Stranger Things Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers opens with a frantic scientist running down the halls of Hawkins Lab on November 6th, 1983 before being snatched by an off-screen monster. The episode introduces us to the main cast of the show:
The nerds
Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair are middle school, DnD loving nerds. We meet them in Mike’s basement near the end of a 10-hour campaign.
The teens
Nancy Wheeler and Jonathon Byers are Mike and Will’s older siblings. Steve Harrington is Nancy’s boyfriend.
The adults
Joyce Byers is Will and Jonathon’s mother. Jim Hopper is the chief of police.
The Hawkins Lab crew
Dr. Brenner is the head of a top secret program at Hawkins Lab involving a mysterious young girl called Eleven. The events of the series revolve around these two.
We also meet several secondary characters, including Nancy’s friend Barb, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, Hopper’s co-workers, the Middle School science teacher and various other students and residents of the town.
The plot
After leaving the DnD game at Mike’s house, Will Byers encounters a mysterious creature on the ride home, before vanishing from his home. His frantic mother files a missing person’s report, kicking off an investigation by Hopper.
In the meantime, we get some teenagary stuff involving Nancy sneaking around with Steve. We also get a bit of backstory on Hopper, who we learn lost his young child a few years ago and get a view of a gross-looking hole in the wall in Hawkins Lab.
While out looking for their missing friend, the boys encounter a mysterious girl with a shaved head, who had previously turned up at a local restaurant, before being chased out into the rain by Dr. Brenner and his crew. The episode ends with Will’s fate still up in the air and the boys staring at a very wet Eleven. Check out our full recap if you’d like all the gory details.
Stranger Things Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers opens with text on a night sky telling us it is November 6th, 1983 in Hawkins, Indiana. The scene shifts to a large building with several satellite dishes on the roof.
We get another text overlay telling us this building is the Hawkins National Laboratory U.S. Department of Energy. As the lights flicker eerily, a man in a lab coat bursts through an interior door, running at full speed down the hallway. It seems all is not well at the Hawkins lab.
He frantically mashes the elevator button, obviously fearing something is on his trail and then stands nervously inside the elevator, waiting for it to close. We hear ominous growling as the man is pulled up through the roof of the elevator right before the doors close.
That’s when he knew he had fucked up
Roll of destiny
The scene shifts to a lawn sprinkler spraying the yard in front of a two-story house, as we hear a boy’s voice coming from inside the house. A young boy with short, black hair, spins a tale about an approaching monster, as three other boys raptly listen.
One of them, a chubby kid with curly brown hair, questions what they will do if its the Demogorgon. A boy with a brown bowl cut rolls his eyes, and a boy with short, curly black hair assures them that it isn’t the Demogorgon.
The storyteller says an army of troglodytes enters the dungeon, and the black-haired boy gloats, but his victory is short-lived. The storyteller, who appears to be the dungeon master in a game of Dungeons and Dragons, reveals that there is something else in the dungeon. The Demogorgon!
Boom!
The kids panic over what to do. The black-haired boy suggests the kid with the bowl cut cast fireball. The curly brown-haired boy says it’s too risky and tells bowl cut to cast a protection spell instead.
The black-haired boy tells him not to be a pussy, while the curly brown haired boy continues to insist on a protection spell. The dungeon master tells them the Demogorgon is tired of their bickering.
As the other two boys continue to bicker, bowl cut, who they refer to as “Will,” casts fireball and rolls the die. However, the outcome is unclear, because the die rolls off the table, forcing the boys to search for it on the floor.
As the boys frantically search for the die, a woman opens the basement door and yells, “Mike!” The dungeon master tells his mom that they are nearing the end of the campaign.
She declares that the end is here and walks away. Mike follows her upstairs and begs for 20 more minutes, saying stopping now will ruin the flow. She says it’s a school night and he pleads that the campaign took two weeks to plan and he couldn’t possibly have known it would take more than 10 hours to finish.
Mike tries to persuade his dad, but he tells him to listen to his mother. While Mike is upstairs, Will finds the die and says the roll was a seven, but the black-haired boy tells him it doesn’t count if Mike didn’t see it.
As the boys pack up their things to leave, the boy with the brown curls asks if anyone else wants the last slice of pizza. They don’t. The other boys leave and curly hair goes upstairs and offers the last slice to a teenage girl named Nancy, who is talking on the phone.
