Stranger Things: Tales from '85 (2026) s01e09 Episode Script

1
[dark music playing]
You guys!
Whoa! You okay?
I…
I just realized how late it is.
We should really get going.
Did you clog the toilet again?
You were gone for a bit.
Want me to…?
I could get my mom if you need help.
No! I mean, no.
I didn't clog the toilet.
It's just we should really get El home.
Mike, do you really wanna upset Hopper
after our close call the other night?
No! The answer is no.
Now, let's go.
Wait. But we're still--
See you tomorrow, Nikki!
Okay, sure. Um…
I'm sorry about him. Catch you later.
See ya, Zombie Boy.
Good night, Nikki. And happy birthday.
Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm freaking out!
Why are you being such a weirdo, dude?
Like, more than usual.
Guys, I know who it is!
Who who is?
Horde Prime, the big bad
who made the Queen, the vines, all of it!
It's Mrs. Baxter!
[all] What?
[synth theme music playing]
[theme music fades out]
["Hold Me Now"
by the Thomson Twins playing]
Pinned to my wall ♪
An image of you and of me
And we're laughing, we're loving it all ♪
Oh! [scoffs]
Wow, what's all this?
Can't I do something nice for my daughter?
[scoffs] Come on, Mom.
It feels like you're trying
to butter me up for something.
Okay, fine.
-We're leaving Hawkins!
-[choking]
Wait, what? What are you… We're moving?
Yeah. You were absolutely right.
This place isn't for us.
But… No, no. I don't wanna leave.
We're due for a new adventure.
Sweetie, just a few days ago,
you told me--
Okay, but that was
before I had friends here.
And what about Dan? We moved here
so that you could be with him.
Well, it seems
that Daniel and I are on separate paths.
What? You mean you broke up?
You don't have to concern yourself
with that.
I already called Aunt Lizzie.
She's gonna have the guest room ready
for us tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
Yes. Yeah. Uh-huh.
But that doesn't mean
that we have to leave Hawkins.
We could find another house,
or an apartment, or…
We can't afford to live here on our own.
You know this.
Like it or not,
it's time for a new experience.
And I don't understand
why you're so upset.
This is what we do.
No.
It's what you do.
[door opens, closes]
I don't know, Dustin.
I'm with Will. Just not buying it.
You think
Mrs. Baxter created those creatures
because of some weird red light?
Look, I don't have proof,
but all signs point to her.
Think about it. She's a scientist
who's constantly moving from town to town.
She knows all about spores.
And ever since she's got here,
we've had vines
and monsters trying to kill us.
But don't you think Nikki would know
if her own mom was a mad scientist?
Sometimes adults do bad things.
Hold on. My dad read an article
about some guy in Washington
that had a wife and kids
who had no clue he was a Russian spy.
So I guess it's not impossible.
So what now?
You plan on giving Nikki the bad news?
You guys too?
Because I got my own bad news.
I just found out
my mom is moving us out of Hawkins.
Why are you moving?
My mom wouldn't tell me exactly.
Just that we have until tonight
to pack up our stuff and get gone.
Is it because
your mom is an evil scientist?
What?
Okay, here goes.
Nikki, I think…
your mom created the Queen.
Yeah, right. Like my mom's
some kind of a deranged psycho
obsessed with her research into bringing…
dead… dead plant matter back to life.
Oh, crud.
Your mom knows
she lost control of her creation.
She's trying to skip town.
No. I mean, that can't be the reason.
That's crazy.
But what if it's not,
and all Hawkins becomes fertilizer
after you leave, including us?
Look, I've seen things
in the last few days I can't explain,
a Snow Shark, a Jerk O'Lantern,
killer vines.
So, do I believe my mom's some kind of a…
like a Dr. Frankenstein of plants? No.
But am I 100% certain?
I guess not.
We can find out for certain
if you can get us into your house
without your mom there.
She's gotta have evidence of her work.
Dude, are you serious?
If we don't find anything,
she's in the clear. What do you say?
