Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Hopper survived the explosion beneath Starcourt by jumping away from the machine, but Russian soldiers captured him. After interrogation and torture, he was sent to a prison in Kamchatka. Joyce and Murray call the number hidden in the doll and speak to a man using the name Enzo. He demands money and directs them to Alaska. Listening to the Russian spoken around him, they work out that their contact is a prison guard helping Hopper escape.
Chrissy's body is discovered in Eddie's trailer, and Eddie becomes the chief suspect. Max tells Dustin that she saw him flee and remembers her lights flickering that night. With Steve and Robin, they search the video store's customer records to locate Reefer Rick, then find Eddie hiding in Rick's boathouse. Eddie describes Chrissy's impossible death. His listeners believe him, explain the Upside Down and give the creature a name borrowed from Dungeons & Dragons: Vecna.
Nancy investigates the trailer park with Fred. Eddie's uncle Wayne points her toward Victor Creel, whose family's murders left similarly mutilated bodies. Fred wanders away while visions accuse him of killing someone in a car accident. Vecna traps and kills him. In California, Mike arrives for spring break, and Eleven tries to maintain her story about having friends. Angela humiliates her at the skating rink, exposing the lie. Eleven strikes Angela in the face with a skate, leaving Mike shocked.