Stranger Things: Tales from '85 (2026) s01e02 Episode Script

1
-[exciting music playing]
-[Mike panting]
[screeching]
-Look out!
-Come on!
Watch your back!
[Will] Go!
-[screaming]
-[growling]
[Lucas] Hey! Back off!
[Max] Look out!
Over here!
[straining]
Ow!
-Get it off!
-Come on, Will.
[Max] Get off!
Over here! Come get me!
You guys, get out of here! Go!
Mike, no!
Not part of the plan, Mike!
Not part of the plan!
What plan?
[screeching]
El, wait! There's someone in there!
Huh?
[all gasping]
Oh man! Dirtbag Charlie's in there!
[Will] Pull him out!
[screeching weakly]
[screaming]
Are you okay?
What just happened?
[Will] This is bad, guys. Really bad.
-[Charlie screaming]
-[all exclaiming]
Where am I?
What did you do to me, you freaks?
You're welcome!
Okay, I'll be the one to say it.
Something turned Charlie into a new kind
of Upside Down creature.
What the heck is an Upside Down,
and what the heck is she?
Trust me, newbie.
You do not want to get involved.
Hello! A monster kid
almost bites my face off,
then Carrie here uses her powers on it.
I'd say I'm already pretty involved here,
you know?
We can't tell anyone about this.
It's bigger than you could ever imagine.
Dude, my whole world just changed
right in front of my eyes.
I can't pretend this didn't happen.
We barely know you.
You need to walk away before you put us,
and especially her, in danger.
Okay, you wanna know me?
Hi, everyone. I'm Nikki.
I'm a Capricorn. I like Milk Duds,
and I know how to burp
all the state capitals.
I also know how to keep my mouth shut.
Look, I know everyone has their secrets,
but… [sighs]
…just promise to level with me,
and I will promise not to tell. Deal?
We really don't have a choice, Mike.
Plus, she did just risk herself
to help me.
Trust.
Fine, but it's almost curfew,
so we'll fill you in tomorrow morning.
Until then, say nothing to no one.
Yeah, you break our trust,
our friend breaks you. Got it?
Keep eating your Wheaties, buddy.
Yeah, I got it.
207 Elm Street, tomorrow morning.
Don't flake.
Fill her in on what, Mike?
Even we don't know what's going on.
You're right, but we're gonna find out.
[mysterious music playing]
[screeching]
[synth theme music playing]
[Mike] Okay, guys,
I think we can get the door open.
Ram it on three. Ready?
[boys] One, two, three!
[groaning]
Get off me!
Your butt is way too close to my face!
Your face is too close to my butt!
Man, this lab is way bigger
than I thought it would be.
I guess when you've got an army
of scientists
and a secret government gate
to another dimension,
you need elbow room.
[foreboding music playing]
How far down do these stairs go?
[gasping softly]
-[Dustin screaming]
-[Eleven] Ah!
Ah! Get it off! Get it off!
It's just a spider, you weirdo.
[tense music playing]
[screaming]
Nothing.
The gate is still closed.
It makes no sense!
Where did it come from?
[Will] That gate was our only lead.
So, now what?
We'll find another lead.
It's what we do.
And I just might have an idea
of how to get some answers.
[Dustin] Behold, mortals! I present to you
the answer to all our problems.
The H.I.C.
Hic?
Hawkins Investigators Club. That's us.
Since when?
Since the Upside Down decided
to come right side up.
Think about it.
The Ghostbusters don't go searching
for cases.
People bring cases to them.
How? We can't just go out and put
our numbers in the Yellow Pages.
Huh. Already thought of that.
Anonymous tip boxes.
Placed around town,
so people can let us know
if anything strange happens.
I got up early on a Saturday
for shoe boxes?
The only thing people are gonna put
in those is dog crap.
You have a better idea, genius?
I don't know. How about hiring
a private investigator? Like Magnum P.I.
Magnum isn't a real person.
He's based on a real guy.
Ugh.
[Dustin] No one names their kid Magnum.
Guys, come on. This is serious.
We need answers,
and we have no one to ask.
We can't go to Hopper
because he'll take El away.
And it seemed like
Charlie didn't remember anything.
Plus, he'd beat us up if we asked.
Well, then what do we do?
We do the H.I.C.
I have to know.
Our magic-user is in.
What about the rest of the party?
Yeah, all right.
Yes! You guys won't regret this!
H.I.C.!
Oh! Yay! Children. That's wonderful.
Honey, you didn't tell me
you were cultivating social relationships.
Okay, thank you for the observation, Ma.
-Later.
-Bye!
Mrs. Baxter is your mom?
Nah, she's my parole officer.
Guys, come on. Yes, she's my mom.
Dude, I gotta tell ya,
I could barely sleep last night
waiting to find out how a freaking monster
almost ate me alive!
This is not a joke!
Oh, I know.
I guess I'm still just a bit freaked out
is all.
And honestly, pretty impressed
at how you guys kicked that thing's butt.
And you? Dude, you were amazing!
