Hopper's Daughter Is Oddly Vital to 'Stranger Things' Season 2
Sarah is gone. Or is she?
Chief Jim Hopper of Hawkins, Indiana, might be a grump, but he’s got the tragedy to back it up. Stranger Things Season 1 revealed that Hopper (David Harbour) lost his daughter, Sarah, to cancer, accounting for both his mood and his complicated relationship with the show’s kid heroes. Now, Season 2 might bring Sarah back in an unexpected way.
“Hopper’s daughter will be the primary focus of Season 2, but not in the way that you think it will be,” Harbour told TV Guide in an interview published Friday. “Hopper’s understanding of that relationship and Hopper’s understanding of being a father and of being a man grows deeper and deeper in Season 2, and we get a lot of time to explore what that is, but it won’t be in the literal way that you think it is. I don’t want to tell you any more than that because it’s good stuff.”
Some Stranger Things fans have theorized that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is a reincarnation of Sarah, that the two girls’ souls somehow melded together. That’s, supposedly, why Hopper was seen helping Eleven at the end of Season 1 by leaving her some Eggos in the woods; he senses his daughter’s presence (or something).
While the theory might be a bit out there, there’s definitely something to be said for Hopper looking out for Eleven and the other kids. He’s opening back up, and that seems to be what Harbour was getting at in his interview. Sarah will be a “primary focus” of Season 2 in that Hopper might start to remember who he used to be before her death. He might regrow as a person and become whole again. Hopper fans can only hope for now.
Stranger Things Season 2 premieres on Netflix on October 27.
