

After Hopper gets a call from the station that Jonathan has been arrested, he and Joyce return to Hawkins where they share the information they know about The Demogorgon.

Nancy confronts Steve, which results in a fight between Jonathan and Steve, leading to Jonathan's arrest. and Carol graffiti the Hawkins movie theater slut-shaming Nancy. In a fit of rage, Steve's friends Tommy H. This is witnessed by Steve, who takes the encounter out of context and assumes Nancy is cheating on him. Nancy successfully escapes from The Upside-Down thanks to Jonathan's help and the two retreat back to Nancy's house, where they sleep in her bed to comfort each other. In the course of their investigation, Jonathan and Nancy accidentally discover the alternate dimension where the creature that took Barbara – The Demogorgon – resides, known as "The Upside-Down". Due to her guilt for abandoning Barbara and her motivation to find out what happened to her friend, Nancy meets up with Jonathan to discuss Will and Barbara's disappearance. Nancy becomes involved in the investigation after Barbara disappears while Nancy is having sex with Steve. After Will goes missing, Nancy offers her sentiments to Jonathan, something which distances herself from Steve's other friends, who think Jonathan is a freak and is likely responsible for Will's disappearance. She is also shown to have grown somewhat distant from her brother and his friends, and is unaware of Jonathan's secret feelings for her. She is introduced as best friends with Barbara Holland, who doesn't agree with Nancy's new relationship with Steve Harrington. She has a younger brother, Mike, and younger sister, Holly.

Nancy is Ted and Karen Wheeler's oldest child.
