Stranger Things beyond Hawkins: What we want in season 4

Stranger Things — Credit: Netflix

Sometimes Dead is Better

I’m a Stranger Things 2 Stan. Every episode was dark and emo. I was here for it. We watched Hopper (David Harbour) come to grips with his grief and reach some kind of mature catharsis. Most of that was thrown out the window for Stranger Things 3. Six months of Mileven drove him to be anxious, pining, and violent. It worked because David Harbour is a physical presence that can ground basically any character. He owns that role in every way imaginable.

If Hopper is, in fact, the imprisoned “American” from the during-credits scene, I’d be thrilled. His death was cheap. It’s like they tore him down to rebuild the character over the course of the eight episodes. You could see his death coming. But, if that blue wall of energy that blocked him also protected him, Hopper could have survived. I’d love to see the conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) pursue his old friend and help locate him. Of course, Joyce (Winona Ryder) would eventually join Murray along with Dr. Owens (Paul Riser) on a rescue mission. For the first time in the series, Will (Noah Schnapp) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) would be worried about their mom’s escapades.

And, what if the brains behind the Russian effort belonged to disgraced American Scientist Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine)? He’s not afraid of killing an American in his experiments. Not at all. He’s been following events in Hawkins. Brenner has kept this particular American alive because he has value. Hopper, the American in question, could be used to draw out Eleven. Is Brenner dead? Is Brenner alive? We will find out eventually. If you think this move would be too obvious, please take your black turtleneck of sadness off and put your purple Will the Wise dungeon master cap on. We’re nerds. This storyline would-be killer.