Hopper notices a car watching them and O'Bannon warns him that he will get them both killed. When O'Bannon becomes annoyed with Hopper's questioning and leaves, Hopper beats him behind the bar and gets him to confess that finding the body was staged. Hopper follows David O'Bannon, the state trooper that found Will's body, to a bar. She shows him the reassembled picture and he recounts seeing Barb vanish, as well as his mothers account of the Demogorgon in the wall. Nancy approaches Jonathan while he examines coffins for Will. Eleven stops Troy from attacking Mike by freezing him place and making him wet his pants in front of the crowd. When Troy makes another comment about Will's sexuality, Mike shoves him to the ground. Mike notices Troy Walsh and James Dante mocking Will during the service and publicly confronts him. As he screams to be pulled out, his line suddenly goes slack, and the scientists reel in his empty, bloody connector. Inside the fissure, Shepard describes his surrounding as "eroded" and "covered in blood" before realizing there is something stalking him. Taking out Jonathan's picture of Barb, she reassembles it and notices a dark figure standing behind her. Nancy and Karen argue over her lying to the police, and she storms up to her room. The boys pass her off as "Eleanor", a relative of Mike's, and Clarke takes the four to the gym. room, Scott Clarke stops them, confused as to why they are not attending Will's memorial service in the gym and curious about Eleven. Hopper interrogates local coroner Gary, who explains that several state workers forced him out while they brought in Will's body. She recounts the events of the evening minus the part where she and Steve had sex. Nancy is called to sit with Karen and talk to Phil Callahan and Calvin Powell about Barb Holland's disappearance.
A soldier named Shepard is led into Hawkins National Laboratory's lower levels, where Martin Brenner watches as he steps through the fissure on the wall. club radio, and they put Eleven in a wig and one of Nancy's old dresses, which a stunned Mike blurts out that she looks "pretty" in. Mike and Dustin realize they may be able to talk to Will if they use Hawkins Middle's A.V. Mike and Dustin believe her, but Lucas is adamant that Will is dead. Using her powers again, Eleven broadcasts Will's frightened crying in front of the boys. Nancy Wheeler tells Steve Harrington about her findings in his backyard, but he is more concerned about getting in trouble with his parents, to her disgust. Jonathan argues with her in public, where she insists that he is still alive. Jonathan and Hopper discuss Joyce's mental state, both believing she will tough her way through it as Joyce storms out, insisting that the body on the table is not her son. Hopper is told the usual morgue worker was stopped from doing Will's autopsy, and that a state worker did it for him. Jonathan Byers wakes his sleeping mother (who she initially sees as Will) to take her to the morgue. Mike convinces his mother to let him stay home and contacts Lucas Sinclair, ordering him to come over and bring Dustin Henderson. He again lambasts her for convincing him that Will was alive until Will's voice, singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" comes through the radio and Eleven's nose bleeds. Mike Wheeler sits despondent in his basement while Eleven fiddles with his Supercom. After he leaves, Joyce grabs an ax from the shed and sits on her couch, staring at the wall and waiting for the Demogorgon to return.
He encourages her to look at Will's body at the morgue the next day. Trying to calm her, Hopper tells her that after the death of his daughter Sara, he often saw her and heard her voice.
Joyce tries to explain Will communicating with her through her lights and the Demogorgon emerging from the wall, but there is no evidence to support this. Jim Hopper explains to Joyce Byers that her son fell into Sattler Quarry by accident and drowned after finding his body, but Joyce is adamant that he is alive. Nancy and Jonathan form an unlikely alliance. The b oy s give Eleven a makeover in order to connect with Will. Refusing to believe Will is dead, Joyce tries to connect with her son.