Guys, I realize people are coping with a lot of feelings, but don't use that as a jumping off point for further disappointment.
There is no implication Mike is closeted. They slammed the door shut on that when they made his entire finale arc about him being terrified to lose El.
Mike is sad at the end, as they all are, because the only hope they have for El being alive is Mike's suggestion that she used trickery to escape. But it means that, even if she did get out, they will never see her again. They're also moving on from their childhood, with an implication that this might be their last ever D&D session before they go their separate ways and, quite possibly, never see each other again (except for Lucas and Max).
I think the whole escape story is ridiculous and contrived. Kali didn't create an illusion to make people think she was bleeding out. That was real, even in Mike's story version of it you can see the blood stain. I can't say I have the expertise to know how long someone in that condition would last, but surely it's not as long as she had. And that doesn't even call into question how El got far enough away from the kryptonite to be able to use her powers, while also contacting Kali to have her create an illusion from quite a distance away. Even if she somehow managed that, it's quite the leap of logic to assume Kali would have the strength to do it.
It reads a lot better as Mike's own coping strategy, right up to El just happening to find a place with waterfalls. Let's not even bother getting into how she would have managed to get somewhere with no ID, money, or other resources. That just adds onto the suggestion that none of the stories Mike tells are necessarily looks into what actually happens in the future.
They legit made Mike's character entirely centered on El, a girl he met when he was 12, who he inexplicably fell in love with while searching for his missing best friend.
But they didn't explain why he always treated Will so much differently than anyone else, including her.
They didn't explain why he was such a crappy boyfriend to her in two consecutive seasons. No repressed homosexuality, just an emotionally stunted teen.
They didn't reveal anything about the painting lie. Will actually did successfully save their relationship by giving El credit for his own feelings. Mike may well still believe she commissioned the painting.
They didn't address why their relationship was so sketchy in season 5. I suppose the implication is that, in a switch from season 4, El was the one holding back this time, being too obsessed with stopping Vecna, with Mike desperately waiting for her to give him what he wants. There is an implication that she's the one who couldn't say "I love you" this time around.
They didn't give Will any character depth. At the end of it all, he was just "the gay one." Even his art skills were only incidental to the plot, giving him the ability to draw things out to advance the story. The one time is was used for his own character development was with the painting, and we saw how that ended for him. Even his ending story didn't include that aspect of his personality. They could just as easily shown Will meeting a boy in an art class or something.
They didn't give Will's connection to the Upside Down or his trauma any significant attention. His sorcerer powers were just an extension of his existing Vecna radar, and the only addressing of his trauma was his "you were just a kid, like" moment. There was never anything special about Will. He was just an unlucky kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
They didn't appropriately handle his feelings for Mike. Despite, by all logic and reasoning, getting over Mike at the end of season 4, he had hope again in season 5. They could have, and should have, ending that part of his story then and there, continuing with struggling to accept himself. It would've worked still with the whole Tammy thing, as, now knowing Mike would never love him back, Will would have been struggling worse than ever. But, no, they had him become hopeful to the point that he hit on Mike, his best friend who he knew full well was dating his sister. They seriously left it at an implied confession with an unspoken rejection. The whole "best friends" bit wasn't even originally in the script. It was just going to abruptly end with Will's coming out.
So, yeah, a ton doesn't make sense (and that's just with this one aspect of the story, I have a lot of other criticisms). But that doesn't mean we should be wasting our energy trying to rationalize it all. It's over now, and it's time to move on. At the end of the day, the Duffers either fell ass backwards into all of this subtext, or it was intentionally done to make us think Will had a chance just as he did. I honestly can't even be sure of which one.
So, don't try to make sense of it all. It's just a fool's errand.
What was the point of El being described as looking like a boy? Who knows, but it's not what we thought.
What was the point of Mike being utterly incapable of having both El and Will in his life? Who knows, but it's not what we thought.
What was the point of having Mike feel unable to be himself with El, but coming back to himself when Will got fed up with the charade? Who knows, but it's not what we thought.
What was the point of the repeated closet imagery, up to the point of Mike's closet getting obliterated? Who knows, but it's not what we thought.
What was the point of Mike not writing to Will and then getting nervous about the painting at the airport? Who knows, but it's not what we thought.
What was the point of Mike needing Will's feelings to be able to give El the love she wanted? Who knows, but it's not what we thought.
The subtext was always there, but I guess it was always an accident. It ends up depicting Mike as someone who was just a real shitty best friend and boyfriend, nearly destroying both relationships in the process. It would've been such a great reveal to learn that he was just quietly dealing with internalized homophobia as he attempted to force himself to be normal, but that's not what it was.
And what will probably really twist the knife is that the Tales from '85 spinoff will likely try to retcon Mike and El's relationship as one that was much healthier than ever depicted on the show.
But that shouldn't mean people feel compelled to try to "fix" any of this. By all means, if you enjoy writing fanfics or drawing fanart, enjoy creating some AU stuff. I wouldn't dream of stifling someone's creativity, and it can be helpful to the healing process. The pain we feel is legit, after all. Many of us have become very emotionally attached to these characters and the story we thought we were being told. Having such good representation on a mainstream hit show would have been such a breath of fresh air, a real big step for popular media, as a whole.
But, please, do not let yourself be taken in by theories that there's something still there. They weren't prevented from telling the story they wanted to tell. They didn't leave any bread crumbs to follow. So, don't let yourself obsess over trying to make sense of it by reading between lines that aren't even there.
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