History Recap / StrangerThingsS1E5ChapterFiveTheFleaAndTheAcrobat

'''Joyce:''' ''NYU, Lonnie!'' He's wanted to go to NYU since he was ''' ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis six. years. old!]]'' '''

The boys determine Will is trapped in an alternate dimension Eleven calls the "Upside Down," and he is being pursued by a monster similar to a Demogorgon. After Will's funeral, science teacher Mr. Clarke tells the boys that a high-energy spacetime tear could create a passage between dimensions. Using their compasses, they go into the woods search for a disruption in the Earth's electromagnetic field. Eleven remembers encountering the creature during a lab experiment, and afraid, she uses her powers to redirect the compasses. Lucas notices and confronts her. Mike defends her, he and Lucas fight, and Eleven telekinetically flings Lucas off Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven disappears.

Hopper discovers a portal in the basement of the lab but is knocked out by the lab's guards. He wakes at home and discovers a hidden microphone. Sheriff's deputies inform Hopper that Barb's car was found, but Hopper finds the state's involvement suspicious.

The boys determine Will is trapped in an alternate dimension Eleven calls the "Upside Down," and he is being pursued by a monster similar to a Demogorgon. After Will's funeral, science teacher Mr. Clarke tells the boys that a high-energy spacetime tear could create a passage between dimensions. Using their compasses, they search for a disruption in the Earth's electromagnetic field. Eleven remembers encountering the creature during a lab experiment, and afraid, she redirects the compasses. Lucas notices and confronts her. Mike defends her, he and Lucas fight, and Eleven telekinetically flings Lucas off Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven disappears.

In the lab, Hopper breaks into the quarantined zone. As he explore the facility, he comes across a small, mostly bare room containing a security camera, a child's bed, a toy lion, and a simplistic drawing of two stick figures labeled "Papa" and "11".

Lonnie covers the hole in the wall with a tarp and pours Joyce a drink. He suggests that Joyce is hallucinating and that she should talk to a therapist, but Joyce continues to insist that the things she's seeing are real.

The boys try to figure out what Will meant by describing his location as "like home". Eleven says that it's "upside-down", and Mike realizes she's referring to how she flipped the game board upside down to show where Will is--dark and empty. The group realizes that Eleven took them to Will's house because he was there, but in a dark alternate dimension, like the Vale of Shadows from Dungeons and Dragons. They ask Eleven if she knows how to get to the Upside-Down, but she claims not to know.

In the lab, Hopper manages to evade the guards chasing him and eventually finds his way down into the facility's basement, where he stumbles upon the portal Shepard disappeared into. But then his luck finally runs out as he is is surrounded by several hazmat-suited men who restrain and sedate him.

Jonathan arrives home and asks Joyce if the monster she saw came back. Lonnie tells him that Joyce is sick and Jonathan is going to push her over the edge by encouraging her.

The next morning, everyone attends Will's funeral. Joyce flashes back to a conversation she had with Will about a drawing of his Dungeons and Dragons character; in the flashback, she asks why "Will the Wise" needs fireball magic if he can just outsmart the bad guys, and he tells her that sometimes the bad guys are smart too.

Hopper wakes up on his couch, drenched in sweat and surrounded by pills and empty cans, as though the previous night was just a bad dream. Unconvinced, he frantically tears the place apart and eventually finds a microphone hidden in his overhead light.

Jonathan and Nancy map out the known locations of the monster and plan to track it down and kill it. Jonathan steals a revolver and a pack of ammo from the glove compartment of Lonnie's car while he's distracted after the funeral.

At Hawkins Lab, Dr. Brenner listens to a wiretap recording of Will's voice on the Heathkit radio and says that it means Eleven was there. One of the lab employees, disguised as an electrician, goes to the middle school to inspect the Heathkit.

At the funeral reception, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin ask Mr. Clarke about alternate dimensions. He tells them that theoretically, our dimension is like an acrobat on a tightrope: we can only move forwards or backwards. If there was a flea on that tightrope, though it could move along the side of the rope or underneath it completely, rather than just back and forth along the top. The boys ask if there's any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside-Down, and he tells them that it would require some sort of tear in time and space, like a gate. However, he cautions them that such a gate would require more energy than humans are currently capable of creating, and that if one existed, they would notice because it would cause electromagnetic and environmental disturbances.

Powell and Callahan go to Hopper's place and are a bit taken back when a jittery Hopper opens the door with his gun in his hand. They tell him that two local hunters disappeared near the area that Will vanished, and that Barbara Holland's car was found at a bus station by state troopers, indicating that she ran away. Hopper tells them to go back to the station and that he will personally look into the missing hunters. Both a bit puzzled by Hopper's strange behavior, Callahan wonders if he is off his medicine again while Powell theorizes that he must have spend too much time with Joyce.

