i hate how jim hopper is such a well-written, compelling character in the first two seasons of stranger things, how we watch him journey from this lazy, indifferent cop who it turns out is struggling with grief and sort of just numbing the pain, to someone who sees this woman on the verge of losing her kid and he's going to help her, someone he sees himself in when she starts falling apart, and he fights to bring that kid back in the end, and maybe in the process bring himself back.
and then he takes in el, and he has a chance at fatherhood again, and the two of them have a rough relationship that's very reminiscent of a lot of tense tween/parent relationships but then you factor in superpowers and both of their traumas (him being afraid of losing her after losing his first kid, her feeling locked up and lied to and controlled like in the lab), and the two of them have to learn how to communicate, and he has to learn how to handle his anger and his fear. and at the end of season two, he has that conversation with her in the car before they go to shut the gate that is just. so good. he's vulnerable and communicative and owns up to his issues and it's one of my favourite scenes in the whole show.
and then season three starts and that hopper is gone.
instead of the hopper we just followed through two seasons of amazing character growth, we get this arrogant douchebag parody of an 80s action hero who's 1000x worse than hopper was at the beginning of the show. he goes from being the hopper who had the conversation with el at the end of season two, a very clear heart-to-heart, to not knowing how to have the barest semblance of an emotionally intelligent conversation.
before, his anger was taken seriously and had consequences and was something he had to work through, something he eventually realized came from a place of fear. in season three, it's played for laughs. like oh ha ha isn't it funny that he's so violent and angry and rude ha ha don't you just want to laugh that this complex character has been reduced to violent angry action hero man! look he's wearing funny shirts and he's mean and scary to mike like an overbearing father from an 80s movie isn't that so funny! isn't it funny when he ignores joyce's boundaries, negs her, and doesn't take her concerns seriously despite her suspicions being proven completely right before? see look they're like your classic arguing-as-banter couple from the 80s! nevermind that they used to respect and support each other and the so-called-banter is just him being a jerk. it's funny! laugh!
the hopper who respected joyce's boundaries the season before and was patiently there for her through everything, not openly upset or jealous or rude because she was with bob, the hopper who WAS THERE when bob died and would KNOW the kind of trauma and grief joyce is battling, is now replaced by a hopper who's pushy and angry when she's not ready to jump into a relationship with him yet.
like. that's simply not the same jim hopper. there are other characters who have gone through smaller changes between seasons that you could chalk up to differing environments and vibes for the season and growing up and getting to know them better. but with hopper, that's not a few new personality quirks that's a whole personality transplant.
the only way I can like him as a character after that season is by pretending he got some kind of upside down brain worm that altered his personality but then it died in the russian prison and that's why he's back to normal in season four. i just hate that the writers decided to sacrifice his character for the sake of comedy and "80s nostalgia" in season three, and that what was a well-written character will always be tainted by that choice.
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