Haha, the funny thing is that I think Winona Ryder's character was the one I liked the most in the early part of season 1. I really felt her frustration with the situation. I also really liked Hopper from very early on; the actor was very good with expressions, you knew he believed what was going on, even though his character never explicitly stated it, and often acted the opposite. I am not sure if it was his expressions, the use of audio, or a combination of multiple things, but without actually saying anything, the directors made Hopper's hidden motivations apparent to the viewer; the whole time he worked his way to the core of the situation.
One of the biggest themes of the first season was bad communication. I know what they were doing, but I found it frustrating as hell

It wasn't in a way that I disliked the season, because it made the communication break-throughs all that much more rewarding. I am a little glad they haven't repeated that this season though... except with:
(Episode 3 spoiler below)