Stranger Things: Tales from '85 (2026) s01e03 Episode Script

1
[tense music playing]
[kids panting]
[Max] What the heck is that thing?
I don't know, but it's got Rosario!
[growling softly]
[roaring]
Correction, it just ate Rosario!
[all screaming]
How did it grow that fast?
It's hiding in the trees.
[haunting grunts]
[Lucas] Where did it go?
[Mike] Can anyone see it?
-Mike!
-El!
I got you!
Whoa!
[Dustin] But who's got you, Mike?
[haunting grunts]
Let them go!
Hold on, El! Hold on!
[screaming] El!
[roaring loudly]
It's coming for us!
[Nikki] Please be gone.
Please be gone. Please be gone.
It's not gone!
Grab my hand!
Dude, help me!
No. Not again.
Over here, freak show.
Again!
Loaded! Go!
Dude, throw me a stick or something!
Will?
Run!
Watch out!
Max, duck! [screaming]
Lucas! [screaming]
[all whimpering, groaning]
El! El!
[Will] Hey! Jerk O'Lantern!
Leave my friends alone!
Heck yeah, Zombie Boy!
-Yeah!
-Oh yeah, Will!
[Will yelling]
[screeching painfully]
Oh no.
[Eleven grunting]
El.
[Nikki yelling excitedly]
[all cheering]
[Nikki] Nice job, man.
Is she alive?
[Dustin] If she's not,
she's definitely going to kill me.
I think that pie was bad.
Come on, guys. Let's get Rosario home.
Good idea.
[Rosario] Why am I
covered in all this gunk?
[mysterious music playing]
[synth theme music playing]
[Dustin] That was a heck of an
allergic reaction to pumpkin pie.
The amount of barf was pretty gnarly.
I wasn't allergic to pumpkin before.
Puberty. Life changes.
Am I right?
You're an idiot, Henderson.
Puberty? Seriously?
I don't know.
I want that vest back! Clean!
No tumble dry!
Don't ruin the waterproofing!
Okay, I gotta get Eleven back home
before curfew.
Arcade meet-up tomorrow.
We'll figure all this out then.
Good, because I can barely stand.
Hey, you sure you still wanna be part
of all this, new kid?
Dude, what? Are you kidding?
You guys are way more entertaining
than anything I could ever find on cable.
And you?
I told you you were a rock star. Later.
-Yeah, that was awesome.
-Good job!
Yeah, man, you totally destroyed it.
Thank you, Will.
Friends help friends.
Night! Don't let the pumpkin things bite!
[Dustin] Come on!
[Lucas] Something's
really wrong with you, Max!
Are you all right?
Yeah. It's just…
What if there are more?
Then we'll stop them too.
[upbeat music playing]
Hey.
Here you go. One order of fries.
Perfect. I'm starving.
Hey, I bought these for Eleven to try.
She's had fries before.
Yeah, but cheese fries?
Cheese fries?
Mm. These are so delicious.
Hey, dude, if you like those,
wait until you try chili cheese fries.
Chili cheese fries?
Yeah.
Everyone, eat.
[Lucas] So good!
Guys, come on! Slow down!
Hey, just be glad Dustin's not here yet,
or there'd be nothing left.
Gives us a minute
to talk about the campaign.
Because I was thinking of DMing this time.
You wanna be Dungeon Master?
You know,
when this Upside Down stuff is done…
"When" being the operative word.
First things first.
"Aboleth."
According to the Monster Manual,
our Snow Shark looks like
a snow-based Aboleth.
Plus, Snow Shark sounds
like a Jabberjaw character.
Bottom line is,
something from the Upside Down
must have survived last year.
That's how we got the Aboleth.
El saved Charlie,
and then we got more details
thanks to our H.I.C. tip boxes.
One lead was to a freaked-out Charlie
who told me that a vine attacked him.
The other lead was scoped out
by Agents Mayfield and Sinclair.
Yeah, you are not calling us that.
Anyway, a crop
of transformed pumpkin vines
were discovered at Eugene's farm.
More like almost killed us.
Then, the Jerk O'Lantern happened.
But the gate is closed.
Where are the vines coming from?
And what happened
to these plants in our world
that would make them turn Charlie
and Rosario into Upside Down creatures?
We are missing something.
Oh! What if the creatures needed something
from Charlie and Rosario?
