In the third episode of Stranger Things season one, Barb is still trapped in the strange location that resembles an empty swimming pool. She climbs the ladder to escape, but something pulls her back down. Joyce continues to use electric Christmas lights to communicate with Will, who is still stuck in the parallel dimension. Hopper and his team continue their investigation and find a newspaper article about Terry Ives, a woman who claimed that her daughter was taken by scientists right after birth.

Eleven, a telekinetic experiment of Dr. Brenner, recalls her past in the lab and how Brenner, whom she calls “”papa””, ordered her to be locked up for refusing to hurt a cat. Nancy still worries about Barb, and Steve and his friends find photographs taken by Jonathan. They decide to destroy the photos and the camera, but Nancy notices that one of the photos shows Barb sitting next to the swimming pool and decides to go back to Steve’s house. On the way, she discovers Barb’s car parked in its usual spot and sees a creature moving among the trees.

Meanwhile, Joyce continues to draw letters of the alphabet on the wall with Christmas lights. Will contacts her and tells her that he is alive, but in danger. He manages to say only one word, “”run,”” before the strange creature starts to emerge from the wall.

In the end, the state police find Will’s body in a water-filled quarry near the town. It seems that his fate is sealed, but strange events continue to unfold in Hawkins.