Detective Hopper may have lost a lot of what made him likable in Stranger Things season 3, but the Netflix hit can still redeem him by taking a leaf from the character evolution the series put Steve through. A huge hit for streaming service Netflix, Stranger Things is a unique hybrid of horror, sci-fi, and coming-of-age dramedy that works far better than anything with that description should due to a talented multigenerational cast.
Broadly speaking Stranger Things has been met with critical acclaim throughout its 3 seasons, but the central character Detective Hopper’s devolution in season 3 led to a backlash from fans who didn’t like the more belligerent, volatile version of the antihero. Fans as prominent as True Blood actor Evan Rachel Wood noted how far the character had fallen from grace, so as the show heads into season 4 correcting Hopper’s character arc will be a major goal for the next installment of Stranger Things.
However, fixing Hopper’s character won’t necessarily be an easy task for Stranger Things to pull off. Now that the first teaser trailer for Stranger Things 4 revealed that he survived his apparent self-sacrifice at the climax of season 3, the show has to redeem a hero who spent season 3 drink-driving, assaulting suspects, abusing his authority, and generally mistreating the rest of the cast. Hopper's return may be exciting for the show's plot but his season 3 arc is not an easy character shift to backtrack on. That said, Stranger Things revealed with its It-inspired villain Billy that the show can create complex, layered characters despite its campier genre elements. The best bet for Stranger Things 4 is to apply the approach they used for Steve Harrington after the end of season 1 to transform Hopper’s character into a more likable protagonist.
Hopper’s Season 3 Downfall
Initially introduced as a tough, no-nonsense cop with a heart of gold in the first 2 seasons of Stranger Things, by season 3 Hopper had become an entitled, volatile presence who bullied Mike and tried to harass Joyce into dating him. It's obvious now that the slide into unlikeable was intended to throw viewers off the scent of his sacrifice at the end of the season. But now that it’s clear that he survived his “death” Hopper’s character needs to be revamped before viewers are put off the ostensible hero for good, much like how season 4 needs to fix Jonathan and Nancy's failed season 3 romance. There’s plenty of room for complex antiheroes on both sides of the law in television, but Hopper’s abuse of his authority was a far cry from The Shield’s unsparing depiction of corrupt cops and the lives they lead.
Hopper’s choice to beat suspects and his drunk driving was played for laughs rather than pathos, and unlike the crazed cop antihero of SyFy's short-lived Happy!, nothing about the character’s behavior was outlandish enough to be ludicrous, over-the-top, or anything more than off-putting. Threatening the teenage Mike out of dating his surrogate daughter El, pressuring Joyce Byers into returning his romantic advances, and callously killing off Soviet soldiers in a hail of machine-gun fire were all a far cry from the gruff but lovable Hopper of season 1, and Stranger Things has a long way to go to re-establish the once-likable lead. But it wouldn’t be the first time the series revamped a deeply unlikeable figure and made them a relatable, rounded character.
Steve’s Character Evolution
Initially written as an insufferable stereotypical jock, Steve was intended to be killed off in season 1 alongside fellow teen Barb to underscore the comparisons between the story of Stranger Things and one of its many nostalgic inspirations, the 80s teen slasher. However, actor Joe Keery won over the show’s creators to such an extent that the Duffer Brothers opted to let him live. But they were aware that his douchey camera-smashing antics early in the show would likely leave audiences cold to Steve, so the Stranger Things creators added in a scene near the end of season 1 where he’s soundly battered by Jonathan Byers. Although he survives the season, Steve is humbled in the process, leading him to ditch his toxic friends and start making amends.
It’s a long, hilarious road to redemption for the character, who eventually goes from '80s bully to firm friend and surrogate big brother of the dorky Dustin, to stand-in babysitter for the kid cast of Stranger Things in the duration of his attempts to improve himself. By season 3, Steve has been beaten up by everyone from Jonathan to Billy to some nameless Soviet agents, but despite his status as a human punching bag, this string of misfortune only makes the once-unpleasant character more likeable and resilient. By moving away from a tough guy persona and toward a more relatable everyman character, the show turned Steve from a throwaway victim to MVP status and made Keery’s character a firm fan favorite.
How This Could Work For Hopper
Of course, as the adult lead of Stranger Things season 4 (alongside Winona Ryder’s Joyce), it’s not going to be easy for David Harbour’s Hopper to go through the same evolution as Steve’s character. For one thing, he’s too central to the plot of Stranger Things to be reduced to comic relief, a move that helped fast-track Steve’s journey to likability. Where the show was able to keep Steve offscreen for large swathes of season 3 and gradually reintroduce him as a sillier, more light-hearted character, Hopper is an essential element of Stranger Things' primary plot. And speaking of that plot, he’s currently stranded in the depths of the Russian wilderness, a brutal predicament which is unlikely to bring out the best side of any character. That being said, the elements of Hopper’s character that jarred in season 3—his pushiness around romancing Joyce, his strict discipline with El and outright threatening of Mike, and his frequent flagrant abuses of police authority—are all tough-guy posturing that his stint in Russia could rein in.
If he’s stuck in the depths of Siberia and fighting to survive, it’s unlikely Hopper will be pushing anyone around, let alone abusing his status as a cop to get away with drink-driving like his season 3 self. Seeing the character lose a couple of fights like Steve would be an easy way for Stranger Things to set up Hopper's redemption when he’s trying to escape a labor camp at the frozen end of the earth, and throwing him into an impossible situation that he needs outside help to escape could be exactly the conceit necessary to humble Hopper. The fact that this help will most likely come from El, Joyce, and Mike, the very characters Hopper spent Stranger Things season 3 pushing around, should allow the show to move away from his macho “heroics” and back to a more relatable, flawed, but empathetic central character for the series.