Work Text:
[START VIDEO]
STEVE HARRINGTON is in the frame, slightly off-center. He is blinking at something - or rather someone - off camera.
STEVE: Is it on?
DUSTIN HENDERSON (in a sarcastic tone, from off-screen, not pictured): Gee, I don’t know, Steve. Do you see a big blinking red light?
STEVES face scrunches up as he takes in what DUSTIN says. With a snicker from DUSTIN behind the camera, he humorously zooms into STEVES face.
STEVE notices and grabs at the camera lens and yanks it away.
•
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD is sitting in a wheelchair, JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER standing behind her, brushing her ginger hair.
MAXS eyes are cloudy, and it is obvious she cannot see. Still, they look directly into the camera.
MAX (slightly annoyed): Why are you doing this, again?
DUSTIN (off-camera): I’m making a documentary. One day, when someone eventually puts it together that we literally saved the world, this will be worth thousands.
MAX snorts a laugh at this. JANE smiles faintly, but keeps her eyes on her work in front of her. She sets the brush down gently and starts to braid instead.
MAX (still staring into the camera): I don’t know, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to pay any amount of money for a video with Mike in it.
MIKE WHEELER (off-camera): Hey!
The camera jerks from MAX to capture MIKE instead. DUSTIN laughs from behind the camera.
MIKE WHEELER is standing with his arms crossed, glaring in the direction of MAX. He is dressed in a dark blue long sleeve and black pants. His hair, while shaggy, isn’t too long. He looks put together and not outwardly ugly, despite what MAX implies.
•
LUCAS SINCLAIR sits in front of the camera. He is the only one in the shot, staring into the lens like he’s scared of it. He is in a green short-sleeved, despite it being the middle of winter in Indiana, and his pants are not visible.
He takes a moment to speak.
LUCAS: What did you want me to say?
DUSTIN huffs.
DUSTIN: (clearly annoyed, off-camera): anything! It’s a documentary; it’s not scripted.
LUCAS nods at this. He opens his mouth before pausing. He hesitates. Obviously, there’s not much to say. DUSTIN groans.
•
WILL BYERS sits now in the same seat we just saw LUCAS in. He is wearing an old-looking yellow and red striped shirt and blue jeans.
His hands are fidgeting together in his lap as he looks from behind the camera to the lens. Despite these actions, he doesn’t look outwardly nervous.
WILL: Well, it’s nice for everyone to be back together for Christmas.
WILL pauses, and a frown settles over his face.
WILL: almost everyone. Everyone still…
There's silence for a few seconds. WILL shakes his head, and a smile appears again.
WILL: College is great. Everyone in New York is really nice.
He offers the camera a thumbs up.
The camera droops slightly, WILL no longer being the center of the frame. It’s clear that this part is intended to be edited out later on.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Thank you! Finally, someone who tries.
WILLs cheeks pinken, and he rubs the back of his neck self-consciously. Two years ago, this would be a sign that an all-powerful monster wanting to end the world was nearby. Now, it’s just another habit of WILLS shyness.
LUCAS (off-camera): A real movie star, born for the screen. A natural!
WILL (laughing slightly, embarrassed): Between Jonathan and the few months with Bob, you get used to a camera always being in your face.
A silence falls over the room once again, as if WILL said something he shouldn’t have. A frown settles over his face, barely visible by this angle.
The camera moves before it’s cut.
•
The camera is moving, unstable. The person holding it is clearly walking at a quickened pace.
The back of one MIKE WHEELER is also visible while walking. Walking away from us, apparently.
He suddenly stops and turns around. This makes the cameraman halt, almost walking straight into the star of the shot.
MIKES arms are crossed again, the only way we’ve seen them so far.
MIKE: Can you stop following me with that thing?
DUSTIN (off-camera): Come on, man! You’re the only one of us we haven’t gotten yet.
MIKE (while pointing at the camera): You haven’t.
DUSTIN (clearly grinning, off-camera): Best for last. Come on!
MIKE shakes his head, his arms still crossed over his chest. If anything, they tighten.
His eyebrows are pulled together in a tight knot. He clearly is not a fan of being captured on film.
MIKE: No.
WILL BYERS (off-camera, sound coming a little from the left): Mike, just do it.
LUCAS (off-camera, sound coming a little from the right): Then it’ll be done, and Dustin will be forced to find someone else to bother.
MIKE hesitates. His eyes glance to his right, our left, and his eyebrows release a fraction of their tension. A crack.
After a few more seconds, MIKE groans.
•
MIKE is seated in the same chair as LUCAS and WILL were. He still looks pretty upset. His eyes avoid the camera completely. Instead, they’re staring off unmovingly. Whether it’s at a person or just the wall, we cannot tell.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Tell us something exciting. So far, everything we have is boring or sa- wait, shit. Introduce yourself first.
MIKE takes a deep breath. The non-eye contact doesn’t diminish.
MIKE: I’m Mike. And my friends are complete idiots.
LUCAS (off-camera): Hey!
The corner of MIKES mouth twitches. It’s the most non-annoyed emotion we’ve gotten from him so far.
•
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER, MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD, and DUSTIN HENDERSON are all sitting, sharing a couch. They’re all in different clothes from the previous shot, so we can assume a day (or more) has passed.
MAX is staring at a television that we can faintly hear. MAX has no vision, but she’s staring at the television anyway.
JANE seems to be crocheting or knitting. Something of the sort.
DUSTIN is mouthing something inaudible to the camera (or person filming).
The camera starts to zoom in on what JANE is working on. It is a white beanie she is indeed crocheting.
LUCAS (off-camera): What’re you working on, El?
JANES eyes don’t move from her work, as well as her hands don't stop.
JANE: A beanie for Will. For Christmas. It’s cold in New York.
