Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season four episode six, “The Dive”.
The Last Supper
This episode opens with the cops who aren’t Hopper arriving at Lovers’ Lake to find Jason holding Patrick’s mangled corpse. They promptly begin an interrogation, in which Jason shares his theory that Eddie is a vessel for Satan. Congratulations Jason, once again you’ve put your keen and penetrating mind to the task, and as usual, come to the wrong conclusion.
Elsewhere, the federal agent who didn’t die is still being interrogated, and El is still being used as a guinea pig. Eddie managed to escape the lake and is hiding at Skull Rock (the Hawkins version, he’s not in Neverland).
The California Crew arrives in Salt Lake City only to find complete pandemonium at Suzie’s house. Literally, I thought she lived in an orphanage because of the sheer number of children. Nope, just Mormon.
Murray and Joyce succeed in blackmailing Yuri into leading them to the prison. Is it still unethical to blackmail someone if the person you’re blackmailing sucks? These are the great philosophical questions of our time.
Hopper and his fellow prisoners get to enjoy a massive feast in order to fortify them before they face off with the resident Demo Dog. Hopper massively kills the vibe by explaining that fact to the other prisoners. Oops.
Satanic panic
Back in El’s head, the blonde orderly reveals that El’s mum is alive, adding that the lab and its staff are not what she thinks. Cryptic. Back in Indiana, the Hawkins Heroes struggle to follow a compass through the woods and find Eddie squatting at Skull Rock, which Steve informs us was made popular as a makeout spot thanks to him. What a legacy!
Elsewhere in Hawkins, Jason succeeds in convincing angry town residents of his ridiculous theory that Eddie is a cult leader because they aren’t smart enough to listen to Erica instead.
The California Crew convinces Suzie to use her Dad’s computer to locate the Nina Project by telling her it’s a competition to win 16-bit American Nintendo consoles. If that wasn’t enough, they want to win the console for Dustin. Obviously, she’s now on board.
Dustin comes up with a theory that his compass was thrown off by a nearby electromagnetic field: a gate to the Upside Down.
Under the Lovers’ Lake
El continues to relive her traumatic memories; this time, Dr. Brenner is making children fight each other, presumably for his own amusement. He’s twisted like that.
Joyce, Murray, and Yuri make it to Yuri’s church and reveal that Murray will be impersonating Yuri and pretending to turn over Joyce and Yuri-Murray as hostages in order to gain access to the prison. Inside the prison, Hopper starts a fight in order to steal a guard’s lighter. He’s hoping that the lighter, combined with the alcohol he stole from the feast, will help them fight the Demo Dog.
In Utah, the kids (but really just Suzie) succeed in locating the Nina Project: it’s just next door, in Nevada. Vegas baby!
The Hawkins Heroes follow Dustin’s compass to Lovers’ Lake, revealing that the gate is really… a water gate. Don’t worry Dustin, I appreciated your joke. The older teens (Steve, Nancy, Eddie, and Robin) head out into the middle of the lake to find the gate.
El not only relives seeing her orderly friend get tortured but also her getting bullied by the other kids. Where’s the solidarity amongst kidnapped scientific experiments, guys? There’s no time to convince them that we’re stronger together, however, because next thing you know, El’s in a room full of their dead bodies, and she wakes up blaming herself for their deaths.
Out on the lake, the Fabulous Four find watergate, and Steve disrobes in order to dive in and search for it. Max represents everyone in the audience when she grabs the binoculars off Lucas in order to ogle him. Steve finds it and resurfaces for just long enough to share the good news before being dragged into the Upside Down by some gnarly tentacles. Nancy immediately dives in to save him, with Robin following soon after. Eddie realizes it would look dodgy if he didn’t accompany them, so he jumps in too, and now they’re all on their way to the Upside Down to save Steve from some truly terrifying-looking bats. End scene.
Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix. The first seven episodes of the new season are out now, while the final two eps will drop on Friday, July 1.