Hopper quotes from Stranger Things

Flo, Flo, we've discussed this, mornings are for coffee and contemplation.

Joyce, this is Hawkins, okay? You wanna know the worst thing that's ever happened here in the four years I've been working here? Do you wanna know the worst thing? It was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie's head because it thought that her hair was a nest.

Okay, okay, okay, one at a time, all right?

Hey, it's, uh It's me. I know that I've been gone too long, and, uh... It's- I just, I want you to know that it's not about you and it's not about our fight. Okay? Something came up, and I will... I will explain it all when I see you. I just I want you to know that I'm not mad. I'm just sorry. About everything. I... I don't want you to get hurt at all. And I don't wanna lose you. Just make sure you heat up some real food. Not just Eggos. And I want you to eat all the peas, even if they're mushy and gross. And I will be home soon.

Maybe I should just kill Mike. I'm the chief of police, I could cover it up.

[to Mike and Eleven] 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. 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.

I used to think I was cursed. Ever since I was 18. Got some letter of induction in the mail. Uncle Sam wants me to go fight some war in the jungle. Charlie's moving south like a plague 'cause of commie bastards like you, and... you know, I'm happy enough to go. Prove to my old man I'm not the piece of shit he thinks I am. I get over there, I must test well, and they put me in the Chemical Corps. There I am. I'm just... a kid, you know. I'm 18 years old, 8,000 miles away, and I'm mixing up these... 55-gallon drums of Agent Orange. With just these kitchen gloves, you know? We used to clean out these buffalo turbines after a run and just be inhaling the stuff. No masks, nothing. "It's not chemical warfare. It's just herbicide to kill plants. Harmless." That's what they told us. And then I got back to real life, and these guys I worked with, the ones that made it back, they started trying to get back to normal, you know? Having families. And then things started going wrong. Kids born stillborn. Dead in the womb. Crooked spines, eyes popped out. The horror... followed us, clung to us. My wife Diane, she wanted a baby. I did too. We had a baby, and she was, um... She was born healthy. She was perfect, you know. Sara. And then she died. It wasn't an easy death. She... suffered. I knew the risks, but I, um... I hid them. And then Diane left me. She didn't blame me. Not with words. After that, I was just... I just hid myself in drugs and alcohol. And then people started coming into my life. This girl El, and Joyce just happened, and I told myself they needed me. But that wasn't true. That's a lie. They didn't need me. I needed them. I needed them. You were right, what you said last night. I knew the risks, breaking out of here, but I did it anyway. The minute I sent for Joyce, the minute I sent for her, I sentenced her to death. Just like I did with Sara. Everyone I love, I hurt. See, I was wrong this whole time. I wasn't cursed. I am the curse.

The last time I was with El, she wanted just about nothing to do with me. I was just in her way, really. I think back to the way I was with my dad at that age. I was the same way. The exact same way. I think it must be hardwired into us to reject our fathers. So we can grow and move on. Become something of our own. I hope that's what she's doing. Coming into her own.

[Noticing a half-eaten Eggo waffle on the table] Hey, what'd we talk about?

Eleven

[From the next room] No signal.

[As he sits down] What?

Eleven

No signal. It's eight-one-five. You're late.

Yeah, I lost track of time. I'll signal next time, all right? [El enters the room and sits across from him] And, uh, it's eight-fifteen, it's not eight-one-five.

Eleven

Eight...fifteen.

Now, what'd we talk about? Dinner first, then dessert. Always. That's a rule, yeah?

Eleven

Yes.

Oh! Jesus.

Eleven

Ghost.

Yeah, I see that.

Eleven

Halloween.

Sure is. But right now, it's breakfast, okay? [He puts the food on the table] Come on, let's eat.

Eleven

They wouldn't see me.

Who wouldn't see you? [Sits down]

Eleven

The Bad Men.

What are you talking about?

Eleven

Trick or Treat.

You want to go trick-or-treating? [El nods; after a pause Hopper shakes his head and stands up] You know the rules.

Eleven

Yes, I...

Yeah, so you know the answer.

Eleven

No, but they wouldn't see me.

Hey, I don't care.

Eleven

But, they...

[Puts his hands on her shoulders] I don't care, alright? You go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks, alright? They're stupid. And?

Eleven

[Angrily] We're not stupid.

Exactly. Now you take that off and sit down and eat. [Sits down] Your food's getting cold.

Alright, look: how 'bout... I get off early tonight, I buy us a bunch of candy, we sit around and get fat, and we watch a scary movie together. How's that for compromise?

Eleven

"Co-compromise?"

C-O-M-promise. Compromise? How 'bout that's your word for the day, yeah? It's something that's kinda in-between, something like... half-way happy.

Eleven

By... five-one-five?

[Nods] Five-fifteen, yeah. Sure.

Eleven

Promise?

Yes. I promise.

Eleven

[Shrugs, nods] Half-way happy.

Okay. This is called a tripwire. It's like an alarm. You, uh, set it up like this... and then, anybody gets close, it's gonna make a loud noise like, uh, gunfire. Bang. [Pause] Those bad men aren't gonna find you, alright? Not way the hell out here. But we'll take some precautions. There's gonna be a couple ground rules. Rule number one: always keep the curtains drawn.