She closes the door in his face and he exits the house with the slice, telling Mike that there is something wrong with his sister. He says she has a stick up her butt and the black curly haired boy agrees. He adds that it’s because she’s been dating that douchebag Steve Harrington.
Brown curls says Nancy is turning into a real jerk. Mike claims she has always been a real jerk, but brown curls disagrees. He says she used to be cool, like when she dressed up as an elf for one of their previous campaigns.
A wild Demogorgon appears
The two curly-haired boys ride away on their bikes, leaving Will and Mike in the driveway. Will tells Mike he rolled a seven and the Demogorgon got him. The light on Mike’s garage flickers as Will rides away.
RIP Will
The three boys ride their bikes home, the black-haired boy reaching his first. Curly hair challenges Will to a race, with a comic as a prize.
Will wins the race and tells curly hair, he’ll take his X-Men #134. Will continues on alone, eventually riding past Hawkins Lab. The headlight on his bike flickers just before he spots a tall figure in the road that scares him.
He veers off the road, crashing his bike down a hill. As he gets up, we hear ominous growling and the figure approaches. Will runs away.
Will runs home and frantically searches for his Mom, but she isn’t home. He peers out the window and sees the mysterious figure. He dials 9-1-1 on the wall phone, but hears only the screeching of the creature on the line.
The creature approaches and unlocks the door. Will runs out the back to a dilapidated shed. He grabs a rifle off the wall and frantically begins loading it.
Will points the rifle at the door of the shed and waits. We hear growls and will turns to face the naked bulb that is now growing brighter. When the view shifts back to the shed, Will is gone and the image fades to black, followed by the series opening credits.
Only a good boy with a gun can stop a bad creature
The pig pen
After the credits, the scene shifts to a messy trailer with a child’s drawing of a family on the wall. A chubby, shirtless man with thinning hair and a scruffy beard wakes up on the couch and checks his watch.
He smokes a cig before going through his morning routine, which includes swallowing some pills, chased by a swig of beer. He dresses in a uniform with a badge that reveals him to be the town’s chief of police.
The Byers residence
Back at Will’s house, a woman with black hair is frantically searching for her car keys, while a teenage boy with messy brown hair makes breakfast. She asks the boy where Will is, and he says he didn’t get him up yet.
The woman scolds the boy, who she calls Jonathon, for not making sure his brother is up. She goes to Will’s room, but he isn’t there. She asks Jonathon if Will came home last night, but he doesn’t know because he was working.
She scolds Jonathon again, telling him they discussed how he couldn’t work while his mom was also at work, because he needed to be home to babysit his brother. She calls Mike’s mom to ask if Will spent the night at their house.
Mike’s mom says no, adding that he left their house around 8:00 PM. Her nametag reveals that her name is “Joyce.” She hangs up the phone, looking worried and the scene shifts.
Bullies. Bullies never change.
Mike and the other two boys arrive at the bike rack in front of Hawkins Middle School. They discuss the oddity of Will not being there.
They decide he probably just showed up for school early and start to walk into the building, but get stopped by a pair of bullies. One of the bullies asks who the other thinks would make more money at a freakshow and refers to the boys as “midnight,” “ball face,” or “toothless.” Not the most inventive insults.
The other bully chooses toothless, prompting brown curls to clarify that he told them he has Cleidocranial dysplasia and his teeth are coming in. The bullies are not impressed and command curly hair to “do the arm thing.”
He complies and they react with disgust. The bullies finally leave and the boys reassure their friend that his different anatomy is actually cool like a superpower before heading into the school.
Its no Truffle Shuffle
Teenage wasteland
The scene shifts to Nancy walking into the high school. She meets up with a tall red-headed student to gossip about her not-boyfriend Steve, who she just made-out with a couple times. Nancy’s friend tells her she’s going to be super popular now and she better not stop hanging out with her when it happens. Nancy denies it, saying it was a two-time thing, nothing more.
Nancy finds a note in her locker instructing her to meet Steve in the bathroom and the scene shifts to the two of them making out. Steve tries to make plans with Nancy, but she says she has to study. Steve says he’ll come over to Nancy’s house around eight.
She objects, saying her parents will be there. Steve claims to be stealthy like a ninja. He tries to change tactics and talk her into parking with him. She rejects the idea, but then tells him to meet her at Dearborn and Maple at eight to study.
