Spoilers for this episode.
Eleven reaches the hospital before the creature can kill Nancy and throws it out of a window. Its remains escape through a drain and rejoin the larger body at the steelworks. Back at Hopper's cabin, Mike and Max argue over the strain of Eleven's searches. Mike blurts out that he loves her while she is elsewhere. Eleven locates Billy sitting in his room, but the group suspects that his easy availability is bait.
Beneath Starcourt, Steve and Robin hold off pursuit long enough for Dustin and Erica to escape through the ducts. Captured, beaten and tied together, they try unsuccessfully to free themselves. Robin recalls noticing Steve at school when he barely knew she existed. Their captors inject them with a drug before resuming the interrogation, but Dustin and Erica create a distraction and return with an electric prod. The four escape together, with Steve and Robin still affected by the injection.
Alexei explains through Murray that Hawkins offers a weakened barrier between worlds and that the Russian machine is already opening it. Hopper and Joyce contact Dr. Owens for help. Eleven enters Billy's memories, finding a happy beach visit with his mother, followed by abuse, separation and his encounter at the steelworks. She identifies the creature's location, but it uses their connection to find her too. Speaking through Billy, it threatens her friends. Across Hawkins, the possessed residents gather at the mill, dissolve and join its growing body.