Stranger Things: Tales from '85 (2026) s01e04 Episode Script

[Steve] That movie was pretty wild.
Computers turning against humanity.
[scoffing]
You know,
I had a really nice time tonight,
and I didn't think that I would…
after some of the things
I've heard about you,
but they were wrong.
[chuckles]
To tell you the truth, I…
I've kind of always had a crush
on you, Steve.
I've always had a crush on you too, Nancy.
I mean Natalie! Natalie!
[chuckles awkwardly, groans]
Just rude!
Natalie, wait!
You know what? The girls were right
about you, Harrington.
You are nothing but a haircut with lips.
[groans]
Nice one, Steve. Real smooth.
What the heck?
[screeching]
No, no, no! Help!
[screaming]
[synth theme music playing]
[music fades out]
[Mike] El!
El?
Can you hear me?
[Eleven] Whoa.
I can get up.
Just not yet.
Take a sec.
We'll go after those things as soon as--
Wait. She is not going after them.
Can't you see? El is hurt.
- It's over. I'm telling Hopper.
- What?
- I'm okay. I can still help.
- No!
I promised Hopper I'd keep El safe.
This is not what safe looks like.
Those things, all of this…
It's gotten out of control.
Maybe Mike's right.
El can choose her own battles.
Yes, I--
But we've lost the battle!
Those creatures are evolving
just like Mrs. Baxter said.
Yeah. They don't even need human hosts
to stay alive anymore.
You're right. They are evolving.
All the more reason to go after them now
before they evolve even more.
We need to stop those things
before they hurt other people.
- So El can get clobbered again? No way.
- Mike.
Come on, El.
It's us. The Hawkins Investigators Club
can handle--
I don't care about the H.I.C., Dustin.
I care about El.
I'm telling Hopper, and that's final.
Great. Just great.
So I guess you're out of the club then.
We'll go deal with these things ourselves.
Will you stop with the stupid club
and your stupid photos?
It's stuff like that stupid photo
that could help us solve this case.
Both of you stop.
Look. They're waking up.
Fine! Guess I'm going solo.
I guess so.
It's okay, Will. Dustin will get over it.
Mike made the right call.
- [scoffs] Really, Lucas?
- What?
What'd I say?
Max!
Is it always like this?
No, it's never this bad.
Come on, man. I got something to show you
that'll blow that bowl cut right off.
It's fine. Forget them.
You are the H.I.C., Dustin.
You can investigate this by yourself and…
die a horrible, painful death!
[screaming approaching]
Oh God!
Yes!
Steve! Buddy!
I thought this Upside Down stuff was over,
Henderson!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You saw something?
Worse! Something saw me.
Why are you out here alone? It's not safe.
You'd be alone too
if you had a mutiny on your hands.
What? The get-along gang
suddenly not getting along?
Never mind.
We've got a new kind of nasty loose
in this town,
and it looks like it's up to you and me
to take on the case.
The case?
Steve Harrington,
I am officially drafting you
into the Hawkins investigators Club.
Something tells me I'm gonna regret this.
[Mike] And that's why you should focus
less on the fact that I put El in danger
and more on the fact
that I told you about it.
And that's when Hopper kills me.
[phone ringing]
[Eleven sighs]
- Hello?
- Hey, kid!
Are you ready
for the best movie night of your life?
You're taking me to the movies?
Uh, no. I'm bringing home some videos.
Oh, uh,
okay, but--
Trust me. I got some real classics
plus all the popcorn you can eat.
Look, I gotta go.
I'll be home in about two hours.
Okay. Goodbye.
What did he say?
He will be here in two hours.
El, are you okay? You seem upset.
Two creatures are still out there, Mike,
and I--
That's not your fault.
You did everything you could.
No. I could have stopped them.
You did not let me try.
El, I know you wish
that you could have done more,
but it was just too dangerous.
You do not get to speak for me.
[punk rock music playing]
Welcome to the mosh pit.
It's all right on a Saturday night ♪
Saturday night ♪
This is awesome!
But why is everything taken apart?
Yeah, that's the mosh pit part.
You kitbash a bunch
of normal, everyday stuff together,
and voilà, you get a crazy cool new thing
that never existed before.
For example…
That is so cool!
Boom! Exactly.
Yes. Who wants to do
the same thing as everyone else
when you can think outside the box?
Jeez, Nikki, you have such great ideas.
You should come play D&D with us.
Don't get ahead of yourself, Zombie Boy.
Listen, I'm happy to be in your party
for this adventure,
but this isn't my first rodeo, you know?
Sooner or later, probably sooner,
my mom will have us moving
to the next adventure,
and we'll promise to keep in touch,
whatever, but…
We will.
