The moment I knew Byler wasn’t endgame:
“Friends?”
“Just friends? No thanks. Best friends.”
The delivery in and of itself queerbaited the audience. The long pause after ‘no thanks’. The way the camera shifts to Will, to gauge his reaction, then back to Mike.
I could potentially overlook some of the writing in previous seasons like the derogatory terms used towards Will by his father, his friends, even Mike telling him ‘it’s not my fault you don’t like girls’. Let’s be honest, some people are genuinely cruel, and kids often say stupid things, especially when they don’t understand the full impact of it. And if you don’t genuinely believe it, then it’s just a jab for the sake of being a jab. Lonnie was never a good parent or husband, so the idea he bullied his young son doesn’t surprise me. Again, this is also the 80s. Even going to school in the late 90s and early 2000s, people would still use these kinds of comments as insults against classmates, whether they actually believed the person was gay or not.
But the scenes in season four between Will and Mike. The unrequited love on Will’s side of things, as we clearly see he is in love with his best friend. The scenes in season 5, not just where Mike and Will are smiling at each other (come on, that little nudge and Mike’s smile!), but also the scenes with Robin and Will.
This escalates to Will’s coming out scene because he knows Vecna could use it against him. Referring to Mike as ‘his Tammy’, but yet the scenes we see earlier in the season are clearly the opposite. The stolen glances. The smiles. The way their bodies lean towards one another. The way Mike goes from being a nearly absent, jerk friend in season 4 to the same genuinely caring Mike in season 5 without any explanation. And the way Robin watches the two of them interact as if she knows there is something more there. If Mike is just ‘his Tammy’, then every scene with them is the very definition of queerbaiting.
It means everything we have learned about Will; overcoming his diversity, obtaining powers and then being able to admit he is gay, has zero payoff by the end of the series. Taking that much time in an episode to focus on a character’s coming out scene; there has to be a reason for it. If not, then again, it is queerbaiting.
And also writing such scenes for the actor (Noah) who they know is openly gay seems cringe-worthy. This young man who came out to the world and certainly faced bullying and backlash is then forced to relive some of it through his acting, is genuinely wrong. I know people will argue that he’s paid to act - and yes, that’s true - but to include a scene he clearly delved into wholeheartedly and forced him to likely relive some painful memories, is kind of disgusting. Honestly, he may not even realize it yet.
It also brings up the question of whether or not they included it in the series because he’s gay, especially with the cop-out ending of throwing some random guy into a ‘future’ scene. Let’s not forget there is an interview where Noah and Millie answer a question about one thing they wish their character could have done on screen that they didn’t get to do. Noah even says ‘kiss a girl’. And that’s just it. He’s gay and this is his answer, which means he probably wasn’t against the idea of Will being straight in the show. Remember, this is the direction the writers took the show.
With all of this said, it leads me to a couple of theories.
There is something going on with Noah and Finn. No, I am not trying to ship two actors together. I’m looking at the evidence. Finn is incredibly comfortable with Noah in some of their interviews. People have pointed out the way they touch hands at times. And I’ve already seen comments where people bring up how close they are as friends, but hear me out. Perhaps it’s one of the reasons some of the Will and Mike moments seem so flirtatious. The chemistry between the actors is so strong it leaks onto the screen.
Before you discredit this theory, I’d like to point out another observation. In season 4 of Angel the TV Series, Willow shows up at the Hyperion Hotel to restore Angel’s soul. Willow has an interaction with Wesley, and Willow is canonically gay in the show. However, Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof were dating at the time. They ended up getting married like a year later when they filmed season 5. My point being that the two actors had an unmistakable chemistry on screen that seeped into the show. Mind you, I watched this episode before I even knew the two were together, and yet I clocked it immediately.
Again, I’m not trying to ship the actors together. My point is if they are together, or they have an interest in each other and it leaked onto the screen, then the directors and crew should have done a better job of preventing it if it wasn’t intended to be part of the story.
This brings me to my next theory:
2. The story we got wasn’t what the Duffer Brothers planned. They said we would have a ton of character deaths - which they could have said to throw audiences off - but they also alluded to the painting being cleared up. We also saw the original run times of some of the later episodes, which suggests we were given a heavily edited version. And if that’s the case, then perhaps Netflix stepped in and forced them to change the ending.
What further supports some of the storyline being forced is the actions of the actors themselves. There is a natural chemistry between Mike and Will in the last couple of seasons, while interactions with Mike and El are very bland and almost emotionless. As many other people have pointed out, it already feels like they broke up and people question whether or not they are even a couple. To further prove my point, when El tells Mike she loves him before ‘sacrificing’ herself, Mike never says it back. The kiss is awkward, and more so from Mike’s side of things.
Overall, their interactions feel lackluster. Mike barely interacts with El. Mille looks unhappy in most of her scenes - which isn’t a jab at her personally. In fact, she seemed unhappy in an interview when asked whether she liked how El’s story ends. Finn’s acting also feels lackluster, aside from most of his scenes with Noah, as if he has zero interest in the storyline. In fact, Hopper is far more concerned with El this entire season than Mike is throughout it, aside from the final scene which felt incredibly forced.
3. Netflix knew this final season wasn’t going to hold up, which is precisely why they separated it into three parts. Personally, I thought the first four episodes were quite solid, especially when they revealed Will has powers and left it on a cliffhanger. They knew exactly what they were doing with it. However, they have done the same thing with other shows on Netflix. Stay with me here.
Wednesday season 2 is split into two parts. The first half - in my opinion - is really good, but it also ends on a cliffhanger to the point you’re excitedly anticipating the second half. While the second half was still good, it wasn’t as good as the first. They already revealed one of the villains, then left it on a cliffhanger. Again, smart on their part to do this, but the second half didn’t quite match the same energy as the first. The first season came out before they started doing this weird split season thing.
Bridgerton is another prime example. The first two seasons are released in full. The first season makes sense because Netflix can’t predict whether or not the audience will actually enjoy it. After the success of the first season, they released the 2nd season also in its entirety. While it might not seem like an important factor, there aren’t any steamy scenes or payoff on the couple focused in the season until the penultimate episode. The season likely wouldn’t have survived a season split and wait. Which brings me to season 3 of Bridgerton when Netflix split the season into 2 and we have a bit of a cliffhanger and payoff after the first half, only for fans to be mostly disappointed and depressed over how the second half played out.
While I think Netflix also does this for money, I do think there is some truth to them splitting seasons they don’t think are as good, or the second half isn’t as good as the first. They have an amazing cliffhanger or high note in the middle of the season, build up the anticipation, then the second half doesn’t live up to the first.
And with Stranger things, they had the added benefit of such a huge fanbase. They split the season into 3 parts, all on major holidays, and a lot of people were severely upset with how episode 7 ended. To me, that says they didn’t care and they knew people were going to tune in anyways. Also releasing the episodes so late in the day. I don’t feel like it being a holiday is a legitimate excuse. I think they intentionally aired the episodes on holidays AND released them so late in the day to hype the anticipation.
In the end, I hope the second option is the legitimate one, and the ending we got wasn’t what the Duffer Brothers intended, but Netflix interfered in their vision. I think the fandom could forgive them for that and place their blame on Netflix, but if not, then I foresee them receiving a lot of backlash for how the series ended.
