Stranger Things 4 Volume One shows Hopper and Enzo’s friendship take shape, especially after Hopper’s initial escape attempt goes awry with Yuri’s betrayal. (We love that he calls Hopper “American.”) He’s all about getting money and surely thinks Hopper will die. A Russian soldier whom we call Enzo (real name: Antonov) has become a friend of sorts, even if his motivations are selfish. Oh, and there’s also a Demogorgon there that gets to feast on prisoners for sport. His beard and hair are no more and he’s desperate to escape. In the last six months, he’s been in a living hell, enduring physical and mental abuse and losing weight as a result of poor nutrition. Instead, a few straggler Russians caught Hopper and presumably flew him to the prison. He didn’t somehow fall through a portal and end up in Russia. Meanwhile, episode two takes us back to that fateful Fourth of July where we discover what happens to Hopper. This kicks off the Joyce/Murray storyline with them traveling to Alaska to exchange money with Yuri, who will help them get to the Russian prison where Hopper is held captive. If you can remember, Enzo is the restaurant where Joyce and Hopper were supposed to go on their date. She ropes in Murray so they can dial a number, which leads them to a guy named Enzo. Joyce gets a cryptic letter (inside a Russian doll, no less) that he’s still alive. Surprisingly, the revelation that Hopper is alive comes in the first episode. Jump To: Hopper in Volume 2 Hopper’s Story in Stranger Things 4 Volume One Let’s take a look at his journey this season. Stranger Things 4 gave us answers to a few of our burning Hopper questions. But there were still a ton of questions about our favorite lazy sheriff turned paranoid hero dad. And our suspicions became fact with new images and trailers for Stranger Things 4. We cannot speak for every viewer but the Stranger Things fans here at Nerdist knew Hopper didn’t die at Starcourt Mall.
Hopper is back like he never left because, well, he never really left.