Stranger Things: S2, E3

Episode three kicks off with Dustin's pollywog, and the unruly relationship it has with its owner. This weird tadpole-like creature makes its way around Hawkins throughout the rest of the show, growing larger and more fierce, taking on the demagorgon-like form.

Eleven clashes with Hop. Not even a mountainous Eggo meal can shield the chief from her wrath, borne from the false sense of security she acquires from living as a refugee for the past year. Her fury causes plates to fly and doors to slam, a series of telekinetic homages paid to King's Carrie and Firestarter.

Nancy is given a blow by blow of her drunken actions from the night before, prompting her to rethink sentiments about Steve. Meanwhile, her boyfriend takes it big time during an amusing basketball/locker room scene with Mad Max's brother.  Season two shows Steve swallowing a lot of pride; his relationships with Nancy and his friends take on different meanings, as do those with the young guns (Dustin, Mike, et al).

Joyce, in the mist of an umpteenth fanatical episode of which only paranoid mothers could ever pull off, manages to work the JVC cam, stumbling upon the arachnid figure looming over the dark trees during that previous Halloween.

Hop bargains and banters with Hawkins Lab. The science guys humor Hop, who begins to increasingly suspect some shady foul play reminiscent of that previous year's incident. Meanwhile, Will continues to slide into the dusty upside-down everywhere he goes, and doing so under the eyes of everyone who once pulled him from it.

Nancy and Jonathan plan to meet with Barb's mother in order to get her in on the real story behind her daughter's disappearance. Little do they know, however, that the phone line is tapped by the lab.