How did Hopper know Joyces new address

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This page chronicles the history of Joyce Byers, a major character from Stranger Things.

Background

Joyce was born in about 1942 in Hawkins, Indiana. The only family member beyond her sons and ex-husband that have been mentioned is her aunt Darlene, who had mental problems. This has been hinted to be an inherited trait, as Jonathan has mentioned Joyce having problems with anxiety in the past.[1]

Joyce attended Hawkins High School during the late 1950s with Jim Hopper and Bob "The Brain" Newby, though Joyce didn't know the latter existed. However, Jim and Joyce were extremely close, skipping class during fifth and sixth period to smoke. One one occasion, the two were caught by the teacher, Mr. Cooper, who yelled, "Hey, assholes!", causing the two to run away. It's been hinted by Phil Callahan that Jim and Joyce had a romantic relationship in the past.

By the 1960s, Jim joined the army before becoming a cop in New York City. During this time, Joyce met and married Lonnie Byers, taking his last name, though it's been stated by Jonathan that "[she] and [Lonnie] loved each other at some point, but [he] wasn't around for it", meaning that the marriage was a problem from the start. In 1967, Joyce and Lonnie had their first son, Jonathan Byers. Their second son, William "Will" Byers, was born on May 22, 1971. By 1973, Joyce got a job as a retail clerk at Melvald's General Store, working excessive hours, even on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Although Joyce loved her sons more than anything and encouraged their hobbies, Lonnie was extremely harsh to both of them, forcing Jonathan to do more "manly" things like killing a rabbit while hunting, and calling Will a "queer" and a "fag" for his love of art and sensitivity. In 1979, for Will's eighth birthday, Joyce gave him a 120 crayon set. Will used just about every crayon to draw a large spaceship he called a "Rainbow Ship". Joyce then took it and hung it at Melvald's, proudly proclaiming that her son drew it to everyone who came into the store, much to Will's embarrassment. Around 1982, Lonnie divorced Joyce and left for Indianapolis. This didn't stop Joyce from cheering up her son, as one day she surprised him tickets to see Poltergeist after initially telling him he couldn't see it.

1983

Searching for Will

November 7

Joyce at the police station to report her son's disappearance.

Before leaving for work, Joyce discovered that Will was nowhere to be found. She called Karen Wheeler, asking whether Will had stayed over at her house after a playdate with his friends. Karen told her that Will had left the previous night around 8:00 p.m. Joyce went to the police station to report Will's disappearance, but Police Chief Jim Hopper brushed her off, theorizing that Will was "playing hooky" or had run away to his father's house.

The evening, the phone rang while Joyce and Jonathan were preparing a missing person poster. Joyce answered, but heard only static and growling. Then, Joyce was certain that she could hear Will’s breathing. A jolt of electricity short circuited the phone and the impact knocked her to the floor.[2]

November 8

The next day, Joyce told Hopper about the call, but he was skeptical. She went to the General Store and obtained a phone and a two-week advance pay from her boss, Donald. Joyce then waited by the new phone for another call. When the phone rang again, she heard Will’s voice, though the phone quickly short-circuited. She noticed the lights blinking in an odd pattern, so she followed them to Will's room. Suddenly, loud music played from Will’s radio and the lights flickered intensively. Joyce was terrified when the wall in Will's room warped and took on a shape as if something was trying to break through. She ran to the car.[3]

November 9

Joyce communicating with Will through the lights.

Convinced that Will was talking to her through the lights, Joyce stayed in his room trying to make contact, causing Jonathan to believe she was acting delusional. Joyce bought several packs of Christmas lights, which she hung all over her living room. Will made contact with her through the lights and answered yes or no questions. Will revealed that he was alive but not safe. Joyce painted an alphabet on the wall, through which Will said he was “right here” and warned her to “run,” right before the monster broke through the wall. Joyce ran down the road and was nearly hit by Jonathan’s car, closely followed by the police.[4]

Hopper informed Joyce that Will’s body was discovered in the local quarry, but Joyce told him she had just talked to Will through the lights. Thinking she was in denial, Hopper shared that he had visions of his own daughter after she passed away, and Joyce replied “I need you to believe me. Please.” After Hopper left, she grabbed an ax from the shed as protection and fell asleep on the sofa.