Rule number two: only open the door, if you hear my secret knock. [Demonstrates]

And rule number three: Don't ever go out alone... especially not in the daylight.

That's it. Three rules. I call 'em the, uh... "Don't be stupid" rules. 'Cause we're not stupid, alright?

Eleven

[As she steps over the tripwire] Not stupid.

Grass, crops, trees. Everything in this area is either dead or dying, and that's a radius of over three miles. And it all leads back to here. [Taps a map showing Hawkins Lab]

Dr. Sam Owens

See, these patterns here are really pretty. I like the design; it's almost psychedelic.

This is a joke to you, huh?

Sam Owens

No, it's not a joke. I just, I don't understand what this has to do with me, Chief Hopper.

Whatever is happening, is spreading from this place, from this lab.

Sam Owens

That's impossible. It's... the last burn, it was two days ago. It's contained.

What if there's a leak?

Sam Owens

A leak? A leak? [Chuckles, shakes his head] No, no, it...

I don't know, man, you're the scientist!

Sam Owens

Exactly. And I'm tellin' ya, there's nothing to worry about.

Convince me.

Sam Owens

Convince you?

[Stands up angrily] Yeah. You and your egghead friends go out to every area on this map, and you run your tests, or whatever the hell it is you do, and you see if anything comes up.

Sam Owens

[Smirks] All right, so... so you're giving me orders, now? No.

I keep things nice and quiet for you.

Sam Owens

Mm-hmm-

And you keep your shit outta my town. That is the deal. I have done my part, now you do yours. Convince me.

"Friends don't lie". Isn't that your little bullshit saying? Hey, hey, hey! Don't walk away from ME! Where'd you go on your little field trip, huh? Where? You go see Mike?

Eleven

[Sadly] He didn't see me.

Yeah, well that mother and her daughter did, and they called the cops. Now, did anyone else see you? Anyone, at all? Come on, I need you to think!

Eleven

Nobody saw me!

You put us in danger. You realize that, right?

Eleven

[Angrily] You promised... I'd go! And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!

Yeah, nothing happens and you stay SAFE! [Furiously bangs his right hand on the dressers]

Eleven

[Furiously] You LIE!

I don't lie, I protect! And I feed, and I teach! And all I ask of you, is that you follow three simple rules! Three rules! And you know what? pPauses temporarily before screaming furiously] You CAN'T EVEN DO THAT! [El then bangs her hands on the dresser, and pause]] You're grounded! You know what that means? It means no Eggos... [he angrily throws a pack of Eggos waffles out of the freezer] ...and no TV for a week!

Alright, knock it off, let go. [El shakes her head, and he tries to move it again] Okay, two weeks. [He tries again] Let go! [El angrily shakes her head] A month!

Eleven

No!

[Sarcastically] Well, congratulations. You just graduated from no TV for a month, to no TV at all!

Eleven

[Horrified and furious] NO! No, no... no! [She tries to fix it to no avail]

You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions.

Eleven

[Furious] YOU are like Papa!

[Hurt and furious] Really? I'm like that psychotic son of a bitch? Well, all right. You wanna go back in the lab? One phone call, I can make that happen.

Eleven

I hate you!

Yeah, well I'm not so crazy about you, either. You know why? 'Cause you're a brat. You know what that word means? How 'bout that be your word for the day, huh? Brat, why don't we look it up? B-R-A-T. Brat.

Hey! What the hell is wrong with you? [El uses her powers to ram the couch into his leg] Ahhh! Hey, HEY!

Hey! Hey! [Furiously bangs on the door] Open this door! Open this damn door!

[Furiously bangs on the door again] You wanna go out in the world?! You better grow up! GROW THE HELL UP!

Sam Owens

[Indicating a map] This is us, and this is the nearest exit. But even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out.

What do you mean?

Sam Owens

The locks are fail secure.

Joyce

"Fail secure?"

Sam Owens

If there's a power outage, the building goes on full lockdown.

Bob

Can it be unlocked remotely?

Sam Owens

With a computer, sure, but somebody's gotta re-set the breakers.

Where are the breakers?

Sam Owens

Breakers are in the basement, three floors down.

Bob

Hey, where are you going?

To reset the breakers.

Bob

Okay, then what?

Then we get the Hell out of here.

Bob

No, then the power comes back on. If you wanna unlock the doors, you have to completely reboot the computer system, and then override the security codes with a manual input.

Fine, how do I do that?

Bob

You can't! Not unless you know BASIC.

I don't know what that means.

Mike

It's a computer-program language.

Alright, teach it to me.

Bob

[Sarcastically] Shall I teach you French while I'm at it, Jim? How 'bout a little German? How 'bout you, Doc? You speak BASIC?

Sam Owens

No.

Bob

Okay... I got this. I got this.

Joyce

No, Bob.

Bob

It's okay. [Hugs her] It's gonna be okay. Remember: Bob Newby, superhero.

Mike

Eleven?

Mike?

Max

Is that...?

Mike

I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night, for...

Three hundred and fifty-three days. [Mike looks shocked] I heard.

Mike

Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?

Because I wouldn't let her. [To Eleven] The hell is this? Where you been?

Where've you been?

Mike

[Realizes, angrily] You've been hiding her. You've been hiding her this whole time! [Angrily shoves Hopper behind his back]

[Angrily grabs Mike] Hey!!