Before the End: Your Ultimate Stranger Things: Season 1 Recap & Analysis

November 6, 1983. In the seemingly sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana, a boy vanishes, a monster breaks through reality, and a mysterious girl with a shaved head appears.

If you need a refresher on the foundational mythology before diving into the final chapter, or if you simply don't have time for a rewatch, this comprehensive Stranger Things: Season 1 Recap will jog your memory regarding the events that started it all.

Season 1 defined the show's Spielbergian charm, King-esque horror, and deeply invested focus on friendship, setting the stage for every battle that followed.

Stranger Things: Season 1 Recap: The Birth Of A Phenomenon

Season 1, Episode 1: Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers

The season opens with a scientist being attacked by an unseen entity at Hawkins National Laboratory, a secretive government facility. Later that night, 12-year-old Will Byers is abducted by the same creature, known to us later as the Demogorgon, while riding his bicycle home from a Dungeons & Dragons session at his friend Mike Wheeler’s house.

Simultaneously, a young girl in a hospital gown, designated Eleven (El), escapes the facility, utilizing powerful psychokinetic abilities. She stumbles upon a local diner, eventually stealing food and clothing before the owner is killed by agents led by Dr. Martin Brenner.

Will's mother, Joyce Byers, and Police Chief Jim Hopper begin their separate investigations into the disappearance, which quickly hits suspicious dead ends from the Lab.

Season 1, Episode 2: Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

Will’s friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, find El sheltering in the woods. They take her back to Mike's house and hide her in the basement, realizing she has incredible, non-verbal powers after she slams the door shut with her mind. El attempts to communicate with them about Will, showing them a picture of Will and flipping it over to indicate he is “Gone.”

Joyce begins experiencing strange phenomena at home: a faulty landline connection that sounds like breathing and flickering lights. Teenage Nancy Wheeler, Mike's sister, goes to a party at her boyfriend Steve Harrington’s house with her best friend, Barbara Holland (Barb).

Barb, sitting alone by the pool, is suddenly attacked and pulled into the alternate dimension later known as the Upside Down.

Season 1, Episode 3: Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly

Joyce realizes that Will is communicating with her through the lights in her house, manipulating them to answer her questions on a painted alphabet board. She deduces that Will is alive but trapped in the walls. In a desperate moment, she witnesses the monster briefly breaching the wall before running outside.

Nancy is deeply worried about Barb’s disappearance. She meets Jonathan Byers, Will's older brother, who has been photographing the woods in his frantic search for his brother.

Nancy confronts Jonathan, realizing one of his photographs taken the night Barb vanished contains a blurry image of the creature standing behind her. Hopper, meanwhile, finds a piece of Hawkins Lab material in the lake near Will's bike, deepening his suspicion of the facility.

Season 1, Episode 4: Chapter Four: The Body

The entire town is led to believe the search is over when a body resembling Will is pulled from the quarry. Joyce fiercely refuses to believe it’s her son, citing his ability to talk to her through the lights.

Hopper also doubts the authenticity of the body and breaks into the morgue, discovering the corpse is a highly realistic dummy, confirming a massive government cover-up. Mike and the boys are initially devastated but El uses a walkie-talkie to let Mike hear Will’s voice, cementing their belief that he is still alive.

Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan begin their own investigation into the monster, tracing its origin back to the woods and the Lab.

Season 1, Episode 5: Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat

The boys realize they need to find the dimensional gate to save Will. Their science teacher, Mr. Clarke, explains the concept of alternate dimensions, comparing it to the "Flea and the Acrobat," implying the gate is a tear in the dimensional fabric.

El uses her powers to sense the Demogorgon’s location and points them toward the gate, which she calls "The Gate."

Hopper and Joyce team up, discovering that a past subject of the MKUltra experiments, Terry Ives, claimed her daughter was stolen by Dr. Brenner and the Lab.

Nancy ventures alone into the woods to find the monster and stumbles into the Upside Down, where she witnesses the Demogorgon consuming a doe.

Season 1, Episode 6: Chapter Six: The Monster

Nancy escapes the Upside Down after Jonathan pulls her back through a small breach, leaving behind a wound in the reality.

They realize the Demogorgon is drawn to blood. Jonathan and Nancy decide to arm themselves to hunt the creature, while Steve, still unaware of the supernatural threats, confronts Jonathan over photos and Nancy, leading to a physical fight.

Hopper and Joyce visit Terry Ives, who is now catatonic. Her sister confirms that Terry’s baby, Jane (the real name of El), was stolen because of her powerful abilities.

The knowledge that El is Terry's daughter and a victim of Brenner solidifies Joyce and Hopper's resolve. Lucas, suspicious of El, believes she is a threat and runs off alone to find the Lab.

Season 1, Episode 7: Chapter Seven: The Bathtub

Lucas warns his friends that the agents from Hawkins Lab are closing in. The boys and El flee, with El using her telekinesis to flip a government van, confirming the full extent of her dangerous power. They reconcile with Lucas and agree to work together.

The adults (Hopper, Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan) team up with the boys and El. They realize they need El to find Will and Barb in the Upside Down. They build a makeshift sensory deprivation tank ("The Bathtub") in the school gymnasium using a kiddy pool and salt, allowing El to amplify her psychic abilities. In the void, El confirms Barb is dead and locates Will.

Season 1, Episode 8: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down

Hopper and Joyce are captured by Dr. Brenner's agents. Hopper agrees to disclose El's location in exchange for the right to enter the Upside Down and save Will. He and Joyce venture through the main gate, a gaping, pulsating wound in the Lab's floor. They navigate the dark, decomposing dimension and find Will.

Meanwhile, Nancy, Jonathan, and a repentant Steve set a trap for the Demogorgon in the Byers' house. They successfully injure the creature but it escapes. Back at the school, Brenner and his agents corner El and the boys. El defends her friends, destroying the pursuing agents.

The Demogorgon, drawn by the bloodshed, appears. El engages the creature in a psychic battle, sacrificing herself by using her final burst of power to disintegrate the Demogorgon, vanishing along with it.

One month later, Will is rescued and seemingly recovering. However, in the final shot, he coughs up a slug into the sink, foreshadowing that his time in the Upside Down and the connection he forged there are far from over.

Hopper is also seen leaving a box of Eggo waffles in a small wooden box in the woods, confirming that El survived her sacrifice and he is secretly caring for her.

Some Closing Thoughts

The final moments of Stranger Things: Season 1 establish the persistent and evolving threat facing Hawkins.

The physical gate may be sealed, and the initial monster defeated, but the lingering biological infection inside Will and the secret survival of Eleven create a tense foundation for the coming seasons.

The core relationships, forged in crisis, are all strengthened: the boys' bond, Joyce and Hopper's partnership, and the unique, protective alliance between Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve.

This initial chapter masterfully blended sci-fi, horror, and heart, leaving audiences desperate to know what else crawled out of that rift.

So, are you as pumped about Stranger Things: Season 5 as us? Let us know in the comments section down below!

If you'd like to check out the recap for other seasons, you can find them right below!