A Desperate Mother

November 10

The next morning, Joyce went to the coroner to identify the body. While at the coroner's office, she asked to see Will's birthmark. Joyce refused to sign the death certificate, insisting “I don’t know what you think that thing is in there, but that is not my son!” Jonathan lashed out at her on the sidewalk in front of a crowd, saying they had to deal with his funeral, despite her saying that she truly knows that Will is really alive.

At their home, Will called for Joyce through the wall, and peeling back the wallpaper, she saw his face through a layer of a flesh-like substance. Will said he was in a place “like home, but it's so dark... It's so dark and empty. And it's cold!” The monster approached, and a distraught Joyce told him to run, swearing she would come for him. Joyce chopped a hole in the wall, but it only lead to the outside of her house.[1]

November 11

Joyce's ex-husband, Lonnie, came to Hawkins for Will’s funeral and was dismissive to everything Joyce said about finding Will. After the funeral, Joyce found papers from an attorney and sent Lonnie packing because he was only there to profit from Will’s supposed death. She confronted Lonnie about this which he tried, but Joyce saw right through his facade and during a heated argument, she angrily ordered her ex-husband to leave. Hopper showed up at her house and unscrewed every light bulb inside, searching for a bug, something he had found in his own home. Hopper admitted to Joyce that the entire time where he had discovered Will's corpse to be a fake, admitting she was right about Will's disappearance.[5]

Continuing A Search

November 12

Hopper and Joyce tracked down Terry Ives, who had sued Dr. Brenner and Hawkins National Laboratory for kidnapping her daughter twelve years before. They found Terry in a catatonic state, unable to speak, but her sister relayed the details of Terry's involvement in the experiments at Hawkins Lab, and her supposed missing daughter.[6]

Returning to Hawkins, they found that Jonathan had been arrested and Nancy Wheeler was keeping him company at the police station. They all joined forces with Will’s friends, who explained that Will was in another dimension. They went to Hawkins Middle School, where they built a makeshift sensory deprivation tank so Eleven could telepathically communicate with Will. Joyce reached out to Eleven and made her feel safe as she was navigating through her mental void. Joyce made Eleven tell Will to hold on and that his mother was coming for him.

Finding & Reuniting with Will

Joyce and Hopper find Will in The Upside Down.

Joyce and Hopper broke into Hawkins National Laboratory, where they were captured on arrival.[7] The pair were interrogated, and Dr. Brenner tried to persuade Joyce to help him. Joyce told Brenner to go to hell. Meanwhile, Hopper negotiated a deal, and the duo was allowed to enter the Upside Down in hazmat suits to search for Will. When they found him, he was close to death, strung up in a web of strange biologic matter with a tendril extending down his throat. Hopper and Joyce administered CPR to Will until he was resuscitated. After being rescued, Will was brought to the Hawkins General Hospital where he recovered.

A Family Reunited

December 11

In December, Joyce celebrated Christmas with her sons, with Jonathan helping her prepare the food before they sat at the table and ate.

1983-1984

Shortly after being rescued, Will began experiencing visions of the Upside Down. He eventually told Joyce about these visions, prompting her to start taking him to Hawkins National Laboratory for routine medical exams. During these visits, he'd be looked over by Dr. Owens, who attested that Will's visions were psychosomatic episodes similar to those related to post-traumatic stress disorder.

At some point, Joyce began dating Bob Newby.

1984

Struggling To Return To Normal

October 29

On October 29, Joyce dropped Will off at the Palace arcade. There, Will had an episode, suddenly appearing in the Upside Down version of the arcade and witnessing what appeared to be a storm of some sort.

October 30

Joyce dating her former classmate, Bob Newby.

The next day, Joyce was at work sewing Will's Halloween costume when Bob walked in. The couple briefly made out in the backroom.

Joyce picked Will up after school and together they went to the lab where they met up with Hopper. Will told Owens about his episode, saying that an evil force wanted to kill everyone. Owens told Joyce and Hopper the reason for the increased number of episodes is because of the “Anniversary Effect.” He advised them to just treat Will as normally as possible.

