The 16 Best 'Stranger Things' Episodes So Far

• IMDB Rating: 9.1
• Director: Andrew Stanton
• Release Date: October 27th, 2017
• Runtime: 51 minutes

"Chapter Six: The Spy" was an intense episode in which Will was the unfortunate center of attention. The episode opened with Will being worked on after his seizure. His mother Joyce gets scolded for not bringing him sooner in regards to his behavior, to which she unrealistically demands for Will to get transferred to another hospital. It's clear Will's connection to the dangerous lurking evil aka the Mind Flayer is growing stronger, but there's no real solution as to how to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Steve and Dustin are beginning to grow a rather unlikely bond as they work together to hunt for Dart and his monster gang.

• IMDB Rating: 7.9
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Release Date: July 4th, 2019
• Runtime: 50 minutes

The question as to whether or not Billy is dead gets semi-answered. He's not dead, but he sort of is as in the previous episode he'd gotten dragged into a basement that wasn't actually a basement, but was instead another version of the Upside Down so to speak. Billy has survived, but he's actually worse personality wise than what he was before, so there's that. Cue to the part where we get to the mall after Hopper successfully scares off Mike from wanting to be with El for the time being. Max and El go on a shopping trip with a classic Madonna tune in the background, and elsewhere, Steve and Dustin reunite. A good percentage of "Mall Rats" is an exploration into the dynamics of teenage relationships, but it's actually quite fun.

• IMDB Rating: 8.4
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Release Date: July 15th, 2016
• Runtime: 55 minutes

The second episode of season 1, "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" was a relatively simple plot, but still very interesting as the show and its characters were being introduced. In this episode, Will is missing following the events of episode 1, and Lucas, Dustin, and Mike hide Eleven, the girl he was last seen, with in his house to question her about his disappearance. Lucas and Dustin think Eleven is strange and really don't want much to do with her, but alas they continue on. The search continues for Will as they find his hospital gown, and Hopper gets assigned to covered the mysterious death of Benny. The episode ends with Joyce getting a call from Will and seeing something coming through the wall. A fun early episode that sets up later events.

• IMDB Rating: 9
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Release Date: July 15th, 2016
• Runtime: 41 minutes

“Chapter Seven: The Bathtub” was another fun episode as the government agents are on the way as per Lucas. Dustin, Mike, and Eleven are able to get away with Eleven using telekinesis to flip a van blocking their way. Meanwhile, Hopper and Joyce are over at the police station because of Jonathan, and it is here where he and Nancy reveal their knowledge of the monster. From there, Nancy, Hopper, Joyce, and Jonathan contact Mike and Dustin before meeting with the rest of the crew at abandoned junkyard. Will and Barb are still missing so they set out on a search where they eventually find Will alive, but the monster breaks into the area where Will is hiding. Missing individuals and the monster are a reoccurring them present in the early episodes, which makes this another entertaining one to watch.

• IMDB Rating: 9.2
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Release Date: July 4th, 2019
• Runtime: 1 hr 16 mins

Oooh the battle of the food court, or the terror of the food court as they called it. El has been possessed with a Mind Flayer parasite that's crawled inside of her, and the gang has got get this out of her. Stat. The Mind Flayer has come to collect his things, and underneath this hauntingly beautiful mall is a future where the world is in serious danger. The kids have been left with no other choice but to hide out in the mall and beyond the up, downs, twists, and turns of the episode is truly beautiful visuals and imagery. Like absolutely stunning.

• IMDB Rating: 6.1
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Release Date: October 27th, 2017
• Runtime: 45 minutes

To this day we don't understand the relatively low score this episode was given as it's up there as being one of the best thus far. If not that, then at the very least it's one of the most underrated. That's for sure. "The Lost Sister" takes place after El has tracked down her mother and aunt. She then begins having psychic visions of when Terry attempted to rescue her from the lab, which answers some of the questions she's had about her past and leads to her a violent group and a girl named Kali. There's many similarities between El and Kali, but there's also quite a few differences in their personalities. Killing the scientist responsible for their fate is top of mind for the group and at first El agrees, but she decides to back out.

Again, an underrated episode.

• IMDB Rating: 8.9
• Director: Shawn Levy
• Release Date: July 4th, 2019
• Runtime: 52 minutes

Suspecting Billy is possessed by the Mind Flayer, the group comes up with a plan of putting him the pool's sauna room with the belief that the heat and steam will lure the entity out of him as the Mind Flayer can't take the heat (literally). Their suspicion is correct as the Mind Flayer begins to come out, but he gets the best out of Billy and breaks down the sauna door, which presents a danger to the rest. Luckily they are able to escape just in time before he gets to them. The layering in this episode sets up the storyline and events that follow in the remaining season 4 episodes.

• IMDB Rating: 8.5
• Director: Shawn Levy
• Release Date: October 27th, 2017
• Runtime: 46 minutes

Joyce finds Will basically unresponsive and tries to take care of him to the best of her abilities. Will then tells his mother that the "shadow" got to him which means he's been possessed. Meanwhile, Hopper and El's strained relationship continues as the argue about her "lying." The argument basically leads to El screaming, throwing things, and exhibiting a full-blown tantrum. Nonetheless, the relationship between Hopper and El has worsened. Meanwhile Jonathan and Nancy are still struggling to find answers in relation to Barb. Hopper and Joyce are to decipher Will's drawing, which ultimately leads to him searching a pumpkin patch that takes him into the Upside Down.

