A Complete ‘Stranger Things’ Episode Guide to Every Couple’s Best Moments

Soon, we’ll know exactly how Stranger Things ends, including which characters end up together. While there are plenty of ships that may or may not sail in Season 5 — like Byler, aka Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Will (Noah Schnapp) — there are plenty of love stories that have already developed over the course of the Netflix series. (If they’ll make it out intact or not is another story.)

From Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) to Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), quite a few characters have found epic romances over the past four seasons, despite (or because of) their perilous circumstances. As we prepare ourselves to head back to Hawkins one last time, we’ve taken notes on all of the most important relationship moments so far. Get your romance refresher below.

Hopper and Joyce

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When do Hopper and Joyce meet?

Hopper and Joyce have known each other at least since high school, so their first interaction in Season 1 — when Joyce goes to the police station to report her missing son in Episode 1 — isn’t their first time meeting. The most we know about their past comes from Season 2, Episode 2, when they reminisce about smoking cigarettes together at school.

When is Hopper and Joyce’s first kiss?

It takes until Season 4 for Hopper and Joyce to finally lock lips. There weren’t many romantic vibes between the characters until Season 3, since Season 2 gave Joyce a sweet relationship with Sean Astin‘s Bob instead. (RIP, hero.) The sheriff does invite Joyce on a kind-of dinner date in Season 3, though she accidentally stands him up. After that, they get busy uncovering the Russians’ secret operation in Hawkins.

When Hopper vanishes in the Season 3 finale, he and Joyce are driven apart yet again. In a peak romantic move, Joyce saves Hopper from his detainment in a Russian labor camp, which is where their first kiss takes place. Naturally, they make time for a smooch while being chased by a demogorgon in Season 4, Episode 9. (Priorities, right?) What’s more, Harbour and Ryder improvised the smooch, making it even more epic.

Are Hopper and Joyce still together going into Season 5?

You bet they are! Joyce and Hopper are back in Hawkins together. With that ominous Season 4 ending, though, we do wonder if they’ll actually be able to have that date at Enzo’s.

What are the best Hopper and Joyce episodes in Stranger Things?

Season 1, Episode 8 (“The Upside Down”): Couples that venture into the Upside Down together, stay together!

Season 2, Episode 5 (“Dig Dug”): The first time Joyce saves Hopper, this time from being smothered by vines in the tunnels underneath Hawkins.

Season 3, Episode 1 (“Suzie, Do You Copy?”): If you want a happy Jopper episode, look no further. Hopper visits Joyce at work to get advice about handling Mike and Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) relationship.

Season 3, Episode 5 (“The Flayed”): Pretty much all of Season 3 is great Jopper content, but when they become buddy cops in the second half, they truly shine.

Season 4 Episode 9 (“The Piggyback”): Of course, we have to include their kiss episode!

Nancy and Jonathan

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When do Nancy and Jonathan meet?

Since their brothers are besties, Nancy and Jonathan met before their first scene together on Stranger Things. For the sake of this post, we’ll still break down their first “show” meeting. Nancy is with Steve (Joe Keery) when she and Jonathan have their first conversation in Season 1, Episode 2. When he’s putting up missing posters at school, Nancy gives Jonathan her sympathy and reassures him that his brother will be found.

They don’t officially team up until another student reveals that Jonathan had taken some (objectively creepy) photos of Nancy at Steve’s Episode 2 house party. When Nancy realizes that Jonathan also took a picture of the now-missing Barb (Shannon Purser) next to what they’d come to realize was a demogorgon, they become investigative partners in Episode 4.

When is Nancy and Jonathan’s first kiss?

We have Murray Bowman (Brett Gelman) to thank for Jancy’s first kiss. When they wind up at the conspiracy theorist/former investigative journalist’s house in Season 2, Episode 5, he helps them make a plan to pin Barb’s disappearance on Hawkins Lab. Murray also points out the non-platonic vibes between Jonathan and Nancy, which eventually kicks their romance into gear.

After drinking with Murray, they stay the night. They begin in two separate rooms, and each of them almost knock on each other’s door before rethinking it. Finally, they get over themselves and meet in the middle, colliding in a steamy kiss in Episode 6. They also go all the way, which makes for a hilarious morning-after moment with a knowing Murray.

Are Nancy and Jonathan still together going into Season 5?

Nancy and Jonathan hit a rough patch in Season 4. Once he moves away to California, Jonathan becomes a stoner, and Nancy finds out that he lied about going to college at Emerson with her, not wanting to hold her back. Jonathan’s actually planning on attending community college in Cali. Though they’re technically still together by the end of the season, reuniting in Hawkins, all isn’t resolved.