October 31

As Joyce was assisting Will with his costume the following morning, she came across his drawing of a strange spider-like creature. She asked him if he had experienced another episode, but he lied, telling her it was for a story he was writing. Joyce later showed the drawing to Hopper where she questioned why Will would lie to her and began believing that Will's visions could be real due to how her son described his episodes to Dr. Owens. When Joyce suggested she take Will to see other doctors to treat him for his episodes, Hopper told her that they would just tell her the same thing Owens had been telling her and she would end up having financial problems. Hopper the discussed how he believed Owens was right about having trauma and even though their lives might not be the same again like it was before they entered the Upside Down, while reassuring her that everything will be fine. Joyce and Hopper then shared cigarettes together where they recalled their times in high school together before reminiscing their shared trauma.

That night, Joyce and Bob were alone while Will was trick-or-treating with his friends, and Jonathan was at a Halloween party. While the two were dancing, Bob proposed that they move to Maine. Joyce was hesitant about the idea.

Helping Will

November 1

The following day, Bob met up with Joyce for lunch. He informed her that the tape from Halloween night had shown Will being bullied by some teenagers in costumes.

Joyce watch Will's tape to find a spider-like creature

Later, while watching the tape, Joyce noticed some strange interference in the footage. After tracing the shape on a piece of paper, she realized it resembled Will's drawing of the the spider-like creature. Worried, she went to the Middle School to get Will. When she arrived, Joyce, as well as the boys and Max, found Will as he was experiencing another episode. While Joyce tried to wake him up, Will was being overwhelmed by the shadow monster. When Will finally snapped out of the episode, Joyce took him home and questioned him about his drawing. Will recounted his encounter with the shadow monster, saying he felt it everywhere and could still feel it. Joyce then assured him that she wouldn't let anything hurt him, promising she would help fix whatever was wrong with him.

November 2

The next morning, Joyce tried to contact Hopper, but received no answer. After taking Will's temperature, she discovered that it was lower than average. Joyce ran a bath in order to warm him, but Will refused to get in it, saying “He likes it cold.” When Hopper finally arrived, Will explained to him that he now knew things he hadn't before, through memories that “were happening all at once”, which he called “now-memories”. When Will couldn't make sense of these now-memories, Joyce asked him to draw what he saw. He began frantically drawing what at first appeared to be random scribbles, but Joyce and Hopper soon realized that the drawings were all connected. After assembling the drawings in the correct order, they discovered the drawings depicted a strange maze-like pattern. Assuming that the drawings depicted vines, Hopper made the connection to the pumpkin patch and left.

Later, Mike stopped by the house hoping to acquire more information about Will's situation. Joyce initially dismissed him, but once he mentioned the shadow monster, she let him inside.

November 3

The next morning, Will informed Joyce that Hopper was in trouble after seeing him through his connection with the shadow monster. While they were able to figure out where Hopper was in Will's drawings, they did not know the actual location. Just then, Bob arrived, and because of his talent in solving puzzles, Joyce enlisted his help. Bob realized that the drawings were a map of Hawkins, and was able to pinpoint Hopper's location. Arriving at the location, Joyce and Bob descended into the tunnels while Mike and Will waited above ground. Eventually, Hopper was found entangled in a mass of vines. After freeing him, soldiers from the lab arrived and urged them to leave shortly before burning the tunnels. Suddenly, Will collapsed and began convulsing on the ground.

November 4

Joyce, Bob, Hopper, and Mike were taken to Hawkins Lab, where Will was quickly treated. When Will awoke, he could not remember Owens, Bob, or Hopper, and was barely able to remember Mike. In a test involving a severed vine from the Upside Down, Owens asked if Will could feel anything as another scientist used a blowtorch to burn the vine. Through this, they determined that Will had some sort of “virus” that connected him to all other infected hosts in a hive intelligence. Back in the infirmary, Will claimed he knew of a way they could possibly stop the shadow monster. Using images that the lab personnel had taken of the map, Will directed the scientists to an area, stating “he doesn't want me to see there.”

