Spoilers for this episode.
The Mind Flayer attacks Hopper's cabin while the children, Nancy and Jonathan prepare to defend it. Its limbs tear through the building, and one catches Eleven by the leg. With her friends fighting to free her, Eleven strikes back at the creature. The group escapes together after the struggle. They shelter in a shop, where Max helps treat the deep wound and Lucas gathers fireworks. A broken radio exchange with Dustin interrupts Mike's attempt to tell Eleven how he feels.
Dustin and Erica get Steve and Robin back to the mall, but the pair remain giddy and disoriented from the interrogation drug. They hide during a showing of Back to the Future before Steve and Robin retreat to the toilets to be sick. Steve admits he likes her. Robin explains that her attention at school was directed toward a girl who liked him. Steve accepts what she tells him, and the conversation returns to their easy teasing.
Hopper, Joyce, Murray and Alexei reach the Fourth of July fair looking for the children. Kline alerts the Russians, and Grigori shoots Alexei while he is enjoying the games. Hopper fights through the fairground attractions and escapes with Joyce and Murray, but Alexei is dead. At Starcourt, Russian guards corner Dustin's group in the food court. Eleven arrives with the others and hurls a display car into the guards. Their reunion stops when she collapses in pain: something is moving inside her injured leg.