What are the best Nancy and Jonathan episodes in Stranger Things?

Season 1, Episode 6 (“The Monster”): After her escape from the Upside Down, Nancy asks Jonathan to stay the night. Cue the tension!

Season 2, Episode 5 (“Dig Dug”): Jancy comparing their scars in a motel room? Cinema.

Season 2, Episode 6 (“The Spy”): We’ve already covered this above. Jancy finally acknowledges their feelings for each other. (Sorry, Steve.)

Season 3, Episode 4 (“The Sauna Test”): Nancy and Jonathan have their car fight. It’s not fun, but it’s important for their development!

Nancy and Steve

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When do Nancy and Steve meet?

Nancy is already seeing Steve when Season 1 begins, their nerdy girl-popular guy dynamic being established as early as Episode 1. A little while in, we find out that Nancy’s only made out with Steve a couple of times. She’s telling Barb that it’s just a fling right before she finds a note from Steve in her locker, which leads to a rendezvous in the bathroom. (Romantic!)

When is Nancy and Steve’s first kiss?

Steve and Nancy waste no time. Their first onscreen interaction is actually a makeout session in said bathroom. Steve offers to help Nancy study for an upcoming test, but Nancy insists that they can’t get up to any funny business.

Why do Nancy and Steve’s break up in Season 2?

Nancy and Steve reconcile after they join forces for Season 1’s finale showdown, with the former forgiving the latter for fighting Jonathan and breaking his camera. They don’t last much longer after that, though. Nancy, torn up over Barb’s death, gets hammered at a Halloween party in Season 2, Episode 2. There, she reveals that she’s not actually happy with their relationship, famously telling Steve that he’s “bulls**t” and that she doesn’t love him.

It’s not an official breakup, but she hooks up with Jonathan a few episodes later, putting the nail in the coffin of Stancy. Well, kind of. He tells her to go after Jonathan in Season 2’s finale, but Steve never stops having feelings for Nancy. When they head into the Upside Down together in Season 4, Steve and Nancy get a few moments with maybe, sort-of romantic undertones. With the difficulties that Jancy’s been having lately, might Nancy go back to Steve?

What are the best Nancy and Steve episodes in Stranger Things?

Season 1, Episode 1 (“The Vanishing of Will Byers”): Even though Steve hasn’t had his character development yet, Stancy is still pretty cute at the start of the show, with Steve sneaking into Nancy’s room to run flashcards with her.

Season 1, Episode 2 (“The Weirdo of Maple Street”): Steve and Nancy have a good time at his pool party, while Barb is being dragged into the Upside Down. (Sorry, Barb!)

Season 1, Episode 8 (“The Upside Down”): Steve, completely out of the loop, helps Jonathan and Nancy battle a demogorgon. Swoon. And he’d only intended to apologize to Jonathan when he went to the Byers’ house!

Season 4, Episode 6 (“The Dive”): After almost a full season of no contact, Nancy doesn’t hesitate to jump in after Steve when he’s dragged into the Upside Down. “That was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen,” Eddie (Joseph Quinn) later remarked. He may not be totally off-base.

Mike and Eleven

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When do Mike and Eleven meet?

Mileven, the show’s original ship! Alongside Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas, Mike is looking for Will in the woods when he stumbles across Eleven in Season 1, Episode 1. They take her back to Mike’s house, where she starts living secretly in the Wheelers’ basement. Eventually, Mike puts his faith in El to help them find Will. Though they have a few rocky moments throughout Season 1, Mike and El form a close bond.

When is Mike and Eleven’s first kiss?

Once they emotionally reunite in Season 2, Episode 8 — Mike didn’t know that El was still alive and being hidden by Hopper after Season 1’s finale — Mike and Eleven go to attend their middle school’s Snow Ball. Neither of them knows how to slow dance, but Mike says they can figure it out together. They share a kiss while The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” plays in the background. So cute!

Why do Mike and Eleven break up in Season 3?

Mike and Eleven start off Season 3 completely obsessed with one another, much to Hopper and Will’s dismay. When Hopper gets overprotective, he scares Mike off, though Mike doesn’t inform El why he’s put distance between them. In Episode 2, she finds out about Mike’s dishonesty and, encouraged by her new bestie, Max, El ends things. (“I dump your a**” will never not be iconic.)

When do Mike and Eleven get back together in Season 3?

Trivial as the issue was, Mike and El didn’t stay broken up for long. Once they embark on another mission to save the world, they make up in Episode 6, which also happens to be when Mike admits that he loves her. It comes out by accident, then, but in the finale, they tell each other how they feel on purpose.

