Sheriff Jim Hopper had a pretty transformative character arc over the course of the second season of Stranger Things. It began with the reveal that he’d been hiding Eleven away in his cabin for her own safety and wrapped up with him legally adopting the telekinetic teen, which also helped him move away from the grief of losing his own daughter in the past.
For season 3, things get even more interesting for Hopper, as the character is given a ton of moments to shine and makes a pretty big impact. As you’ll know if you’ve already finished the latest run though, which we imagine you have if you’re reading this, the Sheriff unfortunately meets his maker in the last episode when he’s disintegrated by the particle accelerator in the Russian lab.
But does that really mean he’s gone for good? Given the sci-fi nature of the show, is there a chance he could one day return? Perhaps, and here’s what actor David Harbour, who plays the character, had to say about it:
“There’s always discussion on set about kicking around ideas about what would be cool and stuff, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes down in season three that you’re going to want to pay attention to before you start thinking at all about the future,” he teases. “They pulled no punches with the season, and it’s a big deal what goes down. So you really have to watch this before you start even speculating.”
Speaking on the season 3 finale, the actor was full of praise for what the team accomplished, saying:
“I was yelling at the television screen, and I’m not that type of guy, but I think it really has outdone itself. And I would be very surprised if this wasn’t your favorite season, and I’d certainly be very surprised if you didn’t think that episode eight was the best thing we’ve ever shot, because I’m convinced that that episode is so, so unexpected, so beautiful, so big, so tight. Not a second of downtime, not a second where you’re waiting for anything. To me, it’s a masterpiece. Episode eight is a masterpiece.”
We definitely agree with him there, as the last episode of the new run was truly terrific. Emotional, exhilarating and full of surprises, it had it all. But it also had, as mentioned above, the death of Hopper. Whether he’s really gone for good remains to be seen, but if you ask us, we don’t think David Harbour has truly left Stranger Things forever.