Will, at the end of the day,
no one wants a freak for a pen pal.
Hey, man, it's seriously okay.
The good thing about moving around
all the time?
All the fresh starts.
So let's just focus on right now, right?
If you guys are gonna live in a town
with constant monster attacks,
you should have constant access
to a garage full of potential.
El closed the gate! How the heck
are these creatures still running around?
We'd be finding out right now
if half the group hadn't ditched me.
Whoa! What group? Your junior FBI thing?
It's H.I.C. Hawkins Investigators Club.
It's not that hard, Steve.
Yeah, yeah. My car's just down there,
past Nancy-- Natalie's house!
Oh my God. I did it again.
Did what again?
Look, okay, I was on a date.
Mistakes were made,
and Natalie split on me. Okay?
Now, can we just get
to whatever's left of my car?
Natalie split on you? Why?
Just forget about it.
How am I supposed to learn about girls
if you won't teach--
This is not a teachable moment.
Everything's a teachable moment.
Wait.
[Steve] Ah!
You called Natalie "Nancy."
Oh crap! You did not!
I know! All right.
It was a slip of the tongue. Okay?
Natalie. Nancy.
It's not like her name was Gertrude.
What?
Come on, man. Bring it in.
We all need hugs once in a while.
- What? What are you doing? Okay. No.
- This is a huggable moment, Steve!
No, no, no!
Oh, my baby!
[groaning] My baby!
That is not gonna buff out.
[Dustin] We really need to stop this thing
before people start to notice.
Whoa! "Stop it"? Are you ser--
We barely survived our last go-around
with these things.
Why can't you just fall back
and leave the investigating
to the real ghost hunters for once?
Firstly, the word
you're looking for is "busters."
But points for trying.
Second, if Hopper finds out,
how long before the government finds out?
And once they find out…
Eleven.
[groaning] I can't believe you're gonna
drag me into this again. Fine!
I will help you hunt this thing, but--
Things. There's two of them.
Of course there is.
Well, lucky for us,
I have never once cleaned out my trunk.
["Left of the Dial"
by The Replacements playing]
Yes! All we need now is some monster bait.
You're a real pain in my butt,
you know that, right?
Read about your band ♪
In some local page ♪
Didn't mention your name ♪
We need shields!
Sorry, sorry.
I'm trying to back you up here!
Like you and Mike backed up El?
What's that supposed to-- Satellite!
El wanted to fight those creatures,
and you guys didn't back her.
It was a suicide mission.
Did you see the teeth on these things?
Who knows what those creatures can do now.
I'd hate for anything to happen
to my friends and…
I'd never forgive myself
if something happened to you.
[explosion in game]
Thank you, Prince Valiant.
But I can take care of myself
and so can El.
Maybe she had a plan,
and you guys didn't even hear her out.
You're right.
If Mike hasn't told Hopper yet,
maybe we can get to El
and tell her that we've got her back.
Now you're talking.
This is not how I pictured
you and me having winter break.
You pictured us?
What exactly did this picture look like?
Um…
Well, it kind of looked like this.
You and me having fun,
minus the creatures trying to kill us.
Oh.
No, no, no, no! Shoot! Where did I…
[man] Huh?
Now what do we have here?
[Dustin] Okay now.
Our targets seem to like pizza
but have thus far rejected Slim Jims
and 3 Musketeer bars.
So shouldn't we be buying pizza?
Come on, Steve.
You saw E.T.
Could you imagine
Elliott leaving a trail of pizza?
We need to buy in bulk,
something we can scatter all around town.
Okay. Walk me through your plan again.
Where do we even start?
Uh…
Here?
[creature growling]
Uh, Henderson!
So long, Dan. See you next time.
Hey, that's my truck!
Oh God.
Whoo!
Wait till the guys hear my stupid club
just bagged their first beast!
Hit the siren, Steve!
Dude, it's a meat truck.
It's a victory truck!
If it wasn't for the H.I.C.,
we wouldn't have known about Charlie,
or the farm, or the--
Will you stop whining
about your made-up club and focus?
I'm not whining.
Yeah, right. El got hurt,
your friends are in danger,
and all you can think about
is you wanting a merit badge
for your little scout troop.
Now, come on! Ugh! Do you even know
where we're taking this thing?
I'm looking. I'm looking.
There's gotta be a place we can dump it.
Uh, how about the dump?
[sarcastically] Ha, ha.
Why didn't I think of that?
Okay. Let's see.
Aha! The incinerator plant.
That'd be hot enough
to roast this bad boy.
Okay, great. Where is it?
The dump.
Whoa!
