Guys how are we feeling about conformity gate? I want to not get my hopes up, I want to so badly think the duffers have something up their sleeves. I don’t want to be let down, and I’m still in mourning of my favorite show. I feel like Joyce with the lights and the other side of me feels like Hopper when Joyce first told him Will was missing.
I saw someone say that they were mad El hasn’t eaten any eggos this season and that reminded me of the theory that eggos and her evolution with food shows her distancing from Mike…
Many people watching volume 2 have been disappointed with Mike's character– and frankly, I was too. Mike barely has plot relevance, he's stone-faced in almost every scene he's in, and he just doesn't seem to be himself. This is because he's not; Vecna is partly, or fully, in control of him. Read more if you want to know some of the evidence I could find.
Disclaimer: I apologize for the shitty screenshot quality, but this is literally the only way I knew how to get the images (Netflix, please let me take screenshots, I swear I am not going to illegally distribute your shows). I also edited them, but only to crop out the black bars on the side of the screen
Episode 5: Shock Jock
For most of Mike's scenes in Episode 5, he is acting like himself. He hugs Will in the beginning (and I'd like to remind everyone that in real life, Mike is around 3 inches taller than Will, meaning in order to have his chin rest on his shoulder like that, he would have to deliberately lean down). Mike also brags about Will taking out the Demos. He shows emotion.
Now that I have set up Mike's normal behavior, here's the evidence proper
Exhibit A:
During the scene where Will connects with the hive mind, the cracks start to show. Mike runs to Will when he gets blasted back by Henry, but there is something he does– or rather doesn't do– that is majorly out-of-character: he doesn't touch Will. Both Lucas and Joyce touch Will and are much closer to him than Mike is. We know this is out-of-character since Mike was able to touch Will earlier in the season. (In the Crawl after Will's head starts spinning and in this very episode, when Mike hugs Will and calls him an "honest-to-god sorcerer").
He looks like he's observing Will, like his main goal isn't to see if Will's okay, but to gather information. He's not worried like he would usually be. You can see it in his face, especially compared to Joyce and Lucas.
The subtitles aren't on the screen for the Mike screenshot (I don't know why) but Mike says, "Come back to us, Will," Which is exactly what Joyce says, just with the name on the other side of the sentence. Like he doesn't care enough to think of something unique. This is opposed to Lucas who does say something different.
Mike does touch Will eventually, but it's at the end. In this shot you can especially tell how far Mike is from Will.
All these hints happened after Henry exited Will from his mind. This, I think, is the precise moment where Mike's head is infiltrated. Perhaps this is when Henry realizes that Will is stronger than he thought, and so he changes plans.
Episode 6: Escape from Camazotz
Exhibit B:
It's very subtle, but after Robin does her explanation with the records, do you notice that Mike is the one that tells Robin and Lucas to go to the hospital while he stays behind with Will? Almost like he knows that Vecna is planning on Max, Robin, and Lucas dying from the demodogs (We see the demodogs run past Vickie and Robin, but I don't think Vecna planned on leaving them alive, he just cared more about killing Max first). If Mike is there, wouldn't it look odd that he doesn't die? Vecna wants Mike alive, for his plan.
The emphasis on the line: "Do not get pulled over", it's like Mike needs them to arrive at the hospital. like he's counting on them perishing.
Exhibit B.2:
I'm going out of order with this, but I would like to point out that later in the episode, when Mike is talking to El next to the tank, Vecna as Mike lets out a Freudian slip. After El says, "You don't get to write the ending... not this time," Mike says, "Maybe I don't.. but we do. You, me, Lucas, Will, and Dustin." Did you forget someone there, Micheal? Maybe someone who Vecna... is planning on killing? Does Max not get to write the ending too?
Exhibit C:
Directly after Exhibit B, Mike walks over to the room Joyce and Will are in. The music gets more sinister too. The next shot is a somewhat stalker type shot. We see Will, unconscious, and Joyce, back turned. Neither of them know Mike is standing in the doorway. Based on the height and position of the camera, it's supposed to be what Mike is seeing. He is standing in the background of Joyce's close-up too, just watching
Close-up on Micheal as he steps forward slightly, no doubt trying to get a better look for Vecna. No worry in that boy's eyes either.
Camera pans from Joyce to Will as Micheal's focus shifts. Then a close-up of Will, And just after this, Will and Vecna have a scene together, ending with Vecna telling Will he will be his spy "one last time" and trying to get into Will's head.
