Volumes 1 and 2 of Stranger Things season 5 are streaming now on Netflix, and the finale drops Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET
Eleven is keeping secrets heading into the Stranger Things finale, and the tension between her and Hopper seems ready to implode.
Things are tense between the father-daughter duo throughout season 5, Volume 2, as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is furious and feels betrayed by Hopper (David Harbour).
In Volume 1, it was revealed that he had a suicide plan that he'd kept to himself for months. Eleven discovered the truth as they broke into the government facility in the Upside Down at the end of Volume 1. Though he claimed it was just a "failsafe," Eleven was not convinced, and her distrust has lingered into the next round of episodes.
Their tension has left an opening for Eight (Linnea Berthelsen) to convince Eleven to partake in her own self-destructive plan heading into the finale.
The "messy and complicated" dynamic between Hopper and Eleven is a key piece of the puzzle as the final episode of the series approaches, the Duffer Brothers say.
"It's just a dynamic that we really wanted to explore, which is this dynamic of a parent and their child, who's actually no longer really a child anymore, is actually a young adult, becoming an adult -- and how do you deal with that?" Matt Duffer tells PEOPLE. "How do you deal with letting them go, giving them independence, when, especially Hopper, feels protective of her?"
Hopper is even "more protective than most parents because of his history," having lost his daughter, Sarah, years earlier, to cancer.
That tricky dynamic between a parent and child is "really a big part, I think, of everyone's journey in transitioning from childhood or young adulthood to adulthood," Matt says.
In Hopper's case, his grief drives him, and "he had to confront it again as he was going to save Will in season 1, and then he had to confront it again over the various seasons as he sort of adopted Eleven as his own daughter," says Ross Duffer.
Hopper's "greatest fear" is that "Eleven wouldn't be able to live happily and that she would die at the end of all this," Ross says, and that now "seems to be a possibility," given the suicide pact she makes with Eight.
As episode 7 ends, the gang heads into the Upside Down to begin "Operation Beanstalk," their plan to defeat Vecna before he brings the Abyss to Earth. Eight tells Eleven that they can't "leave with the others" and instead must stay behind so that "when the Upside Down vanishes, so will we."
At first, Eleven is hesitant, but she gives her sister a subtle nod just before the episode ends that seems to indicate she's in on the secret plan.
As for what that means for Hopper, Ross teases that his fear "is what we really explore moving into the finale."
In episode 7, Hopper shared his fears for Eleven's safety with Joyce (Winona Ryder) before their final mission kicked off.
"I can work on repairing things between us when I get on the other side of this, but right now, I need to make sure she gets out of this alive," he said.
"That Kali makes one false move, I swear to god, I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna kill her. I will not hesitate. Anything happens to El in that tank, I am pulling her out. I can't lose her, Joyce," Hopper said, his voice breaking as he gave voice to his biggest fear. "I can't."