Stranger Things Season 1 - Episode 1 Page

The pilot is a masterclass in setup. Here are key motifs introduced in episode one:

Hopper begins the episode as a small-town cop drowning in his own grief (we learn he lost a daughter). He treats Will’s disappearance as a runaway case. But when he finds Will’s body? Except, he doesn’t. The search yields nothing. And then a body is found in the quarry—dressed in Will’s clothes, face obscured by decomposition. Stranger Things Season 1 - Episode 1