The Unfortunate Problem With Stranger Things' Jim Hopper 

While I'm delighted that Hopper was brought back, it just becomes more apparent that the Duffers are reluctant to actually kill off any main characters, deciding on the more expendable secondary characters, who've usually been introduced that Season.

His ankle being f*cked was a plot point totally forgotten during the season, and it bothered me a little bit. He is basically invincible, but not in a believable way

If you’re not going to kill a character they need to be able to continue to change. Hopper is a fully realized character, or was treated as such, this is typically when a character will die because there is nothing more to do with them.

In my opinion, the real problem with Hopper was that the great character growth he experienced in seasons 1 and (mostly) 2 was squandered in season 3. From a sad, lonely and selfish kind-of-asshole, he was becoming a respectable, involved, mature friend and father... Until season 3, where he reverted to being a typical self-centered, clueless "Hero from the 80s". By season 4, he was already an action hero, and that kind of character NEVER dies.

In retrospect, it was obvious that Hopper wasn't really dead, since with all of the other characters who died, namely Bob, Barb and Alexei, they took the time to show their dead bodies. It also makes Hopper's sacrifice seem less meaningful, if we know he'll survive anyway.

Considering how the previous season ended, there was no doubt in my mind that Hopper had survived, so I can't say I was disappointed at all to see him come back. You could certainly argue that it would have been a more interesting narrative if he'd actually sacrificed his life at the end of season 3, but as the audience we were only given a few minutes to think he had actually died before they teased that he hadn't; that's not much time to get very invested in a new, Hopper-less timeline.

I feel like they wouldn't have introduced the Russian angle if its not going to play a part in the finale, especially the bit of the Mind Flyer that as far as we know is still out there. I think that's going to be important, and there needed to be some of the Party there to connect it.

I loved everything with Hopper in Season 4. I thought this was gonna be how they turned him into an abusive screaming pshycopath in Season 3

"Somehow, Hopper returned."

Hopper not dying was entirely predictable. The real problem the show has is when it tries to present us deaths like that of Billy's as influential and emotional which comes like really fk cringe. Here's this secondary character, he's been a jackass literally his entire presence in the show but on literally his last scene you the audience are supposed to care he died despite having seen no redeeming qualities or connection to other characters even his sister whom he hates and vice versa but now we'll make her cry to make this emotional so whatever audience i bet you're really down to tears by that. This whole effort is so weird.

Watch how in season 5 they are going to kill off Eleven and/or a character fans really care about, like Steve, after all the complaints about plot armor as well as because of this being the final season , and everyone is going to be shocked, even though they shouldn't, this is predictable at this point

S3 Jim Hopper bugged the hell out of me bc S1&2 Hop was this caring, compassionate, deceptively soft guy. And then there's Jim 3 where he's this borderline psychotic, jealous, and possessive. Like, dude was on that full "1 Bad Day" track

I totally agree for the first half of the season, it was slow and kind of disconnected. But it got so intense and epic-Hopper-ness throughout the season, I kind of loved it in the end.

I watch stranger things and stil didn’t understand why people think Jim really died there. I saw it and thought right that minute sure……. See you back in the next season. I was still sad but it was clear for me he wasn’t dead. Don’t get me wrong I really like Jim and I am happy he isn’t dead. But what surprised me is that people really though he was dead. Come guys we didn’t see a body. Why the fuck do you think he is dead.

honestly strangers things season 4 disappointed me in many ways, and this was one, also focusing so much on letting Max die, then basically retconning it, and the whole bullying and amnesia stuff with L, alot of it just felt like they were throwing darts hoping something would stick, but that's just me

I dont think hopper surviving diminishes his sacrifice. I mean... You certainly wouldnt say that about anyone in any real life situation where they sacrifice their safety to save someone.

