…Did MIKE see Robin and Vickie kissing too?
Short answer: Probably :P
No intro, just look at this. Here is a list, step-by-step, of what Will and Mike BOTH did, in two totally separate scenes from each other.
Left the room they were in.
Bought a caffeinated beverage from a machine.
Bought one for another person (or tried to, but were declined).
Stopped when they saw something through a gap.
Reacted in an extreme way.
Never finished their own caffeinated beverage.
May I repeat again: All eight of these actions occured In two completely separate scenes from each other, in the EXACT same order. If that is a coincidence... well, then I'm gonna buy a lottery ticket tomorrow and hope I "coincidentally" get all six numbers correct and in the exact same order.
Based on these eight consecutive parallels, the only conclusion I can come to is that both Mike and Will were in the same scene.
(...given my pre-existing theory that every scene in Season 5 was an illusion based on real events, of course.)
My rightsideupgate posts for context! (just read part 1 if you're new)
ORDER OF EVENTS: Part 1 (Reality = reversed), Part 3 (12 Episodes), Part 4 (MWTFDYD), Part 9 (Wheeler attack -> Mike's kidnapping), Part 11 (Mr Whatsit = Will)
SCENE ANALYSIS: Part 2 (Will/Robin), Part 5 (Rainbows), Part 6 (The roof talk), Part 7 ("Where's Dustin right now?"), Part 8 (El is missing), Part 10 (Byler's missed date), Part 12 (Byler saw Rovickie kiss), Part 13 (Will's painting)
So, which scene is real? Mike's or Will's?
Will and Mike both leave the hospital waiting room to get caffeinated drinks.
They go down the hallway and stop when they see A Wrinkle In Time through the window.
Will is so shocked by seeing A Wrinkle In Time that he drops his drink and frantically runs away, while Mike just stands there, totally quiet, overwhelmed by thought.
Will and Mike both leave Max's hospital room to get caffeinated drinks.
They go down the hallway and stop when they hear something through the door – Robin's voice, and an unfamiliar one.
They both peer through the gap and see Robin and Vickie kissing.
Will is so shocked by seeing two fellow queer people kissing that he drops his drink and frantically runs away, while Mike just stands there, totally quiet, overwhelmed by thought.
Ah yes, A Wrinkle In Time, of course. The most shocking book known to humanity, right?
...Obviously Option B (the kiss) is the most sensible option here. Both Mike and Will's reactions make sense. Plus, it's more suspenseful, dramatic and interesting for ALL FOUR of these characters!
Mike was mentioned in the scene before Will’s, and Will was mentioned in the scene before Mike’s.
Lucas was in both Mike's and Will's previous scenes!
The puzzle in Mike’s scene has prominent rainbow imagery, a symbol frequently associated with forgotten memories in this show – also, classic queercoding! Especially considering the context that Mike may be misremembering a queer kiss.
Will’s scene has no rainbow imagery, further suggesting that Mike is the one misremembering most of the scene, and less so for Will.
Taking the theory further
Now, our current interpretation of the scene is fine as it is. It's very plausible, and we don't need to change anything else for it to make sense. We can totally just leave it there.
But... I have a sneaking suspicion that Mike was the one who ran away, not Will. Just look at this.
Evidence for Will running away:
On Halloween, he ran for shelter after being bullied + seeing visions of the Upside Down – ST2
Will biked away from Mike and Lucas after they weren't being respectful about his D&D campaign – ST3
As you can see from the evidence above, it wouldn't be totally strange for Will to run away from something! It's not impossible.
But this is not how Will usually deals with things. Will as a character is not known for big emotional freak-outs. He usually freezes, goes quiet and keeps it all inside. He usually does not express his emotions in any way except through art. When he cries, he often tries to hide it.
But Mike, on the other hand?
Evidence for Mike running away:
There have been many occasions where Mike's emotions physically exploded out of him on impulse, especially when he was a child with less self-control.
