David Harbour recently told Variety that Hopper should not die in Stranger Things season 5, and he’s right about the character’s ultimate fate in the final season of the series. Stranger Things season 4 made death matter again in the Netflix hit, as the series killed off numerous fan favorites to make up for the many fake-outs deaths in seasons 2 and 3. However, one of the characters who made it out of Stranger Things season 4 alive was David Harbour’s Hopper.
Harbour’s Hopper has been one of the main characters of Stranger Things since the show’s pilot. In Stranger Things season 1, he was the taciturn cop helping Joyce Byers to find her missing son and uncover a conspiracy in the process while, in season 2, he played a gruff but gradually softening father figure to the young Eleven. However, Stranger Things season 3 earned criticism for making Hopper a more boorish, entitled figure, a change that wasn’t helped by his fake-out death in the season finale.
While Hopper’s Russian comrades ensured he survived Stranger Things season 4, his fate in season 5 is not yet clear. However, Hopper now doesn’t need to die after his Stranger Things season 4 character redemption, and it would be needlessly bleak to see one of the show’s main heroes perish after all the growth he has gone through so far. Harbour echoed these sentiments in a Variety interview, saying: “I certainly thought that (Hopper should die) in the beginning because he was so destroyed and hell-bent on destruction. Then when it seemed like he went in season 3, I was happy for him. As he’s being resurrected as the man he wants to become, it would almost be nicer to keep him alive.” Harbour is right about Hopper’s hard-won character evolution, which would make a sudden surprise death in Stranger Things season 5 feel unearned.
Why Hopper Shouldn’t Die At The End Of Stranger Things
As proven by Eddie Munson’s tragic Stranger Things season 4 sacrifice, death can have a real, effective narrative impact on the series. However, Stranger Things season 5 killing off Hopper would be a case of terrible timing on the part of the show’s creators. Hopper is, after four long seasons, only just getting to cherish his relationships with Joyce and Eleven. He hasn’t had a chance to be a romantic partner or a father for years and only just got reunited with his loved ones, so killing him off in Stranger Things season 5 feels like overkill after he’s been through so much and authentically grown and improved upon his immature, entitled season 3 self.
While Stranger Things season 5 would certainly shock audiences by killing off Hopper in the show’s final outing, this would be a cheap way to surprise viewers and a waste of Hopper’s character growth. Season 4 continuing the Stranger Things death trend of killing off minor characters still saw the series gain largely positive reviews and audience reactions, proving that the show doesn’t need to dispatch its lead characters to be taken seriously and feign a darker edge. As a result, Stranger Things season 5 should keep Hopper alive and give the character a chance to use his newfound humility, as David Harbour suggested.
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