Read Hopper's emotional speech to Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things 3
9 July 2019, 14:34
The devastating Stranger Things 3 ending sees Eleven discover a 'letter' from Hopper where he had written down a moving speech for her and Mike. Read the full thing here.
When Noah Schnapp said that the Stranger Things 3 ending was "very sad," he wasn't lying. In fact, he maybe even unsold that statement because the ending of season 3 is absolutely devastating thanks to Chief Hopper's emotional speech to his adopted daughter Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her boyfriend Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard).
At the start of the season, Hopper (David Harbour) is having a meltdown over the time that El and Mike are spending together. They're hanging out, they're kissing, they're doing what teenagers in love do - and he's sick! of! it!
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In a bid to try and talk to the two of them and get them to calm down, he goes and speaks to Joyce, everyone's favourite single mom who has successfully raised two nice, polite boys. Together, the two of them (well, Joyce mostly) write a speech that Hopper hopes will settle situation.
At the end of the season, after seeking advice from Joyce and writing the speech down, we find out that Hopper never ended up talking to Mike and Eleven. Joyce finds the crinkled piece of paper in his Sheriff uniform and hands it to Eleven so she can read it. The final scenes of the season feature the gang saying goodbye to each other, as Hopper reads the letter out loud.
Read Hopper's "Heart to Heart" speech in full here:
"There's something I've been wanting to talk to you both about - and I know this is a difficult conversation. But I care about you both very much. And I know you care about each other very much and that's why it's important that we set these boundaries moving forward so we can build an environment, where we ALL feel comfortable, trusted and open to sharing our feelings."
(Editor's note: I should also point out that Joyce wrote the first half of the speech and left little notes of advice like "STAY CALM" and "LISTEN - remember to BREATHE" on the paper which may or may not have me sobbing into my keyboard right now.)
After a stroke of inspiration, Hopper then takes matters into his own hands and writes what he really wants to tell Eleven down on the paper. Here's what it said:
"Feelings. Jesus. The truth is, for so long, I'd forgotten what those even were. I've been stuck in one place - in a cave, you might say. A deep dark cave. And then, I left some Eggos out in the woods and you came into my life and... for the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy.
But lately, I guess I've been feeling... distant from you. Like you're pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple-decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise, watching westerns together before we doze off.
But I know you're getting older, growing, changing. And I guess... if i'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want things to change. So I think maybe that's why I came here, to try to maybe... stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.
But I know that's naive. It's just... not how life works. It's moving. Always moving whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's sad and sometimes it's surprising. Happy.
So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don't let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from 'em, and when life hurts you - because it will - remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave.
But, please, if you don't mind, for the sake of your poor old dad, keep the door open three inches."