Joyce makes Hopper do actual work
The police chief finally arrives at the station to be greeted by hecklers. A woman tells him that while he was drinking or sleeping, there was a garden gnome incident and Joyce Byers can’t find her son. The chief, whose nametag says “Hopper,” tries to blow it off, saying mornings are for coffee and contemplation, but finds Joyce waiting in his office.
Joyce is frantic about her son and pissed off that she had to wait so long for Hopper to show up. He tells her the boy is probably just playing hookie.
She tells hopper Will isn’t like that or like most kids. She explains he has a couple of friends, but that the kids at school are mean to him. She describes him as a “sensitive kid” and says Lonnie used to say he was queer and call him a fag.
Hopper questions when she last heard from Lonnie. Joyce says the last she heard, Lonnie was in Indianapolis, but she insists he has nothing to do with Will’s disappearance. Hopper asks for his number, explaining that 99 times out of a hundred, when a kid goes missing, they are with a parent or a relative.
Return to Hawkins Lab
Joyce is skeptical, but agrees to call Lonnie after Hopper insists that nothing ever happens in Hawkins. The scene shifts to some men in suits greeting a white haired man named Dr. Brenner in front of Hawkins Lab.
The lab is bustling with men talking about quaratines and sealing off the east wing of the lab. Dr. Brenner and some other men put on some protective suits, grab some guns, and head further into the lab.
They exit what appears to be the same elevator where the man presumably died in the opening scenes of the show. The corridor is full of some kind of floating spores.
They spot what looks like mold or plant growth on the walls. Further into the lab, there is some kind of membrane covered by black vines over an opening in the wall. The membrane pulsates, as if whatever is inside is breathing.
Gross
One of the men asks if that is where it came from. Dr. Brenner says yes. The man then asks about a girl. Dr. Brenner says she can’t have gone far. We hear something roar from the other side of the opening.
A wild girl appears
The scene shifts to someone’s bare feet walking through dead leaves. The camera pans up to reveal a young girl with a shaved head, wearing a dirty, torn hospital gown.
The girl sneaks into the kitchen of a restaurant and begins gobbling some fries. The owner spots her and she grabs the fries and runs, but he catches her. Thinking she’s a boy, he scolds her for stealing. However, after taking in her appearance, it seems to click with him that something strange is going on.
Interview with the nerds
The scene shifts back to Hawkins Middle School. The boys, minus Will, excitedly ask their science teacher if it came. After a short fake out, he tells them it did and they head for the AV room.
It turns out to be a shortwave radio. The boys try out the radio, until some men show up and summon Mike, Lucas, and Dustin to the office to talk to Hopper and one of his deputies.
The boys explain to a grumpy and impatient Hopper that Will took a road that they refer to as Mirkwood when he left Mike’s house. They want to help look for Will, but Hopper tells them no.
Castle Byers
The scene shifts to a flashback of Joyce looking for Will in a homemade fort he named “Castle Byers.” The fort is full of a lot of stuff that seems like it would get ruined in the first significant rainstorm.
Flag code violation
Joyce presents Will with two tickets to the movie Poltergeist. Will is delighted, but also surprised because he didn’t think he was allowed to see it. Joyce tells him she changed her mind, as long as he doesn’t have nightmares for a week.
Will assures her that he doesn’t get scared like that anymore. Joyce teases him and then the scene shifts to present day, where she is checking the fort, only to find it empty. Jonathon and Joyce walk around the woods calling for Will, but get no response.
Yap and scran
The scene shifts again to the man from the restaurant tossing a rather unappetizing looking burger patty on the grill. He serves the burger to the little girl he caught stealing earlier. She is now wearing a yellow t-shirt instead of the hospital gown and appears cleaner.
He asks her questions about her parents and where she came from, but she doesn’t respond. Eventually, he takes the burger away and tells her he’ll give it back when she answers his questions.
He introduces himself as Benny and asks her name. She doesn’t respond. He examines her arm and spots a tattoo that reads “011” on her wrist. She jerks away and hides it, but he continues to ask her what it means.
What does it mean?
She initially denies that the tattoo has any meaning, but when he threatens to take the food away, she indicates that Eleven is her name. He gives the food back and then calls some sort of social services hotline, telling them that the girl is scared and he thinks maybe she’s been abused or something before making arrangements for someone to come to the restaurant to check on her.
