Warning: This article contains “Stranger Things” season 3 spoilers. If you haven’t watched the new season yet, it is the best you stop reading here. If you don’t mind being spoiled, then go ahead and enjoy.

Season 3 ended with a major cliffhanger that left a void in every fan’s heart. Just when Joyce (Winona Ryder) was about to turn the key to destroy the machine that was opening the gate to the Upside Down, Jim (David Harbour) was trapped in the middle when it started to emit circling electricity.

As Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) power was gone due to the Mind Flayer’s bite and the rest of the gang had exhausted all their means to fight the monster, Joyce was left with no choice but to blow the machine up to close the gate – sacrificing Jim, who willingly did it so. As viewers didn’t see him since then, did Jim die in the season finale or he is still alive, being held captive somewhere?

Setting the stage for a new season

The season 3 finale set the stage for "Stranger Things" Season 4. However, Netflix has yet to renew the show. But, as it has managed to break the streaming giants’ viewership record, it is not unlikely that a new season will be in the works, per CBS News.

Now, the big question is, did Jim die in that Russian secret building? Just when everyone thought that the Hawkins’ Chief of Police died a hero, the Duffer brothers gave everyone a glimpse of hope in the post-credit scene.

The creators have adapted Marvel’s style by featuring an end scene that teases what would happen in the next installment. Here, a Russian could be heard telling his comrade “not the American,” which gave fans hopes that it could be Jim when they got a prisoner to feed to the Demogorgon.

In the Season 3 battle, Grigori (Andrey Ivchenko) called Joyce and Jim, the Americans, so Jim might be the “American” that the Russian soldier was pertaining to. Hence, he could still be alive.

Showrunner might not do the obvious in the new season

In an interview with Harbour, he told Entertainment Weekly he has no idea if the American the Russian soldier was pertaining to was his character. "I have no idea! I mean that, of course, is my hope too,” he said.

The Duffer Brothers, on the other hand, also told EW that fans should not assume anything as “things might not be as obvious.”

“The line that Russian guard said is purposely intended to spark debate. We need people to ask the very questions that you’re asking,” Matt Duffer said. “Assuming there’s a Season 4, obviously the question of who that American is in that cell and then also what they’re doing with the Demogorgon, that is a tease,” Ross Duffer added.

As they tried to hype up “Stranger Things” season 4 to make some noise, they pretty much succeed. Now, fans will surely look forward to the new season to know the real deal about Jim, as they wait for Netflix’s renewal.