Lonnie repairs the hole in the wall and takes down the Christmas lights. He tells Joyce that the quarry owners should be held accountable for Will's death, as there are no safety precautions around the quarry.

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin tell Eleven about Mr. Clarke's gate idea and ask her if she knows where it is. She says she doesn't, and Lucas asks her how she knows about the Upside-Down if that's true. Before she can answer, Dustin notices that all of their compasses are pointing in the wrong direction, meaning they can follow the compasses to the electromagnetic disturbance created by the gate.

Joyce finds a flyer for a law office specializing in accidental death lawsuits in Lonnie's wallet. She accuses him of only being there to cash in on Will's death and pay off his debts. Lonnie protests that he would use the money to pay for Jonathan to go to college, but Joyce catches him in the lie by forcing him to admit that he doesn't know where Jonathan wants to go to school, even though he's wanted to go to NYU since he was six years old. He says that Will's death is her fault, and she vows to never give up looking for Will before throwing Lonnie out of the house.

Nancy practices swinging a baseball bat in preparation for the monster. Steve goes to the Wheelers' house and apologizes to Nancy for his behavior during the investigation into Barb's disappearance. He asks her to go to the movies with him, but she refuses, ostensibly because of the hardship Will's funeral has brought her family, but actually because she has monster-hunting plans with Jonathan.

Nancy joins Jonathan at the outskirts of the woods, where he is practising shooting the gun. He's a terrible shot and admits that he hasn't shot a gun since he was ten and Lonnie took him hunting, something which he shudders to remember as Lonnie forced him to kill a bunny during the trip. Nancy admits that she thinks her parents married out of convenience more than love. She tries the gun and realizes she's a much better shot than Jonathan.

Hopper calls his ex-wife and tells her that he doesn't regret any part of the seven years he had with her and Sarah. However, he hears her new baby crying on the other end of the line and hangs up with a lie about being drunk and a request for her to take care of herself.

The kids walk along a train track, following the compasses. Lucas comments that Eleven is acting weird. Eleven flashes back to being immersed in "the bath", a sensory deprivation tank, in order to seek out a Russian spy. Distressed by the memory, she asks Mike to turn back, but he tells her to keep walking. She agrees, but as she does so, her nose begins to bleed.

Nancy asks Jonathan about the picture he took of her, and he says that he felt like she was trying to be someone else, but in that moment, it was like she was alone and a completely different person. Nancy tells him that that's bullshit and she's not trying to be someone else by dating Steve. She adds that Steve's actually a good guy and the incident with the camera was uncharacteristic. They get into an argument that culminates with Jonathan telling Nancy that she may think she's rebellious, but she behaves just like every other suburban girl and will inevitably end up in a life just like that of her parents.

Reaching a junkyard full of rusted-out cars, Dustin notices that they've looped back around, and Lucas realizes that Eleven has been screwing up the compasses to mislead them, pointing out the fresh blood on her sleeve. Mike defends her, but Eleven tearfully tells them that she did it because the gate is unsafe.

Hopper visits Joyce, checks her house for bugs, and tells her about what he's uncovered, including Will's fake body.

Lucas says that Eleven is a traitor and a monster who's using them for her own purposes, and that Mike is blinded by his feelings for Eleven. Dustin tries to calm them both down, but the two of them get in a fight. Panicked, Eleven begs them to stop, then uses her powers to throw Lucas against a nearby piece of sheet metal, temporarily knocking him unconscious. Mike is furious at her overreaction and shouts, "What's wrong with you?!"

Eleven again flashes back to "the bath". She comes too standing in an empty black void with a wet floor. She spots the Russian spy in the distance and walks over to him, but as she comes close, it is obvious that the man is not on the same plane of existence as her, as he is clearly in a conversation with someone unseen and doesn't notice Eleven as she curiously walks in a circle around him and studies him, as she channels his voice into the lab's speakers. Suddenly, Eleven hears a snarl in the void. The Russian man fades away, as Eleven looks spooked around and for the source of the sound. On the outside, Dr. Brenner and his team hears strange sounds being broadcaster over the lab's speakers; Brenner notices that he has no idea what it is. A scared Eleven finally spots the source of the sounds, and she starts running frantically, before waking up in the tank, screaming and pounding on the glass in a panic.

In the present, Lucas wakes up, much to the group's relief. While Mike tries profusely to apologize, Lucas furiously pushes him aside and heads home alone; Eleven takes advantage of the distraction to disappear into the woods in tears.