As soldiers traversed the tunnels, Will revealed that the shadow monster made him deceive the soldiers. Realizing it was a trap, Mike tried to warn the scientists, but it was too late; the soldiers were ambushed and killed by a pack of Demodogs. Shortly after, Demodogs began invading the lab. To prevent the shadow monster from knowing their location, Mike urged them to sedate Will. Once Will was unconscious, the group took refuge in a surveillance room, where they witnessed the lab being overrun by Demodogs before the power went out. To restore the power and allow them a way out, Bob volunteered to go down to the basement and reset the breakers. Once the power was restored and the doors unlocked, Mike, Joyce, Hopper, and Will made it to safety while Owens stayed behind to guide Bob. Just when it seemed Bob was safe, he was tackled and killed by several Demodogs. Outside, the group met up with Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. Together, they escaped the lab.

November 5

At the Byers' house, Joyce grieved Bob's death while everyone else speculated about the shadow monster's weakness. When they realized that the shadow monster controlled everything in a hive mind, they compared it to the Mind Flayer, a monster from Dungeons & Dragons that similarly controls the minds of its victims. They also speculated that, if they killed the Mind Flayer, they would kill everything it controlled. Mike then proposed that, in order to discover the Mind Flayer's weakness, they'd have to take Will someplace he couldn't recognize and try to get through to him. Joyce agreed, and after making the backyard shed unrecognizable, they attempted to interrogate Will. While the Mind Flayer had taken over a majority of Will's mind and body, a part of Will managed to subconsciously signal to them in Morse code. Deciphering his message, they discovered the way to stop the Mind Flayer: closing the Gate. Soon after, the phone in the Byers' kitchen rang, giving away their location.

As the house was being surrounded by a pack of Demodogs, the group armed themselves. Before the pack could attack, however, Eleven arrived and eradicated them. Together, the group came up with a plan: Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy would exorcise the Mind Flayer from Will's body while Eleven and Hopper would go to the lab and close the gate. After taking Will to Hopper's cabin, Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan restrained him, surrounding him with numerous heaters. This eventually caused the piece of the Mind Flayer possessing Will to be expelled from his body.

Mourning

December 15

Joyce still mourning for Bob.

On December 15, Joyce taught Will how to dance in preparation for the Snow Ball. After dropping him off at the dance, she met Hopper in the school's parking lot. Hopper comforted Joyce, who was still grieving over Bob.

1985

The Summer

June 29

Once again happy in her home, one day Joyce sends off her son Jonathan Byers to his job at The Hawkins Post, wiping off the lipstick from his cheek. However, she notices that the magnets have mysteriously failed magnetizing on her refrigerator, but she heads to her job at Melvald's General Store anyway where Jim Hopper arrives, complaining to her about problems with El and Mike. Joyce suggests Hopper have a "heart-to-heart" with the pair, tutoring Hopper through the process of writing a speech for it. When Hopper departs, Joyce notices that yet more magnets have mysteriously stopped working. Returning home to an empty house, Joyce proceeds to eat some leftover food for dinner and watch some old shows that she and Bob used to watch together, remembering her time with him mournfully. As Joyce continued to eat her dinner and watch television, the magnets on her refrigerator once again lose their magnetism and fail to magnetize where they fall to the ground.

June 30

Joyce learning why her magnets suddenly lost their magnetism.

The next day at Melvald’s, Hopper returns, jubilant that her "tutoring" resolved the issue. Hopper manages to convince Joyce to go to dinner with him, until he is called away to deal with a protest against Mayor Kline, knocking off more failing magnets as he goes, much to Joyce’s rising confusion when the magnets no longer adhere to metal surfaces. Perplexed, Joyce acquires several textbooks and heads to Scott Clarke’s house for help to figure out what is happening, skipping her dinner with Hopper. They build an unstable electromagnetic field to replicate the failing magnets, and Joyce queries Clarke on how this could be happening at her house and at Melvald’s. Although Clarke says "apophenia", coincidence, is the most likely explanation, he allows that theoretically, a machine with billions of volts of electricity (costing millions of dollars to construct) could potentially emit such an unstable electromagnetic field large enough to demagnetize objects all across town.

