Chapter Eight: The Upside Down 

Joyce and Hopper are taken in for questioning. Nancy and Jonathan prepare to fight the monster and save Will.

Directors:

Matt Duffer (as The Duffer Brothers), Ross Duffer (as The Duffer Brothers)

Writers:

Matt Duffer (created by) (as The Duffer Brothers), Ross Duffer (created by) (as The Duffer Brothers)

Stars:

Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Winona Ryder	...	Joyce Byers
David Harbour	...	Jim Hopper
Finn Wolfhard	...	Mike Wheeler
Millie Bobby Brown	...	Eleven
Gaten Matarazzo	...	Dustin Henderson
Caleb McLaughlin	...	Lucas Sinclair
Natalia Dyer	...	Nancy Wheeler
Charlie Heaton	...	Jonathan Byers
Cara Buono	...	Karen Wheeler
Matthew Modine	...	Martin Brenner
Joe Chrest	...	Ted Wheeler
Joe Keery	...	Steve Harrington
Rob Morgan	...	Officer Powell
John Reynolds	...	Officer Callahan (as John Paul Reynolds)
Noah Schnapp	...	Will Byers

Storyline

Hopper and Joyce are interrogated by Dr. Brenner and his agents. Hopper makes a deal with Dr. Brenner in order to go to the Upside Down with Joyce to rescue Will. Meanwhile Jonathan and Nancy set up bear trap at Jonathan's home to kill the monster. Out of the blue, Steve arrives and is forced to fight the monster with Nancy and Jonathan. Brenner and his agents arrive at school to capture El, but she reacts protecting her friends with her powers and the blood attracts the monster. What will happen to them?

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | year 1983 | government facility | captured | handcuffed | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) plan to draw out the monster from the Upside Down so Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Jim (David Harbour) can travel through safely to find Will (Noah Schnapp) is reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), when Aragorn and his party drew out the armies of Mordor so Frodo and Sam can travel to Mount Doom to destroy the ring without being caught.

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Goofs

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir version of "Carol of the Bells" playing at the Christmas party was recorded in 2000, 17 years after the story is set.

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Quotes

Jonathan Byers: [Jonathan enters the waiting room and nods to Mike] Yeah.
Mike Wheeler: [Waking Dustin and Lucas] Guys, guys, he's up. Will's up, guys! Guys come on!
Mike Wheeler: [Bursting into the hospital room] Byers!
Joyce Byers: [Mike and Lucas pile on Will] Be careful. Be careful with him!
Dustin Henderson: Move!
[Yanks Mike and Lucas off Will to hug him]
Jonathan Byers: Guys, guys, go easy on him.
Lucas Sinclair: You won't believe what happened when you were gone, man.
Dustin Henderson: It was mental!
Lucas Sinclair: You had a funeral...
[...]

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Connections

References A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

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Soundtracks

White Christmas
Written by Irving Berlin
Performed by Bing Crosby

User Reviews

A Stephen King made properly by Spielberg

Capturing the best beats of the few movie from the 80s which really are classic, this evokes the time when the next King novel read like the next Spielberg movie and fashion was for other people in those crappy TV shows.

The young male leads show The Goonies up for what they were: annoying shouty brats... Hell, even in ET the kids were tiresome; not here.

Perhaps also shades and influence from Bekmambetov's Day & Night Watch?

...and for we of a certain age, perhaps the biggest revalation of all: WHEN did Winona Ryder get all growd up?

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 July 2016 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Cator Woolford Gardens at the Frazer Center - Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

21 Laps Entertainment, Monkey Massacre, Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office

Technical Specs

Runtime:

54 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1