Ep 1. The Vanishing Will Beyers

On July 15, 1983, in a small town, Hawkins located in Indiana. A group of four boys- Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will are playing Dungeons and Dragons. Will starts to leave the basement, and the other boys soon follow. It's getting dark, and they don't want to stay in the creepy place any longer. On their way back home, Will rides his bike alone. Suddenly he vanishes without anyone noticing it. The next day, his mother Joyce becomes worried when she wakes up and finds no sign of her son in the house. Joyce immediately seeks help from the police, and Chief Hopper starts the search for the missing boy.

Meanwhile, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas start to investigate Will's disappearance themselves. They go to the woods in search of the boy and discover a girl with a shaved head. She is wearing a hospital gown and has no memory of what happened to her. The boys name her Eleven, and they become curious about her unusual abilities.

Chief Hopper also discovers some important clues in the woods near Will's bike. He finds a strange object that he doesn't understand, and he decides to take it to the laboratory located on the edge of town. The laboratory is run by Hawkins National Laboratory, which is under the direction of Dr. Martin Brenner. Dr. Brenner is interested in Eleven's abilities and is searching for her, believing she may be essential to his research.

As Joyce continues to search for her son, she starts to experience strange phenomena in her house. She starts to talk to Will through her phone and hears him breathing on the other end. Joyce is convinced that she can communicate with her son somehow and starts to believe he is still alive. In a desperate attempt to find her son, she strings up Christmas lights and puts them on her walls to communicate with him. It seems like her son is trying to communicate back to her through the flickering lights.

As the episode comes to an end, the boys discover a clue that might lead to Will's location. They come to the conclusion that their friend may be trapped in another dimension or parallel universe. The episode ends with Chief Hopper approaching the laboratory and sneaking inside to uncover more information about the object he found earlier.

The first episode of Stranger Things sets the stage for a compelling and unique storyline. The characters are well developed, and the intrigue builds as they start to uncover the truth about Will's disappearance. With a mix of science fiction, horror, and mystery, Stranger Things is sure to keep audiences engaged throughout the season.