I think it’s believable. He already accepted his death with that sacrifice. At this point nothing scares him

Complete hot take here, but I actually like that they kept Hopper for a few reasons. On a larger level, I feel like there's a lot of talk about "hesitancy to kill off main characters" like it's a bad thing. At the end of the day, we love great stories because they have great characters. A writer SHOULD be hesitant to kill them off, especially in a series. It worked in Game of Thrones as a form of narrative subversion, but when we kill off characters just to tug at heartstrings and meet what's become a general expectation, I feel like it's bad storytelling and makes the series less entertaining than it could be. I'm thinking Hopper's conversion into something of an action hero does play an important part in his character arc, because in season 1, he basically had nothing to live for and was numbing himself with pills and alcohol. Now, through his growth in seasons 2 and 3, he has purpose in protecting his loved ones, and he's willing to unflinchingly endure extreme hardship and torture for that purpose. Again, complete hot take. There's undoubtedly a lot of holes in my argument, but there's my general feeling on it!

Your videos always have a chilled out vibe 😊

I liked having him back because his storyline was way more interesting than the other ones xd

I'm still glad that he came back because he carried season 4 for me but I just wish they made more of an effort with his character in season 3

Love his character

I don't understand where this idea is coming from that Hopper needed to die for his sacrifice to mean anything. His mettle was tested, and he was found willing to give up himself for those he wanted to protect. His sufferings continue to refine his character so much so that this apparent "shift" in his character from season 1 to season 4 was not random, but instead very much earned.

you are spot on here with everything basically.

Him not being moved very much by the beatings and injury is a big part of his cold character, he doesn’t know how to have a heart to heart conversation without help from others.

I’m still pissed they kept him alive, perfect death

You're absolutely right. But I must confess I do love how Hopper fought the Demogorgon woth his bare hands tho 😂

Agree with the storytelling aspect, but it's actually very faithful to those shlocky 80'd shows and movies to have death sticking less than a bad cold

you forgot one detail, Stranger Things pays homage to the 80's classics. In that aspect things like Hopper being alive and in the USSR are things that could happen on a movie in that time

Hopper had nothing to doy but even his story was more involved and interesting to watch than whatever the boys did on their road trip. That story had absolutely no reason to exist and take up so much screentime

I haven’t watched stranger things in a long time. But what I do remember is that First season was Something special and they blew it.

i can’t say i agree with this. i think it was always the plan to bring hopper back, sort of like a gandalf death. and i don’t think it robs his death in season 3 of emotional weight because all the characters think he’s dead and they think that for a whole year. and in terms of him “shrugging off” the torture i always just assumed that in police academy he was trained to withstand torture. imo you don’t just kill off characters to make room in the main cast, you kill them off because of the “ripple effects” as the duffer brothers put it, and if they don’t want to explore the certain ripple effects and how the death will effect other characters, they don’t have to. idk i just never had a problem with them not killing main characters but it might be just me

I recognize that you’re right. But! In such a dark show, I appreciate that we still have all of the main characters. And Hopper’s storyline served as a break from the darkness and gave me a sense of hope. This show is the scariest thing I can tolerate, so I needed that 😅

GREAT VIDEO NERDSTAGIC,

The bigger problem with stranger things is actors that are 18/19 pretending to be 14. It is so off putting and constantly breaks immersion. The 80s vibe feels so forced at this point

I am a huge Star Wars fan but I feel like that comparison is a little weird because it definitely felt Like a gut punch when we thought hopper died but when old Ben kenobi din that 1st movie. You don't even really know him as a character so I feel like a lot of people didn't care that much.

El is hurting so much at her new school that it's comforting to me that her dad is still out there in the world. That one day she can hug him again. Yes I feel that him surviving what happened didn't make sense to me because he felt 3 or 4 feet away from it. Still I really like Hopper. I feel that parents or father figures die often in action fantasy stories and I get kind of sick of it. El and Hopper's reunion felt more bitter than sweet to me though and I don't know if the Duffers meant it to be. El can't mentally find Max and Wayne didn't get to hug his kid. Considering we have so many characters I see maybe a huge battle happening in season 5. Hopper stepping aside some and letting El lead the way maybe. He doesn't need to be dead to let another lead. In this story though the older of the party usually gets very protective and steps up to protect the younger of the party. So it will be something the party might need to talk out.