Maybe they weren't transforming Charlie
and Rosario into creatures…
But feeding off of them!
Of course! And using them as human hosts.
Gamma World has a section
on plant and vine mutations.
So you guys reference fantasy books
instead of actual science?
Hey, whatever works.
No, you're right.
We need real answers
from someone who knows science stuff.
Man, I wish Mr. Clarke was here.
Hey, guys, I think
I might know someone who could help.
All right everybody,
slice and bake cookies!
Mr. Clarke warned…
told me about his AV Club students
and their curious minds.
Looks like he was right.
Yep, that's us.
Oh, hello.
I don't think I recognize this face.
Are you in a different grade
than your friends, dear?
School is at home.
Oh!
An independent!
Some of our greatest minds
were homeschooled.
If you ever need any help, I am here.
Thank you.
-[man] Mr. Henderson!
-[coughing]
Dan!
I told you I'd get you your money!
Relax. I'm not here for you.
What's up, D Man?
Gotta head to the store.
I'll see you tonight.
Okay, honey.
My turn to dine and dash.
Consider this a down payment.
-Bye, sweet pea.
-Later, Dan!
-Bye, Dan!
-See ya!
So, Mrs. Baxter,
we were talking evolution stuff.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. I apologize.
Evolution. Please continue.
If a creature was cut off from its home
and now
in a completely different environment,
is it possible that, in order to survive,
it could evolve and adapt
to make the new location its home?
That is correct.
The isolated specimen
could form a new genetic branch
thanks to natural selection.
Is there any way that new branch
could make something evolve faster?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It could indeed.
Where there is isolation,
there are leaps in evolution.
Like orchids.
They can evolve in a matter of days.
Interesting.
Oh, my good God, it is.
Dragonflies, even some frogs,
evolve into very different animals
at different phases of their life cycles.
The evolutionary leap
makes it even more so.
Life cycles? Like in Alien?
[Mrs. Baxter] Oh, I love that movie!
When the alien egg sensed a person
as its unwilling host,
it hatched
that bizarre, knuckled organism.
Yeah, the crab thing on the dude's face?
Which laid an embryo of its own
into the person's chest cavity.
Until finally, bursting from his chest,
ending the cycle
by turning into a terrifying adult.
[groaning dramatically]
[all laughing]
There's a cycle!
Thank you so much, Mrs. Baxter.
You've been amazing!
Oh, my pleasure, Treasure.
I could talk about this stuff all day.
Evolution, extinction,
especially extinction,
the biggest factor that triggers evolution
in the first place.
Wait. What do you mean?
The fear of extinction
is a great motivator.
Like mushrooms and pine trees.
When they're dying, they release spores.
These spores are gonna ensure
the survival of their species.
Isn't nature just fascinating?
Upside Down spores! It's gotta be!
Whatever got stuck here
after El closed the gate is evolving
to survive in our world!
It would explain
why these creatures look so different
than anything we've seen!
Yeah, maybe it's releasing spores
and turning plants in our world
into Upside Down creatures!
And taking people!
[Mike] We need to check the fairgrounds
and Eugene's farm
and stop these things from spreading!
Max and I will check the farm.
The fair has way more ground to cover.
Good idea!
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Hawkins Investigators Club
is on the case!
[Lucas] Did you find anything?
[Max] No, not yet.
[Lucas] You know,
I'm really starting to hate this farm.
Well, that's fair.
This place does not hold
a good track record.
It officially ruined pumpkins for me.
Maybe, if Eleven comes along,
I might consider eating pumpkin pie again.
Maybe.
We did all right on our own,
but yeah, El's powers
would've come in pretty handy.
She ain't no tractor-driving Mad Max,
though.
Ever wonder what you'd do
if you had El's powers?
Oh, I would totally freak Billy out.
Like explode his bottle of gross cologne,
crack his new windshield,
take the wheel while he's steering.
He wouldn't know
where it was coming from. He'd go nuts!
Wow, you've thought this through.
Maybe a little.
What about you?
Probably the same with Erica.
Your little sister isn't half as bad
as my stupid stepbrother.
I'd take Erica any day of the week.
How about tomorrow?
[dry crunching]
Hey, look at those vines.
Guess they didn't find a pumpkin
to latch onto.
That ash around them looks
like dried-up spores.