Hey, Mom.
I just… I wanted to say sorry
for blowing up at breakfast.
Yeah, well, uh, you know…
Thank you, but I guess
we all lose our cool sometimes.
And you're gonna feel a lot better
once we hit the road.
Uh, yeah. Yeah.
Um, also, I was wondering,
could we go to the hardware store first?
I'm not sure I'm gonna find
what I need near Aunt Lizzie's.
[grumbling]
Sure, we can.
But really, we cannot take too long.
Got it?
Rad. Um, can Mike and El come too?
Okay, sure. Why not?
[Dustin straining, grunts]
All units, move, move, move!
Go, go, go. Hurry, hurry.
Right where Nikki said it would be.
Why check the grounds?
Last I heard, secret labs are indoors.
Check it. Last night, I figured out
that the X matches that tree.
We find the exact angle,
we find the Queen.
[policeman] All I'm saying is
running over those ugly roses
is a community service.
Yeah, and all I'm saying is
you're an idiot.
[dispatcher] Calling Unit 301.
Possible break-in on Elm.
Copy that. On our way.
[siren blaring]
Warmer. Warmer. Burning up.
-Ow!
-[grunting]
[Dustin] Boom! Secret lab!
A secret lab with see-through walls?
Great way to hide your secret experiments.
You kidding? A creepy greenhouse is ideal
for hiding a secret plant-monster lab.
But how can we get in?
Obviously not through there.
Bingo! That's it.
How do you plan
on pulling yourself up there?
Well, I do recall someone winning
the Presidential Fitness Test.
Oh, no.
[Mrs. Baxter] Nikki, please.
You know that window doesn't work anymore.
So, you are moving?
Hawkins is lovely, but I'm afraid that,
for us at least, it's a failed experiment,
and we need a new location,
somewhere with fresh resources.
I'm sorry to hear that.
No, no sorries necessary.
Failure is a vital part
of the scientific method.
It gives us the information we need
to adjust for our next experiment.
What if my experiment is still running?
Would you even care?
Listen to me.
This move is an exercise in replicability.
Now, you're gonna be able
to repeat this process
and make friends anywhere.
This is real life, my life,
not some scientific hypothesis.
I am aware of that. Why are you acting
like I'm such a horrible human being here?
Maybe you are.
What did you just say?
Nothing.
[mysterious music playing]
[music intensifies]
[growling softly]
[sniffing]
[screeching]
[music ends]
[lock clicks]
Yes!
How do you know how to do that?
Some dads teach their kids
the art of playing baseball.
Mine taught me the art of picking a lock.
Eh, it doesn't look burgled.
It's probably just a false alarm.
Yeah, well, houses don't look burgled
until they do.
Come on.
I'm not finding anything.
No way Mrs. B will just leave
secret research lying around.
If my stepbrother taught me anything,
it's that everything can be a hiding spot.
Aha!
Jackpot.
Hm.
Well, no sign of forced entry.
Let's check the perimeter.
[crunching]
[Max] That must be Mrs. Baxter.
[Will] That vine.
That's from the Upside Down.
[screeching]
[Max] Oh my god.
That must be
how this whole thing got started.
[Will] Wait!
Look.
[clicking]
That stuff's, like, hitting a plant
with a potion of growth.
That thing must really want that goo.
We gotta warn Nikki, Mike, and El right--
[gasping]
Well, no one inside here either.
Okay then. Let's call in a false alarm
and get on out of here.
Great idea.
[Lucas] Come on!
Higher! Higher!
[Lucas grunting] That's my head!
I'm gonna kill you!
Do it later. We're almost there.
Got it.
I am not helping you get back down.
Whoa! Whoa!
I'm fine. I'm fine.
Come on, you stupid…
[screaming]
[glass shattering]
Huh? What was that?
How should I know?
Come on.
I'm coming. I'm coming.
Dustin and Lucas.
They're gonna get caught.
Come on.
Dustin!
Are you okay?
Yeah! Never been better!