The camera moves up and down, as if mimicking a nod. Instead, it just looks odd.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Dude, you’re so uncool.
•
STEVE HARRINGTON: How does my hair look?
STEVE is standing in frame with a hand in his hair, moving it around. He looks between the person behind the camera and up.
DUSTIN (off-camera): The same it’s looked for the last five years.
STEVES eyebrows just furrow, and he keeps moving his hair around. Not much changes; it just falls back into the same place.
DUSTIN (with a sigh, off-camera): Come on. Half of my footage is you messing with your hair.
STEVE rolls his eyes before dropping his hand and standing up straighter. He pulls on a toothy, charming grin, obviously intended for the camera.
STEVE (starting to move): And if you come with us this way to my garage, you can see my beautiful new baby girl. She’s a…
•
MIKE WHEELER and WILL BYERS both stand in frame, although it’s clear MIKE is the intended center. We can only see half of WILLS body.
LUCAS (off-camera): Just one smile? It’ll totally get all the girls to watch.
It seems that they got LUCAS on board with the whole documenting thing. MIKES opinion has not seemed to change.
MIKE, instead of smiling, flips off the camera. WILL laughs and falls more into the shot while doing so.
A glint of victory appears in MIKE's eye, but his lips do not budge. He’s still not smiling.
LUCAS (voice now flat): Fine. Will, what about you? You’ve always been more of the ladies man.
WILL blushes at this as the camera zooms out to favor him more. He gives a shy smile and a small wave.
MIKE grumbles under his breath before sighing, all loud and dramatic.
MIKE: Fine!
He leans over and pulls WILL closer. Now the two men’s sides are squeezed up against each other. MIKE swings an arm over WILLS shoulders.
WILL chokes out a laugh and only reddens. DUSTIN messes with the camera settings, assuming the lighting is the problem.
MIKE and WILL are now both smiling brightly at the camera. LUCAS laughing can be heard. MIKES smile falters.
LUCAS (still laughing, off-camera): Dude, it’s still a video, not a photo.
MIKES old facial expression comes back as he reaches for the camera for what must be the eighth time.
•
They’re out in the middle of nowhere. All that can be seen is sand, more sand, a bit more, and a few soda cans. Also, gunshots can be heard.
A soda can flies out of shot.
Zooms out to find the back of NANCY WHEELER. She’s holding a Remington 870 in an expert fashion. She reloads and fires a few more times.
STEVE (off-camera): You do know the war is over, right?
NANCY (barely audible): Yeah.
She reloads the gun quickly before putting it back in position. With one eye closed, she hits every target.
NANCY: Now it’s just a hobby.
•
THE PARTY is all seated in various spots of the WHEELER basement.
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER, WILL BYERS, MIKE WHEELER, and LUCAS SINCLAIR are all seated on the couch, in that order. MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD sits on the armchair beside her boyfriend.
DUSTIN HENDERSON is spiraled out on the floor.
STEVE HARRINGTON walks into the shot, presumably the one who set the camera down. He stares at everyone, unblinking, as if just processing what exactly it is he is doing. They stare back.
STEVE (with immense concern): God, I really do need friends my age.
•
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER: And this is for my dad. It’s a red sweatshirt, because red is his favorite color.
JANE does indeed hold up a red crocheted sweater. The only problem is, anyone who has seen JAMES HOPPER JR. in person would be able to tell that shirt is much too small.
The camera moves in an up-and-down motion, as if imitating a nod. This act gives a clue as to who is the one filming.
JANE moves to set that item down, reaching to grab the next. As she bends out of shot, the camera accidentally focuses on two people in the background.
It’s WILL BYERS and MIKE WHEELER, standing together far off in the distance. They were always in frame, blurred before, only now the focus. The camera zooms in on the two to get a better look.
The two are standing half a foot too close, and WILL is holding a small red box in his hand. He’s saying something, but it’s too far for the video to pick up any audio.
The only words that can be made out are the obvious mouthing of “Merry Christmas”.
MIKE grins and grabs the present, their fingers brushing. MIKE looks ecstatic to be receiving this present.
The camera tilts to the side, like a cock of the head.
JANE (only a quarter of her head visible): And- hello? Lucas?
•
There’s a lot of shuffling, and all that is seen is the ground and two sets of legs moving, like someone is walking, holding the camera. It sways back and forth. It seems to be recording by accident.
LUCAS: Hey, can I ask you a question?
DUSTIN (sounding like his mouth is full): Hm?
LUCAS (with a kind of hesitance): Do Mike and Will seem… different to you?
A beat of silence as the walking continues.
DUSTIN: What do you mean?
His tone sounds distracted, like he’s not fully involved in the conversation. There’s a wet sound of finger licking that follows.
LUCAS: I don’t know. Just since break started. It seems like they’re closer.
DUSTIN: Oh.
The camera stops moving. Now, just pointed at the gravel of the outside world.
DUSTIN: I see what you’re getting at.
LUCAS (sounding suddenly hopeful): You do?
DUSTIN (sincerely): Yeah, of course. Don’t worry about it, man.
DUSTIN (now with a slight tease): You’re still Mike's best friend.
LUCAS: That's… that’s not what I meant.
DUSTIN: It's okay, we all know it. But they both go to NYU, so they’re bound to spend more time together.
There’s a jangling sound and some more movement.
DUSTIN: But really, I gotta get home. Give me my camera.
The camera is passed from one person to another. While doing so, you can see the two boys are climbing onto bikes.
DUSTIN: Aw, you dipshit. You’re wasting all m—.
•
MIKE WHEELER (off-camera, his voice getting louder as he presumably walks into the room, closer): Okay, sorry. Sorry, I’m ready, let's go.
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD: Ugh, Mike, that shirt is awful.
MIKE (genuinely trying not to commit a hate crime): You can’t even fucking see me.
