Stranger Things season 2 episode 2: “Trick or Treat, Freak”, recap and analysis
Season 2 · Episode 2 · October 31, 1984
A sheet, a party, a trash can. The fact file, the order of the scenes, the November 1983 return, the promised evening, Tina's party, then trick-or-treating and what Dustin finds when he gets home.
Stranger Things season 2 episode 2 takes place on October 31, 1984 and opens a year earlier. It shows how Eleven got out of the Upside Down, then the night Nancy refuses to keep lying.
The essentials
- Full title: “Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak”
- Original title: “Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak”
- Runtime: 56 minutes
- Writers: written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer
- Released: Friday, October 27, 2017, with the whole season
- Story: October 31, 1984, after an opening in November 1983
- Ratings: 13.7 million viewers in the United States, in three days
- French voices: Max: Clara Quilichini. Billy: Gauthier Battoue. Bob: Christophe Lemoine. Eleven: Clara Soares. Hopper: Stéphane Pouplard. Nancy: Alexia Papineschi. Ted: Xavier Béja. Claudia: Anne Plumet. Erica: Clara Soares
Contents
The fact file for chapter two
Matt and Ross Duffer write and direct this chapter. The title is “Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak”. It is released on Friday, October 27, 2017, with the whole season. The article settles on 56 minutes. The story is dated October 31, 1984. It follows episode 1 of season 2. Toward the end of that chapter Dustin hears a noise under the porch and thinks it is Mews. Episode 1 then ends in the cabin, where Eleven appears alive.
In the United States, counting TV viewing only and over three days, the audience is 13.7 million viewers, 9.6 million of them aged 18 to 49. They are viewers, not households. The figure is cited on November 2, 2017. The whole present-day story takes place in 1984.
Shannon Purser, who plays Barbara, is credited under “also starring”. Madelyn Cline plays Tina. Joe Chrest plays Ted, Catherine Curtin plays Claudia, Rob Morgan plays Powell, John Reynolds plays Callahan, Priah Ferguson plays Erica. Nancy thinks she sees Barb. Barb is not in the room.
Beige jumpsuit with patches, black pack on the back and a launcher in hand, photographed on an adult. The same idea as the four boys in 1984: it is not a costume from a scene.
In the shopGhostbusters costume season 2 child and adult120,90 €See the product
October 31, 1984, scene by scene
The opening is not October 31. It is November 1983: how Eleven came back. The present of the chapter is the morning of the 31st, in the cabin, then the day, then the night. Only a few times are established. Hopper promises 17:15. Dustin and Lucas arrange to meet Max at 19:00 in the Maple Street cul-de-sac. Jonathan sets the return to Mike's for 21:00.
The evening opens with Will, whom Jonathan drives to his friends. Tina's party comes after that, before trick-or-treating. The keg stand and Bob and Joyce's dance come before the street. Jonathan and the bathroom come after Will's vision.
The night brings two threads together that do not look at each other. Eleven, door shut, hears Mike from the Void. Dustin gets home and lifts a lid. The markers below follow that order.
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November 1983 The return
Eleven wakes on the other side, comes back out at the middle school, then flees into the woods.
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The morning The refused ghost
She wants to go out under a sheet. Hopper reminds her of the rules and promises 17:15.
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At school Four hunters
The boys discover they are the only ones in costume.
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By day The rot
A farmer complains about his pumpkins. Other farms are hit.
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After school The Camaro
Max is late, and Billy blames her for it. She grabs the wheel, according to the wiki.
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The evening Tina's party starts
Billy does a keg stand to 42. Bob and Joyce dance at the Byers'.
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The evening Trick-or-treating, then the vision
Will finds himself on the other side. Mike brings him back. The shadow has no name.
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The night The bathroom, then two houses
Steve leaves. Eleven hears day 353. Dustin opens the trash can.