This entire scene, Joyce and Will are unknowingly being watched by Mike. This entire scene, Mike is acting rather ominous and weird. He never looks worried and he never makes himself known– at least not in this scene. The real Mike would sit on the couch and comfort Joyce, or at least show some concern, not just stand there. And for Vecna to show up right after Mike is doing his stalker routine, I don't think it's a coincidence.
Episode 7: The Bridge
Exhibit D:
At the hospital when Karen wants to go with the others to get her daughter back, Mike is in the back, looming, his hands gripping his mom's shoulders like he's trying to hold her back, stop her from leaving. He's looking at her shoulders too, making sure she doesn't escape his grasp. Half of his face is obscured in shadow. The expression is unreadable, but something about it is just... disturbing.
Exhibit E:
I might make a full analysis of Mike during Will's monologue, as he makes tons of micro-expressions, as if Will is unknowingly on the verge of expelling Vecna from Mike's brain with his words. For now, I will focus on the "hug'" Mike gives
Remember when Mike put his head on Will's shoulder at the beginning of Shock Jock, something he would have to intentionally lean down to do? He didn't rest his head on the group hug, when literally everyone else does.
Closing Argument:
You may still be confused. Why would Vecna pick Mike?
If you think back to why Will was able to finally harness his powers in the first place, it was because he thought of happy memories and realized how truly loved he was. And how was Vecna able to overpower Will to find out where Max was? He showed him bad things. Will's power over Vecna, and the hivemind, hinges on his mental state.
Vecna knows this, and if he is smart, he will keep Will feeling like crap by turning the one he loves, Mike, against him. Will cares a great deal what Mike thinks of him. When Will comes out, he doesn't tell Mike the full truth. He says he had a crush. We know this isn't true but Mike doesn't. Vecna is banking on Will not having the guts to admit his feelings for Mike.
But it's like how Joyce said. "Vecna chose you because he underestimated you. I think we all have. I know I did. And that is a mistake I will never, ever make again. But I'm willing to bet everything that he does. And when he does, it'll be the last mistake that son-of-bitch ever makes."
If this is foreshadowing, then Will admitting his feelings will be the final nail in Vecna's coffin, it will perhaps be what gives Mike control of himself again.
guys if cut gate is true then we need to talk about it
THE ISSUE: STRANGER THINGS SEASON 5 VOLUME TWO has evidently been tampered with. Allegedly there have been entire plotlines and characters a
they cut out pivotal scenes to the show that would've explained:
Will's trauma and what Vecna showed him
Why Will and Max had a fast connection
Why El didn't react to Max at all
Why Mike and Will had no scenes (when they did)
The backstory if Henry Creel and Patty Newby
and so much more!!!
this is not okay!!!
this is a show we've been watching for a decade now and we deserve the full cut!!!
essentially, we were given a puzzle with half of the pieces and expected to like and understand the puzzle. the puzzle being volume 2
I don't know who was exactly involved in the cuts, if it was the Netflix execs only or if the Duffers and directors had a hand in it too.
either way we need to make them know that this is not okay
I believe that due to homophobia that the Netflix execs didn't want their golden child stranger things to have the majority of season 5 have a gay romantic relationship, they wanted it pushed to the very end so that the GA would stay
this was a horrible decision, not to mention just gross, ignorant, and discriminatory.
they will see the repercussions of cutting out this much plot for the sake of their homophobia and greed
they thought they would get more money by cutting it out, but they're wrong. the ratings are dropping, and some people aren't watching the finale.
the thing is though, they would still make money- hell they would make even more money if they had the uncut version released!!! because this is what we WANT!!!
I might be delusional, but I really hope that this is real because then there's a chance that we can see our characters get the story they deserve. I really want that.
and I know some people might say that this is "embarrassing" or "reaching" but I'm tired of having HOPE being labeled as embarrassing when IT'S NOT OUR FAULT WE WERE POSSIBLY BAITED!!! it's not our fault that we're upset!!! we deserved quality content after years of waiting, after all of the money we've given Netflix. we are allowed to be mad, hopeful, and resilient
so please, in the chance that this is real, spread the word. because change can happen if there's enough people behind the cause.
guys I can't believe we are less than a day from byler coming togetherr! all our waiting and patience is going to pay off!!! this is going to be the best christmas ever
I cant wait for my dash to be full of nothing but our boys kissing
gamechangershow
izzy806
