History Recap / StrangerThingsS2E1ChapterOneMADMAX

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Defied in the case of Barb. Her parents are still looking for her, and Nancy breaks down in tears when reminded of her.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The Pittsburgh car chase. There is no Poplar Street in downtown Pittsburgh, and even the one that's in the suburbs doesn't ever cross a Main Street. There is a 7th Avenue and 7th Street, but they don't have tunnels. There are however many tunnels like that in other parts of Pittsburgh, and in Atlanta where the scene was filmed.

* EatingTheEyeCandy: The girls watching Billy arrive at school openly admire his ass.

* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: One of Owens' crew is apparently stupid enough to play music on his headphones loudly enough to drown out the sounds of the instruments telling them something bad is happening. He doesn't notice anything until enough lights begin flashing that he sees them on the wall.

* RealityEnsues: Even a year after everything that happened, there are still consequences running.
** Will suffers from PTSD after spending a week in the Upside Down without food, exposed to its toxic atmosphere, hiding from the Demogorgon and used as a [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong host for an insectoid parasite]].
** Joyce gets nervous when the phone rings.
** Barb's parents are still trying to look for her, and Nancy is still affected by her best friend's disappearance and death.
** It's implied that Mike has been acting out at school over the previous year due to grief and trauma over what happened, particularly with regards to Eleven's disappearance.

* CardboardBoxes: During the opening chase scene, the van hits a stack of cardboard boxes for effect.

* BlatantLies: Nancy invites Jonathan to the Halloween party she's been invited to. Jonathan declines, claiming he's made plans to go trick-or-treating with Will, but she sees through his lie.

Journalist Murray Bauman is snooping around Hawkins, having heard rumors about Eleven and her powers, believing that he is on the heels of some sort of conspiracy involving a secret Russian weapon. Hopper, knowing better, tries to discourage Bauman from looking deeper into the matter, while he himself investigates a mysterious blight on Bob Merril's pumpkin patch.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The Pittsburgh car chase. There is no Poplar Street in downtown Pittsburgh, and even the one that's in the suburbs doesn't ever cross a Main Street. There is a 7th Avenue and 7th Street, but they don't have tunnels.

* DamnedByAFoolsPraise: As Jonathan is comforting Will about feeling like a freak by saying that it'd be more fun to hang out with Music/DavidBowie than Music/KennyRogers, Bob walks by and chimes in "Someone say Kenny Rogers? I love Kenny Rogers!" He's also seems to love ''Film/MrMom'', one of the "lamer" videos Jonathan had rented for them.

* DonutMessWithACop: While trying to shrug off Bauman, Hopper helps himself to a donut, but Flo takes the donut away after one bite and gives him an apple.
* DramaticIrony: Mr. and Mrs. Holland have hired Murray Bauman to investigate Barb's disappearance, unaware she had been killed by the Demogorgon.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Dr. Owens engages Will in friendly conversation about candy before his examination, establishing him as at least ''seemingly'' a better sort of person than his predecessor Martin Brenner.

* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: One scientist staffing the evil facility is apparently stupid enough to play music on his headphones loudly enough to drown out the sounds of the instruments telling them something bad is happening. He doesn't notice anything until enough lights begin flashing that he sees them on the wall.

* JumpOffABridgeRebuttal: Mike's father offers this when Mike protests over being punished for graffiting a bathroom stall on the grounds that everyone does it. Of course, even if it is a cliche it might have carried a little more weight had Mike not literally jumped off a cliff for one of his friends the previous season.

* LemmingCops: The opening ChaseScene ends with three police cars crashing into another in front of the tunnel.
* MeaningfulLook: After being kissed by Steve, Nancy lets her gaze follow Jonathan for a bit, indicating she might not be entirely honest with her feelings.

* DamnedByAFoolsPraise: As Jonathan is comforting Will about feeling like a freak by saying that's it'd be more fun to hang out with Music/DavidBowie than Music/KennyRogers, Bob walks by and chimes in "Someone say Kenny Rogers? I love Kenny Rogers!" He's also seems to love ''Film/MrMom'', one of the "lamer" videos Jonathan had rented for them.

* DramaticIrony: Mr. and Mrs. Holland have hired Murray Bauman to investigate Barb's dissappearance, unaware she had been killed by the Demogorgon

Mr. Clarke introduces a new girl named Maxine ("Max") to his class. Dustin and Lucas does a little investigation, and finds out that she is the "MADMAX" from the arcade, making them interested in recruiting her for the party. They decide to do this behind the back of Mike, who has been in a really bad mood ever since Eleven's disappearance.