Destroying Eleven’s blanket fort – ST1
Pushing Troy to the floor – ST1
Yelling at Max and throwing a broom to the ground – ST2
Punching and yelling at Hopper – ST2
Giving up and walking away from Will during the Rink-O-Mania fight – ST4
Impulsively trying to get a hot orange mohawk – pre-ST5
Mike often tries to escape his problems, pretending they don't exist; he would rather just pretend everything's fine, and nothing is wrong.
Hiding away to make out with El instead of hanging with the Party – ST3
Not sending Will any letters – pre-ST4
Telling El he’s gonna “fix this” after she was arrested – ST4
His "could that be real for us?" conversations with El; he later said that it was a “fantasy” plan, and he should’ve had something more “real” – ST5
Choosing to believe in a fantasy story where El escaped, after she died – ST5
Damn, it's mostly w/ El. I swear it wasn't on purpose lol
Mike is way more likely than Will to A) literally run away from his problems, and B) have a big, physical reaction to said problems.
Therefore, I think it was Mike who ran away.
Well, after Robin and Vickie saw Mike run down the hallway, the scene cut off.
Vickie: Who is that?
Robin: Shit.
(this parallels the pipe scene, when Ashley Klein runs away after catching Mike and Will... Mike: Shit.)
That's the exact moment that Robin and Vickie would've come face to face with Will, still frozen in place, completely quiet, keeping all his emotions on the inside as usual...
Mike may have dropped his drink, leaking it everywhere. Like the pipe scene, in which MIKE'S shovel breaks the pipe and causes a leak, splashing on both himself and Will.
Since Will was the one still standing in the hospital hallway, Robin would have talked to him first.
^ This re-contextualises Robin's hospital scenes with Will! Instead of returning there on some random mission, Robin and Will never actually left the hospital. They had their talks that same day.
As for Vickie – she's literally at work, so she trusted Robin to talk with Will for now.
After that, Will may have gone back to Max's room with Lucas, who again, was in both Mike and Will's previous scenes.
HOLY SHIT!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I got excited.
You know how during their hospital chats, Will asks Robin about the signs that someone wanted to date, and after she told him several things that he and Mike had already done before, he WENT QUIET AND STARTED SPACING OUT WITH HIS EYES DARTING BACK AND FORTH IN REALISATION????????
Will in the hospital after a revelation, spacing out, eyes darting back and forth in realisation...
Well, there's another scene in the hospital in which a character totally spaces out with his eyes darting back and forth... Mike! AFTER SEEING A WRINKLE IN TIME + THE RAINBOW PUZZLE!
Mike in the hospital after a revelation, spacing out, eyes darting back and forth in realisation...
Taking everything else into account, this is a big clue that he may have actually been Will.
Will sits back down after his talk with Robin.
Lucas: They still won't give us a timeline on Max. [...]
Lucas: Will. Will, are you listening?
Will snaps himself out of it.
Will: Yeah! Yeah, no, uh... I was thinking about something Robin said earlier.
The next day, Robin would've had this conversation with Mike. I highlighted the important parts.
Robin: Were you at the hospital yesterday?
Mike: THE HOSPITAL? No! No. No, no, no.
Robin: Weird, I...
Mike trips over in a panic.
Robin: ...could've sworn I saw you there, but um... Vickie, she's a candy striper.
Mike: Oh, yeah?
Robin: She's my friend. We're friends... good friends. But uh, the thing is, some people might not understand our friendship.
Mike's eyebrows furrow.
Robin: Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if you were there and you did see something, it might just be better if, uh, nobody knew. If it stayed between us.
Mike: I didn't... see anything.
First of all, the "No, no, no." Mike always repeats himself.
Second of all, insisting he wasn't there and didn't see anything? Classic Mike, denying all his problems and pretending they don't exist.
Third of all, this is an excellent parallel to what Mike said to Will the previous season.
Mike (ST4): Friends... best friends.
Robin (ST5): Friends... good friends.
Because if Robin talks about her girlfriend the same way Mike talks about his best friend... well. It would totally re-contextualise Mike's words, and give him a lot to think about, wouldn't it?
Finally, this would explain why Robin and Mike seemed closer in the latter half of Season 5, when we never saw them hang out at all!