Night is falling over the woods as Nancy and Jonathan find an injured deer. As the two argue over whether to perform a MercyKill on the poor thing, it is abruptly dragged into some bushes by an unseen creature. They follow the trail of blood and find a tree with an organic-looking portal like the one at the lab in its base. Nancy crawls through the portal and finds a slightly altered version of the woods on the other side: the air is filled with strange motes, her flashlight flickers on and off, and the ground and trees are covered in meaty-looking vines and cobwebs. She sees the monster feeding on the deer, and it chases her. Jonathan hears her scream and calls for her, unaware of the portal in the tree, which has started to close.

!!Tropes:

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Nancy and Jonathan deliver these to each other during their argument in the woods.

* AllJustADream: Played with; after finding Hopper snooping around their lab, Hawkins' employees drug him and bring him back to his house, placing pills and empty cans around him, all in hopes that Hopper will believe his discoveries from last night were just a bad dream.

-->'''Joyce:''' Where does Jonathan want to go to college?
-->'''Lonnie:''' We get that money, anywhere he damn well pleases!
-->'''Joyce:''' ''NYU, Lonnie!'' He's wanted to go to NYU since he was ''' ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis six. years. old!]]'' '''

* GetOut: Joyce yelled this phrase at least three times at Lonnie after she found out he's only there to cash in on Will's death.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Sure, Lonnie is a deadbeat dad trying to cash in on his son's apparent death, but he is right: that gorge is ridiculously unsafe. It's just a sheer dead drop over the side into the water around a hundred feet down. Later, we see Mike nearly fall in too. Even if Will really wasn't killed there, someone likely would be.

* OneOfUs: In-universe example: the boys' chemistry teacher, who is an RPG geek as well.

* ProperlyParanoid: Hopper not only doesn't fall for the trick to make him believe his trip to Hawkins lab was just a dream, he also correctly predicts that Hawkins' might be keeping an eye on him now that he's onto them and thoroughly searches his house for any microphone, which he eventually finds. Later, when visiting Joyce, he urges her to stay quiet until he has searched her house for any microphone as well.

* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Nancy and Jonathan deliver these to each other during their argument in the woods.

Night is falling over the woods as Nancy and Jonathan find an injured deer, which is abruptly dragged into some bushes by an unseen creature. They follow the trail of blood and find a tree with an organic-looking portal like the one at the lab in its base. Nancy crawls through the portal and finds a slightly altered version of the woods on the other side: the air is filled with strange motes, her flashlight flickers on and off, and the ground and trees are covered in meaty-looking vines and cobwebs. She sees the monster feeding on the deer, and it chases her. Jonathan hears her scream and calls for her, unaware of the portal in the tree, which has started to close.

Nancy and Jonathan find an injured deer, which is abruptly dragged into some bushes by an unseen creature. They follow the trail of blood and find a tree with an organic-looking portal like the one at the lab in its base. Nancy crawls through the portal and finds a slightly altered version of the woods on the other side: the air is filled with strange motes, her flashlight flickers on and off, and the ground and trees are covered in meaty-looking vines and cobwebs. She sees the monster feeding on the deer, and it chases her. Jonathan hears her scream and calls for her, unaware of the portal in the tree, which has started to close.

* MercyKill: Jonathan and Nancy find a deer in the woods that has been hit by a car. As they decide what to do and screw up the courage to shoot the poor thing, the Demogorgon makes the decision for them and drags it off to feed
.

Nancy joins Jonathan as he practices shooting the gun. He's a terrible shot and admits that he hasn't shot a gun since he was ten and Lonnie took him hunting, something which he shudders to remember as Lonnie forced him to kill a bunny during the trip. Nancy admits that she thinks her parents married out of convenience more than love. She tries the gun and realizes she's a much better shot than Jonathan.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Sure, Lonnie is a deadbeat dad trying to cash in on his [[spoiler:son's apparent death]], but he is right: that gorge is ridiculously unsafe. It's just a sheer dead drop over the side into the water around a hundred feet down. Later, we see Mike nearly fall in too. Even if [[spoiler:Will]] really wasn't killed there, someone likely would be.

* MercyKill: Jonathan and Nancy find a deer in the woods that has been hit by a car. As they decide what to do and screw up the courage to shoot the poor thing, [[spoiler:the Demogorgon makes the decision for them and drags it off to feed]].

* RealityBreakingParadox: [[spoiler:The gate]]. Mr. Clarke points out that though science recognizes that there ''could'' be ways to alter the laws of physics, doing so anywhere near anything anyone cares about would be... irresponsible.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_flea_and_the_acrobat.jpg]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Joyce delivers one to Lonnie that destroys any remaining doubts about his selfishness.

