‘Stranger Things’: Could Papa still be alive?

Now that season four of Stranger Things is finally out in the world and the repercussions of the series’ biggest season to date have unfolded, there’s more speculation than ever about which characters are actually dead and which may return for the fifth and final season.

Leading up to volume two, The Duffer Brothers promised a body count, and unfortunately for us they delivered on that promise. In addition to the characters we lost in volume one (R.I.P Chrissy), we lost Hawkin High’s basketball captain Jason Carver, fan-favorite Hellfire leader Eddie Munson, and Hawkins Lab research scientist Dr. Brenner, aka Papa. For a moment, we even lost Max.

While no one would go so far as to call Dr. Brenner a fan-favorite character (he did enslave children in a laboratory, after all) his death in the penultimate episode was just redemptive enough to almost be sad. Almost. In escaping the underground bunker with Eleven in his arms, he is shot twice in the back from soldiers of the United States government whose guns are trained on him from a helicopter. He falls to the ground and bleeds out, but not before pleading with Eleven to forgive him.

It’s not the first time Brenner has died, or appeared to have died. In the season one finale he is attacked by a demogorgon but the camera cuts away before we know for sure if he died. The belief was that he did, but of course we learn in season four that he survived the attack, although it’s never explained how. In fact, it’s Brenner’s propensity for life that’s led actor Matthew Modine to believe that Brenner’s many encounters with death mean he could very well come back for season five.

Could Dr. Brenner, aka Papa, still be alive?

Matthew Modine made a valid point in speaking with Vulture about Brenner’s fate. He pointed out all the dangerous scenarios Brenner has survived over the years, including his demogorgon attack in season one but also his close encounters with One, aka Vecna, and even Eleven’s efforts to thwart him with her powers.

Three things are curious to me: How did he survive the Demogorgon? How did he survive One? And when Eleven tries to use her power against Dr. Brenner after blowing three guards in the air, he unflinchingly thwarts her and says, “You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?” She couldn’t get it to work on him. Is there something more to Brenner than meets the eye?

Modine’s suggestion that Brenner could have superhuman powers of his own is not as far fetched as it sounds. It only makes sense that he’d figure out a way to bottle them for himself. Selfishly, Modine said he wants to believe Brenner is still alive because he loved working with the Duffer Brothers and Millie Bobby Brown so much. “I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I love the Duffers. I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I can’t wait to work with Millie again.”

A scenario in which Dr. Brenner returns isn’t necessarily impossible, but his bleeding out on the desert floor leaves little room for hope. The way his storyline wrapped up feels definitive, although empty of redemption (which he may or may not deserve). Additionally, the Duffer Brothers don’t seem to have any intention of bringing him back.

In an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Matt and Ross Duffer were asked to confirm Brenner’s death, which they did by saying it was,”For real this time… he’s toast.” It doesn’t get more definitive than that.

Going into season five, we can expect to see the Upside Down bleeding into Hawkins, Vecna on the loose, and our gang of nerds scrambling to recover from their recent battle with him while also trying to figure out how to kill him for good. What we can’t expect is to see Dr. Brenner again. As they say in who-really-cares-because-you’re-a-diabolical-child-abducting-mad-scientist: Sayonara Papa.