In defense of Mike Wheeler and Mileven in season 5.
So I'm probably the only person on the entire planet that has these opinions, but I personally enjoyed a lot of the mileven/mike scenes in s5 so I was surprised going online and seeing what people were saying since vol 2. Also the mileven and mike wheeler hashtags need some more love.
Iām gonna hit a couple of points Iāve seen online and give me thoughts. For background, Iāve been shipping mileven since forever and Mike has been my favorite character since season 1.
1. āMikeās character has been ruinedā/āwriters donāt know what to do with himā/āhes not doing anything this seasonā
Starting off, Mike was genuinely carrying everyone on his back in vol 1, being emotional support for his loved ones and coming up with 90% of the plans, slaying monsters left and right and protecting the kids, etc I could go on. Just because he had less screentime in vol 2 doesn't erase his importance and role he played overall in this season. Additionally, Mike was involved in a lot of scenes in vol 2 and stood by Eleven and Will for much of it. He again continues showing up for those he loves.
I do understand that people wanted more of his character, I feel the same way but i do think itās a matter of waiting for the finale. we haven't gotten his pov as much and he didn't have as big of a role to play in vol 2 because the focus was on max, dustin, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve etc who had much less screentime in vol 1. But he is still very essential to the group as their leader, their heart, their hopeful optimistic friend who keeps all his friends levelheaded. He still had all these traits in vol 2, just didn't have as much screentime, which is ok. This happened in season 4 as well and I think he will have a much bigger role to play in the finale and I can't wait to see it play out. His arc this season has been so satisfying in that heās able to balance all his relationships which was a big problem for him in previous seasons, and we now see him much more mature.
2. āMileven are being weirdā/āthe chemistry is deadā
Again, i totally understand why people are upset because I def wanted more scenes similar to the one at the beginning of vol 1, but i personally see them at another level of maturity in their relationship where they trust and care about each other deeply. Mike knows eleven better than anyone and gives her a safe space to confide in him. Eleven tells Mike about the lab and Mike provides her with hope to anchor her, and eleven repeats these hopes to Kali later on which i thought was really well done.
They love each other so much, you can see it from their comforting touches, their eye contact, the trust and emotional understanding they have for one another. There was nothing wrong with the chemistry imo, Mike especially was very expressive with his eyes and his hopeful tone that he is convinced she will be okay and eleven was battling so many emotions in her eyes of wanting to give into the hope but also knowing what she knows from Kali.
Mileven is at their most mature state right now. I do want more scenes with them but i understand this is a plot heavy show. But we've seen all the other couples shine so far and i think the finale will again show Mike and eleven in a more intense light. their chemistry is still on point, no one looks uncomfortable, just stressed. the stakes are just higher so there isn't much time for the jokes and smiles we remember from previous seasons. El believes she has to sacrifice herself and the world is basically ending. And if they did have scenes like in s3 they would be dragged to the ends of the earth online so I think they were very realistic and well done this season. Also, Mike trusting her and not being too overbearing was the big problem he had in the earlier seasons, and it was nice to see him past this stage, again showing growth and maturity from this couple.
3. "Mike is emotionless"/"Why is he not showing emotion"/"Why is his face the same in all the scenes"
Ok I do get a bit heated over this one so bear with me haha. I've seen so many people upset over Finn's acting specifically which I genuinely don't understand. I would've never even had this cross my mind if i hadn't went online because Finn is an incredible actor who does micro facial expressions SO WELL.
In the beginning when his parents are missing, you can see how upset he is but also how he's dissociating from his eyes which I can relate to so much. When he sees Nancy breaking down, he again takes on the leadership role he's had his whole life and focuses on finding a way out for holly. You can still see how emotional he is when he and nancy are talking to their mom and his eyes are watery. In all his scenes with eleven his eyes are filled with love and hope, and you see that this boy cannot live without her and believes in that happy ending beyond a doubt. It's going to make the finale so devastating. When he sees that Will has powers, he's showing emotion and happiness, when he tells his mom they are going to save holly, he's again showing emotion and giving his mom hope. When he sees max is back, he is again so happy and close to tears. When he sees Vecna for the first time, you could see the genuine fear on his face. When he reunites with El, you can see how happy and relieved she is that she's okay.
During wills coming out scene, Finn's acting is again incredible, his face completely portrays that he understands he is the crush Willis referring to. You can totally see the shift in his eyes as he realizes and how his eyes get all red and he gets emotional. He has a lot of emotions he is portraying and overall, it comes off very natural and i think Finn plays him so well.
A lot of the problems people are having are I think they are waiting for a mike wheeler crash out and him not getting as much scenes in vol 2. Like I've seen a lot of "Why didn't mike have a reaction here" but its most likely because the show was focusing on other characters in those scenes. If a scene wasn't in the show, it's not because of Finn, it's because the writers simply didn't write it. Mike and El were both not as prominent in this half of the season, but I think we will get more intense scenes from them in the finale and more emotional scenes in general. We just need to be patient.
Anyway thanks for listening I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way T-T