•
WILL BYERS and JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER are seen lying together on the grass. They’re both giggling and pointing up. It’s unclear what exactly is funny. It’s unclear if they even know themselves.
It pans to what they’re looking at: the sky! Or more so, the clouds. Whether you see shapes and figures or just blobs in the clouds is up to the viewer's perspective.
We go back to looking at the two siblings. Only now, they’re both looking towards the camera instead of the sky. Both smile and wave.
It’s about the nicest anyone has been toward the documentary so far.
•
There’s some snickering as the camera comes in and out of focus. The view seems to be filming between the cracks of the door.
After the cameraman adjusts some settings, we get a clear picture of what is being filmed.
It’s peaking through the door of MIKE WHEELERS bedroom. WILL BYERS is lying on the bed, lightly sketching into a notebook. MIKE WHEELER is reading a comic book on the other side of the bed. They’re both silently doing their own thing.
There’s another snicker heard behind the camera, followed by an (ironically enough) slightly louder shushing.
Both boys in the frame are oblivious.
MIKE looks up from his comic book. He moves his neck back and forth a bit, like he’s stretching out a kink. While he’s turned to the right, though, he stays facing that way.
MIKE stares at WILL, studying him quietly. A small smile slowly grows over his lips as he does so. WILL keeps drawing with his head down, unaware.
This, presumably so, is decidedly the best time for the cameramen to make themselves known.
DUSTIN HENDERSON (off-camera): Boo!
The door swings up, and the camera moves up and down, like the person holding it jumped into the room.
MIKE jumps back, his eyes widening as he looks up. WILL looks up as well, though he looks much less terrified.
STEVE HARRINGTON and DUSTIN HENDERSON laugh. MIKES face grows red.
MIKE (the picture of rage): Ugh! Get the fuck out!
MIKE storms out of his bed and closer, still clearly red in the face. His hand reaches out, and he grabs hold of the camera, yanking it toward himself.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Aw, come on. It was just a joke.
This seems to do very little on calming MIKE down. The camera is tossed across the room, landing on the bed with a thump.
Now, all that’s visible is WILLS side profile as he stares ahead and the desk that’s to his right.
MIKE (off-camera): Get out!
STEVE (off-camera): Whoa, man. Calm dow-.
MIKE (off-camera): Leave! Get out! Go!
There’s no reply from DUSTIN and STEVE. We hear some footsteps off-camera and the click of the door closing.
WILL keeps watching silently, eyes now following MIKE as he walks into the screen. MIKE sits at the desk chair, huffing and running a hand through his hair.
We see WILLS back of head as he lies on the bed, his body shifted toward the right to look at MIKE. MIKES body and the bottom half of his face are all of him that is visible. The angle is slightly crooked.
MIKE: God, they’re so annoying.
WILL: I don’t know why it bothers you so much. They’re just having fun.
MIKE: It should bother you, too! It’s like we have no privacy.
WILL (not raising the bait): Well, you were just reading, and I was drawing. Do we need privacy? It’s not like anything important was really going on.
MIKES mouth opens and then halts, as if he’s hesitating, rethinking what he’s going to say. We can’t see either of their eyes, so it’s hard to pinpoint an exact expression.
MIKE: I mean… I guess I just feel like they’re always… and with us… never mind.
WILL props himself up by the elbows more.
WILL: No, what were you going to say?
MIKE: I don’t know. Sometimes I just want it to be us two, when it’s just us two, you know? And when they walk in, I almost feel like… like we’re being caugh—.
MIKE stops talking abruptly. WILL sits up before turning his head toward the camera, presumably following his eye line. WILL makes dead eye contact with the lens.
MIKE stands up with immediate urgency. He storms closer to the camera.
MIKE: For fucks sake.
It goes black.
•
The camera is shaking, as if someone is holding the camera while walking down visible, blue carpeted stairs. They stop as voices fill the microphone.
TED WHEELER (off-camera, slightly to the right, raising his voice over the sound of the television): Do they all have to stay for breakfast?
KAREN WHEELER (off-camera, much more to the left, sounding slightly annoyed and trying very little to cover it up): Yes, of course. We always make them breakfast.
TED (off-camera, voice dull): They eat so much. There’s barely any left for me.
KAREN (off-camera): Well, if you helped me cook, you could show how much you want to eat to make sure there’s enough.
There’s no reply.
•
LUCAS (off-camera): Alright, guys. What did you think of the movie?
The camera is on WILL BYERS sitting on the WHEELERS basement couch. He’s smiling and holds up two flat palms.
WILL (despite showing ten fingers): Five stars!
Camera pans to JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER on WILLS right.
JANE: Eight stars!
WILL (off-camera): Um.
Camera pans to DUSTIN HENDERSON on JANES right.
DUSTIN: Five stars!
Camera pans to MIKE WHEELER on DUSTINS right.
MIKE (only a fraction annoyed at the sight of the camera): Five stars.
The camera pans down to MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD lying in a starfish.
MAX: two point five.
MIKE (off-camera and sounding personally offended): What!?
MAX shrugs, but a smirk is settled on her face.
The camera does a full one-eighty. We’re greeted by a first-person close-up of LUCAS SINCLAIR. He holds up a hand.
LUCAS: Five stars!!!
•
There’s complete blackness. Then, a hand is rubbing back and forth on the lens, cleaning it. Once that hand is pulled away, it’s still very dark, clearly nighttime.
There are the same blue stairs from earlier in the distance- it’s the WHEELERS downstairs! Why THE PARTY is barely anywhere, but the WHEELERS household is unknown.
STEVE HARRINGTON (off-camera, whispering): If Vecna or those demos or anything is back, I’m gonna be so pissed off.
We slowly, quietly advance toward the stairs. Once we reach them, we start to climb. The video is shaky and unstable. STEVES muffled but panicked breaths are the only audio.
