You will never, ever convince me that the painting wasn't introduced solely for requited byler or giving Mike a proper arc—which is why they had to ignore it. I cannot be the only one who remembers all the interviews where they said it would be addressed, that they put a TON of time into creating it, and that they wrote 4/5 simultaneously—and up until Sorcerer, that line of thinking FULLY holds.
But then...we lose it somewhere. Even if we hold on a platonic byler, "Will self-actualization is our goal" interpretation, we would have the painting, which we are told is important, having some other meaning—but that never materializes. The mindflayer kaiju doesn't look like the painting monster; it has one "head" and spider legs, in a mirror of its more classic shadow form. MF/Henry/Will is never fully explored (evil will theory) and Henry/El/Kali is never utilized that way either. Its not Mike leading the OG party, either—Mike damn near does the least in the end with his flare gun. So, none of its visual explanation makes sense, based on what Will painted and what he said to Mike about it.
So then, by course of elimination, the painting was meant to be a fully relational plot device. Only...the fact that Will's painting (and just Will) was needed for Mike to tell El he loved her S4 was never addressed, even though some of its residue lives in how he didn't say ILY when she died? Will is somehow ready to be FULLY honest so Vecna can't use things against him...but is still technically lying about who the painting is for, which would induce MORE fear about being left because now he's alone in knowing he's lied to both Mike AND Eleven.
Only...then we never use Vecna's powers on Will OR Mike. They are both left without any acknowledgement of the need for Will's support of Mike/El's relationship, the painting, or even romantic/emotional fears via Venca. The original plan was ALSO apparently to never touch the notion of byler again until Noah asked for "closure," and then Eleven dies—or "can't contact" them ever again, even though that premise hasn't held for four full seasons before this barring her not being alive.
We just...skip it. Will is now out and gay, and we never talked about his romantic feelings outside of self-acceptance. Mike still ends up in the basement "without girlfriends, playing dnd for the rest of his life" with Will and the party, exactly like Will mentioned in the van scene that included the painting. El is still no longer with Mike—without him saying I love you—and likely dead, even though there was no reason to kill her REALLY. We have just destroyed Will's hope, Mike's redemption as the "heart" of the party, and even a proper romantic romeo and juliet mileven ending...all because we didn't address a painting, and complete the cyrano trope.
....and I'm supposed to just "believe" it was noise to them. Right.
izzy806
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
