Netflix 'Stranger Things' Season 4: How did Jim Hopper survive the Battle of Starcourt?
Contains spoilers for 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Episode 2 'Vecna's Curse'
David Harbour's Jim Hopper was presumed dead after the events of 'Stranger Things' Season 3 finale 'Battle of Starcourt', except he wasn't. The Netflix show gave an early surprise to fans by revealing that Hopper was alive and held captive in a Russian prison. In the final episode, with the entire Hawkins gang united, they make plans to destroy both the Mind Flayer and the lab. Hopper, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), and Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) form a group and sneak into the lab and attempt to shut down and destroy the device.
The task is easier said than done as the trio is eventually found out. Hopper knocks most of the soldiers unconscious but is pinned down by a Russian secret agent. While he eventually manages to kill him, the time to close the portal is fast running out and he asks Joyce to shut down the machine. The plot ends disastrously for the Russians as they are all vaporized, and it is presumed that Hopper is one of the casualties.
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The second episode 'Vecna's Curse' sees Hopper escape the explosion, but he is apprehended by the Russian soldiers and whisked away to their prison after he refuses to divulge any information that puts Joyce in danger. He is finally sent to a heavily-guarded hell on earth facility called Kamchatka. Hopper's note to Joyce about his whereabouts and his mode of communication via prison guard Dmitri (Tom Wlaschiha) makes the storyline all the more important. With the guard asking for $40,000, Joyce gets ready to head to Alaska with the money and rescue him.
Much of the second episode focuses on the death of Chrissy (Grace Van Dien) and the mystery surrounding it. In the meantime, Vecna claims his second victim, Fred (Logan Riley Bruner). How Joyce and Hopper reunite will be one of the major storylines in season 4.
'Stranger Things' Season 4 is streaming on Netflix.