After the stairs, the upstairs hallway comes into view. There’s an outline of a figure outside a door. The camera halts as the shaking grows faster but more stable. Like STEVES ready to attack.
But… would a monster be… knocking?
The door opens, and the camera is barely close enough to pick up the voices.
MIKE WHEELER: Oh. Hey.
WILL BYERS: hi.
MIKE: Are… you okay?
WILL nods once, but it’s stiff.
MIKE (wrapping an arm around WILLS shoulder and gently pulling him into the room): Come on.
The door closes behind the two of them. There’s silence and zero movement for a whole five seconds.
STEVE (off-camera, no longer whispering): Holy shit.
•
ERICA SINCLAIR: Get that camera out of my face before I break it.
•
The camera settles on… a table? The view keeps zooming in and out, the lighting changing. It seems as though someone isn’t filming to film, but to figure out the controls.
STEVE HARRINGTON (off-camera): Whatever, fine. Don’t help. But if I fall off this ladder…
DUSTIN HENDERSON (off-camera): You’re a big boy, you can manage.
We can almost hear STEVES eyeroll. Neither speaks for a moment longer, the sound of buttons and clinking of glass filling the silence.
STEVE (off-camera): Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s up with Mike and Will?
The button noises and color gradient stops.
DUSTIN (off-camera): What’s up with them?
STEVE (off-camera): Yeah, I mean… I heard rumors about Will in the past, but… anyway- doesn’t matter. What I mean is: I caught Will sneaking into Mike's bedroom the other night.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Oh. Well, that’s not that weird. They are best friends. Was he sneaking in or just like… going inside?
STEVE (off-camera, voice skeptical like he hadn’t thought of that possibility): Yeah, maybe that’s it. It just looked different than how Mike acts with you and Sinclair, I guess. I caught it on video if you wanna see.
DUSTIN (off-camera, now the confused one): You were filming? That’s not weird.
STEVE (off-camera): Hey! I heard noises, and you all were asleep. If the demos came back, I wanted it on that thing.
The clicking of buttons resumes, as well as the shifting of camera focus. If you get motion sickness, it is advised to look away.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Lucas did ask me the same thing recently.
STEVE (off-camera): Really? About Mike and Byers?
DUSTIN (off-camera): Yeah.
STEVE (off-camera): Huh.
They settle back into comfortable silence for a few more minutes.
DUSTIN (off-camera, slightly softer but still firm): If you feel like that again, you wake me, okay?
STEVE (off-camera, sighing and maybe not totally sincere): Yeah, okay.
•
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD is struggling to raise herself out of the wheelchair as WILL BYERS stands beside her. She makes a few grunts as her arms try to push herself up. After a futile attempt, her elbows collapse, and she falls back down into the chair.
WILL (worrisome): Here, let me help.
He reaches his arms out toward her, but she bats them away.
MAX (harsh and sharp): No! It’s fine. Stop.
WILL pauses with his hands in mid-air. He glances back toward MIKE WHEELER, who’s standing a few feet behind them.
The look back could be one of three things.
WILL doesn’t know whether to listen to her rules or continue to try to help her.
MAX just snapped at WILL, and he needs the comfort of looking at someone he trusts.
WILL is in love with MIKE.
The third sounds like the least likely, but by the way DUSTIN HENDERSON and STEVE HARRINGTON–who are sitting on the couch in view–look at each other, they may disagree.
MAX takes a deep breath, and a forced apologetic look morphs on her face.
MAX: I’m sorry. Just… let me do it, okay?
WILL nods and takes a step back. He watches her try for a few more seconds before apparently deeming it too hard to watch and not help. He retreats back toward MIKE.
DUSTIN and STEVE share a look again.
•
LUCAS (off-camera): Okay, it’s on. Max, you show yours first.
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD is seated at the WHEELERS basement (of course) table. In front of her is a gingerbread house. It’s decorated… not awfully, but the frosting is messy, and nothing is really symmetrical.
LUCAS (off-camera): Amazing. We don’t even need to see the rest. We have a clear winner.
MAX: Shut up. You basically did the whole thing.
The camera pans to the right, where JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER is. She’s smiling and happily presents her own gingerbread house. It’s an average-looking one, but the focus isn’t on the house itself. In front, it has a bunch of mini animals made out of fondant.
LUCAS (off-camera): Impressive.
JANE (very smiley): Thanks! Will made them for me.
The camera moved onto WILL BYERS to gauge his reaction. He looks almost flustered at being called out, even though everyone here has been here and most likely saw him make them.
WILL: Well, it was your idea, Jane. Plus, you made that penguin.
WILL points to the worst-looking animal of them all. LUCAS SINCLAIR snickers out of sight. The laugh only lasts for a moment before he lets out a small yelp, and the sound of a smack rings through. We don’t see who did it, but we can assume the best guess.
The camera zooms in on WILLS gingerbread house. It’s tall and very nicely decorated. Nothing looks out of place, and no frosting droops.
LUCAS (off-camera): Damn, Byers. You may have Max beat.
MAX (off-camera): Not very hard, given my circumstances.
WILL offers no response, so LUCAS moves onto MIKE WHEELERS house.
It’s… definitely something. It’s tilting to the side, and the walls look like they’re going to give out any second. The frosting is a mess, it’s everywhere, including somehow on MIKES nose.
LUCAS (off-camera): Are you sure you’re not the blind one?
MAX and WILL laugh at this, even sweet old JANES quiet giggle can be heard, but MIKE only gapes at WILL.
MIKE: Easy for you to laugh at! This shit is basically just painting. And we all know how amazing you are at everything art-related.
Pink dusts over WILLS cheeks. He doesn’t seem to have a reply to that.
MAX (off-camera, with a snort): Shitty excuse, Wheeler.
