Billy is running for his life. He makes it to a payphone and dials 911. Before he can answer the operator his world is turned upside down. Literally Billy is taken to a dark mirror dimension. He is screaming for answers when he is faced with his doppelgänger. This made me wonder. Does the monster not only have the power to possess a body but also take the form of someone that you trust? If it wants Billy to bend to its will it must earn his trust.

Nancy has found the perfect excuse to leave the office. She takes Jonathan to chase down a lead about the rats. Is this just a crazy old lady or the first sign that a new plague is upon Hawkins? Mrs. Driscoll did manage to capture one of the little monsters and it is acting very strange. The rat is desperately throwing itself into the bars of its cage as if being called on by a higher power. Last week I said the rats were not strong enough to host the Mind Flayer. Now this episode reveals the remnants of an exploded rat slinking to it’s master. I wonder if there is a rat monster in the Dungeons and Dragons manual? Perhaps the rats are too weak to be hosts but they can still be minions for the Mind Flayer.

Billy is certainly showing the effects of his bite. The monster likes it cold so being a lifeguard is not ideal. Just like Will before him who also hosted the Mind Flayer it does appear that Billy can sometimes be in control. Luckily for Mrs. Wheeler Billy resisted the monster’s desire to hurt her.

Also hurt in this episode are Eleven’s feelings and it is all Hopper’s fault. He scares Mike into not seeing El. This forces Mike to lie to her. El seeks advice from Max. Max assures her that even though friends don’t lie, boyfriends do. They decide on a boy free trip to the Starcourt Mall. The boys minus Dustin are on a mall mission of their own. Lucas says Mike should buy Eleven an apology gift. Lucas knows all about girl troubles. After all Max has dumped him five times.

Dustin is hanging at the mall as well at Scoops Ahoy. He has enlisted the help of Steve to translate the Russian code. His other friends are not taking this revelation seriously enough so he is a little shorthanded on help. Luckily Robin speaks several languages and has genius ears. Questions are still stacking up. What do the strange sentences mean? Did the message come from Russia? Is the background music enough evidence to prove the message is from a more local source?

Hopper may be rethinking his decision to mess with his daughter’s relationship. Karma seems to be getting back at him. He gets Joyce to agree to meet him for dinner. Looking handsome in his new clothes and ready to impress Jim waits for Joyce. Unfortunately a magnetic mystery has Joyce distracted. She is off on a journey of her own as she seeks the advice of Mr. Clarke. She totally forgets about her dinner with Hopper.

So many questions left to answer. Billy brought the female lifeguard to the monster. Will she be another host? Will the town soon be dealing with an army of evil doppelgängers? The Upside Down always appears so dark and dead. Is the Monster intent on stripping our world of life and color? Is it trying to build a replica of its own world?  Until next week. Keep your eyes open for all things strange.