Matt Duffer

During an intense game of Dungeons and Dragons, a group of young friends faces a high-stakes decision in their campaign. The tension of the game mirrors their real-world bond until Mike's mother interrupts to end the session, forcing them to confront the reality of their curfew.

Joyce Byers visits Chief Hopper to report her son Will as missing, growing increasingly frantic as Hopper dismisses the disappearance as a typical case of a runaway or a domestic issue. The scene highlights the friction between Joyce's maternal desperation and Hopper's cynical, small-town apathy before the gravity of the situation begins to settle in.