Lastly, there’s DUSTINS. It’s not bad. It has a lot of candy on it, and there’s an oddly bite-shaped chunk missing from the roof.
JANE (off-camera): Can we eat them now?
•
Everyone’s still dressed in the same clothes, so it’s assumed to be the same day, but all the gingerbread houses are gone. Instead, their Dungeons and Dragons board is on the table, their mini characters scattered around.
The camera is focused on MIKE WHEELER, who is telling the story in extravagant and nerdy detail. It moves to capture LUCAS SINCLAIR, DUSTIN HENDERSON, and WILL BYERS reactions. They all seem very alert and aware.
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD sits beside her boyfriend with her eyes closed. She seems to be asleep, but her eyelids move occasionally, hinting she may not be. Maybe she’s even listening.
The camera moved back to MIKE as his words got louder and his hands got wider. He seems to be at the climax of the story when—.
JOYCE BYERS (off-screen): Oh, sorry.
The camera turns, and JOYCE is standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at all of them. She’s clutching a bouquet of flowers so tight her knuckles turn white. WILL stands up.
JOYCE: I was just. Um.
She passes the flowers to her other hand and then back again. JOYCE locks eyes with WILL, and a faint smile plays at her lips.
JOYCE (in a quiet whisper): I’m going to the cemetery. Will, would you like to come with?
WILL just nods and gently sets down the dice in his hand. He gives MIKE, and then the rest of THE PARTY, a small, sad smile before grabbing his coat and following his mother up the stairs.
Everyone’s silent.
Now, we see MIKES pursed lips as he stares at the table. LUCAS glances his eyes around and MAX is no longer pretending to be asleep.
There’s fidgeting with the camera, but the picture remains.
DUSTIN (softly): Hey, it’s that big black button at the top—.
•
WILL BYERS (off-screen): —he shoots, and he scores!! The crowd goes wild! That’s another victory for the—.
MIKE WHEELER (with a forced annoyance, off-screen): God, how much longer of this?
The camera moves from the original angle, where we saw LUCAS playing basketball by himself, to a close-up of MIKE’s face.
He gives the camera an unimpressed stare before looking just past it, and the expression falters into something gentler.
WILL (off-camera): Don’t be such a baby. It’s a nice day outside, anyway. Let Lucas have his fun.
We see MIKE roll his eyes, before it’s moved back to LUCAS playing basketball.
This goes on for a while, with WILL giving commentary. There are no other complaints from MIKE.
•
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER is holding up a purple scarf with colorful designs.
JANE: This one is for Joyce. For when she walks to work, and it is cold outside.
The sound of a door creaking breaks JANES explanation. The camera moves to capture where the sound came from, and we see JAMES HOPPER JR. entering the room. He stops when he spots the camera, obviously confused. This may be the first time he’s seen it.
JANE (off-screen): Dad! We’re showing Christmas, you can’t be here.
•
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFLIED: Come on, Will. I know you had to have been on at least one date.
The camera whips from MAX to WILL BYERS, the movement jerky and dramatic, like this is an intense reality TV show instead of a bunch of dorky eighteen-year-olds.
WILLS face is pink, more flushed than his natural blush, and he’s avoiding eye contact with the girl, even though eye contact is sort of impossible.
WILL (shyly): Max…
The camera zooms back.
MAX: It’s New York! You can’t possibly think you’re the only gay guy there. It’s NYU.
Camera zooms.
WILL: I didn’t say that.
Moves back.
MAX: See! And I just know all the guys are all over you.
No one comments on the fact that MAX doesn’t have the best situation to be commenting on anyone’s appearance.
MAX: Let me live vigorously through you, come on.
The camera starts to move back to WILL, then stops, hesitates, and settles on nothing.
LUCAS SINCLAIR (off-camera): Hey!
MAX laughs. WILL does, too. LUCAS and MIKE WHEELER are not laughing.
•
STEVE HARRINGTON: Hello, welcome to Auditor- oh, it’s you.
DUSTIN HENDERSON (off-camera): Rude! Is this how you treat all your customers?
In the background, we can see Will Byers dart past STEVE and away. He heads towards the section labeled gothic rock before frantically flicking through albums.
STEVE: Henderson, I’m trying to work.
DUSTIN (off-camera): I’m a paying customer.
WILL keeps moving down the aisle as he searches for seemingly something specific. He’s clearly not paying attention, as when he takes a side step, bumps straight into a girl.
THE GIRL has long black curly hair and is wearing glasses. Also, she’s holding the Disintegration, The Cure album in her hands.
WILL says something to her, eyes wide and embarrassed. She laughs and replies, flickering her wrist in a dismissive manner.
STEVE (crossing his arms): No, you’re not. You’re going to ask to “borrow” another record.
DUSTIN (offended, off-camera): That's not fair! I always bring them back, and they’re never damaged.
STEVE: Dude. You’re going to get me fired.
THE GIRL presents the album cover to WILL. WILL gasps and covers his mouth with one hand, reaching out to grab the record with the other.
THE GIRL laughs again and lets him take it. She continues to talk while going into the stack to grab another one of the same.
Suddenly, MIKE WHEELER walks into view beside WILL. He has his arms crossed and doesn’t look very happy, but then again, what else is new?
DUSTIN (off-camera): At least show off your uniform. Come on, give us a spin.
STEVE: You’re so annoying.
THE GIRL continues to talk away, clearly not noticing another presence. WILL doesn’t seem to notice him much, either. He’s too engrossed in what she’s saying.
MIKE grabs the record out of WILLS hands and tucks it under his arm. Then, he grabs WILLS wrist and says something quick and with a sneer. They’re still too far out of shot to pick up any audio. MIKE turns and practically storms away, pulling WILL with him. WILL looks surprised and stumbles along, quickly turning back to wave goodbye to THE GIRL. She looks very confused as well and just blinks back.
