STRANGER THINGS 3 [DISCONTINUED]

Recap of Chapter Nine: The Gate

After defeating the demo gorgons, Mike and Eleven are reunited! "I never gave up on you! I called you every night. Every night for..." "353 days! I heard." – Eleven confessed to Mike as he looked at her with a hurt and confused expression on his face. The boy looked puzzled in front of the girl in a worn out coat and black smudged all over her eyes with her hair slicked back and a single drop of blood from her nose. "Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?" – Mike addressed their issue. Before Eleven got a chance to give an answer, Chief Jim Hopper spoke up. "Because I wouldn't let her." – He slowly walked over to the girl with fear I her eyes. "The hell is this? Where have you been?" "Where have you been?" – Eleven spit back before being engulfed into a protective father-like hug by the big man.

While they were hugging, the rest of the people in the room were confused. Mike was not just confused; his sadness grew into anger towards the Chief as he figured out what was happening. "You've been hiding her. You've been hiding her this whole time!" – Out of anger, the boy pushed Hopper. "Hey! Hey!" – Hopper grabbed Mike by the collar of his shirt and growled in his face. "Let's talk. Alone!" – And with that he dragged the boy into a room where they had a private conversation. Hopper explained himself to Mike and why he did what he did. He just wanted to keep everyone in his life safe, including Mike and his family, but Mike wasn't buying it and broke down into a fit as he charged towards the man and pounded his fists into the man's chest. He broke down in tears in front of Hopper as he stroke his head and comforted him lightly.

In the other room, Eleven was reunited with her friends Dustin and Lucas that were ecstatic to see her again. They both hugged her. "We missed you!" – Lucas spoke up. The girl returned the phrase. "We talked about you pretty much every day." - Dustin confessed as they parted from their little group hug. Eleven observed their looks and noticed that something was changed in Dustin's appearance. "Teeth?" – She asked as she reached with her hand toward Dustin's mouth. "What?" – Dustin asked baffled. "You have teeth!" – The girl stated. Dustin realised what she was talking about and flashed a smile with his pearly whites toward Lucas and then towards Eleven. "Oh, you like these pearls? Arrr!" – he made his signature sound as Eleven was taken back by the sudden noise coming out of her friend. To that, Lucas just shook his head.

"Eleven?" – All of the attention was devoted now to the red haired girl in a green zip up hoodie as she approached Eleven. "Hey, um... I'm Max, I've heard a lot about you!" – Max introduced herself to Eleven with a positive attitude, part of her hoping that the girl will accept her handshake and she'll finally get a female companion. But, Eleven did the opposite of that. She just looked at her and remembered that that was the girl that was hanging out with Mike in the gym when she left the cottage in the woods to go and find her friends. Instead of accepting the handshake, Eleven avoided it and made her way towards Joyce's embrace. Joyce engulfed the girl in a tight motherly hug.

They both sobbed in each other's arms. Joyce looked at the girl with tears in her eyes as she gave her approval to go and see her sleeping son. Eleven approached the boy and kneeled down next to his bed as she observed his slowly rhythmical breathing. Joyce informed her that he wasn't doing well, to which Eleven responded with a simple "I know" because she saw the poor boy struggling with the nasty virus that made him its host. "What else did you see?" – The worried and scared mother asked the girl in hope for answers. They both left the room and made their way towards the kitchen table where Will's Morse code was transcripted on the back of a pad.

CLOSE GATE was spelled out with big red letters. Eleven observed the message as Joyce stood behind the girl. "You opened this gate, before, right?" – The worried mother asked the thinking girl to which the girl responded with a quiet yes. "Do you think i-if we got you back there that you can close it?" – Joyce asked with hope in her voice, but with fear as well. Eleven taught about it for a second and came up with a decision.