I think this video, like many videos on Stranger Things, might be putting the cart before the horse. We don't know what the Duffers have planned for Hopper or any of the other characters in the final season. Coming to terms with change is a major theme of the show as a whole, and what we learn in Season 4 is that Hopper is still struggling to come to terms with, not just the changes to his life brought about by the events of the show, but even the ones that predate it. He still feels grief, and moreover guilt, over his daughter's death and has yet to fully come to terms with it, which affects not only how he treats others but also how he sees himself. If Season 5 decipts him finally learning how to deal with this grief and trauma, to put it in the past and do right by the people he loves in the present, then his journey into Hell that we saw in this season will have been worth it imho. The stakes of Stranger Things have always been primarily emotional. The threat of phyical pain or death has always been secondary to the emotional scars these traumatic events leave behind. This results in a subtler and slower form of storytelling and I think, rather than begrudge the Duffers for not providing the immediate catharsis of a major character death, it would be better to at least wait and see where they're going with all this before casting too servere a judgement.

Stranger Things, in general, is better when thought of as a 3-season series. Season 4 had moments that worked but was so badly paced (and weirdly badly written in some areas) that I haven't even been able to get through the season a second time which is really sad for a die-hard ST fan like me. Everything they did with relationships was disappointing and the "El flashback sequences" dragged on so ungodly long that I wished they were cut completely

Loved it!!

Obi Wan wasnt struck down, he transcendes to the astral realm

Netflix are too scared to kill off any of the main kids so Hopper will definitely be the main death at the end of the series

The Duffer Brothers could've used the adults to create an "experimental spinoff" to see fan reactions. Take out all of the scenes with the adults from season 4, (Russia and Alaska). Put those together and you get a nice uninterrupted story. Short enough to be a movie or miniseries. Put this experimental spinoff in between seasons 3 and 4. The experimental spinoff ends with the adults leaving Russia. Season 4 only focuses on the kids. Finally, in the last episode, the adults arrive in Hawkins. The Duffer Brothers can now see if they can create a ST universe without the original kids.

I really enjoyed the last season of Stranger Things. It seemed to be 'Back to form.'' However, it did get tiresome for me switching between so many characters. It was just to many story lines. I still enjoyed the season though. The best season to date in my opinion.

His death at the end of season 3 was obvious gas. I never thought for a second that they were killing him off and the scene held no emotional weight because of that (for me.) My thought was that it was more of a plot tragedy to set things off to a different start for the next season.

Well you gotta bring full power in the final battle.

While Hopper is admittedly my favorite character, I still hate the cheap ploy of killing a character off (especially in a selfless sacrifice) and bringing them back. That being said outside of that I still really enjoyed the season.

Real ones know him from Banshee as the guy who was interrogating Hood about his father

Whatever problem is with season 4 hopper it’s way better than what they did to him in season 3

It’s complicated, while I love Hopper with him being one of my favorite characters in the show, I do think killing him off would have been necessary so that the show would have more focus and it would have been an emotional sacrifice that would be very impactful for Eleven.

While I completely agree that his plot armor was a bit too strong. I agree with his role in season 4. Sure his coming back could come off as sloppy. But I like that we never saw him die. Neither did Joice. I think it just would've destroyed El to much. She's been hurt and broken down so much with every season. So I think the brothers were thinking is “how is she supposed to defeat Vecna when the only good father figure she had was just killed?” I think the timeline with Hopper in Russia was way too long but I enjoyed it. His personality wasn’t really the strong suit in that part but I think they did that for a reason. He had to be brutish and steely to power through the suffering. He simply couldn't be very expressive because he didn't wanna let anyone see they got to him. As for when he got back... I think he was just in shock. I think in season five he'll perk up quite a bit though

GIVE. ME. GOD. DAMN. WAFFLES!!! WAFFLES!!!

Not gonna lie, I started watching Hopper's arc in season 4 until I wasn't anymore - I was skipping the Russia part altogether. Then I just watched when he was fighting the demogorgon, killing it. That was it.