MIKE comes dead center, close up, facing STEVE. He sets the newly released record down onto the counter and digs into his back pocket for his wallet. His right hand is still encircled around WILLS wrist.
MIKE (annoyed and partly out of breath): Just this.
•
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD (off-camera): Dude, it’s fine, I got it!
The camera yanks to the side. We can all use our heads to agree that the angriest of the group snatched it out of someone else's hands. On one hand, it’s nice that MAX is taking an interest. On the other hand, she’s blind, so the shot sucks.
LUCAS SINCLAIR (off-screen): Um.
It’s tilted, and only half of the intended picture is visible. JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER is running around with DUSTIN HENDERSON in the snow. They may be trying to build a snowman, but it’s hard to tell. They could also be doing literally anything else. There’s not much good context.
LUCAS (off-screen): Yeah, sure, babe. Of course.
•
DUSTIN HENDERSON (off-camera): So, Nancy. Tell us about Emerson.
NANCY WHEELER is sitting on the same chair we haven’t seen in quite a few clips. Her hair is perfectly curled, just the right amount of volume, yet no frizz. Not a piece looks out of place. She must be taking lessons from STEVE “THE HAIR” HARRINGTON.
NANCY: Well, it’s great. As a sophomore, I’m taking a lot more interesting classes now. More toward my specific interests, which is nice.
NANCY: I’m in some clubs. I run some clubs. It’s refreshing, not being told what to do.
She ended her mini speech with a smile and clasped hands. There’s a beat of silence.
DUSTIN (off-screen): Some real answers! You’re the best, love you, Nance.
•
The camera turns on to a diagonal angle, filming outside a window. The cameraman is inside… a house, not enough evidence to really say whose. The BYERS-HOPPERS?
Outside the window, we can see JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER and JOYCE BYERS. It’s unclear who is the one filming.
Outside, the two girls have identical smiles as they talk back and forth. They’re surrounded by a garden of flowers and some light snow. We can’t make out what words they’re passing, but it’s still a very sweet scene.
•
LUCAS SINCLAIR (off-camera): Guys. We should totally go ice skating. I heard people say Lovers Lake is completely frozen over.
MIKE WHEELER (grumpily): No one wants to go ice skating, Lucas.
MIKE looks particularly peeved today. His shoulders are tense, his arms crossed (well, that’s not exactly new), and his eyebrows are so far furrowed they may dip into his eyes. He’s sitting on the couch and looks awfully sorry for himself.
MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD: I want to skate.
MIKE: Bullshit. You can barely stand.
MAX (louder and leaning forward): Fuck you, Wheeler. I’ll sit, and Lucas’ll push me. Right, Lucas?
LUCAS (off-screen): Yeah, of course!
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER (off-camera): I’ve never ice skated before.
The camera pans to capture her. It slightly zooms in. She’s in a light purple knit sweeter and her hair is half up, half down with some matching flower pins. She looks extra good in this lighting; the camera man doing a swell job.
MIKE (off-camera): Can’t we just watch a movie? It’s freezing out there.
The camera reluctantly moves back MIKE sitting on the couch.
WILL BYERS (standing behind the couch, voice flat): I want to skate, too. I’ll grab my shoes.
And then he’s just walking away like his word is final. It must be, because LUCAS is standing as well, walking just a few feet to pick up his and MAXS own.
MIKE doesn’t look any happier. If anything, he looks worse.
•
DUSTIN HENDERSON: Whoa, be careful!
The camera is not steady. The person holding it is clearly skating, Dustin just a foot ahead, half turned toward us. The shot rocks back and forth in motion. JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPERS giggles can be heard behind the camera.
A small moment of LUCAS SINCLAIR pushing a chair that MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD is seated on flashed by. MAX doesn’t look very happy to be here, probably just agreeing to disagree with one MIKE WHEELER.
MIKE. We see him once, sitting in the rocks at the edge of the lake. Then, he’s out of shot. DUSTIN and JANE take another lap around.
MIKE is there again, only now he’s standing, clumsily maneuvering his way onto the ice.
Another lap.
MIKE awkwardly skates up to WILL BYERS. WILL doesn’t pay him much mind and continues to skate as before MIKE showed up at his side.
Another lap.
WILL and MIKE are skating side by side, heads turned towards each other, frowns in place. MIKES eyebrows are still furrowed while WILLS eyes are bigger than normal.
Another lap.
They’re no longer skating, just standing in the middle of the lake. WILLS arms are moving around animatedly as he speaks. MIKE replies with just as much tension in his jaw.
Their argument can’t be heard over the sounds of various laughter as the camera zooms by.
Another lap.
WILL gives one last eyeroll, throws his hands to his sides, says something shortly, and then he’s skating away from MIKE. The camera has never seen someone storm away in skate mode before.
DUSTIN (off-screen): El, why are you slowing down? Be careful.
MIKE stands there, several feet away, clearly annoyed. He doesn’t even notice the camera. He huffs. Then he huffs again.
…
Suddenly, MIKE pushes off with his left foot, and he’s skating in the same direction WILL took off in. His face shows more of a tender emotion, softer edges.
JANE (high-pitched, off-camera): Oh- Whoa!
The camera falls face-first onto the ice.
•
ERICA SINCLAIR: So, what? You nerds are filming a day in your life?
DUSTIN (off-camera): Uh, yeah. Sort of.
ERICA: lame.
•
Familiar blue stairs come into view. Someone is holding the camera, skipping down the steps, then turning to walk into the WHEELERS house living room.
MIKE WHEELER is sitting on the couch, comic book in hand. He doesn’t seem to be too engaged in it, though. His face is still stuck in that same tense position.
DUSTIN HENDERSON (off-screen): Mike.
MIKE looks a little startled as he looks up. He’s finally blinking. The shocked face morphs back into a scowl.
