Abigail Cowen | Stranger Things

• Genre: Science fiction, Horror, Mystery, Drama
• Created by: The Duffer Brothers
• Showrunners: Karl Gajdusek, Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink,Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Amybeth McNulty, Linda Hamilton
• Composers: Michael Stein, Kyle Dixon
• No. of seasons: 4
• No. of episodes: 34
• Executive producers: Karl Gajdusek, Brian Wright, Cindy Holland, Matt Thunell, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, The Duffer Brothers, Iain Paterson, Curtis Gwinn
• Cinematography: Tim Ives, Tod Campbell, Lachlan Milne, David Franco, Ricardo Diaz, Caleb Heymann, Brett Jutkiewicz
• Editors: Dean Zimmerman, Kevin D. Ross, Nat Fuller, Katheryn Naranjo
• Running time: 42–142 minutes
• Production companies: 21 Laps Entertainment, Monkey Massacre Productions, Upside Down Pictures
• Network: Netflix
• Release: July 15, 2016 – present

In a small town where everyone knows everyone, a peculiar incident starts a chain of events that leads to a child's disappearance, which begins to tear at the fabric of an otherwise-peaceful community. Dark government agencies and seemingly malevolent supernatural forces converge on the town, while a few of the locals begin to understand that more is going on than meets the eye.

 

"Chapter One: MADMAX"

On October 28, 1984, a girl with the psychic power to make people see things and with a tattoo reading "008" on her arm is part of a criminal gang that manages to rob a bank and get away in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In Hawkins, Indiana, the town prepares for Halloween. Maxine "Max" Mayfield, a new girl at school, captures the boys' attention. Joyce is dating her old high school classmate Bob Newby, Hopper investigates a field of pumpkins mysteriously rotting, and conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman investigates people who sighted Eleven, believing her to be a Russian spy. Mike and Nancy deal with their respective losses of Eleven and Barb, and Will has been experiencing episodes of apparent hallucinations of the Upside Down and an enormous, tentacled shadow monster. Joyce and Hopper take Will to see the lab's new director, Dr. Sam Owens, who has been giving Will routine medical exams ever since his return. Owens theorizes that Will's episodes are PTSD brought on by the anniversary of his disappearance. The gate in the lab's basement has been growing, worrying Owens. Nancy and Steve have dinner with Barb's parents, who still believe their daughter to be missing and who have hired Murray to find her. Hopper goes home to a cabin in the woods where he secretly lives with Eleven.

 

"Chapter Three: The Pollywog"

Flashbacks reveal that Hopper found Eleven in the woods and agreed to take care of her in his grandfather's old hunting cabin if she agreed not to leave the cabin. In the present, Bob encourages Will to face his fears, not understanding the nature of Will's episodes. Nancy persuades Jonathan to help her tell Barb's parents the truth, and the pair arrange a meeting with Barb's mother in a public park the following day, fearing that Owens may be tapping the phone lines. The creature Dustin found in his trash can is a small, slug-like animal that he names D'Artagnan ("Dart"). He shows Dart to the other kids, and Will concludes that it is from the Upside Down, as it makes a noise similar to one Will heard in his visions. Hopper accuses Owens of failing to keep the gate contained, becoming increasingly concerned about the pumpkin fields. Frustrated with being holed up, Eleven leaves to look for Mike; at the school, she sees him arguing with Max and mistakes it as flirting. Heartbroken, she leaves. Will suffers from another episode and follows Bob's advice to confront the shadow monster, but it possesses him.