* GenreSavvy: Hopper not only doesn't fall for the trick to make him believe his trip to Hawkins lab was just a dream, he also correctly predicts that Hawkins' might be keeping an eye on him now that he's onto them and thoroughly searches his house for any microphone, which he eventually finds. Later, when visiting Joyce, he urges her to stay quiet intill he has searched her house for any microphone as well.

Jonathan and Nancy map out the known locations of the monster and plan to track it down and kill it. Jonathan steals a revolver and a pack of ammo from the glove compartment of one of the cars at the funeral.

Hopper wakes up on his couch, drenched in sweat and surrounded by pills and empty cans, as though the previous night was just a bad dream. Unconvinced, he tears the place apart and finds a microphone hidden in his overhead light.

In the present, Lucas wakes up and furiously heads home alone; Eleven takes advantage of the distraction to disappear into the woods in tears.

In the lab, Hopper breaks into the quarantined zone. He comes across a small, mostly bare room containing a security camera, a child's bed, a toy lion, and a simplistic drawing of two stick figures labeled "Papa" and "11".

In the lab, Hopper runs from guards and finds the portal Shepard disappeared into, then is captured and chloroformed by hazmat-suited men.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Dustin says that compasses point "true north", when they actually point magnetic north.

Nancy joins Jonathan as he practices shooting the gun. He's a terrible shot and admits that he hasn't shot a gun since he was ten and Lonnie took him hunting, something which he shutters to remember as Lonnie forced him to kill a bunny during the trip. Nancy admits that she thinks her parents married out of convenience more than love. She tries the gun and realizes she's a much better shot than Jonathan.

-->'''Joyce:''' ''NYU, Lonnie!'' He's wanted to go to NYU since he was ''' ''six. years. old!'' '''

Powell and Callahan go to Hopper's place and are a bit taken back when a jittery Hopper opens the door with his gun in his hand. They tell him that two local hunters disappeared near the area that Will vanished, and that Barb Holland's car was found at a bus station by state troopers, indicating that she ran away. Hopper tells them to go back to the station and that he will personally look into the missing hunters. Both a bit puzzled by Hopper's strange behavior, Callahan wonders if he is off his medicine again while Powell theorizes that he must have spend too much time with Joyce.

Powell and Callahan go to Hopper's place and are a bit taken back when a jittery Hopper opens the door with his gun in his hand. They tell him that two local hunters disappeared near the area that Will vanished, and that Barb Holland's car was found at a bus station by state troopers, indicating that she ran away. Hopper tells them to back to the station and that he will personally look into the missing hunters. Both a bit puzzled by Hopper's strange behavior, Callahan wonders if he is off his medicine again while Powell theorizes that he must have spend too much time with Joyce.

Nancy joins Jonathan as he practices shooting the gun. He's a terrible shot and admits that he hasn't shot a gun since he was ten and Lonnie took him hunting. Nancy admits that she thinks her parents married out of convenience more than love. She tries the gun and realizes she's a much better shot than Jonathan.

Powell and Callahan go to Hopper's place and tell him that two local hunters disappeared near the area that Will vanished, and that Barb Holland's car was found at a bus station by state troopers, indicating that she ran away.

Lucas says that Eleven is a traitor and a monster who's using them for her own purposes, and that Mike is blinded by his feelings for Eleven. Dustin tries to calm them both down, but the two of them get in a fight. Panicked, Eleven begs them to stop, then uses her powers to throw Lucas against a nearby piece of sheet metal, temporarily knocking him unconscious. Mike is furious at her overreaction and shouts, "What's wrong with you?!" Eleven again flashes back to "the bath". She sees a uniformed man speaking Russian in an empty black void with a wet floor and channels his voice into the lab's speakers. As the Russian man fades away, she hears snarling and runs. In the present, Lucas wakes up and furiously heads home alone; Eleven takes advantage of the distraction to disappear into the woods in tears.

Lucas says that Eleven is a traitor and a monster who's using them for her own purposes, and that Mike is blinded by his feelings for Eleven. Dustin tries to calm them both down, but the two of them get in a fight. Panicked, Eleven begs them to stop, then uses her powers to throw Lucas against a nearby piece of sheet metal, temporarily knocking him unconscious. Mike is furious at her overreaction and shouts, "What's wrong with you?!" Eleven again flashes back to "the bath". She sees the spy in an empty black void with a wet floor and channels his voice into the lab's speakers. As the spy fades away, she hears snarling and runs. In the present, Lucas wakes up and furiously heads home alone; Eleven takes advantage of the distraction to disappear into the woods in tears.