MIKE (obviously upset): What?
DUSTIN (off-camera): Nancy is in the basement. Wanna scare her?
There’s a beat of silence, then Mike tosses his comic away and onto the couch with a small evil smirk. Must be a confirmation, because then the two are tiptoeing toward the basement stairs door.
They’re ridiculously children, shushing each other and quiet shoves. After a silent mouthful debate, MIKE is the one able to reach his hand out to slowly open the door. It squeaks, the hand pauses, then continues its movements when apparently deeming it safe to do so.
Slowly, wordlessly, they maneuver down the stairs.
Into the frame comes not just one head, but two.
NANCY WHEELER and WILL BYERS are sitting on the couch, facing away from the camera. They’re leaning into each other, passing whispers quiet enough not to be picked up.
The camera moves, showing MIKE startled and blinking at the sight. A look of hurt crosses his face watching his sister and best friend secretly talk.
The camera goes back and zooms in a bit on the two, and it’s clearer what they’re doing. NANCY is holding a Hawkins High yearbook, flipped open to… the shot comes into better focus… the band page? And WILL is holding a dozen or so photographs in his own hands.
WILL (too quiet): he— *inaudible* happy for you. I’m glad— *inaudible*.
There’s a beat of silence as NANCY takes in what he said. Then, she’s pushing the book into WILLS hands, wiping an eye after.
NANCY (also too quiet): I don’t know much— *inaudible*. She— *inaudible* and loud, but you know that.
There’s a small, sad laugh that comes from WILLS mouth, and he holds the yearbook closer, trying to get a better look at a specific picture.
This seems to snap the cameraman back into reality, because the shot moves again to look at MIKE. An arm goes into view to tug at MIKES.
DUSTIN (whispering, off-camera): Come on. We can’t be here.
MIKE doesn’t look away from the two. He hesitates, hands twitching at his sides. It’s clear he doesn’t want to move, doesn’t want to leave. That maybe he wants to walk more into the room and be there with the other two.
But he must decide against it. After another pull from the hand on his arm, MIKE turns away and follows the camera quietly but quickly back up the stairs.
•
KAREN and TED WHEELER are standing far away, facing each other.
TED: They’re always here. It’s Christmas Eve. Do they have their own families?
KAREN uncrosses her arm and reaches for the glass of wine that sits on the kitchen counter.
•
DUSTIN HENDERSON: Merry Christmas!
He passes a wrapped present into STEVE HARRINGTONS hands. It's flat and square with blue reindeer paper. STEVE looks at it, flips it over, and glances at the camera.
STEVE: Why is El filming? Is this a prank?
DUSTIN (smiling far too much): We’re always filming. Open it.
STEVE narrows his eyes at him, but must trust the words, because then he’s looking at the present in his hands and starts to unwrap it.
It’s an open 1987 Def Leppard Hysteria album. STEVE blinks down at it before looking up at DUSTIN.
STEVE (not amused) is this the album you stole last month?
DUSTIN (somehow grinning even more): Borrowed. And now you won’t get fired! You’re welcome.
…
STEVE (reaching for the camera): I’m taking the camera back–.
•
DUSTIN HENDERSON (off-screen): Okay, it’s on, you can knock.
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER smiles into the camera before taking a step closer to the WHEELERS front door. She brings up a hand and knocks.
There’s snow falling, and JANE sticks out her tongue to catch some. It’s silent while they wait for someone to answer.
Ten or so seconds later, the door is pulled open. HOLLY WHEELER is there with her blonde hair tied into a braided bun. She’s wearing a red dress, and her eyes don’t even bother to spare the camera a glance. Instead, they dart right past it.
HOLLY: Will!
She jumps forward, and the camera quickly follows her movements. She crushes WILL BYERS into a hug, who forces out a breath of air.
HOLLY (now tugging at his wrist): Come on, come on! I need to show you what I got.
And then WILL is being dragged inside. He glances over his shoulder and waves goodbye to DUSTIN and JANE — or maybe the camera — and then he’s gone.
DUSTIN (off-camera): She’s becoming more and more like her brother every day.
•
The Party is seated around the living room couch, a much different scene than their usual basement one. Maybe Christmas makes it a special occasion, because TED WHEELER is not on his La-Z-Boy. No, we can see DUSTIN HENDERSON seated there instead.
Somewhere, TED must be fuming.
But we’re not somewhere, we’re here, where HOLLY WHEELER is showing off her new dress and artist kit to the camera.
HOLLY (full of cheer and joy): Will says these are the best. And he’s an expert, so I trust him.
She sets the box of markers down and starts to show off her new stuffed penguin instead. One that even waddles when you twist the lever in the back.
WILL BYERS is also seen in the background, not paying attention to HOLLY'S haul, probably having seen it already when he was first pulled inside. He’s talking to MIKE WHEELER, who is seated on the floor right in front of him.
Despite being surrounded by all their friends, they’re only looking at each other. But really, what else is new?
WILL has his sad eyes cast down at the floor, and MIKE has his usual grumpy face. The one that makes it seem like he can’t exactly articulate what he’s trying to say.
His mouth is moving fast, his expression showing his brain isn’t quite caught up. Eventually, he forced his jaw shut. Hesitation, and then he brings a hand down to cover one of WILLS own on the floor.
WILL shoots his head up, making eye contact, searching. Neither pulls away. Neither says anything more.
JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER (under her breath, off-camera): I knew it.
HOLLY pauses, explaining the logistics of why she needed both the Lord Of The Rings book set and My Little Pony DVDs equally.
HOLLY: What was that, Jane?
JANE (off-camera): Nothing. Go on.
HOLLY does.
•
NANCY WHEELER: Well, that’s when you kiss her. Or, ask to kiss her.
