Stranger Things 3: 11 Best Chief Hopper Moments Of The Season

For months now, whenever Harbour was asked in the press about Stranger Things 3 and what influences it would be drawing from, he would give a singularly bewildering answer: Fletch.

The classic 1985 Chevy Chase-starring detective comedy is a decidedly different genre and tone than Stranger Things' usual repertoire of horror and sci-fi, so it struck a great many as more-than-slightly odd. But as it turns out, there's indeed a huge amount of Fletch's influence in Joyce and Hopper's storyline throughout season 3 both in terms of tone and narrative content. In no moment is this more apparent than in Hopper's big gamble with Alexei.

After Alexei spends hours toying with them, refusing to give them answers, Hopper decides to call his bluff by freeing him and giving him the chance to escape. Joyce and Murray think Hopper has lost his mind and the whole sequence is played for humor, with the audience being led to believe that Hopper has indeed made a terrible mistake and that Alexei is driving away.

But ultimately, he can't. As Hopper said, "he's scared" of what his Russian comrades will do to him if he returns. It's a very funny sequence with stellar character beats for both Hopper and Alexei.