David Harbour, who plays Chief Hopper in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, compares season 4 of the show to ABC’s Lost. Before the events of Stranger Things, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) accidentally opened a portal to an alternate dimension, which the heroes of Hawkins, Indiana have come to refer to as the Upside Down. Throughout its three seasons, Chief Hopper has aided Eleven, Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Erica, Max, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Robin, and Will/Jonathan’s mother, Joyce Byers, as they combat supernatural forces like Demorgorgons and the Mind Flayer. At the end of season 3, Hopper was seemingly caught in an explosion that closed the Upside Down’s latest gate and defeated the Mind Flayer.
Earlier this year, the first teaser for Stranger Things season 4 was released, revealing a shaved-head Hopper had survived the events of season 3. Presumably, Harbour’s character dove into the Upside Down before the explosion and is now a captive of the Russians, who are still conducting experiments. Harbour has teased parallels between his character arc in season 4 and that of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, implying an accelerated passage of time from Hopper’s perspective. Production for Stranger Things season 4 has encountered many months of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic. Filming finally wrapped last month as Netflix released the latest teaser.
Harbour attended the series panel at New York Comic-Con Saturday (via EW) to discuss the opening season of Stranger Things. The actor spoke on season 4 interwoven storylines, including Hopper’s as a Russian prisoner, the recently-revealed flashbacks of Eleven and Brenner in the institution, and the “new Creel House thing,” which has some sort of connection to the Upside Down. He also talked about setting up Stranger Things’ endgame as to not commit the same mistakes some associate with the convolution of Lost. Read what he had to say below:
"What we're trying to do, as we elaborate this thing, [is] to draw it back and make sure that we don't have an end game like, some of us thought about, that show Lost. 'What happened to the polar bear?!'" joked Harbour. "We're trying to draw in, so the [elements of the story line] starts to come to a head and becomes a complete piece...Season 4 lays a lot of pipe for that.”
Harbour went on to say season 4 feels like “the deepest season we’ve got to go” with Hopper, mentioning the “cardboard boxes in the attic.” In season 2, his surrogate daughter, Eleven, found boxes from Hopper’s pasted marked “Dad,” “New York,” and “Vietnam.” That said, the latest season appears to be delving into the pasts of both Eleven and Hopper to move forward. Harbour also promised season 4 has “action on a level that we’ve never done before,” which is consistent with other members of the cast’s remarks on how Stranger Things will be bigger, darker, and more mature. Similar to the Harry Potter franchise, Stranger Things has grown with its young cast.
COVID-related delays have allowed the Duffer Brother a lot of time to plan Stranger Things season 4 out compared to previous seasons. So, fans are unlikely to see the random appearance of polar bears retconned/explained seasons later. During the NYCC panel, Harbour said that fans will be getting one more trailer before the season premiere sometime in 2022. Outside of Hopper, season 4 will give audiences a glimpse into the Byers’ new home after moving away from Hawkins in season 3. Despite all of our heroes being more spread out than ever before, it seems safe to assume they will once again be on a collision course.
Source: EW