How are you not dead?
The grand hobby of gardening
broke my fall. Time to snoop.
[policeman] It was
probably just a raccoon.
In the middle of winter?
Raccoons gotta eat.
Hm. What's back there?
Hey, you getting hungry?
Push!
[both straining]
Huh?
Is that our car?
Yes! Chief's gonna kill us!
-Why didn't you put the handbrake on?
-I did!
-I thought I did!
-Well, you obviously didn't!
Aha!
What do you see here?
A light.
We have them at home, so does everyone.
But in a greenhouse,
where the walls are literally made
of glass?
Why would you need a light?
Because… night?
Or it's not all as it seems.
50% of secret rooms are opened
with levers hidden in plain sight.
Watch and learn.
I said 50%.
What was all that noise?
Do you know how close you two idiots got
to being caught by those cops?
Cops?
We saved your bacon. You owe us.
How'd the cops know we were here?
We, uh, may have tripped an alarm.
So we owe you for saving us
from the cops you alerted to us?
Never mind that now.
We found this tape showing a plant
going nuts for goo that supersizes it.
Wait. Run that back for me again.
Keep up, Lucas. This is perfect.
We can definitely use that as evidence.
That's exactly what we were thinking.
-[Lucas] Holy…
-[Max gasping]
Ha! In your face! See? 50%!
[Dustin] Mike!
The H.I.C. has done it again!
[coughing dramatically]
-You okay back there?
-Yeah! All good!
[radio turns on]
Oh my goodness! Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
The wiring in this old car is nuts.
-[R&B music playing]
-What'd you find? Over.
Oh, nothing.
Except, you know, the secret lab!
And that's not all!
We know what the Queen is after!
Miss Baxter was working on a serum
like a miracle Miracle-Gro,
this green goo that's strong enough
to bring plants back from the dead.
Yeah, we saw a video where it made
this plant creature freak out.
Did you say "green goo"?
[creature growling]
[all screaming]
Mike? Mike? Do you copy? Over.
Don't worry. Mike'll be okay.
He's got El and Nikki.
This is the lab from the video.
[Max] Whoa.
[grunting hauntingly]
Dude, is that the Queen?
It's an exact match!
Is everyone okay?
-Ugh. Yes.
-Yeah. Yeah.
Did we hit something?
What was that?
[screeching]
Oh, no, no, no! Come on! Come on! Come on!
Come on!
Guys?
Out, out, out, out, out!
Everybody out! Everybody out!
[raucous guitar music playing]
Nikki! Nikki! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
How is this happening?
[yelling]
That is physically impossible!
Nikki! Your headphones!
It's after your headphones!
What? Why?
The green goo!
They're attracted to the green goo!
[Mrs. Baxter] Nikki, be careful!
[Mike] I'm open!
El!
Nikki!
Aw, nuts!
Mom, start the car!
Okay!
Please, come on! Come on!
Nikki, over here!
Run, Wheeler, run!
Come on, please, please, please!
[raucous guitar music continues]
[Nikki] Here! Throw it here!
Leave her alone!
Nice save.
[Mike screaming]
Hey! Over here!
Mike! Incoming!
[screeches softly]
[Mike] El!
You saved our lives.
[screeching]
[screeches softly]
What were those things?
You know what those were!
It was all part of your failed experiment.
You created those creatures
and their Queen in your secret lab!
Wait, what? What? My secret lab?
Yeah. Yeah, and when you realized
your experiment
was racking up a body count,
you decided we should run?
We should run
instead of facing the consequences!
Wait, stop! Stop! That's it!
I have no idea
where you picked up this wild notion,
but I am not responsible
for whatever just attacked us.
My experiments never made it
past the Petri dish, I swear to you.
They were nothing but failures.
It's why I was so astounded
that anyone would think
they were good enough to steal!
"Steal"?
But if you didn't create those things,
then who did?
Mr. Henderson.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
You just can't seem
to stay out of trouble.
[screaming]
El! [echoing]
[synth theme music playing]