With the whole, like, levitate
smashy-smashy thing.
Very, very cool. Um, so, time to spill.
Just because we're gonna tell you
what's going on,
it doesn't make you part of the team.
Got it, but…
I have to say, I am pretty useful.
I mean, I'm no Rambo or anything,
but I am good at building stuff.
I can help.
You guys risked your lives for me.
I don't take that lightly.
If you have my back, I'll have yours.
Then you gotta swear to secrecy.
I spit-swear on my life.
Gross.
["People Who Died"
by The Jim Carroll Band playing]
So, this Demogoblin took Will
to some kind of, uh, a dark dimension?
"Demogorgon."
And we call it the Upside Down.
Only we didn't know
he was in the Upside Down yet,
so we looked for him in the woods
and wound up finding Eleven.
She escaped from Hawkins Lab.
I slept in a fort.
I had to hide her in my basement
so she wouldn't get found by the…
…government,
who covered up Will's disappearance.
They lied and said they found Will's body…
…but his mom and Hopper saved Will
from the Upside Down,
and El killed the Demogorgon.
But then Will had to face
an even bigger creature called…
…the Mind Flayer
while El closed the gate at Hawkins Lab
and stopped it from entering our world.
Dude, you guys went through
all that gnarly stuff
and then you just went right back
to middle school?
Mission accomplished.
All flyers and boxes are handed out.
Hawkins Investigators Club?
What's this club, Henderson?
You get rejected by the Boy Scouts?
Get lost, Rosario. Don't you have a pie
to stick in your face?
Funny. But I'll be the one laughing
when I win the Winter Festival
pie-eating contest.
Again. Just like last year
and the year before that.
[giggles] Bye!
Okay, what's her problem?
She's the Luthor to my Superman.
The Claw to my Inspector Gadget.
Yeah, the Donkey Kong to your Mario.
Finally, someone gets me.
All right kids, watch the farm.
And no more candy.
-See ya, Grandpa.
-Bye!
[girl] Come on, Danny. You hungry?
Yeah. How about
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
[screaming]
Danny!
Ella! Help! Help!
-[Ella] Hold on!
-[creature screeching]
Let him go!
[Danny screaming]
[both panting]
What's up, naysayers? Tips are in,
and my plan worked perfectly.
Look at all these boxes.
It's like a second Christmas.
All right, let's see what we've got.
Okay. I realize how this looks,
but all it takes is one good lead.
Here's one. This guy says
every room in his house is haunted,
except for one, the living room.
[groans]
This one says they saw a Sloth Man
in Ironwood Park.
Yeah. That… that's fake.
No. That could be real.
Read about it in The Weekly Watcher.
I'll take The Sloth Man.
Here's one that says
their grandpa's pumpkin patch is haunted.
Hey, what's up?
Listen, these tips are kinda crappy,
and El's looking pretty bummed.
Maybe take her
to the Winter Festival tonight.
It could cheer her up.
Now? In the middle of all this?
Yes. While you're there,
you and Will can keep an eye on Nikki
and look out for anything suspicious.
Me, Lucas, and Dustin
can check out these tips.
If anyone finds anything creature-y,
don't engage
without calling in a red alert.
Hawkins Investigators Club.
File 001. The Case of The Sloth Man.
Okay, what does a Sloth Man call
sound like?
[guttural honking]
Nah.
Too Chewbacca.
[twigs snapping]
Who's there?
Oh no, no, no!
Ah!
Dirtbag?!
I mean, Charlie?
Saw those boxes you put in town.
I knew you'd fall for my fake note.
[groans] So no Sloth Man?
No, you dummy!
Now start talking,
because I'm freaking out.
What did you and your nerd pack do to me?
And where is Jeff?
Jeff Nelson? What about him?
He's missing, mush mouth.
I haven't seen him
since we chased you into the woods.
Snow Shark…
Charlie, I swear, we didn't do anything.
But if you want me to help,
you gotta tell me
what you remember before the alley.
My leg got caught in a vine.
I couldn't get it off me.
Everything went black,
except for a blinking red light.
After that, I can't remember anything.
I feel like I'm going crazy.
Look, you're not crazy.
I think we can help.
Nah. I'm gonna take this to the cops.
I don't think that's such a good idea.
Remember that stuff that went down
with the Department of Energy?
The news said
a bunch of experimental chemicals
got leaked into the woods.
You messing with me?
It's true.
They said it could make people hallucinate
and pass out.
Jeff's probably being detained
in a government facility somewhere.
Unless you want to join him,
I'd keep quiet about this if I were you.
Yeah. Good idea for once, Henderson.
You better keep your mouth shut too,
or you're done for.
[upbeat music playing]
Okay, guys,
stake out and report anything weird.
Me and El go east.
Will and Nikki, you guys go west.
Don't worry. I know what weird looks like.
What are they eating?
Oh, candy apples.
It's like fruit with candy
that can break your teeth.
[giggling]
They give those away?
Well, you have to win one,
but they make it super hard.
The games are totally rigged.
We've got ourselves a winner!