Did this come from the spores?
It definitely came from something.
Looks like the vine was
in the middle of mutating.
Didn't get far, though.
Shriveled up worse than my Aunt Angela.
Are you sure that's a good idea?
Sure, it is. Could be evidence.
Hawkins Investigators Club.
Case file number 002.
We are in the woods south
of the Hawkins Festival Grounds.
Twenty hours, twelve minutes post
our encounter with the Jerk O'Lantern.
It's been dry since last night,
so there's no new snow cover
to impede our continuing search.
Mike! Another!
It looks…
…fresher.
Everything we've seen so far
has been dead.
On our present walk, we found the remains
of a semi-mutated, Upside Down plant
covered in dead spores.
We found it in the southern direction,
which indicates the wind was blowing south
last night.
Ya think, Sherlock?
[Nikki laughs]
[Dustin] Things from the Upside Down
like it cold.
Winter in Hawkins
is its perfect playground.
[rustling]
[rustling]
Ah!
Okay, mildly freaking.
If I'm gonna be out here, I need a weapon.
Okay. No. Nope.
Aha!
Great for protection against creatures
and taking my mom's burnt barbecue
off the grill.
Where'd you get all that stuff?
From my brain.
I've got a garage full of junk.
I'm kinda like the Leonardo da Vinci
of trash.
What can I say? I like to tinker.
Luckily, my mom encourages me
to experiment.
I think it's just to keep me busy
so I don't butt into her own science junk.
Let's just say
she's definitely not like other moms.
She is very funny.
She's a total freak show.
My mom too.
Then again, so am I.
Which is why we get each other, you know?
Well, sometimes. Kinda.
What do you mean?
We just go about things differently
is all.
I like to stick it out and work on stuff,
and she likes
to hop onto the next new thing.
Once in a while,
she'll find a job she likes,
but that usually doesn't last long.
And then it's just us again,
and off we go.
She thinks of it as learning experiences.
I think of it as never having to unpack.
Guys! Hold up. Over here.
Holy moly.
[screeching]
I was not expecting that.
At least now we have an answer.
If they don't find a host…
…it dies.
Now we know
it definitely has a limited life cycle.
Yup. Less than a day.
Dustin, this is Lucas. Over.
Lucas, what is the situation? Over.
It's confirmed.
We found dead mutated vines at the farm.
There was ashy stuff all over them.
[Max] We think they may be spores.
We found the same thing.
Our trail heads
right toward the old sawmill.
Who knows what we'll find.
Meet us there. Posthaste.
And be careful. Over.
[ominous music playing]
Well, this is
a horror movie waiting to happen.
[Max mimicking creepy horror sound effect]
Jeez! You guys almost gave me
a heart attack.
This doesn't make any sense.
The trail just ends.
[man] Hey, Chuck!
Get on over here and help me out
with this haul from Eugene's farm.
Are you kidding?
I'm still busy with yesterday's haul.
Lazy, good-for-nothing…
Hey! What are you kids doing here?
Oh! Um… Hi there.
Mill's closed.
Ain't got no time for a school field trip.
We just wanted to know.
Have you seen anything weird around here?
Anything strange or unusual?
Heh. Just my brother Chuck.
But he's been strange his whole life.
[Chuck] Hey, I heard that!
Now get out of here.
This ain't no place for children.
Oh, all righty then.
Thank you and your clone for nothing.
You know, we ought to fix that front gate
to keep the riffraff out of here.
[Chuck] This is all the wood
you brought back?
It's twice as much as you got.
Get it off!
I got you, brother! I got you!
It's so weird.
Everything led in this direction,
but there's nothing here.
Maybe this is the end of the trail.
I mean, there's only so much ground
we can cover, right?
Maybe the one we found was the last one.
[roaring]
-[screaming] Not the last!
-[Mike] Oh no!
It's not working!
[screaming]
[Lucas] Is he… dead?
[Dustin] No. He's breathing.
He's covered in snot, but he's breathing.
Aren't these things supposed to stay dead?
It doesn't have a human host anymore!
It should be dead, right?
Does it look dead to you?
Eat my silver fulminate, you jerk!
[music fades out]
[groaning softly]
[exciting music resumes]
El!
[creature screeching]
El!
[echoing] El! El, can you hear me?
El!
[synth theme music playing]
[music fades out]