A huge hit for the Netflix streaming service, Stranger Things is a unique hybrid of horror, sci-fi, and coming-of-age drama that performs far better than anything with that description due to a talented cast.
Of course, as the adult protagonist of Stranger Things Season 4, it won’t be easy for David Harbor’s Hopper to go through the same evolution as Steve’s character.
For one thing, it’s too central to the Stranger Things plot to reduce it to comic relief, a move that helped accelerate Steve’s journey toward sympathy.
That being said, the elements of Hopper’s character that were shaken up in Stranger Things season 3 like his insistence on Joyce and how strict he was on Eleven are all tough guys posing but his stint in Russia could put a damper on it.
Seeing the character lose a couple of fights as Steve would be an easy way for Stranger Things to establish Hopper’s redemption when he’s trying to escape a labor camp on the icy end of the earth.
The fact that this help is likely coming from Eleven, Joyce, and Mike – the very characters Hopper spent Stranger Things season 3 pushing – should allow the show to steer clear of its macho “heroics.”