[mimics a crowd cheering] Yes!
Perfect hit!
Uh! Uh! Uh! Ah!
[giggles] You're so weird.
Come on. We're supposed to be looking
for anything suspicious.
Sorry. I'm not used
to being a monster hunter.
Besides, I'm probably
the most suspicious thing here.
-Am I right?
-Well, you do kind of stand out.
Hey, I'm different, and I know it.
If anyone can't handle that,
it's their problem, right?
[groaning like a zombie]
-Zombie Boy.
-What a freak!
See how scared of you they are?
Scared? Of what?
Anyone not trying as hard as them
to be just like everyone else.
Dude, you fought monsters.
You went to another dimension
and lived to tell the tale.
And you got yourself an awesome nickname.
When you're that much of a rock star,
who cares what losers think?
Hm, I guess
I never thought of it like that.
-Hey, check it out.
-What?
I love this game! Uh!
It's not often you get encouraged
to hit stuff and get a prize for it.
Right, but we should probably be heading
over to the--
Come on! You gotta warm up
before battle, right?
Hm. Uh… Okay.
[carny] Who's next?
Put it right here, my man.
All right. There you go, kid.
I'm not great at these games.
Told ya.
Okay, the key is
gripping the hammer closer to the top.
Makes for a stronger swing.
This one's for you, Zombie Boy.
Yeah! That felt good! Whoo!
That was awesome!
Can I just keep the mallet?
Isn't this the farm that had
the Demodog tunnels leading to the lab?
Huh. Yeah. Maybe this random tip
isn't so random after all.
[footsteps pattering]
You left a message
for the Hawkins Investigators Club?
We thought you'd be older.
You wanna tell us what this is about?
There's a monster in the crops!
Okay. You guys just stay inside
the house while we go and check it out.
[foreboding music playing]
Hm. Thought pumpkins
only grew in the fall.
-Blah!
-[screaming]
[grunting]
[laughing]
Are you serious right now?
I'm sorry. I could not help myself.
Oh. Your scream, it gets me every time.
It's adorable.
Adorable? I nearly peed myself!
I guess this thing is pretty ugly
and scary. [laughing]
[tearing wetly]
M-M-Max!
What?
-[roaring]
-[screaming]
[screeching]
["Children of the Grave"
by Black Sabbath playing]
Run!
Revolution in their minds ♪
The children start to march ♪
They're everywhere!
Run for the barn!
They're tired of being pushed around
And told just what to do ♪
They'll fight the world
Until they've won ♪
And love comes flowing through ♪
Come on!
[creatures screeching]
[engine revving]
[Lucas] Yeah! Come on! Get some!
You messed up when you picked a fight
with Mad Max! Ha!
[laughing]
-Yeah!
-Yeah!
[song ends]
I guess this date wasn't so boring
after all.
Wait. This was a date?
Good news is the monster is gone.
Bad news is we kinda had to destroy
your grandpa's crops.
Oh. Those were just the leftovers.
What?
He already drove a whole truck
of the biggest ones to the festival.
For the pie-eating contest.
[Dustin] Come in. Anyone read me?
We have a code red! Over!
Dustin! It's Lucas.
The lead at Eugene's farm was real.
[Max] Something transformed a whole crop
into some kind
of vine-pumpkin-plant creature.
[Lucas] It nearly killed us.
No way! Charlie said
a vine-like creature attacked him.
I think it's what turned him
into a Snow Shark. It has to be connected.
Dustin! There's a batch of those pumpkins
headed to the pie-eating contest.
Who knows what'll happen
if anyone eats them?
[Dustin] Meet me at the festival.
Warp speed!
Code red. We have a code red.
Dustin, it's Will. Over.
[Dustin] Finally.
Pumpkins from the farm…
The pies, they're tainted
by something from the Upside Down.
Find Mike and meet us at the contest.
We gotta stop it.
-[Will] Come on.
-Over.
Our pie-eating contest is about to begin.
Let's give a big round of applause
to Eugene McCorkle who donated
this miracle winter pumpkin crop
for our enjoyment.
["A Forest" by The Cure playing]
Move it! Out of the way!
Where's Mike and El?
Oh no!
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
-Move, move, move!
-Excuse me.
Excuse me!
Stop! Stop! Move! Stop!
-[crowd booing]
-[man] You're ruining it!
Dustin, what are you doing?
Saving your lives.
Listen to your walkie
once in a while, will ya?
Sabotaging my win, Henderson?
Rosario! You have to give me the pie!
[grunting]
Oh no! Dang!
I am so, so sorry.
I'm gonna kill you!
I hear her voice ♪
I was trying to save your life!
You should be thanking me!
The sound is deep ♪
In the dark ♪
[coughing]
I hear her voice ♪
Start to run ♪
[retching]
Into the trees ♪
Into the trees ♪
[song ends]
[panting]
[screaming]
Dude, it's us.
-What happened to Rosario?
-[haunting grunts]
[synth theme music playing]
Ah!
[roaring]
[synth theme music continues]