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Chief Hopper wrote a letter to Eleven and Mike, but never read it to her. She found it at the end of the season, and finally read what he wanted to say. Hopper is presumed dead, but we never saw him die or saw his body.
In an early Stranger Things 3 moment, after encouragement from Joyce, Chief Hopper writes a letter for Eleven, as a way to level the playing field when he finds himself unsure how to deal with her emerging relationship with Mike.
As anyone who's already binged Stranger Things 3 would agree, a huge part of that third season surrounds the newly established father-daughter relationship between Chief Hopper and Eleven. He's still getting used to being her adapted father, and she's busy in that new relationship. But when the time comes to have a face-to-face with the pair, he abandons the letter.
It's only in the season finale, after Hopper has presumably been vanquished by the Russians' Upside Down machine (he's presumed dead, though both we and David Harbour himself have our doubts), that Eleven eventually finds the letter, and hoo boy. That's a doozie! Actress Millie Bobby Brown said that she didn't rehearse before the scene, to make sure her reaction was as real as possible. It was a rough season for Hop, who certainly has angry bouts throughout the season, and acts reckless. But the letter at the end of the season clarifies one thing about him that we've always known: he may be rough around the edges, but he's coming from a good place.
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We don't know for sure if-or, when-Hopper will return, but for now, we can keep his letter to Eleven in mind.
For now, you can find the complete text of his letter to El below:
There's something I've been wanting to talk to you both about. I know this is a difficult conversation, but I care about you both very much. And I know that 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.
Feelings.
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. 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. 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 in here, to try and make 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. 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.