But can the series really let Hop and his dancing gifs go? Killing Hopper hit the reset button and allows the series to move forward with the unique stories that a series needs to keep going for more than just a handful of seasons. "Stranger" needed to do something drastic to shake things up in the third season. If no one dies, it never feels like anyone could die, so why should we be scared when the Hawkins kids face down monsters? It's a risk because the series loses the charms of Harbour going forward, but the reward is that "Stranger Things" stays unpredictable.
The new episodes outshone 2017's humdrum second season in huge part because it took big storytelling leaps, including killing its de facto protagonist.Īlthough the drama previously let supporting characters meet their maker (like Matthew Modine's Season 1 villain and Sean Astin's goofy Bob Newby in Season 2), Hopper's death is the first for a proper main cast member. No body means there is ample opportunity to bring him back, especially on a fantasy series where creators Matt and Ross Duffer write their own rules.īut bringing him back would be a betrayal of everything that made Season 3 great. Turning the camera away from him leaves the door open that he might have survived somehow and is perhaps trapped in the Upside Down, or some other supernatural locale. It's hard not to be a little bit skeptical of Hop's end, especially after Eleven disappeared in the climax of Season 1, presumed dead, only to return with a head of curly hair and plenty of Eggos in Season 2. At the moment of the explosion, we see various Soviet scientists dissolve into tiny pieces, but Hopper simply disappears in a flash.
Listen to this week's episode of USA TODAY's podcast, The Mothership, to hear our Technology Reporter and TV and Film Critic's review of "Stranger Things" season three. It all feels like a closing of the first chapter of "Stranger," and it makes it difficult to guess, in a good way, where the show could go for a potential Season 4. Without her guardian, El leaves Hawkins with Joyce, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Will (Noah Schnapp), seemingly headed for a town that isn't so frequently plagued by mind-controlling monsters. The final scenes of the season give Hopper a gushy sendoff, as Eleven reads the speech he meant to give her about not spending too much time with her boyfriend, Mike (Finn Wolfhard). It also helps that villain-turned-possessed-villain-turned-last-minute-hero Billy (Dacre Montgomery) also perishes in the Battle of Starcourt.īut it's losing Hopper that packs the biggest emotional wallop for "Stranger," and his loss will irrevocably change the series going forward. Hopper's demise gives the climax scene real stakes for the first time since Season 1, considering a group of kids, teens and less-than-responsible adults have been continuously surviving monster attacks against all reasonable odds.
The two men get into a brawl, and although Hopper finally bests him, he gets trapped next to the "key" machine that he and Joyce are trying to destroy. Knowing that they have a limited time to save his daughter, he gives Joyce a nod, and she blows up the machine. But when the smoke clears, Hopper is gone, sacrificing himself to save El and Joyce. Hopper's death is one of the most emotional moments in the series to date. He and Joyce (Winona Ryder) are trying to close the Soviet-opened gate to the Upside Down and kill the Mind Flayer targeting Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), when the Soviet assassin that's been plaguing Hop all season shows up.