At Hawkins Lab, the new head scientist on duty, Dr. Sam Owens, examines Will after his vision. He tells Joyce that Will is probably just experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Joyce, meanwhile, has gotten a new boyfriend, Bob, a mild-mannered technician, who Will has taken quite a shine to, while Jonathan is more skeptical.

Mr. Clarke introduces a new girl named Maxine ("Max") to his class. Dustin and Lucas does a little investigation, and finds out that she is the "MADMAX" from the arcade, making them interested in recruiting her for the party.

At Hawkins Lab, the new head scientist on duty, Dr. Sam Owens, examines Will after his vision. He tells Joyce that Will is probably just experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.

At the Hawkins arcade, Will has a vision of the Upside Down, seeing a violent storm approaching in the distance.

Mr. Clarke introduces a new girl named Maxine ("Max") to his class.

Nancy and Steve have dinner with Barb's parents, who reveal are selling their house to pay for Bauman's investigation into Barb's disappearance. Nancy is haunted by guilt over this, knowing her late friend's true fate but being unable to reveal the truth to them.

Journalist Murray Bauman is snooping around Hawkins, having heard rumors about Eleven and her powers, believing that he is the heels of some sort of conspiracy involving a secret Russian weapon. Hopper, knowing better, tries to discourage Bauman from looking deeper into the matter, while he himself investigates a mysterious blight on Bob Merril's pumpkin patch.

On October 28, 1984, Kali and her gang use her psychic powers to escape the police. Her wrist tattoo marks her as "008."

At the Hawkins arcade, Will has a vision of the Upside Down.

Murray Bauman describes an elaborate conspiracy theory to Hopper. Hopper investigates a blight on Bob Merril's pumpkin patch.

At Hawkins Lab, Owens examines Will. He tells Joyce that Will is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nancy and Steve have dinner with Barb's parents, who are selling their house to pay for Bauman's investigation into Barb's disappearance.

Dustin hears a noise from the trashcan outside his home, and Will has a vision of an enormous spidery creature in the Upside Down.

October 28th, 1984. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A van is waiting in front of a building, and an alarm rings while several masked people run out and get in, driving off just as police cars arrive to their position. The woman riding shotgun guides the driver through a route, and when they enter a tunnel, she raises her right hand as though gripping something; the roof of the tunnel collapses and the lead police car swerves to a stop, getting hit by the two following it. The passenger of the first patrol car admonishes the driver for stopping, and when the stunned man exits the car, he sees the opening of the tunnel is completely normal: the collapse was an illusion. As the van gets away, the woman's nose starts bleeding, and when she wipes it with her sleeve, a tattoo is seen on her left wrist: 008.

Things in Hawkins, Indiana appear to have gone back to normal after the previous year's problems. Dustin (by searching under the couch's cushions), Lucas (by doing yard work), and Mike (by "borrowing" from Nancy) get quarters to go to the Arcade Palace, where they meet with Will, who is taken there by his mother. Dustin plays ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' while the others watch, but he gets killed before he can kill the dragon. Lucas boasts that unless Dustin learns to be more nimble, he will still be the only one who has beaten ''Dragon's Lair'' and until then Princess Daphne will remain his. Dustin says that at least he still holds the record on ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}'' and ''VideoGame/DigDug'', but Keith, the guy in charge, reveals someone else has taken that position, someone nicknamed MADMAX.

While Dustin and the others argue with Keith, demanding to know who this "MADMAX" person is, Will starts to hear something going on outside and follows, but when he turns around to call his friends, they have disappeared -- and suddenly Will is transported to the Upside Down. A strong gust of wind blows the door to the arcade up, and Will goes outside to see an approaching red storming raging in the distance and he is utterly terrified of what he is seeing. He then hears Mike calling out for him, and everything goes back to normal. Mike asks Will if he is okay, but Will answers that he just needed some air.

The following morning, as Chief Jim Hopper heads into the police station, Murray Bauman, a persistent conspiracy buff, wants to talk with him. Bauman mentions several independent sightings of a girl with psychic powers, believing that the whole is some sinister foreign plot, probably connected to the Russians. Hopper humors the man, but Flo calls him about a complaint lodged by Merril, a local farmer, who says that another farmer, Eugene, is poisoning his pumpkins. Hopper cuts Baumanns audience short and prepares to head out, telling Bauman to just "stop bleeding those people dry and go home." Bauman insists that he is "not bleeding anyone" as Hopper leaves.