My bad. Take cover!
- Take the wheel!
- Okay!
Ow! You kicked me!
I'm doing it. I'm driving!
Why are we slowing down?
Hit the gas pedal!
[Steve grunting]
Other pedal. Got it.
[roaring]
[distant roaring]
Did you hear that?
Mother pus-bucket!
[Steve] Oh no! Get out… Get out of here!
[Mike] El.
El, can we please talk about this?
[knocking on door]
El.
This may be the last time
you ever see me, like, you know, alive.
[grunts]
You did not let me decide.
You did not listen to what I want.
Listen? To what?
You didn't say anything.
How do I know what you decide
if you don't tell me?
Ask!
Papa. Hopper. You!
Nobody asks! They choose. You chose!
El.
You're right. I'm sorry, El.
I was scared.
But I just spent a whole year
not knowing where you were
or if I'd ever even see you again.
And when I saw
those logs almost crush you…
I guess I figured,
if Hopper locked you up,
I'd at least know you were okay.
I understand now.
But you can't control everything, Mike.
I do not want you to.
Next time, I'll ask.
Next time, I will tell.
And I think we should tell Hopper.
Together.
Now that I think about it,
maybe facing those creatures
isn't such a bad idea after all.
[tires squealing]
Way to storm the gates!
That was not on purpose.
Whoa! Slow it down, man.
Whoa!
We've gotta fire up the machines
and get rid of these things!
I can turn it on.
Yeah, I saw the guy do it
on my fifth grade field trip here.
Great. You do that. I got this.
- But--
- No time! Go!
Uh, okay.
[Dustin] Hey! Hey, hey!
Over here, you butt-ugly,
four-legged swamp thing!
Oh boy. Why did I make myself bait again?
Oh, crud.
Come on, you stupid thing! Open!
Hey! Fertilizer breath!
Okay. Get ready, Steve!
Uh, we may have a slight problem.
You said you've been here before!
[Steve] I did, but I'm realizing now
that might have actually been
the water treatment plant.
Big difference, Steve!
[Steve] Dude! I was 10.
Okay, just hang in there.
Okay, I can do this. I can do this!
Is that a diaper?
Ugh! Oh!
Come on! You think there'd be one button
that would be marked "incinerator."
Ah!
[beeping]
Hm.
[buzzer sounding]
Oh no. Oh no.
No, no, no!
[Dustin screaming]
Steve! Shut down all garbage mashers
on the detention level! Ow!
Dude, come on! Let's go!
[screeching]
That was from Star Wars, right?
[screeching]
[beeping]
Give it up for Hi-C!
H.I.C.
Whatever! Just give it up!
Yeah. We're gonna need to work on that.
It's fine.
I guess I've been kind of
forcing the H.I.C. on everybody.
I just like the idea
of another adventure, you know?
I hadn't realized
that once El closed the gate,
I'd have to go back
to being some ordinary kid.
Trust me, kid. You may be a nerd,
but nothing about you is ordinary,
even if your adventure is over.
Thanks.
Wait. It's over!
There's nothing for Mike to tell Hopper!
[chuckles]
All right, get out of here, everyone!
Closing time! Vamanos!
Hey! That photo's ours, Keith.
Give it back or, um… Or else!
Or else, what?
Tell it to my lawyers
at the firm of Finders and Keepers!
He's not kidding around, doofus.
You want it so bad? Ten dollars.
I don't have ten!
Well, if you don't, someone else will.
Closing early today!
Please return
during normal business hours.
[Lucas groaning] He locked it!
- Give us the picture.
- What?
[Max] Open up right now.
Can't hear anything you're saying.
Goodbye.
Shoot.
[Will] Thanks for showing me
all your cool stuff.
And thank you
for letting me wave my freak flag.
I hope you'll give us a chance.
You know, we might surprise you.
[Dustin] Code red! Repeat, code red!
Code red!
The threat is eliminated.
Someone has to get to Mike
before he spills the SpaghettiOs
to Hopper.
["Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol playing]
[volume increases]
Last night a little dancer
Came dancin' to my door ♪
Last night, a little angel
Came pumpin' on my floor ♪
She said, "Come, baby
You got a license for love" ♪
And if it expires
Pray help from above ♪
Because, in the midnight hour
She cried, "More, more, more" ♪
With a rebel yell
She cried, "More, more, more" ♪
In the midnight hour
Babe, "More, more, more" ♪
With a rebel yell, "More, more, more" ♪
"More, more, more" ♪
Ooh yeah, little angel ♪
She want more ♪
More, more, more, more, more ♪
[Hopper] Hey! What is going on here?
[synth theme music playing]