Are Mike and Eleven still together going into Season 5?

When they go long distance between Seasons 3 and 4, Mike and El struggle. El can’t understand why Mike doesn’t say “I love you” in his letters, which plants doubt in her mind. In the finale, though, Mike makes a speech about how much he loves Eleven to pull her out of Vecna’s grasp. So, while they never broke up, they’re in a better place going into Season 5.

What are the best Mike and Eleven episodes in Stranger Things?

Pretty much all of Season 1: Season 1 is Mileven’s season, even though there are no romantic vibes yet.

Season 2, Episode 8 (“The Gate”): That look on Mike’s face when Eleven walks through the door, after thinking he’d never see her again. Still, he’d been calling her on the radio every day for almost a year!

Season 3, Episode 8 (“The Battle of Starcourt”): In the flash-forward after the big Mind Flayer battle, Mike reassures El that her powers will return, and they end the conversation by exchanging “I love yous.”

Season 4, Episode 9 (“The Piggyback”): Mike confirms his love for El again.

Max and Lucas

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When do Max and Lucas meet?

Max and Lucas have been through so much together, but let’s wind it back to a simpler, less tragic time. In Season 2, Episode 1, Max is introduced as the new girl at school, and the Party quickly realizes that she’s the one who beat Dustin’s high score at the arcade. From there on out, Dustin and Lucas compete for Max’s attention, and their first conversation with her is on Halloween. They invite her to go trick-or-treating. (She brushes them off at first, but she does end up joining them.)

When is Max and Lucas’ first kiss?

Love is in the air at the Snow Ball. After making it out of the events of Season 2 alive, Lucas asks Max to dance in the Season 2 finale. They share a sweet kiss, marking the beginning of their relationship.

Why do Max and Lucas break up in Season 4?

We know Max mentions breaking up with Lucas five times in Season 3, but she isn’t serious about it until Season 4. In between seasons, Max closes herself off not only from Lucas but from the rest of her friends. She’s been struggling with her stepbrother Billy’s (Dacre Montgomery) death, after he was possessed by the Mind Flayer in Season 3. Lucas still tries to get through to Max regardless.

Are Max and Lucas still together going into Season 5?

Well… This has a complicated answer. Fans will remember that Max ends Season 4 in a coma. Shortly before that happens, Max and Lucas reconnect and promise to go to the movies together. (They better make it there in Season 5!)

What are the best Max and Lucas episodes in Stranger Things?

Season 2, Episode 1 (“MADMAX”): Lucas and Max bond when they go trick-or-treating together.

Season 2, Episode 5 (“Dig Dug”): Lucas famously asks Max, “Do you accept the risk?” before telling her all about the Upside Down.

Season 2, Episode 9 (“The Gate”): They take their relationship to the next level at the Snow Ball!

Season 4, Episode 9 (“The Piggyback”): It ends tragically, but Max and Lucas also have one of their most emotional, romantic scenes together yet. And they make plans for a movie date!

Dustin and Suzie

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When do Dustin and Suzie meet?

Dustin and Suzie have one of the more unique relationships in the show: We’ve never actually seen them interact in the same room. In the Season 3 premiere, Dustin tells the gang that he met his girlfriend, Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo), at science camp.

When is Dustin and Suzie’s first kiss?

Since they maintain their relationship via long-distance radio, Dusty Bun and Suzie Poo haven’t kissed yet. They do, however, sing The NeverEnding Story theme song together in Season 3, which one might argue is even more iconic than any of the show’s other first kisses.

Are Dustin and Suzie still together going into Season 5?

Technically, yes. Dustin and Suzie haven’t really interacted much since early Season 4. The last time we see Suzie is in Season 4, Episode 6, when the California gang heads to Salt Lake City to get Suzie’s help. They think she can find the location of the Nina Project and a missing El. They tell her that if she can do it, Dustin will win a video game console, so she obliges. Whether Suzie will appear in Season 5 is unclear.

What are the best Dustin and Suzie episodes in Stranger Things?

Season 3, Episode 8 (“The Battle of Starcourt”): The first and only time Dustin and Suzie interact onscreen, performing their unforgettable duet.

Season 4, Episode 1 (“The Hellfire Club”): Suzie hacks into Hawkins High’s system and changes Dustin’s Latin grade. True love!

Stranger Things, Season 5 Volume 1, Premiere, November 26, 2025, Netflix

Stranger Things, Season 5 Volume 2, Premiere, December 25, 2025, Netflix

Stranger Things, Season 5 Finale, Premiere, December 31, 2025, Netflix