HOLLYWOOD—This episode was a strange breath after the last episode. Not to say that this was a happy episode, but no jumping for the horror fanatics tonight!

Chief Hopper is searching Joyce’s house for the monster that tore out from her wall and chased her in the last episode. All that Hopper finds is a wall that is perfectly fine, Christmas lights and crazy letters written on the wall. Hopper tells her that Will’s body has been found, but even as he tries to comfort her she does not believe him, because she had communicated with Will using the lights.

Eleven is still hiding in Mike’s basement and Mike tries to explain to her how her lying that Will is alive hurt him. She is then able to channel Will through Mike’s handheld radio singing “Do I Stay or Do I Go.” Mike calls Lucas over the radio to rally the troops to save Will. Lucas and Dustin don’t believe Will is alive until Eleven has them hear Will on the radio again. The group plans to sneak Eleven into the school to “boost” her signal using the radio at their school.

Joyce and Jonathan arrive at the coroner’s to view Will’s body. Jonathan has to leave the room, but Joyce storms out of the office saying that “thing” in there is not her son. Hopper starts to get curious when he finds out that state officers did the autopsy after sending the local coroner home. Outside Jonathan tries to bring his mom to reality about planning a funeral, but she makes a scene about not being crazy and being determined to find Will. I am starting to wonder if what Joyce sees is just all in her head.

Nancy becomes frustrated with Steve when instead of being concerned about Barb’s disappearance he is only concerned about his father finding out about the party. At school, the cops pull Nancy aside to question her about Barb’s disappearance. Even though she tells them that she saw someone in the forest outside Steve’s house, the cops are convinced Barb has simply run away from home.

At the Hawkins Laboratory an employee in a radiation suit is hooked to a heavy-duty metal rope and is sent into the pulsing thing on the wall. Mike, Lucas and Dustin work to dress Eleven up like a girly-girl to sneak her into the middle school. As the boys enter the school, their science teacher catches them trying to get into the radio room. They boys are quick to come up with a story about Eleven being Mike’s cousin, and the teacher buys it. He tells the kids that after the assembly in Will’s honor they can use the radio room all day.

Back at Mike’s home, his mom is yelling at Nancy for lying about not sleeping with Steve. Nancy storms off to her room and starts to tape together the torn up picture of Barb sitting by Steve’s pool that Jonathan had taken. She then notices in the upper corner of the picture she can see the monster she spotted in the forest. Back at the lab, the guy inside the pulsing thing radios back that it is dark, that there is something in there with him, and all that gets reeled back out of the pulsing thing is a bloody hook.

At the school assembly for Will, Eleven earns some respect back from the boys. The bullies make fun of Will to Mike, Lucas and Dustin. Mike stands up to them and shoves one down. As the bully comes at him, Eleven makes him freeze with her mind and pee his pants. A little bit of sweet revenge for the boys.

Hopper in a bar finds the man who had claimed to find Will’s body. He starts questioning him, and when the man shuts him down Hopper takes him out back and beats him. The man tells Hopper that someone had just told him to make the call and not let anyone get close to the body. Someone in a black car watched and drove off once Hopper noticed them.

Thanks to a flashback, we see Eleven is able to track people with her mind and can send what they are saying through speakers of any kind. Side by side the boys listen in the school’s radio room as Eleven channels the words Will is speaking to his mother. At Joyce’s house, she hears Will and after tearing apart some wallpaper is able to see him between a weird smoky and vine-covered glass wall. Then the radio at the school catches fire and Eleven can’t move as she is bleeding from her nose. Joyce takes an axe to the wall only to chop a hole to the outside of the house.

Nancy meets up with Jonathan to ask about the picture. He is able to enlarge it and they both see the monster confirming that Joyce isn’t crazy. Hopper arrives at the coroner’s office and punches out the state guard manned there. He pulls Will’s body out, and we all notice that there are no autopsy scars. Hopper cuts into Will and finds out Will’s body is nothing more than rubber and stuffing. At the end of the episode Hopper is cutting into the fence surrounding Hawkins Laboratory.

What has the lab been creating under the command of the older white-haired guy in a suit? Have a good night horror fanatics!