Finding Russians

July 1

Driven, Joyce goes to Hopper’s cabin to share what she had learned, hypothesizing that something at the old Hawkins National Laboratory could be causing this problem and/or putting the town in danger. However, Hopper is unconvinced, angry that she stood him up the night previous, so Joyce heads to the Lab anyway, forcing Hopper to follow. At the Lab, Joyce has flashbacks to Bob Newby’s heroic death, but she presses on with Hopper to investigate the abandoned building. Later, Joyce has more flashbacks of past horrors, and Hopper reveals that he knows of her plans to leave Hawkins and move elsewhere, which makes her uncomfortable. They are interrupted however by a strange noise made by Grigori, who ambushes Hopper and flees on a motorcycle, with Joyce only partially successful at getting his license plate number. Joyce takes a grievously wounded Hopper back to his cabin, treating his wounds and staying at his place all night.

July 2

When Hopper wakes up the next day, Joyce tends to him until he violently throws up and rises without any clothes on, embarrassing Joyce. She relays what few license plate numbers she managed to get, which lead no where, until she mentions that Grigori was driving a motorcycle, which causes Hopper to recognize him. Joyce and Hopper head to town hall where Hopper violently confronts and kidnaps Mayor Kline over information, Joyce preventing people from calling the authorities. They head to Kline’s mansion, discovering that Kline facilitated shady real estate deals for the Russians, and Joyce realizes that the theoretical machine Clarke mentioned wasn’t at the Lab because it is probably in one of these suspect properties. They stop Kline from escaping before moving on to search.

After a long search, Joyce and Hopper find a house with a secret entrance into a subterranean Russian base. Although forced to flee by Grigori, they successfully kidnap Alexei and escape.

July 3

After breaking down in the woods, Joyce tries to communicate with Alexei until their car explodes, forcing them to trek to a 7-Eleven to commandeer a car and head to Murray Bauman’s warehouse, since Murray speaks Russian and can translate for Alexei, who does not speak English. They arrive, and Murray annoys Joyce until she goes on an angry tirade, prompting Murray to stop "scanning" Alexei in order to actually get started.

July 4

The next day, Joyce and Hopper began interrogating Alexei via Murray, after Hopper brought food from Burger King and a Slurpee he had requested. However, when Alexei complained about how we was given a strawberry-flavored Slurpee, Joyce watched as Hopper and Alexei (through Murray) started arguing. When Alexei refused to talk, Joyce watched Hopper threw him outside with the keys to their car, in order to make a point that Alexei would not run because he needed them. Joyce objected that he was escaping, until Alexei bashfully returned of his own volition, in a more cooperative mood, leaving Joyce impressed that hopper was right.

After that, Joyce and Hopper listened to Alexei explain the purpose of the Key, to create a Gate to the Upside Down, and that the Russians needed to move the Key to Hawkins because the "door" was still "healing" there, having been open not long ago. Joyce asked if the "door" was open, to which Alexei responded that it was "opening". Realizing the severity of the situation, Hopper called the United States government for help, and Joyce angrily yelled over the phone after Hopper is done, believing the issue to not have been given high enough priority. She then insisted on returning to Hawkins immediately in order to safeguard her children, who she believed to be in danger.

En route, Hopper and Joyce argued over the severity of the danger to their children, but Murray angrily cutted them off, saying that their arguing was a "mind-numbing and frankly boorish mating ritual", demanding that they either stop bickering or "pull over, tear off their clothes, and get it over with already", shocking them into silence as Murray and Alexei began to laugh at them. Arriving at the Fun Fair, Joyce and Hopper left with Hopper angrily commanding Murray to "stay put", Hopper telling Joyce not to let Murray go under her skin, but she was not bothered by Murray's comments. They enter a ride with Karen Wheeler so that they could ask where the kids were, but after leaving Murray brought Joyce to Alexei, who had been shot by Grigori and died while Murray sought them out, much to Joyce’s distress. As Russian hitmen close in, Joyce confronted Mayor Kline and angrily punched and kicked him in the groin as payback for calling the Russians which led Alexei to his death. Joyce and Murray then got in their car and picked up Hopper who distracted the Russians before they made their escape.

