As the town preps for Halloween, a high-scoring rival shakes things up at the arcade, and a skeptical Hopper inspects a field of rotting pumpkins.
Almost a year after the events of the first season, a psychic girl with a tattoo identical to Eleven's, marking her as #008, is working as part of a criminal gang in Pittsburgh. Back in Hawkins, Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas meet a new girl at school, Maxine ("Max") who immediately captures the interest of Dustin and Lucas, while her older brother Billy antagonizes Steve. Mike and Nancy are still dealing with the losses of Eleven and Barb, respectively.
Will has been experiencing "episodes", hallucinations of the Upside Down that feature visions of an enormous, tentacled creature. Joyce and Hopper take Will to be seen at the lab by the new head scientist, Dr. Owens. At the end of the episode, Hopper goes home to a cabin in the woods where he lives with Eleven, who is revealed to still be alive.
