The essential episodes of Stranger Things
Watch these 15 in order and you've got Stranger Things — each pick states its reason.
- 01
Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers
On his way home from a friend's house, young Will sees something terrifying. Nearby, a sinister secret lurks in the depths of a government lab.
- 02
An increasingly concerned Nancy looks for Barb and finds out what Jonathan's been up to. Joyce is convinced Will is trying to talk to her.
- 03
Refusing to believe Will is dead, Joyce tries to connect with her son. The boys give Eleven a makeover. Nancy and Jonathan form an unlikely alliance.
- 04
A frantic Jonathan looks for Nancy in the darkness, but Steve's looking for her, too. Hopper and Joyce uncover the truth about the lab's experiments.
- 05
Eleven struggles to reach Will, while Lucas warns that "the bad men are coming." Nancy and Jonathan show the police what Jonathan caught on camera.
- 06
Chapter Eight: The Upside Down
Dr. Brenner holds Hopper and Joyce for questioning while the boys wait with Eleven in the gym. Back at Will's, Nancy and Jonathan prepare for battle.
- 07
Nancy and Jonathan swap conspiracy theories with a new ally as Eleven searches for someone from her past. "Bob the Brain" tackles a difficult problem.
- 08
Will's connection to a shadowy evil grows stronger, but no one's quite sure how to stop it. Elsewhere, Dustin and Steve forge an unlikely bond.
- 09
Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer
An unlikely hero steps forward when a deadly development puts the Hawkins Lab on lockdown, trapping Will and several others inside.
- 10
Eleven makes plans to finish what she started while the survivors turn up the heat on the monstrous force that's holding Will hostage.
- 11
Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt
Terror reigns in the food court when the Mind Flayer comes to collect. But down below, in the dark, the future of the world is at stake.
- 12
Max is in grave danger... and running out of time. A patient at Pennhurst asylum has visitors. Elsewhere, in Russia, Hopper is hard at work.
- 13
Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab
As Hopper braces to battle a monster, Dustin dissects Vecna's motives — and decodes a message from beyond. El finds strength in a distant memory.
- 14
The military tightens its grip on the town. Mike, Lucas and Robin orchestrate a daring escape. El comes face-to-face with the enemy.
- 15
Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up
As Vecna prepares to destroy the world as we know it, the party must put everything on the line to defeat him once and for all.
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