• IMDB Rating: 8.8
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Differ
• Release Date: July 15th, 2016
• Runtime: 46 minutes

In “Chapter 6: The Monster,” Hopper and Joyce set to find out the truth about what's really been going on in the lab and who that mysterious child was. Also happening is getting ready to fight the Demogorgon, but it doesn't go as planned leading to Jonathan getting arrested. Meanwhile Mike and Dustin are searching for El, who's having another one of her flashbacks where she can see herself getting into an encounter with the Demogorgon. We get more answers in the follow-up episode so this one sort of ends not so much a "cliffhanger," but with unanswered questions to say the least.

• IMDB Rating: 8.8
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Differ
• Release Date: July 15th, 2016
• Runtime: 51 minutes

Back to the early days, "Chapter 3: Holly, Jolly" centers around the growing concern surrounding Barb's disappearance. As we see in the beginning, Barb wakes up in a rusting pool screaming for Nancy, but the dots are being fully connected yet as far as finding her. Also happening is Hopper requesting the camera footage from the Hawkins lab director to confirm whether or not Will has been near the facility. The lab director appears to show Hopper the footage, but he realizes that the footage is fake. Meanwhile, El is still having flashbacks. The episode ends with Nancy finding Barb's car and seeing a shadowy figure in the woods and Will's "body" being discovered. Again, the pieces get put together later on, but this is still a good build up.

• IMDB Rating: 8.9
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Differ
• Release Date: July 15th, 2016
• Runtime: 49 minutes

The follow-up we're referring to comes in the form of season 1, episode 4 which starts with Joyce's refusal to believe her son is dead. Joyce believes that the body found wasn't his, and now the questions/blame turns to El, as she is the one who said he was alive. El then uses her powers to connect with Will in the Upside Down, which proves he's still alive. As the episode progresses, more suspect information about Will's death is revealed such as somebody other than the usual coroner being the one to have conducted Will's autopsy. The confirmation of Will's body being fake comes at the end with the reveal that it was a fake body stuffed with cotton all along. Grade A suspense.

• IMDB Rating: 9.3
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Differ
• Release Date: October 27th, 2017
• Runtime: 1 hr 2 mins

One of the longer episodes in the series thus far, El was separated from her friends for pretty much the entirety of season 2, and she was finally reunited in "The Gate." That alone makes this one of the best episodes in the series, but then it's also the fact that they pretty much get straight to business after reuniting. Hopper and El team up to go to the lab where El is to close the gate, and the rest will take Will to Hopper's cabin to try and get the Mind Flayer out of him. The ending of this episode jumps to about a month later with Hopper granting El permission to go to the Hawkins Middle School’s Snow Ball dance.

The season finale closes with Mike and El finally get their dance, which was the perfect way to conclude this season.

• IMDB Rating: 8.5
• Director: Shawn Levy
• Release Date: October 27th, 2017
• Runtime: 51 minutes

"The Pollywog" is another Stranger Things episode that doesn't get enough credit in my opinion. It's not the most dynamic/dramatic, but still very entertaining. Dustin makes friends with a creature that he names Dart. We then get a flashback with Hopper leading El into his grandfather's abandoned hunting cabin and prohibiting her from going outside as he feels it's two dangerous. Skipping ahead, Dustin brings Dart to school and shows it to the crew, only for them to eventually realize that Dart is actually from the Upside Down by way of Will. Well that changes things doesn't it? Dustin gets Dart back, but he decides he's going to keep his presence a secret from here on out.

• IMDB Rating: 9.3
• Director: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
• Release Date: July 15th, 2016
• Runtime: 54 minutes

"The Upside Down" is an episode that gets straight to the point. Hopper manages to negotiate a deal with Brenner as he's being interrogated at the lab where he reveals the whereabouts of El. The return? He and Joyce are able to go into The Upside Down to get Will. They find Will in The Upside Down and are able to bring him back to life. Since the whereabouts of El have been revealed, the lab workers crash the school to take her back. Well, that doesn't work because she kills them all, but she uses up all her strength that she collapses. The Demogorgon appears, she gets rid of it, says goodbye to everyone, and then disappears. The season finale of season 1 didn't disappoint, and left everybody wondering what was going to happen next.

• IMDB Rating: 9.4
• Director: Shawn Levy
• Release Date: May 27th, 2022
• Runtime: 1 hr 18 min

We got almost an hour-and-a-half of glory in "Dear Billy," which is based around El getting put in a retraining facility. This facility is initiated by the government, and one that could end putting El in danger. At the same time Nancy and Robin are undercover to interview Victor Creel, and this is where they learn the power of music and how that can defeat Vecna. Unrelated by slightly related, Kate Bush's song "Running Up That Hill," was the song used in this episode, and went viral on social media thanks to the episode.

• IMDB Rating: 9.4
• Director: Shawn Levy
• Release Date: May 27th, 2022
• Runtime: 1 hr 38 min

What better way to have shock everybody by revealing the true identity of Vecna? Dustin is able to get a true read on Vecna's motives while also decoding a message. Also happening at the same time is Murray and Joyce helping Hopper to escape from prison. The Hawkins crew ends up being stranded in The Upside Down where they finally get the opportunity to learn more about it. Robin and Eddie are able to escape, but everyone else isn't so lucky. Quite possibly the best Stranger Things episode ever.