Stranger Things Season 4 Is Fixing Its Biggest Joyce & Hopper Problem

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Netflix’s released images for Stranger Things season 4 reveal Joyce and Murray embarking on a Russian adventure to save Hopper, which proves the show is fixing its biggest Joyce and Hopper issue. Throughout the four teaser trailers, Joyce’s role in Stranger Things season 4 was largely a mystery, with only a few clues for her time in California and reconciliation with Hopper’s supposed death. However, Netflix’s official Stranger Things season 4 images reveal that she and Murray hop a plane to Russia to find Hopper, which sets up a much more exciting and well-deserved trajectory for her character.

Although Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) was the character who truly opened the town’s eyes to the supernatural phenomena in relation to Will’s season 1 disappearance, she’s repeatedly been written off as an over-worried mother. Her role in Stranger Things often complements Hopper’s, who is a reluctant believer trying to take on Hawkins’ conflicts from a more practical mindframe. While Joyce and Hopper are always paired in the adult group of characters who embark on the more logistic races to save their children, it’s typically Hopper, Hawkins’ lovable police chief, who comes out as the bigger hero.

Related: Stranger Things Season 4 Secretly Confirms A Key Character Return

With the reveal that Joyce and Murray will be concocting a plan to rescue Hopper from the Russian prison, Stranger Things season 4 is a refreshing role change for the would-be couple. This time around, Joyce gets to come off as the big hero as she attempts to break Hopper out of Russian prison and risk her own life to save him. Rather than Joyce taking on a bit of a second-in-command role for her investigations and journeys with Hopper, she gets to be the main