Anyone else call Hopper, Hops?

if you can't ever kill any main characters when there's already too many. the stakes never feel meaningful

The true big problem with season 4 was the length of the episodes. If we had seen that s4 storyline told over the space of, say, 3 hours across 4 episodss itd have felt okay. But truth is... that storyline took something closer to 5 hours of screen time. They desperately need to learn to limit their indulgences for s5 in terms of episode length.

I'm really not sure how I feel about Hopper being alive. My kid & I just finished rewatching season 3 (which is by far my least fav, but upon a 2nd watch I did enjoy it more) But I really think he should've stayed dead. I don't get why the group of Russians watching shit go down got evaporated but Hopper didn't when he was effing RIGHT FUCKING THERE. I don't think the season 4 Hopper storyline is bad writing or a bad storyline though. It does make perfect sense what you said though about him needing to be out of Hawkins.

Wasn’t the thumbnail different?

i actually like that they dont kill off main characters. after all the hero savrifice is kind of cliche, and its interesting to see neq developments. its easy so setup a hero sacrifice. and kinf of boring

hopper wanna let the foucus be on the kids you know that now at least

Good writing doesn't need to unnecessarily kill off characters to raise stakes. The stakes should be characters completing their objectives or not. The consequences being life and death every time is lazy. Season 1 the stakes were finding Will and keeping eleven away from being imprisoned again. I never worried about characters actually dying but that didn't make me any less interested I'm the plot. Game of thrones made it work because the deaths often took the story in a different direction than we thought and it made sense for the world the characters lived in. GRRM wanted it to feel like the real world where people could die at any time. Stranger Things has always had the vibe of an 80's movie, not as something grounded in reality. Thats the appeal. The writing for Season 4 has very flawed but Hopper being alive wasn't the issue. The issue was his plot being irrelevant.

Hopper Is my favourite character

I think the thing that got to me so much was how his storyline was so removed. Like it felt like a different show altogether. It was so removed and that is why I don't totally love his storyline in season 4.

I think everything involving the Russians in Stranger Things shoulda been cut. It just seems so far removed from what everyone actually cares about which is the stuff happening in Hawkins.

Im only glad he was brought back cause the selfless sacrifice is not a good way of redeeming his character in Season 3. But now he can actually work on his issues even though he didn’t do much of that in Season 4

Nothing, absolutely nothing wrong. However, this will be a great video as always 😂

Yeah nailed that one on the head

It's always a tricky situation, because on the one hand, yes, bringing back a character who was seemingly dead does take away from the weight of their sacrifice. But on the other hand, killing off a character often kind of negates all their growth and the personal journey they've been on. If Hopper died, then who cares if he grew as a character and learned something about himself? The reason why we want to see characters experience growth and development is to have that prospect of them enjoying a better future. What would've been the point of him developing a romantic relationship with Joyce if he would've just died in the end? Turning characters into martyrs arbitrarily is just lazy. Either they're a tragic hero who was meant to die soon right off the bat, and their whole arc led to the actions that kill them, or they're a likable, good character who grows and grows and deserves to live out the rest of his life in happy retirement.

I remember, after watching season 4, telling my ST obsessed daughter that there really was no point to Hopper being in that season. His story was fine, but just felt like a whole lot of filler to make the episodes longer.

I would never put Jimm Hopper and the words Level Headed together. Dude is almost always irrationally angry and screaming 😂😂😂

I really thought they should have connected the Upside between Hawkins and Russia as their way back.

He's the party's paladin. Of course he's a tank.

Season 4s very hit and miss

Seeing Hopper alive in the trailers was one of the main reasons I didn’t end up watching S4.

God, I hated season 3 Hopper. All he did was scream and shout throughout the entire thing.

I love Hooper❤️‍🔥

I love hopper. If a show kills off main characters all the time I hate it, I’m watching the show to see these characters go through things, not new characters every season until the show has a completely different cast.

