Joyce refuses to believe that the body recovered from the quarry belongs to Will, insisting that her son is still alive. Mike initially feels betrayed by Eleven, but she restores his hope by using her powers to channel Will's voice through his walkie-talkie. Believing they can communicate with Will using a more powerful radio, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas disguise Eleven and sneak her into their school. Meanwhile, Nancy discovers a mysterious figure in Jonathan's photograph of Barb, which matches Joyce's description of the terrifying creature she encountered. As Nancy and Jonathan begin investigating together, Nancy confronts Steve over his lack of concern for Barb's disappearance. Hopper grows suspicious when he discovers irregularities surrounding the recovery and examination of Will's body. After confronting the state trooper who found it, he learns that the officer was ordered to lie. At the school, Eleven uses the radio to establish contact with Will, while Joyce hears her son's voice coming from inside her living room wall. She tears through the wallpaper and briefly sees him trapped on the other side. Determined to uncover the truth, Hopper breaks into the morgue and discovers that Will's body is a fake. Convinced that Hawkins National Laboratory is involved in the cover-up, he secretly breaks into the facility to investigate.​

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