Having overheard Russian communications via radio, talking about "kids", Joyce was certain that it was her kids who were in danger, and raced to the Starcourt Mall food court. The adults arrived just in time to witness the children removing a small creature from Eleven's leg which Hopper was able to crush. Regrouping with the children, Joyce and Hopper learned the Mind Flayer had returned and built a monster to kill them. In addition, they learned Dustin and Steve that they, along with their allies Robin Buckley and Erica Sinclair had discovered the Russian base and the Key within the mall. Regrouping with Murray, they came up with a plan to destroy the Key and close the gate, which would kill the Mind Flayer's avatar.

Infiltrating the Russian Base

Murray, Joyce, and Hopper descended into the underground base, killed the guards, and stole their clothes before proceeding. Murray continued on to damage the Key’s power supply while Joyce and Hopper waited, with Joyce arranging another dinner date at Enzo's with Hopper after all the events were over. Murray succeeded, raising an alarm and allowing Joyce and Hopper to steal the physical shut-off keys to the Key (albeit with password help from Dustin and Suzie). They then raided the command room, forcing the scientists to leave via gunfire, but just as they were about to turn the keys to disable the Key, Grigori arrived and attacked Hopper, leaving the two to battle outside in the main chamber while Joyce reinserted the keys, intending to turn them alone using a bungee cord. Hopper eventually defeated Grigori, throwing him into the Key and causing a wall of electricity to strike out, cutting off Hopper’s escape just as Joyce got a solid grip on both keys. With Dustin screaming over the radio to close the Gate now, and Hopper trapped, Joyce and Hopper shared a final glance at each other, with Hopper nodding his acceptance and smiling at her. Joyce closed her eyes, crying, and she pulled the keys.

The Key exploded, vaporizing everyone in the room but Joyce, due to being behind the protective glass of the command room. As the gate closed, the Mind Flayer's connection to his avatar was cut, leaving it to die. Although Joyce searched the walkway where Hopper was, Hopper was no where to be seen, having been right next to the Key as it exploded. Joyce began to break down as Murray arrived asking where Jim is, and Joyce only cried in response. Russian agents began to enter the room, so Murray escorted her out of the Russian base. As American soldiers also arrived, Murray was able to convince them he and Joyce were Americans, despite the Russian uniforms they were both wearing. Joyce was taken above ground where emergency services had arrived, and upon reuniting with Will, she embraced him. From over Will’s shoulder however, Joyce saw El, and El realized from Joyce’s expression that Hopper was dead.

Leaving Hawkins

October 4

Joyce and her family moving out of their home in Hawkins.

Several months later and preparing to leave Hawkins for good, Joyce went through Hopper’s old belongings, finding the "heart-to-heart" speech she and him wrote together. El came in, and Joyce realized that Hopper never actually spoke it to El or Mike, and so she gave the written speech to El to read. Joyce asked if El is ok, and after finishing packing things up, she had one last look at her old house before hugging her friends goodbye and then leaving Hawkins with Will, Jonathan, and El.

1986

With help from Dr. Owens, Joyce and her family moved to Lenora Hills, California. Once settling in her new home, Joyce started working as a telemarketer while having Jonathan, Will, and Eleven attend school at Lenora Hills High School.

A Package from Russia

March 21

On March 21, Joyce was working at her job, making phone calls while Jonathan, Will, and El went to school by carpooling with Jonathan's new friend, Argyle as Jonathan's car had broken down a while ago. When Joyce saw Argyle driving his van really fast, after picking up her children, she ran outside and yelled at him to slow down as she watched them leave.

Later, Joyce continued making phone calls with her most recent client being a woman Carol Ergenbright. As Joyce spoke to Carol on the phone, she received a knock on her front door and went to answer it where she received some mail and a package from the local mailman. As Joyce went to go place and check her mail at the kitchen table, Joyce saw stamps of the Soviet Union's symbol on the package. Ending her call with Carol, Joyce proceeded to open the package, finding only a porcelain doll inside.

Scared, Joyce proceeded to call Murray, only for him to call her back later as he had karate lessons from one to three p.m. on Fridays. Once Murray called her, Joyce proceeded to tell him about the doll she just received and was able to confirm to him that the package was from Russia by describing the box's stamps. Joyce asked Murray if she should be worried which he agreed to as she did sabotaged and exposed the Soviet Union's secret operation in the United States last year. Though Joyce was confused on how the Soviet Union would figure out her identity and where she lived, Murray theorized the Russian foreign intelligent organization, the KGB might have traced her down. When Murray started asking her to remove the doll's dress, befuddled Joyce followed Murray's instructions and took the doll's dress off, finding the figurine's waist to have a large sealed up crack. Upon telling Murray about this, Joyce was asked if she had rope and something heavy so she could smash the doll to find anything inside of it, much to Joyce's surprise.

