HOLLYWOOD—Storylines are merging as we buildup to the upcoming season finale. Are you preparing for the upcoming battle, people?

Mike is helping clean Eleven up back at his house when Dustin bursts in saying Lucas is yelling through the walkie-talkie. Lucas is able to relay to them that the bad men from Hawkins Laboratory know they have Eleven and are heading for Mike’s house. The boys and Eleven run from the house hopping onto their bicycles as Hawkins Laboratory vans start chasing them. They meet up with Lucas and just as it seems there is a van blocking each side of the road, Eleven flips one over them so they can escape.

As the team reaches the junk yard Lucas apologizes to Eleven and Mike apologizes to Lucas, so everyone is on good terms again. The boys discuss the structure of Hawkins Laboratory and the unlikely possibility of breaking in. Back at Mike’s house Dr. Brenner along with other lab personnel are investigating and informing Mike’s parents that Mike is in danger and they need to trust him and cooperate.

Hopper and Joyce arrive at the police station where Jonathan and Nancy are. The police found the monster hunting gear in Jonathan’s trunk, so Hopper and Joyce take Jonathan and Nancy aside to discuss the weaponry. Jonathan and Nancy update Hopper and Joyce on everything they have been doing. In the station lobby, the bully who had gotten his arm broken by Eleven is there with his mother relaying his story of what happened with Eleven and who she was with. Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy watch from afar as Hawkins Laboratory men take stuff from Mike and Nancy’s house.

I have a feeling that Steve might have a bigger role in this show come the season finale, because even after his fight with Jonathan there is still a small side story with him. Steve flips out on Tommy and Carol for being miserable jerks and ditches them to help clean off the “Nancy the Slut” graffiti from the movie theater sign.

Back at Joyce’s house, Nancy and Hopper try to contact Mike and the others using Will’s walkie-talkie. After Hopper tells them they are here to help and are not working with Hawkins Laboratory, the boys tell them their location at the junk yard. I think that bug is still inside Joyce’s house, because shortly afterwards some lab men with guns arrive at the junkyard. Right before they find the boys and Eleven, Hopper arrives to rescue them.

Once again at Joyce’s house with the whole gang, the boys update everyone on the “Upside-Down” and what Eleven can do. Nancy and Joyce want to know if Eleven can find Will and Barb in the “Upside-Down,” but when she tries she can’t find them. She tells them she has to use a “bathtub” to find them. Dustin calls the science teacher to find out how to build a sensory deprivation tank.

With the need for a lot of salt and a place to put up a small pool, everyone heads to the high school. Hopper reassures Jonathan that he will find Will. Nancy and Mike bond and promise to no longer lie to each other until they ask each other about their feelings towards Jonathan and Eleven, and they both deny having any lovey-dovey feelings. Like any good horror movie, I like that this episode tries to lighten up the mood with some humor before the big showdown.

Joyce thanks Eleven for all she is doing and is playing the mother role for her. Once the tank is built and the walkie-talkie is turned on full volume, Eleven gets in and in her mind enters the “Upside-Down.” Eleven finds Barb dead which just breaks Nancy’s heart, and as Eleven starts to freak out, she hears Joyce’s comforting motherly words and is able to calm down and search for Will. Eleven finds Will’s Castle Byers with Will inside. Will is looking rather cold and sickly, but Eleven is able to tell him his mother is going to find him. She then hears the laughter of the monster and gets out of the sensory deprivation tank.

Hopper and Joyce leave to head for the gate inside Hawkins Laboratory. Once they reach the lab they are quickly surrounded by lab guards. Jonathan and Nancy make plans to still find the monster and kill it.

Beautiful cliffhanger ending “Stranger Things!” Will is inside his Castle Byers in the “Upside-Down” singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” when he hears the laughter of the monster outside. He sits up just as the monster sends a wall of Castle Byers flying.

Next time is the season finale, horror fanatics! Sleep tight!