Mike + Will’s cancelled “dinner plans" on November 3rd
…Mike couldn’t make it, because the Wheeler house was attacked that very night.
Analysis Overview
Summary
1 - The Stranger Things rewatch video
2 - Rovickie’s missed date = Byler's missed dinner plans
3 - Rovickie mirror Byler (literally)
4 - Clues from Robin and Will's talk
Why would Vecna replace Mike's memory of this?
Theory Summary
As I explored in my MWTFDYD = conformitygate analysis, Vecna reversed Mike and Will’s love story. In the months after Season 4, they didn’t lose hope for a relationship, they actually gained hope and got closer to each other.
If you haven't already, please read that analysis before this one! You'll kind of need it to understand what's going on.
Mike and Will planned to go on a date the night of November 3rd, 1986 – but Vecna had other plans. That was the day the Wheeler house was attacked, and Nancy’s vision about Karen, Holly and Mike came true. Karen was fatally wounded, Holly was kidnapped, and Mike was severely injured and rushed to hospital.
Thus, Mike and Will’s dinner plans for November 3rd were VERY inconveniently interrupted.
…
Okay, okay, it’s a fun theory – but let’s explore the evidence, shall we?
1. Mike’s Dinner Plans With… “Who?”
A few weeks ago, @mixu commented this great idea.
If Mike and Will were already dating before his disappearance, and we consider that they were rewatching the seasons in character… Mike had a date with Will.
In the ST5 rewatch video, the actors are fully in-costume, dressed as their characters in settings from the show. They essentially are their characters. Which is why it’s very interesting that “Mike” says this…
Mike: "You know I had dinner plans, right?"
Dustin: "With who?"
Firstly: It’s a date. Otherwise Dustin would’ve known about it (or been invited along).
Secondly: The fact that Dustin doesn’t know who it is implies it’s not the “obvious” choice for him or the audience – it's not El.
Thirdly: The fact that Mike had any dinner plans at all is a REALLY BAD OMEN for him.
Every time a character has planned a date in this show, it's been doomed by the Upside Down.
Boyce – one of them died to a Demogorgon
Karen/Billy – one of them was possessed by the Mindflayer + later died to it
Jopper – one of them almost died to an Upside Down portal + disappeared to Russia
Lumax – one of them died to Vecna + was revived and put into a trance
Uh, Mike? Are you sure about those dinner plans, buddy?
Yep. Every date on the show has been cancelled because of the Upside Down and a death/near death. Oh, wait, hang on.
Every date except Rovickie.
Rovickie – one of them was suddenly erased from the narrative?????? wtf??????
Yeah. It turns out that Rovickie’s date is a massive outlier in many ways. Let's explore how and why!
2. Robin and Vickie’s suspicious date at Enzo’s
So many aspects of Robin and Vickie’s date totally break the pattern of the other dates, and… just seem weirdly off.
It’s the only date with a cancellation that doesn’t seem to have been caused by the Upside Down.
It’s the only date where neither of them died/nearly died.
They are the only queer couple, and have previously been paralleled to Mike and Will multiple times.
Their original plans were meant to take place the night of November 3rd… AKA THE NIGHT OF THE WHEELER ATTACK. What a coincidence.
Nothing is stopping them from having their second date, and yet, they still don’t!! Even though they promised to!!! Why??????
Now, if this date really was Robin and Vickie’s… well, it’s really weird that they have all these differences from the other couples, right?
Unless the date was Mike and Will’s.
The interruption actually WAS caused by the Upside Down – the Wheeler attack.
One of them actually DID nearly die – Mike.
They literally ARE Mike and Will.
The Wheeler attack is what MADE them miss their date.
Something actually DID stop them from having their second date (post-November 6th) – Will’s trance and Mike's kidnapping!
See how suddenly, all the weirdness is explained? How Mike and Will’s date would actually follow the exact same pattern as all four other missed dates in the show?
Remember, all of these writing choices were intentional. This would be a seriously insane coincidence, in my humble, humble opinion.
Let's explore even more of these writing choices!
3. Rovickie literally MIRROR Byler
I’m just going to leave these parallels here for you to enjoy.
ALL THREE of Rovickie’s date conversations happen in a HOSPITAL. Mike had to miss his dinner plans with Will because he was put in HOSPITAL.
In ALL THREE conversations, Robin and Vickie are repeatedly reflected in mirrors, suggesting they are mirroring other characters.
The mirror on the wall when Robin tells Vickie she has to cancel her date.
Robin’s handheld mirror while she is rambling to Will about missing her date with Vickie.
The big, circular mirror when Robin promises Vickie to go on a second date (while Demogorgons slowly approach them)
Why else would there be mirrors in all three scenes?
Robin, who is missing the date, is dressed like Mike does: blue jumper, black pants and converse.
Vickie, who is being cancelled on, has a bowl cut like Will (despite bowl cuts being “not that popular anymore”).