At the high school, Nancy is sitting with Steve in his car. Steve wants to apply to college and asks Nancy to check his application letter. Nancy makes some suggestions, but Steve feels it will not be any good and throws the letter away: she reminds him they are due for a dinner with someone else. Just then, a sports car arrives, out of which step a red-haired middle-school girl with a skateboard and an jean-jacketed older boy who attracts the attention of several girls.

Meanwhile at the middle school, Will finds an article about his "resurrection" stuffed into his locker and written over with "Zombie Boy." Later, the boys are at science class, when a new pupil joins them: the red-haired girl Nancy saw earlier. The girl tries to quietly sneak in, but Mr. Clarke insists on introducing to the whole class as "Maxine" who just move to Hawkins from California. Maxine, however, insists that she just answers to "Max." This catches the attention of the boys, wondering if she may be the "MADMAX" who just beat the high scores in the arcade.

At Joyce's workplace, she is checking some numbers when a man comes in, asking whether they have something available. Joyce says she will check on the back. Moments later, Joyce and the man -- Bob, her boyfriend -- are passionately kissing in the back. Joyce reminds him they are meeting that night for a movie.

On the outskirts of town, Hopper is visiting Merrill, who filed the complaint about the poisoned pumpkins. As Hopper inspects the dead and rotting pumpkins, Merrill complains that Eugene has had it in for him ever since he started encroaching on his pumpkin business, but Hopper sincerely doubts that "nice, old" Eugene would ever stoop as low as poisoning a competitor's pumpkin patch. Merrill insists that the timing is highly suspicious, seeing how it happened the day before Halloween, when sales are at their highest. Hopper spots something rustling in the nearby cornfield and goes to check it out. As he searches the field, [[CatScare it turns out to be just a crow]].

Meanwhile back at the high school, fliers are being handed out for a Halloween party that will take place the following day. Nancy tells Jonathan he ought to consider going, but Jonathan insists that all he is planning to do on Halloween is to go trick-or-treating with Will. Nancy tries to convince him to come to the party, saying that he could do with hanging out with more people their age, but she is distracted when Steve suddenly sneaks up on and starts making out with her. When Nancy turns around again, she sees that Jonathan has used the distraction to quietly sneak away.

On the middle school playground, the boys watch Max as she skates around, wondering if she possibly can be "Madmax," pointing out that girls normally don't play video games, and even if she does, she couldn't possibly be ''that'' good. When she leaves, she throws away a piece of paper that the boys take -- and find it admonishes them for looking at her. Just then, the principal shows up asking for Will: his mother's here to take him. The boys worry over Will and what may be happening to him.

Joyce is taking Will to the Hawkins Energy Lab, where they find Hopper waiting for them. Inside, Will is subjected to a thorough medical check, and Dr. Sam Owens, the new chief scientist of the facility, asks Will several questions about what he is seeing, while several government agents nervously watch the interview on a camera elsewhere in the facility. Will tells Dr. Owens about the vision of the Upside Down he had in the arcade, how there was a storm there and he felt like there was something "evil" in the storm, looking at him. Dr. Owens asks Will if he knows what this "evil" wanted, and Will answers that it wanted to "kill". "To kill you?" asks Dr. Owens, but Will clarifies that it didn't want to kill him but rather "everyone else."

Talking later, Dr. Owens tells Joyce and Hopper that this sudden uptick of visions may be caused because it will soon be the anniversary of Will's disappearance, and this may be affecting him. As they leave, Joyce privately tells Hopper that she has a hard time trusting Dr. Owens, despite his friendly and easygoing attitude, referring to what happened last year, but Hopper assures her that Owens probably knows what he is talking about, but also asks her to call ''him'' first if things ever get bad with Will again. As Will and Joyce drive off, Hopper hangs back for a smoke and sees Dr. Owens watching him. Owens waves at Hopper, who doesn't return the gesture and turns to leave. Owens is approached by his assistant, who tells him to come to the lab overlooking the gate to the Upside Down. Owens and his assistant enter the lab, where they watch a soldier armed with a flamethrower being dressed up in a thermal suit. The soldier walks past the lab's barrier and up to the portal, where he uses the flamethrower to burn something that is coming out of it.