March 22

Joyce showing Murray the message she received.

The next day, after Murray arrived at her house, she showed him the note she found within the doll, only to find he was doubtful of Hopper's survival. When Murray exclaimed there was no proof of detailing Hopper's survival, Joyce insisted there was proof as the letter was signed "Enzo," after the restaurant she and Hopper had planned to go on a date at. When Murray reminded her that she had witnessed Hopper die, Joyce's hope did not fade away as she remembered not seeing Hopper's body anywhere when the Key had exploded. Murray then tried to calmly come up with a theory and explain if Hopper did survive, he would have been captured by the Soviet Union and forced by the KGB to send the message to Joyce so she could get captured, only for Joyce to flatly say he just made up his theory. With both of them having different theories and opinions of whether Hopper was indeed alive, Joyce watched Murray unpack his bag as he decided that they were going to call "Enzo" through the number he wrote on his letter, but by rerouting the call and using a recorder Murray packed so he and Joyce could figure out "Enzo's" identity.

Later, at night, Joyce ate dinner with Murray, Argyle, and Mike who was visiting them for spring break where she listened to Murray lie to the children, saying he was in California to visit a client and decided to stop by the Byers's house to spend the night. To play along, Joyce suggested to Murray that he should stay for a while where Murray signaled her to tell the children about the "business trip" she had to go to tomorrow. At this reminder, Joyce lied to the children, saying she had to attend a "meeting" with the Britannica company in Alaska and had to leave tomorrow. After Mike, El, and Will shocked to hear this news, Joyce told Jonathan he was in charge while she was gone, but became bewildered when Jonathan expressed confusion on what was going on as if he had not been paying attention. Joyce became more bewildered when Argyle told Jonathan what she had announced earlier. Joyce questioned her oldest son why was acting strange, but Jonathan said he was feeling tired due to having a stressful day. Joyce and Murray then became confused when Jonathan and Argyle brought a girl getting a head injury at Rink-O-Mania earlier today. When Argyle stated the girl was going to be fine and a bitter Mike to comment on the event, this caused El to abruptly excuse herself from the table and storm off into her bedroom. Joyce and Murray looked confused over the tension between the children, but they did not say anything else to them as they continued eating their dinner.

Rendezvous & Capture

March 23

March 24

Crashing into Russia

March 25

March 26

Reuniting with Hopper

Fighting the Demogorgon

March 27

Return to America

March 29

Joyce found her children located at Hopper's old cabin, where they, Nancy, Mike, and Argyle were. She embraced her sons tightly and noticed Eleven, her now shaved once again, leaning on Hopper. Eleven waved at her and giggled as she walked down the steps of the cabin and hugged Joyce tightly. She leaned back from Joyce, telling her that she's happy that she went to her "conference". Chuckling, Joyce said it was quite the experience, and hugged her foster daughter tightly. Their reunion is unfortunately cut short when the crew noticed dark clouds looming over Hawkins, and spores began to fall onto them. Walking through the woods, Joyce and the others came to a stop at a field to witness the Upside Down beginning its invasion of the world after Vecna had successfully opened it. Shocked, Joyce held Hopper's hand as they and their children realized that it was the beginning of the end.

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter 4: The Body"
2. ↑ Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
3. ↑ Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter 2: The Weirdo on Maple Street"
4. ↑ Stranger ThingsSeason 1: "Chapter 3: Holly, Jolly"
5. ↑ Stranger ThingsSeason 1: "Chapter 5: The Flea and the Acrobat"
6. ↑ Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter 6: The Monster"
7. ↑ Stranger ThingsSeason 1: "Chapter 7: The Bathtub"

How did Hopper get Joyces new address?

How did Hopper know Eleven was in the woods?

Did Hopper and Joyce know each other in high school?

How does Hopper know Joyce?