DUSTIN HENDERSON nods, seemingly taking this newfound information very seriously. There’s a giggle behind the camera, making DUSTIN snap out of his trance and jerk his head up.
DUSTIN: Steve, I swear to god if you’re filming right now—.
•
The camera is resting on the floor, and all we can see are two figures and bigger hands maneuvering them. One Cinderella figure, and one Mario. They were moved around, speaking and acting out a scene of needing to save the day.
The voices were both different-pitched from normal, one lower, and one higher, but it was safe to assume it was HOLLY WHEELER and JANE “ELEVEN” HOPPER playing toys. HOLLY as Mario, JANE as Cinderella.
This scene continues for a few (very boring) minutes before being picked up by small and inexperienced hands. The camera wobbles as it’s moved to see around the room.
LUCAS SINCLAIR and MAXINE "MAX" MAYFIELD sit side by side on the couch, turned in toward each other. They’re whispering and smiling and it’s straight up domestic.
DUSTIN HENDERSON is nowhere to be found, maybe still talking to NANCY WHEELER as we’ve seen before.
The camera moves back to JANE, who smiles and tilts her head, waving. HOLLY giggles on the other side.
JANE whispers something, points, and HOLLY follows the direction. Zooms in to get a better view.
It’s the kitchen, and MIKE WHEELER is wrapping up some leftovers from dinner, smiling down at the container. WILL BYERS is standing beside him, back to the camera, leaning against the counter MIKE is working on. His head turned toward him, also smiling, blushing a little.
They say something back and forth, quick and sharp replies, before WILL clamps his mouth shut at something MIKE says. MIKE smirks, seemingly taking this as a victory, and looks very smug.
He turns also to face toward WILL, and holds out the container. He says something else, that stupid smirk still on his face, as he gestures for WILL to take it.
WILL does, right after rolling his eyes, and pulls the container close to himself. He looks down at MIKE's smirk, and then leans in, planting a quick and easy kiss on his cheek.
MIKES smirk immediately drops, along with his jaw, and he just stares at WILL in shock. His face turns even redder than WILLS, somehow.
JANE and HOLLY giggle together, before quickly turning the camera around when they see WILL start to turn to walk toward them.
•
DUSTIN HENDERSON gets into the same car we saw a long while back, introduced as STEVE HENDERSONS. DUSTIN buckles his seatbelt and glances over, eyebrows furrowing slightly at the sight of the camera being on.
DUSTIN: What?
STEVE (off-camera): What? Do I need a reason to film with my camera?
DUSTIN: It's my camera.
STEVE (off-camera): Not anymore, it’s not. I took it back, remember?
DUSTIN: Ha ha. Very funny.
STEVE flips the camera around, working at fixing his hair in the lens. Why he doesn't just use his own car mirror is a wonder everyone’s thinking.
DUSTIN (slightly sad, off-camera): I can’t believe Christmas is over. I feel like we all just got back into town.
STEVE: I know, but we still have— hey, what does LOW BATTERY mean?
DUSTIN (all traces of sadness gone and replaced with sarcasm, off-camera): I don’t know, Steve, maybe it means it’s low battery?
STEVE gives a side eye look to his right before tossing his(?) camera over in that same direction.
STEVE (off-camera): Whatever. Just make sure you charge it or change batteries or whatever in time for my New Year's Party.
DUSTIN (off-camera): Yeah, obviously—.
•
The camera comes into focus on a wall we haven’t seen before. Whoa, new setting! This is definitely not the WHEELERS' house.
We’re being walked through a room, then a hallway, and then through another doorway. All unfamiliar.
The person filming walks up to an unidentified person's back, hair black and hunched over a desk.
The person must hear the footsteps, because suddenly they’re turning around in their seat, and—.
…
Does MIKE WHEELER have an older brother no one knows about? Maybe a random named RICHIE or SODAPOP or something? Because this person looks like MIKE, but if they were several years older, had longer hair, and wore glasses.
The guy furrows his eyebrows at the camera.
???: What’s that?
Okay, that voice is very familiar. That is MIKE WHEELER. He must’ve aged overnight, college stress really getting to him or something. Or maybe it’s a different variant of him from another universe who got teleported here somehow. Either way, MIKE looks nothing like he did the last time we saw him.
WILL BYERS (off-camera): It’s from Dustin. He sent it in the mail. Supposedly, he found it when going through his moms basement.
WILL sounds older, too. Is he also a variant…? Or has some time passed between the last scene and this one?
Aww, man. Did we miss the New Year's Party?
A note gets tossed into view, landing on MIKE's desk. He furrows his eyebrows and unfolds it, reading it out loud:
MIKE: Hey, guys. Found this when cleaning out my moms basement. From the Christmas of ‘89. Thought you might want to watch. Love you both.
MIKE: P.S. How am I the only one who didn’t pick up on it? And to think I was the smartest.
Realization flashes through MIKE's face, and then he looks up into the camera, inspecting it all over again.
MIKE: Holy shit.
WILL (off-camera): I’m pretty sure this is from that documentary Dustin and Steve started. About when people find out we saved the world?
MIKE snorts. He stands up, leaving his boxy computer behind, and grabs the camera, flipping it so we see WILL.
WILL looks much different, too. He’s lost some of his baby fat, but his cheeks are still round. His hair is layered, and he has an earring in. He smiles at the camera, giving us that same old confidence yet bashfulness from when he was first introduced. He’s still a natural, a star, as LUCAS SINCLAIR once said.
MIKE (off-camera): Wait. Christmas of eighty-nine. That’s just a few weeks before…
WILL looks from the lens to behind it, certainly looking at MIKE. His smile goes wider and more real.
WILL: I think that’s why he sent it.
MIKE (off-camera): Holy shit. Baby, we need to watch this right now. How do we do that?
WILL laughs, and MIKE zooms in on his face a little, and then it goes dark.
[END VIDEO]