November 1983: how Eleven came back
The echo says “Goodbye, Mike”. Eleven wakes in the Upside Down and calls Mike. Soldiers patrol. “Bravo team, check in.” She widens the passage and comes back out at Hawkins Middle School. At the Wheelers', agents from the Hawkins lab question the family. Karen asks “What about the Russians?” Mike claims “I would never tell you”. An agent answers him, about Eleven: “She's a very dangerous individual”. They are not FBI agents. The end of season 1 stops before she gets out.
The agents spread out. “Fan out.” She hides in the woods. The wiki says a hunter speaks to her, “Hey. I'm not gonna hurt you”, and that she leaves with his coat. Later in the episode she remembers finding Hopper's wooden box in those woods. The way to the cabin, and the rules, are covered on the page about Hopper and Eleven.
The promised evening in the cabin
In the morning Eleven is under a sheet. “Ghost.” She names the party, and Hopper nods. She wants to go trick-or-treating. He reminds her: “You know the rules”. He suggests coming home early, candy and a horror film. “How's that for a compromise?” He explains the word: “halfway happy”. She says “515”. He confirms “5:15” and promises it. That means 17:15.
At the Byers', Joyce looks for Will. He is in the bathroom. On his desk, a drawing of the creature. He talks about a story he is writing. “a sketch for a story I'm writing”. Later Joyce shows Hopper that the setting is their yard. “It's an exact match.” He talks about flashbacks. They remember cigarettes in high school, between 5th and 6th period, under the stairs, and Mr. Cooper, who caught them.
In the lab a soldier goes through the gate for a generator. “we're back on!” Owens listens to Will again. “I felt frozen.” Eugene accuses Merrill of poisoning his pumpkins. Other farms follow: Jack O'Dell, Pete Freeling, Rick Neary, the Christensens. Callahan talks about “Hawkins' very own Chinatown”. Hopper follows the rot into the trees and has what is dead marked. “Could be poison.”
Hopper is late. A child in costume “kills” him with a plastic gun. He buys candy, then signals “LATE” in Morse. Eleven watches Frankenstein, the 1931 film, and locks herself in. “El, would you please open the door?” From the Void she hears Mike. “It's day 353.” She says “Mike.” He answers “Eleven?” She cries. Nothing shows that he sees her.
Barb in building bricks, red hair, big black glasses, pink top with a bow, blue pants.
In the shopBuildable big-head figure Barb Holland19,90 €See the product
Tina's party: Nancy no longer wants to pretend
In the library Nancy thinks she sees Barb in another student, then hears their voices as an echo. That echo comes from the party at Steve's, in episode 2 of season 1. “This isn't you.” “go ahead and go home”. Barb's parents are selling the house. Nancy says “I can't keep doing this” and would like to tell the truth. Steve talks about prison, then about Tina's party: “pretend like we're stupid teenagers”. The cue in the score is called “This Isn't You”.
Nancy and Steve are dressed as Lana and Joel, from Risky Business. To “Shout at the Devil”, by Mötley Crüe, Billy does a keg stand to 42. “new Keg King”. “Eat it, Harrington.” He beats Steve's record. Nancy asks what is in her glass. Someone answers her “Pure fuel!” Steve repeats that they are playing teenagers for one night only.
Jonathan comes in on “Girls on Film”, by Duran Duran. To a student who praises his costume, he says “I'm going as a guy who hates parties”. Steve wants to stop Nancy from drinking. She gets splashed with punch. In the bathroom: “You're bullshit.” “like we didn't kill Barb”. “Like we're in love.” “You don't love me?” “It's bullshit.” Steve leaves. Jonathan takes her home and puts her to bed. She murmurs “Jonathan?”
At the Byers', the counterpoint is a dance. Bob is dressed as Dracula. He and Joyce dance to “Islands in the Stream”, by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. “Frankenstein to my Dracula.” He suggests leaving town together. His parents are selling their house in Maine. There is a RadioShack nearby. Joyce says “This is not a normal family”. He answers “It could be”. What comes next for Bob is not part of this night.
