Chief Hopper is finally convinced that Joyce might be onto something about Will being taken when he looks into Hawkins Laboratory. He gets bad vibes from Dr. Brenner and then realizes they destroyed security footage from the night Will disappeared (the Byers family's house is nearby).
Meanwhile, Joyce becomes convinced that Will is trying to communicate with her via electricity. She strings up a ton of Christmas lights in the living room and paints one letter of the alphabet to correspond with each light on the wall (like a DIY Ouija board). She asks if Will is alive, and he answers "yes." He also tells her he's not safe, which is immediately followed by the lights going crazy and the wall of the house seeming to stretch out (as if something is trying to get through).
