*WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Stranger Things is back with another series, much to the delight of fans – though one aspect of the storyline is leaving people feeling rather underwhelmed.
Season three left us on a cliff-hanger, with Jim Hopper presumed dead after a huge explosion at the Russian lab.
I say presumed dead, many suspected he had somehow survived the blast, and Netflix confirmed he was indeed alive and hopping in a teaser for the new series.
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The question then was how exactly he had managed to survive the devastating explosion. Some speculated that he had managed to jump into the Upside Down (a portal to another dimension), while others reckoned he may have unearthed a secret escape route.
The reality though, proved to be oddly – and disappointingly – simple.
In the second episode of series four, it is revealed that Hopper in fact... jumped. That's it. As he was about to be engulfed in flames, he just jumped from the platform on to a lower platform, away from the big laser machine.
Safe to say, fans weren't best pleased with the 'ridiculous' story behind Hopper's survival.
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: "Man, of all the ways they could have had Hopper survive that explosion, Stranger Things definitely went with 'everyone left and didn't notice'."
Another said: "The way Hopper 'survives' is SO ridiculous it fr made me so mad like – everyone evaporated but noooo if I jump to the floor I survive, don't I?"
A third added: "HOW DID HOPPER SURVIVE WHEN THE MACHINE EXPLODED??? IT MELTED THE SOLDIERS IN THEIR UNIFORMS."
Another common observation viewers have been pointing out is that the cast look a little too old for their characters nowadays.
Set in the '80s, the show follows a bunch of school kids as they explore supernatural goings-on in the fictional town of Hawkins.
The first series premiered back in 2016 and it's been almost three years since the last season – in large part due to Covid-19.
As such, the cast are now a good six years older than they were to start out with, but in the show they're still school kids. Indeed, in the first season, some of the stars were only 12; whereas now, their ages range from 17 to 20.
The cast were of course aware of this issue too, and they've tried to work with it as best as they can.
In an interview with Today, 19-year-old Gaten Matarazzo (who plays Dustin Henderson) said: "It's something we're always thinking about, but it's something we work with pretty well I think.
"The characters are at transitional periods in their lives... it's crazy to see what all of us looked like when we first started."
Topics: TV and Film, Netflix, Stranger Things
Jake Massey