The shadow, trick-or-treating and a lid
The four boys are dressed as ghost hunters. They are photographed to “Ghostbusters”, by Ray Parker Jr., and Erica mocks her brother. Will is Egon, Dustin is Stantz, Mike and Lucas are Venkman. Mike wanted Lucas to be Winston. “I specifically didn't agree to Winston.” At school they are the only ones in costume. “Why is no one else wearing costumes?” Will recalls that the year before everyone was in costume. The costume guide is the one for Halloween.
After school Billy blames Max for being late. The car drives to the sound of “Wango Tango”. He calls the town a hole, demands that she say the move is her fault, then charges at Mike, Dustin and Lucas on their bikes. “bonus points”. According to the wiki Max grabs the wheel. One of the boys says “Mad Max”. Billy is not introduced as her brother. He is her stepbrother by marriage. Dustin and Lucas had invited Max to the cul-de-sac at 19:00. She calls them “The stalkers” and answers “That's presumptuous of you”. The cue in the score is called “Presumptuous”.
Trick-or-treating: a lady calls them “little exterminators”. Lucas does not want any more 3 Musketeers. Dustin defends the nougat. “top three for me”. Max, in a Michael Myers mask, makes them scream. “You should have seen the look on your faces.” In Loch Nora, the rich neighborhood, she says she is not rich: she lives on Old Cherry Road. Mike tells Will “She's ruining the best night of the year.” Then the vision. Will finds himself on the other side, calls Mike, sees the shadow and runs. Mike finds him behind a house. To the others: “Keep trick-or-treating.” At Mike's, Will talks about a View-Master stuck between two pictures, and about a giant, living shadow. “The Demogorgon?” “No.” He asks Mike not to tell anyone. Mike confesses that he sometimes thinks he sees Eleven. They will go “crazy together”. Will is not possessed that evening. The shadow has no name in this chapter.
The camcorder is a loan from Bob. “T” zooms in, “W” zooms out. In the car Will says that Bob at least does not treat him differently. “At least he doesn't treat me different.” Jonathan lets him out if he stays nearby and is back at Mike's by 21:00. “9:30?” “9:00.” The wiki recognizes a JVC GR-C1. When he gets home Dustin thinks Mews is in the can. “Mews, is that…” He lifts the lid. “Holy sh…” The credits come in on “Ghostbusters”. The creature has no name. What happens next is on the page about the creature from the trash can. The trick-or-treating scenes in Loch Nora were shot in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Finn Wolfhard later acts in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Duvet cover and pillowcases with the season 2 poster: a red shadow above a girl in the center, the group on bikes, a scarecrow in a field.
In the shopBedding Set Season 2 Mind Flayer69,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
What is the title of episode 2 of season 2?
“Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak”. The line is shouted at Will during trick-or-treating.
When does this chapter take place?
The present is October 31, 1984. The opening goes back to November 1983, to the moment Eleven comes out of the Upside Down.
How did Eleven survive?
She wakes on the other side, widens a passage and comes back out at the middle school. Lab agents question the Wheelers. She flees into the woods and finds Hopper's box. Later he takes her to the cabin.
What happens at Tina's party?
That same day Nancy wanted to tell Barb's parents the truth. At the party Steve wants to pretend for one night. In the bathroom she says it is all fake. Steve is the one who leaves. Jonathan takes her home.
Is Will possessed in this episode?
No. He sees a shadow and Mike brings him back. He answers “No” when they ask if it is the Demogorgon. The possession is in the next chapter, on November 1.
What is in Dustin's trash can?
A creature that does not have a name yet. At first Dustin thinks it is Mews. The naming and what follows are in the next chapter.
Who directs the episode, and how long does it run?
Matt and Ross Duffer write it and direct it. The article settles on 56 minutes. The wiki gives 56 minutes and 57 seconds. It is released on October 27, 2017.
