That fucking bike. It’s haunting him, isn’t it.
The bike is a symbol of his disappearance, he was riding it when he went missing.
What other times do we see him riding the bike? In s2 none, yet it’s still on the poster. In s3 after the rain fight, once, also in the poster, and in s4 none, yet it’s still in the poster. That means it’s important, that means it means something. Oh and also we see a bike in Lonnie’s house, child-sized, not suspicious at all.
The bike is, to him, a representation of the trauma the upside down left on him, and to others, the symbol of his absence, his disappearance.
When hopper finds his bike he realizes something wrong is going on, his disappearance is not longer Joyce worrying to much but something serious, “a bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids. Doesn't make sense he'd leave it out here. He'd walk it home. He was in hurry.” At Lonnie’s house, there’s a bike, a bike in between Jonathan and Lonnie. Why is Jonathan there in the first place? Why is Jonathan talking to Lonnie, who is the (unknowing) creator of that situation? Will’s disappearance. That’s the whole reason Jonathan is there, and Jonathan feels Will’s absence so that’s why he goes looking.
In s2 he never rides it, not even when the rest of the party does, the show makes it clear. Unless the bike in the background is his, but even then, he’s not shown riding it.
In s3, the only moment I remember with Will riding his bike, is after the rain fight. So a scene where he’s sad. But also he lost so much of his childhood, he wants to continue it, make up for it, and his friends refuse, they insist on growing up and Will can’t keep up, he grabs his bike and destroys castle byers, destroys his childhood. Part of the reason he’s sad is definitely mike’s “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” (although Mike didn’t mean it in a homophobic way), but I think it’s more the fact that Mike made it very clear, they’re not kids anymore, they have to grow up and get girlfriends and let dnd aside. Their friendship is no longer their priority, they’re not children. And yet will still feels like one, their friendship do is his priority and he does wanna spend time with them having fun. He lost his childhood, he wants to enjoy the rest of it while he can, but it’s over, apparently. Another thing the upside down took from him.
However here’s the interesting part, we’ve seen him riding it in s5. In a (as it seems to us rn, without context) happy moment. Will healing from his trauma?
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