Why would Vecna invent an imaginary scene in which Robin and Vickie kissed, then got caught? He wouldn’t. It really happened.
Why would Vecna remove Robin and Vickie kissing if it’s a catalyst for Will’s queer self-acceptance arc? He wouldn’t. Will's queer self-acceptance arc helps him to discover his powers, AND helps him to "get over" Mike... at least, in Vecna's telling of the story. So Vecna couldn't remove it.
But if catching Robin and Vickie kissing was a big catalyst for MIKE'S queer self-acceptance arc? Oh. Now that would be a problem. To keep Mike trapped in his illusion (the Rightside Up) Vecna cannot let Mike feel secure about who he is. He needs to keep Mike trapped via guilt, trauma, insecurity and self-loathing.
Ergo; though he may not be able to remove the scene altogether, Vecna would absolutely have reasons to remove Mike from that scene!
Especially if it meant that Vecna could repurpose that scene to A) give Robin + Vickie relationship issues (as I explored in this analysis), B) force Mike to never have the self-acceptance arc he desperately needed, and C) force Will to "get over" his feelings for Mike and settle for a lookalike.
Three birds with one stone.
Alternate Scene (Added: 8/3/2026)
As several people have suggested, it would also make sense if both Will and Mike ran away. It would be a perfect segue into the scene where Will and Robin (dressed like Mike!) hide in the hospital after seeing Vickie.
Before this scene, Will and Robin walk through a hospital hallway. They pass through an open door, walk past the coke machine where Will bought his caffeinated beverage, and they even walk past the "dementia clinic" sign, suggesting missing or altered memories!
They also talk about Robin's fake granny. Who else has a fake granny in Stranger Things? Mike, of course... "Nana".
Will: What are we doing?
Mike: Hiding.
Will: Hiding, right... why?
Mike peeks at Robin.
Mike: Jesus, she talks so much. I know, I'm a hypocrite.
Will: I–
Mike: We have to go!
Notably, in the original scene, Robin peeks at Vickie through a DOUBLE-MIRROR. Just like the mirrors which appear in Robin and Vickie's three other hospital scenes, this suggests they are literally mirroring other characters.
This would also be a fantastic opportunity for characterisation and plot development!
It’s an interesting glimpse into the way both Mike and Will deal with their emotions; one reacts very physically and impulsively, while the other freezes in place and only reacts internally.
It’s a great way to expand on the pre-existing foundations of Will’s queer self-acceptance arc as well as Mike's... AND delving deeper into Robin and Vickie's experiences!
Vickie could be given some character development! Not only would she be interacting and bonding with the main characters of the show for the first time, she would be dealing with a very confronting situation – also in a different way from Robin.
Vickie used to have a boyfriend she was very openly dating, so having a secret relationship is probably a new experience for her – and a scary one, given it might also be her first queer relationship. This variety of experiences would make the show interesting for the audience, and maybe give them something they haven't seen on TV before (which the Duffers have said they wanted to do).
Vickie: Okay. [...] Bottling… bottling emotions.
Furthermore, if Mike found out as well as Will, and Robin bonded with him (mentoring two characters, not one, like Maya Hawke said), then that means we will unlock a whole new set of conversations and interactions between these two characters, and therefore even more of a glimpse into Robin’s and Mike’s emotions! This would create a more interesting story, so the new episodes wouldn't just be repeats of the old ones.
Again, as I stated previously, this would explain the scenes in Vol. 2 where Robin and Mike are bickering as though they're friends.
But Vecna removed Mike's self-acceptance arc. Because of that, he doesn't have to deal with Mike and Will's love saving either of them from his curse. All he had to do was remove Mike from scenes like this one.
(That's what he thought, anyway.)
(But Will's painting is still hanging on Mike's wall...)
Also, if you liked this one, then you should definitely check out this post from @chirpsythismorning, who previously pointed out recurring patterns in these scenes + more! Theories, puzzles and connections... where does it all come together? Rahhhh
Edit: And also!! this post by @strangesunrises, about what could've happened if Will was dragged away by Mike instead of Robin, and they both hid in the hospital after the kiss. So fun hahaha