It really made me mad when hopper was just alive in Russia because 1st off, I thought the "no, not the American" thing was just to throw everyone off and I thought it was Brenner or something. If tbe Russians just had a doorway into Hawkins, why didn't they ever use it at such? Just go thru the portal thing and you can come out in Russia and the next day go to Illinois. And he what...jumped down into that thing that straight disintegrated people at the beginning of season 3? Also, the Joyce and Hopper story just kind of feels forced

Hopper killing the demigorgon with a fucking sword is stupidly bad-ass, so i say worth it. The whole season swings from lame shit at the start to insanely awesome things in the last half

Hopper wasn't going to die last season, but might as well with all the torture he had to endure... No wonder America is so laid back with "enhanced interrogation techniques"...

I skipped all his storyline in season 4.

I'm okay with Hopper living given all the set-up. They used an emotionally charged exit of a main character to drastically raise the scope of the world by including the russian story line. I would hope to say the most people who watched would the end of season 3 knew he wasn't dead - in that Shrodingers cliff hanger kinda way. Main characters don't die off screen and it wasn't implicitly seen that he died. Thought it was brilliant actually.

The background music is unnecessary and too loud.

I didn't know that he was alive when starting season four, so it was a legit surprise to me. Also, I do not have a problem with him coming back. And looking at all these comments, I seem to be in the minority. I get all these nuances and artsy reasons why he should have stayed dead, since he was fully realized, so there is no room to grow for him now, and that his sacrifice was robbed of meaning. But in the end, I want to enjoy and have fun watching a series. And since I enjoy seeing Hopper on screen, I enjoy the decision. I know that is very simple-minded and disregards story, tone and development, but, at least for me, sometimes it's good to just enjoy the things you enjoy instead of looking for all the reasons you shouldn't. That being said, if Season 5 is going to be the last one, I'd like to see some deaths. But not Hopper tho, if he dies now, resurrecting him would have been really stupid beyond enjoyment.

Whats with the music, doesnt really fit, idk

Id they wouldn’t keep him dead they shouldn’t have write a scenario where this illusion was needed.

If a charachter apparently dies off-screen with believable excuses for surviving and it's not the series finale or end of the movie... Yeah, they're alive.

I would cut stupid basketball team and pretty much all Russian prison with Hopper

Wait "1" problem... we couldn't have been watching the same show lol

Nah. Stranger Things is an adventure story of the 70s/80’s mold. It’s fun!! I don’t know what’s up with Hollywood’s obsession with killing and defaming our hero’s but it’s been going on for a long time. Jim Phelps, Jim Kirk, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Indiana Jones (likely in the next movie). Seems like just a cheap and unimaginative way to get rid rid of an old character and make way for a new one that puts more money into the current producers pockets. The comparison between the Obi Wan and Hopper aren’t even close. Hollywood needs to crank up the Prozac dial and relax.

I have no complaints about Hopper's thread in ST4. My complaint is your topic title "Unfortunate Problem" which is kind of a clickbait title. Was there really a problem with Hopper? The acting for some of the characters seems "off" this time around though...mainly the love triangle kids, 011, Will and Mike...it is as if they lost the ability to pretend convincingly. I hope they get it back for ST5 or it is going to be a long wait ending in disappointment.

Max, Hopper, Will, Steve.

I feel stranger things kind of lost its ways in season 3. Season 4 was a good return to its origins, however they kept trying to push the russian plot line which was the most boring one. Instead of trapping Hopper in the USSR it would be so much better that he was trapped in the upside down, make a plot with 11 thinking he's still alive or something and noone believe her, and finally reveal he's alive at the end of the season, trying to survive in the upside down. This would give the opportunity to flesh the world even more and give interesting character development to hopper, besides it would make more sense than teleport him to russia at the end of s3

So what about eleven’s aunt?

okay but if dustin dies the show dies for me too. i love that goofy mf!!!

In Japan, letting a sumo wrestler make your baby cry is considered good luck. And so is hitting like on this video I heard

Star Trek red shirts isn't a hard concept to grasp. Star Trek Wrath of Khan has arguably one of the best on screen character deaths ever filmed and they brought the guy back to life in the very next movie. Not sure what fans obsession with wanting to watch characters they enjoy watching die as if death is the only way to experience emotions.

Hopper's story finished the hero's journey amazingly. Bringing him back was just spitting in the face of his legacy and the fans somewhat understand that.

Season 4 was the best season

Ok