Spoilers for this episode.
Eleven removes a piece of the creature from her leg, and Hopper crushes it as the adults arrive at Starcourt. They divide the work of shutting the Russian gate machine down. Dustin and Erica guide Hopper, Joyce and Murray from Cerebro, while the others try to leave. Billy has disabled their car, forcing them back inside. Eleven discovers that her powers are no longer working, leaving her friends to protect her as the Mind Flayer breaks through the roof.
Dustin reaches Suzie when the adults need the correct value of Planck's constant to open the safe containing the shutdown keys. She provides it after they sing together. Steve crashes into Billy's car to save Nancy's group, but Billy subsequently captures Eleven. Her friends attack the creature with fireworks while she recalls his memory of his mother. Billy breaks its control and shields Eleven, dying from the creature's attack. Below the mall, Hopper defeats Grigori but is trapped beside the damaged machine. Joyce turns the keys, closing the gate and killing the creature. Hopper is missing afterward and presumed dead.
Three months later, Eleven still cannot use her powers and leaves Hawkins with Joyce, Will and Jonathan. She tells Mike she loves him and reads the speech Hopper had written about their changing relationship. Steve and Robin seek jobs at a video shop. In a Russian prison, guards refer to an unseen American before taking another prisoner to a captive Demogorgon. The American's identity remains unrevealed.