Stranger Things Fans Slam ‘Pointless’ Hopper Storyline As ‘A Waste Of Time’

Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 2 ahead

So, what's all the fuss about?

Well, as fans know, Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder), and Murray (Brett Gelman) were entangled in a separate storyline throughout season 4, which saw the older cast members on a quest through Russia.

And their quest? Break Hopper out of Soviet prison and kill the Demogorgons infected with shadow particles to weaken Vecna.

So a pretty mundane week for the crew.

Still, while the gang did achieve their tumultuous task, it felt a little, well, 'pointless' to viewers.

Not only did Hopper end up back in the prison Joyce and Murray had spent so long trying to break him out of, we think the team back in Hawkins would've been just fine without their efforts.

And people on Twitter agreed, with one user saying: "EVERY SECOND of the Hopper/Joyce/Russia storyline has been a complete waste of time. I really hope there has been an important purpose to this bulls**t. #StrangerThings4 #StrangerThings."

While another wrote: "The Russia storyline was….. pointless, annoying, and dragged on for way longer than it needed to. Hopper could’ve been brought home early in vol1 7 fought alongside everyone else. Ugh."

A third said: "I’ll say it, Hopper should’ve really died so that we would’ve been saved of that unnecessary Russia storyline this season."

To be fair, this is in no way a comment on the stellar performances of the actors playing Hopper, Joyce, and Murray. And there were a lot of great things about the season finale, especially that most of the character arcs reached brilliant conclusions.

Even so, devoting scenes to breaking someone out of prison, instead of more mesmerising music moments (looking at you, Kate Bush) felt like a mistake.

One fan went so far as to say that they skipped the whole thing: "I'm going to be real I skipped all the hopper rescue storyline I did not f*****g care".

Another simply said: "The whole Russia/Hopper storyline was so boring to me and it really took me out of the show and the storyline of the kids."

We kind of have to agree.