Robin lies about her “fake granny”. Just like Mike lies about his own fake granny in S3, AKA Nana.
Rovickie was ominously erased from the narrative in the Epilogue – just like Byler throughout all of Season 5.
And here’s a bonus one.
Robin: “I stole money off the dead guy they just wheeled out.” (
Robin stole this plot point from Mike Wheeler, a guy who almost died due to his injuries and was sent to that very hospital.
Considering how frequently Robin and Vickie were already paralleled to Mike and Will in Season 4... the fact that they’re now literally DRESSED like Byler, and have giant mirrors in all their scenes together?
All I can conclude is that in these scenes, Robin and Vickie are literally Mike and Will.
4. Robin’s rambling matches Mike's POV
In the hospital, Robin rambles to Will about the fact she’s going to have to miss her date with Vickie.
Robin flips her mirror open to look at Vickie. Robin: I promised Vickie that I would take her to Enzo’s tonight… and now I can’t, obviously, meaning I have to ditch her again for reasons that she just can’t understand… a massive fight will inevitably ensue, we’ll never make it to my fake granny’s room... I can’t be the reason Wheeler’s plan fails.
Isn’t. That. Interesting. If we replace only a few words, Robin’s rambling fits Mike's POV perfectly.
Mike: I promised [Will] that I would take him to [dinner] tonight… and now I can’t, obviously, meaning I have to ditch him again for reasons that he just can’t understand… a massive fight will inevitably ensue, we’ll never make it to [our dinner plans]... I can’t be the reason my own plan fails.
Obviously he can’t make it – because he was attacked by a Demogorgon. He has to ditch Will again – like he did in Season 3 and 4. A massive fight will inevitably ensue – with a Demogorgon, lmfao. And finally... Mike is unfortunately the reason his own dinner plans fail.
Cut him some slack, though! He was literally attacked by a Demogorgon and sent to hospital!
Robin looks at Vickie through her mirror a second time. Will: You know, you could always just… kiss her again.
Hmm. So if Mike just kisses Will again, it’ll all be okay? Aww :3
...Hey wait, that implies they've kissed before! MWTFDYD = conformitygate is looking pretty good right now, lol.
Anyway, this would mean that Robin – Mike’s stand-in for this scene – rambled on and on about the date Mike was going to have to miss… TO THE PERSON HE WAS MISSING HIS DATE WITH. If nothing else, that’s pretty funny.
AND! ALSO! MORE EVIDENCE!
After this, Will asks how Robin knew that Vickie wanted to date…
Robin: "...a brush of the elbow, a bump of the knee, a shared look."
Will immediately has a look of realisation. This stuff has all happened between Mike and Will already.
And if this conversation’s already happened before, like my theory presumes… then that is literally how Mike and Will knew the other wanted to date! That’s why they had dinner plans!
Robin (AKA Mike): Let’s just say the snowball turned into an avalanche.
Oh, I’m sure it did, Mr. Made-His-BFF-Dance-With-A-Girl-At-The-Snowball-Then-Got-Jealous.
I’m sure it did.
So, why would Vecna replace Byler's missed date with Rovickie's?
The same reason he edited, reversed and replaced the rest of Mike and Will's scenes: Love and memories are the key to escape.
Max escaped with help from memories of Lucas and El. Will fought his possession with help from memories of Mike, Joyce and Jon. El saved Max with their shared memories, reversing her death. If Mike was to remember his love for Will, he'd be able to escape – but that would ruin Vecna's plans to create "beautiful things".
So, Vecna is doing everything he can to prevent Mike's escape.
Vecna needed Mike to believe that everyone had won, to BELIEVE that he got the happiest ending he could, and most importantly: to believe that ending up with Will would never be an option for him. With his memories now scrambled and replaced by Vecna Mike doesn't know Will loves him. He's back to thinking he and Will never even came CLOSE to dating, and that Will only ever wanted to be "friends."
(Plus, it's commentary on how queer characters are viewed as interchangeable, if not erased from media altogether)
As long as Mike continues to forget the love that he and Will truly shared, he will remain trapped in the Rightside Up.
But when he finally remembers?
Freedom.
…
Thanks for reading!
I’ve gone back and updated the last few dot-points of my MWTFDYD = conformitygate analysis to reflect these new changes.
This one took me quite a while to work out, because I was missing details at first. Lucky for me (and unlucky for Mike), the Wheeler attack on November 3rd was the missing puzzle piece I needed! So after two weeks of "huh?", I finally have an idea of where this fits hahaha. Thanks again for reminding me about the rewatch @mixu :P
Links to my other rightsideupgate posts: ORDER OF EVENTS: Part 1 (Mike the storyteller), Part 3 (12 Episodes), Part 4 (MWTFDYD), Part 9 (Wheeler attack -> Mike's kidnapping) 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)
#lovewinsgate #rightsideupgate