After school, Dustin and Lucas -- who is obviously enamored with the new girl -- lie in wait outside the arcade to confirm if Max is indeed MADMAX. Dustin worries that he might have to go home soon, and Lucas tells him to just go ahead, ensuring him that he will radio him if something happens. Dustin says that Lucas is probably just trying to get him out of the way so he is free to make his move. Lucas sarcastically answers that Dustin is hardly a threat, to which Dustin boasts that Max won't be able to resist his pretty pearly whites, proudly showing off his new teeth. Just then Max arrives in the sports car, having a heated argument with the driver before she enters the arcade. Watching her in awe from a distance as she expertly plays ''Dig Dug'', Lucas and Dustin conclude that she really is MADMAX.

That evening, Mike is told over dinner by his parents that they have to punish him for stealing Nancy's money, and they ask him to put up some of his toys for a yard sale. Mike protests that it is unfair, but Karen and Ted tell him that the incident has hardly been the only instance of him misbehaving in the last year, reminding him how he swore at a teacher and graffitied the school bathroom amongst quite a few other transgressions, saying that they have been very patient with him but that there needs to be consequences for bad behavior.

Meanwhile, Nancy and Steve meet for dinner with Barbara's parents. Having noticed the "On Sale" sign outside the house, Nancy asks about it, and Barb's parents say they are selling the house in order to pay for an investigative journalist (the persistent Murray Bauman from the first scene) formerly a staff member at the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', who may be able to find Barbara. Mr. Holland almost loses his composure as he declares that he is confident that Bauman will be able to do what Hopper and the local police so far have failed to achieve, and Mrs. Holland asks Nancy not to worry about their financial situation, as it hardly matters at the moment; with Bauman on the case, she and her husband are feeling hopeful for the first time in a long time. Nancy and Steve exchange several awkward looks, before Nancy excuses herself and goes to the bathroom, where she breaks down in tears, knowing that her friend is dead but that she cannot tell Barbara's parents that their search is useless.

Back at the Wheeler house, a downcast Mike sorts through his toys. Looking at Eleven's abandoned blanket fort, he picks up the walkie-talkie and speaks through it as if talking to Eleven, telling her he misses her greatly and asking her to give him a sign she is still out there. When someone answers back, Mike momentarily perks up as he thinks it is her, but it turns out that it is Dustin and Lucas, wanting to ask him if Max can join their group. Annoyed and disappointed, Mike tells them that he is busy and shuts off the walkie-talkie.

As Dustin and Lucas head home, Dustin insists that they stick to the plan of talking to Max tomorrow. Lucas warns that Mike might not like it, but Dustin says that their group isn't a dictatorship and they will go ahead with it with or without his approval. The two of them split up and go to their homes. When Dustin parks his bike in front of his house, he hears something rocking the garbage can but figures it must be his mother's cat.

At the Byers' house, Jonathan returns from the local video rental and shows off the new video camera he has bought to Joyce, telling her that home video is the future. Will, meanwhile, is in his room, drawing a picture of himself as a zombie, when Jonathan comes to speak with him. Will mentions that he is fed up with everyone treating him like he is going to break at the first turn and that he is a freak, and Jonathan tries to cheer him up by telling him that he might be a freak but so is he himself. Will asks him if that is why he doesn't seem to have any friends, but Jonathan assures him that he does have his friends, and when Will asks him why he always hangs out with him then, Jonathan answers that's because he is his best friend. Jonathan tells him that no one normal has accomplished anything significant and that freaks are cooler, asking him if he rather would be friends with Music/DavidBowie or Music/KennyRogers. Just then Bob passes by; not having heard the conversation, he cheerfully comments that he loves Kenny Rogers, much to Will and Jonathan's amusement. The two of them, along with Bob and Joyce, spend the night watching the movies Jonathan rented, but then the phone rings, and Joyce's mood is soured by her memories of last year. Bob tells her just to let it ring as he gently takes her hand, but Joyce cannot shake off the feeling that something is wrong.

Late at night, in the Energy Lab, the instruments that keep an eye on the Upside Down gate start to go haywire. Will wakes up to go to the bathroom, but when he leaves, he begins to have another vision of the Upside Down. The red storm is still raging in the distance, but is even more violent, and to Will's horror, the lightning from the storm reveals that there is some kind of gigantic tentacled monster right in the middle of it. The creature notices Will and turns to look at him.

Hopper drives to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. He avoids a set of traps and knocks on the door following a pattern. When the door opens, he sees a plate with a [[TrademarkFavoriteFood half-eaten Eggo]] and admonishes the eater that they have talked about this: no dessert before dinner. Then [[WhamShot Eleven sits down in front of him]], telling him he was late. Hopper apologizes, and the two begin to eat.