Meanwhile, the scene shifts to Eleven, still eating. She appears annoyed by a squeaky fan. She stares at the fan and it stops. She returns to eating.
The investigation begins
The scene shifts to Hopper and his deputies out searching for Will. Hopper finds Will’s bike lying in the forest by the road. Hopper speculates that something serious must have happened, otherwise Will would have walked his bike home instead of leaving it in the woods.
The scene shifts back to Hawkins Lab, where it appears they are listening in on the townspeople’s phone calls, one of which is Joyce calling Lonnie’s house. Lonnie’s girlfriend answers and tells Joyce that Lonnie isn’t home. She hangs up on Joyce after a brief argument. Meanwhile, Jonathon is making a missing child poster for Will.
Joyce calls Lonnie back and gets his answering machine. She leaves a message pleading with him to call her back.
Hopper and his deputies show up with Will’s bike in tow. Hopper and the deputies search Joyce’s house for clues. Hopper checks the shed out back and notices the missing gun and bullets scattered on the table.
The naked bulb goes out and then comes back on as Hopper searches. After leaving the shed he tells his deputies to call Flo and get a search party together.
Search for Will
Back at the Wheeler’s house, Mike is trying to convince his parents to let him go search for Will, but it doesn’t work. They also deny Nancy’s request to study at Barb’s house. The whole thing erupts into a family squabble and eventually everyone but Mr. Wheeler leaves the table in a huff.
The scene shifts to the search party moving through the dark woods looking for Will. Scott Clarke, the middle school science teacher, tells Hopper that Will is a great student.
Hopper tells him that he never cared much for science, but his daughter Sara loved it. When Mr. Clarke asks what grade she is in, Hopper tells him that she lives with her mom in the city and then walks off. Another member of the search party tells Mr. Clarke that Hopper’s kid died a few years ago.
The scene shifts to Mike’s basement, where we see the gameboard with the Demogorgon prominently displayed. Mike contacts Lucas on their walkie talkies to tell him they should be out looking for Will. He justifies this by pointing out that Will risked himself for the party by casting fireball instead of protection. His argument works and Lucas tells him to meet him in ten.
Should have cast protection
As Mike is riding off to meet Lucas, he spots Steve climbing up the side of the house. Nancy tries to turn Steve away, but he crawls in the window.
“Social Services” arrives
The scene shifts to Eleven eating ice cream while the restaurant owner washes dishes. Someone knocks at the door and Eleven is obviously alarmed. However, the restaurant owner assures her he’ll tell whoever it is to go away.
He answers the door and a blonde woman claims to be from social services. He is surprised they’d send someone so soon, but lets her in. He heads for the kitchen and just as he remarks that her voice sounded different on the phone, the blonde woman pulls out a silenced pistol and shoots him.
Eleven flees through the back door, but is stopped by men with guns. Dr. Brenner and some other men enter the front door. By the time he arrives in the back with the blonde woman, the two gunmen are on the floor and Eleven is gone.
Steve tries to score
Meanwhile, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin are biking their way to Will’s last known location as a storm rolls in. As the boys head into the woods, the scene shifts back to Nancy’s bedroom.
Steve is quizzing Nancy on the topics for her test. Steve proposes that every time Nancy gets a question right, he will remove an item of clothing and every time she gets something wrong, she will. Nancy doesn’t go for it, but they make out anyway.
Let me show you my strange thing
Nancy accuses Steve of scheming to get another notch on his belt. However, he charms her out of being mad and they return to studying for her test.
The phone call
At the Byers’ house, Joyce and Jonathon are sorting through some photos looking for a photo of Will to use for his missing poster. Joyce compliments Jonathon on some photos he took and apologizes for being absent from his life of late.
Jonathon breaks down because he feels guilty for not being home when Will disappeared. Joyce tells him it isn’t his fault. She assures Jonathon that Will is close, because she feels it in her heart.
They find the perfect photo for the poster just before the phone rings. Joyce races to answer it. She hears breathing and other sounds and starts demanding to know what the caller has done to her boy. She drops the phone as sparks shoot out of it. Joyce freaks out and insists that the breathing she heard was Will.
The nerds meet Eleven
We return to the boys searching the woods for Will. Dustin wants to go home, but Lucas calls him a sissy. Mike hears a noise in the woods and they turn to find Eleven standing there in the rain. They stare at each other and the screen fades to black.
