In Stranger Things, David Harbour confesses he hates working with the Byers family dog, Chester. Harbour is best known for his character as Jim Hopper, the local police chief who aids the residents of Hawkins, Indiana in their war against supernatural forces concentrated on the Upside Down.
His character was assumed to have killed in an explosion that closed the Upside Down’s current portal and defeated the Mind Flayer at the end of Season 3. (for now). Hopper is alive and well in Russia, according to trailers and other promotional material for Season 4.
The season 3 finale was more than two years ago. The fourth season of Stranger Things began filming last year, but was delayed for months owing to COVID-19. Filming is, thankfully, already begun. A time leap will be used in the upcoming season to explain the maturing of the series’ young characters and performers.
Harbour has compared his role to Gandalf, alluding to how he has dealt with time since season three. While promoting Black Widow, in which he plays Red Guardian, Russia’s equivalent of Captain America, Habour has been bombarded with Stranger Things questions.
Byer’s Dog
During a recent appearance on Hot Ones, Harbour revealed the one aspect of filming Stranger Things’ first season that he did not enjoy: the Byers’ dog Chester. While viewers should recall what happened to Dustin’s cat, Mews, casual viewers are unlikely to recall Chester, who was not brought back after the first season. The dog was reportedly so terrible on filming that Harbour advised that Chester’s character be killed off.
Chester Is No More
Despite the fact that it was not addressed in season 2, a grave was added to the set of season 3, revealing that Chester had died after the events of season 1. This isn’t the first time Harbour has criticised Chester; in a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, he labelled the dog the “worst actor” he’d ever worked with.
Chester looks to have been cut from future seasons of Stranger Things to make production easier. Chester’s demise occurred off-screen, which was lucky because no one would have liked seeing the dog fight a Demodog. Perhaps that would have made for a more honorable/memorable final stand. However, if Hopper can rise from the dead (due to the Upside Down), Chester can as well.
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