

I will tell Derek

that if he misbehaves, or if he hurts you in any way,

I will send him right back, and he can face those monsters on his own.

How does that sound?

I expect to be gone most of the day.

While I'm out, you'll have the whole house all to yourself.

The whole house?

Everything which is mine is yours.

But in return, I need you to promise me one thing.

Something very important. Do you think you can do that?

Yeah.

You must never, under any circumstance, go out into the woods. Do you understand?

Is that where the monsters live?

But they won't find you. That is, as long as you don't--

Don't try to find them.

You know, I'm very glad I saved you first.

You're the brightest of them all.

Oh, and if you don't mind, bring my mail in, won't you?

How did you know?

A hunch.

Base, Alpha 1 checking in.

We're arrived at checkpoint H, H for Hercules.

No sign of freak.

We'll recon this area, then proceed to next checkpoint. Over.

Alpha 1, Base. Acknowledge your location at Hercules. Over.

Alpha 1, out.

Recon?

Meaning, I take a leak,

and you guys take five.

You heard the man. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Some jackass messing with the wall, Lieutenant?

Some jackass, yeah.

But not one of ours.

Come on.

Get on the hedgehog.

Yes, sir.

-Oh! -Hey!

Come up! Come up!

Base, Alpha 1, we're taking enemy fire. Need backup and air cover now.

Move!

Okay.

Who's there?

It looks like Robin sent up the Bat-Signal.

Hey. I'm so sorry.

-Are you okay? -Yeah.

Here.

Holy shit.

Yep.

Bike crash. Flew headfirst into a light post.

Look, I'm sorry about missing the crawl, about everything.

It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up.

Yeah, looks like he already did.

-Is that broken? -I dunno.

-Let me… -Don't touch it. Why--

-I wasn't…. I wanted to… -You were going to.

Hey, this isn't a social call, kiddos. Let's go.

Derek?

Derek Turnbow?

As in the Turnbow family? Like Turnbow Realty?

The one and only.

Whole family's a menace.

How can you be sure?

Sure that Derek's the next target?

Because I saw.

I've learned that when I'm close enough to the hive mind,

I can tap into it, into Vecna's mind.

I can see who he's targeting.

The first time it happened, I saw through Holly's eyes

the same day she was taken.

And this morning, it happened again.

Only this time, I wasn't Holly.

-What the hell? -I was someone else.

-Watch where you're going, dipshit. -Suck a fat one!

I was Derek Turnbow. I'm positive.

Hold on. I'm a little lost.

Shocking.

Were you seeing through the eyes of… of Vecna or of Derek?

Both.

I… I was Vecna,

but inside Derek's mind.

Vecna's like a psychic serial killer.

He stalks his victims, but he does it by invading their minds.

That's what he did with Chrissy and Max.

Yeah, but the way he's doing it this time is different.

We did some digging at the hospital. It turns out that before he took Holly,

Vecna stalked her.

But… he didn't appear as Vecna. He appeared as Henry.

As a friend.

We think he was trying to earn her trust.

Now, why he went to all that trouble, we don't know.

But I highly doubt his long-term goal is friendship.

Whatever it is, whatever he's planning,

we have to stop him.

And we have to save Derek.

The Turnbows live here.

We wait in a van across the street.

As soon as they're asleep, we move in, we grab Derek,

and we take him to here,

the McCorkle farm. It's completely isolated. It's abandoned.

The only thing is, we need to make sure he doesn't see us or know where he is.

So we'll need to blindfold him.

Wait. Hold on. What?

So that Vecna can't find him.

Yeah. What, and Mom, you're okay with just kidnapping a child?

No, we're saving a child via kidnapping.

And yeah, it's fine,

I think.

Yes. Now's not the time to play it safe, Jonathan.