To say that season 3 of Stranger Things ended on a bittersweet note would be to deal in wild understatement.
Not only did the Byers Family uproot from Hawkins (with Eleven in tow) soon after the grand finale, but Netflix subscribers were forced to bid farewell to Chief Jim Hopper, the cool uncle of season 1 who eventually took on the role of a father figure as the series progressed.
From bad jokes to dad dancing, Hopper had it all, though we’re now beginning to suspect that El, his adopted daughter, may well become the villain of Stranger Things season 4. At least, that’s according to this new fan theory over on Reddit, which draws a stark red line under one crucial moment: Eleven was bitten, and subsequently infected, by the Demogorgon, and those consequences may well raise their head in the fourth (and perhaps final?) installment.
It certainly chimes with the comments made by Ross Duffer, the show’s co-creator, who told ComicBook.com the following soon after season 3 landed on Netflix:
We don’t want to write ourselves in a corner so we try to have these early discussions with the writers just to make sure that we’re setting ourselves up to go in the right direction. We don’t know a lot, but we do know a lot of the big broad strokes. At the end of season two, we knew about Billy. We knew that the Russians were going to come in. We didn’t know the mall and stuff, but again, we know these big broad strokes. That’s sort of where we are in season four. We have the big broad strokes.
Could it be that Duffer’s comments point to a potential change of heart come season 4? When Eleven goes rogue and, under the control of the Demogorgon, becomes Hawkins’ greatest threat? Time will tell, of course, but Ross Duffer’s interview, coupled with this new theory put forward by Reddit, certainly presents some food for thought.
It’s just now about filling in those lines in the details. We’re pretty excited about where it’s potentially going to go. Again, like we said, it’s going to feel very different than this season. But I think that’s the right thing to do and I think it’ll be exciting.
The fourth and presumably final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things saga is already in development for an October shoot, and will likely be with us late next year.