'Stranger Things' fan theories explain why this character is totally still alive
This post contains spoilers for Season 3 of Stranger Things
Our tears have not even dried yet after the devastating revelation that our beloved Sheriff Hopper died sacrificing himself in the Stranger Things Season 3 finale.
But fans are already on the case with convincing theories about why he's actually, probably, definitely still alive. The writers themselves even appear to have purposefully left that door open, with a conspicuous mention of an "American" prisoner at the Russian facility in the end credits scene.
But there are more subtle hints, too. And redditors are desperately scrounging for all of them to help us all remain in the denial phase of this grieving process.
The actual "death" scene in question leaves ample room for debate and fake-outs. Specifically when Joyce turns the key to destroy the machine, there's a long six-second black out before it cuts back and we see the hazmat suit guys get vaporized. But we don't see any bit of Hopper's demise.
There's also the golden rule for verifying fictional character death (especially on a show's that's done death fake-outs before, like Eleven in Season 1): no body = no death. And we can't imagine a reason why the writers wouldn't show Hopper's death on screen -- other than to cover up the fact that he didn't die.
Actually, some fans even claim that Hopper is mysteriously missing from the spot he was standing in when the camera cuts back to the machine right after Joyce turns the key. Also when the same machine explodes at the Russian facility in the opening scene of Episode 1, it shows how vaporized people disintegrate into piles of fleshy goo. But when Joyce runs over to where Hopper was, there's no trace of the Sheriff (goo or otherwise) on the ground, another redditor points out.
So what actually happened to him if he's not dead? The most likely answer is that Hopper either jumped through the open portal into the Upside Down, or it took him through a wormhole that spat him out at the Russian facility harboring the Demogorgon.
With the exception of El, Hopper is one of the most knowledgeable Stranger Things characters on the subject of traveling between the two worlds. Remember: he's had experience doing it not once, but twice.
It would also create a nice parallel between the seasons if Season 1's arc was about rescuing Will from the Upside Down, Season 2 was about closing the portal to it, Season 3 was about losing another person in the Upside Down, and Season 4 ended with another rescue mission (but this time the original rescuer needs saving).
It's also pretty suspicious that the show conveniently takes El's powers away during the Battle of Starcourt, so she can't look for Hopper in the aftermath to confirm whether he's dead or alive.
Then there's the musical cue. One Reddit post focused on how the song playing over Hopper's emotional speech at the very end is a Peter Gabriel cover of David Bowie's “Heroes." That's important because the same exact rendition of this song came up before in Season 1, Episode 3, when Will's fake body was found in the quarry.
We don't think the creators would pick the same song twice by accident. But repeating it could be a subtle, almost unconscious clue for viewers to be suspicious of even a seemingly irrefutable character death.
An IRL easter egg from Season 3 lets viewers actually call Murray's phone number seen in Episode 6. You get his voicemail, which specifically mentions that he has an "update" for Joyce that's "not good or bad, but it's something." Some suspect it's an update on Hopper's whereabouts, which are perilous at best even if he's not dead.
Still others cast doubt that "the American" mentioned by the Russian in that end credits isn't Hopper, but rather El's other father figure, Dr. Brenner (aka Papa).
As one redditor points out, "Dr. Brenner is alive, as we were told by Ray Carroll in Season 2 when Eleven and Kali were confronting him at his apartment and this is confirmed by the Duffer Brothers and [executive producer Shawn] Levy in interviews." So it would makes sense if Brenner was MIA from Season 3 because he was too busy being a Russian prisoner.
But even if the American prisoner isn't Hopper, that doesn't mean he's dead. The writers knew viewers would cling onto this throwaway line as proof, so it sets up a great red herring for revealing the prisoner to be Brenner instead of Hopper.
Right when you'd lost all hope, they could hit us with another twist, revealing Hopper is also still alive but in grave danger and trapped. Either way, we're keeping this door of possibility open three inches until we see absolute proof that Hopper is gone for good.
Topics Netflix Stranger Things
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
