Hopper: I know El better than you, and I know what’s best for her!
Kali: No, I know Jane better than you and I know what’s best for her!
Mike: 🧍🏻
I’m willing to accept that Mike doesn’t reciprocate Will’s feelings. I’m willing to accept that I was wrong about his season 5 arc. But I am NOT willing to accept that he has become a cardboard cutout of his former self who exists only to push the plot forward.
I would rather have aggressively-straight-and-obsessed-with-keeping-El-safe Mike than whatever the hell they are giving us.
They put him in the room with Kali and Hopper during a heated exchange about the supposed love of his life, gave him all the chances in the world to interject in a meaningful way, to reveal some of his inner conflict, to change the trajectory of the scene, ANYTHING, and they failed miserably.
He’s literally just existing in the story, and it’s such a sad thing to witness. Even if we get something of substance from him in the finale, it will probably be too little, too late for me.
At the beginning of the powers reveal sequence, when Vecna is controlling Will, he looks so much like he did when he was younger. (More than at any other point this season). That is 12 year old Will being forced to face his abuser. By the end, when he has broken free and fought back, he looks like someone we have never seen before. A brand new Will. Sorcerer Will.
This was a beautiful visual storytelling decision.
If you ask an anti-Byler about this scene, they will say that Robin told Will about the “signals”, Will tried to manufacture a signal, and Mike rejected it. The end, Byler isn’t endgame.
We as Bylers interpret it differently because we know the following:
Playful shoving wasn’t one of the signals mentioned
All of the signals mentioned are things we have been using as Byler proof for years
I actually think this is why the divide between Bylers and anti-Bylers has grown since the release of volume 1, but I’ll talk more about that another time.
However… I do think that Will was testing the waters here. He was actively trying to flirt with Mike, and not just with the shove. This is an uncharacteristically bold move.
So, what emboldened him to do it? HE SEES THE SIGNALS COMING FROM MIKE. He is trying to pull Byler out of the subtext and make it canon already.
Right before this, we see multiple elbow brushes, which was listed as a signal by Robin.
Internally, Will is probably freaking out, thinking “Maybe this is it! Maybe if I flirt, he’ll flirt back!”
So he does, and Mike gets a little flustered.
So, now, Will is feeling extra bold. He flirtatiously shoves Mike.
And how does Mike respond?
Inconclusive.
Mike is certainly not uncomfortable, but he doesn’t try to shove back, either. Personally, I think he’s confused. “Is this flirting? Why would Will flirt with me? He’s never done that. It can’t be that. Am I the one making this weird? Guess I’ll just walk away.”
Of course, Will immediately takes this as a rejection, and his confidence slips away just in time for Robin to see.
Okay, with that out of the way, I want to dig deeper into the why of it all. Why would Will flirt with Mike, who has a girlfriend? There are three potential reasons I can think of:
Mike and El broke up secretly. I hate this theory. I hate it I hate it I hate it! It’s cheap writing, so I don’t think this is the case. I think Mike is very much still dating El.
Writing inconsistency. I also hate this one. I want to believe the Duffers wouldn’t make Will do a complete 180 without good reason just to push the plot forward.
Will believes, deep down, that Mike loves him back. After spending time with Robin and mulling over the signals, he just cannot shake the feeling that it’s mutual. Along his self acceptance journey, he’s become a little less selfless, and he is hoping Mike will pick up the signals and leave El.
If the Duffers are the writers I think they are, it’s option 3. I think Will “wants to steal El’s man” as the anti-Bylers would say.
But doesn’t that go against Will’s character? No, I don’t think it does. Will is a great person and is self-sacrificing for sure, but I don’t think he’s above fighting for Mike’s attention, especially if he thinks he can win it.
In season 3, Will is jealous of El. Very jealous. But he also thinks he has no chance. After Mike says “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” he gives up.
In season 4, he is still jealous of El and still thinks he has no chance. He’s insecure, and from his point of view, Mike seems completely uninterested, so he does what he can to make Mike happy. He pushes him back toward El.
In season 5… jealousy where? It doesn’t exist because now he knows. Robin showed him the light, and he’s trying to drag Mike into the light, too. And yeah, maybe it’s selfish. Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe it’s shady, boyfriend stealing behavior. But I think this is what we’re seeing.
Stranger Things 5 Volume 1 has a character relationship problem - a rant
Something that deeply disappointed me this season, on initial watch, is that very few established relationships (familial, platonic, and romantic) have gotten the time they deserve. We are halfway through the final season and without doing a deep analysis (which I will!) I can’t get a good grasp on where most of these character relationships are going or where they’ve been for 18 months.
Before I air my grievances, I want to sing the praises of one new relationship this season. I absolutely adore Will and Robin’s newfound friendship. It has been, hands down, the best duo of the season. Robin was a solid middle of the pack character for me in season 4, but she has shot straight to the top of my list. I would be thrilled to see more of them in volume 2 if it weren’t for the fact that most of the other characters relationships have been severely neglected and need room to breathe.
Where is Vickie? Why are we not getting any moments between her and Robin after episode 1? When Robin and Will went to the hospital for the Turnbow Trap, it was the perfect opportunity for her to bump into Vickie and scramble to come up with another excuse to increase the tension. It would have taken two minutes of screen time. But no. Their relationship thus far has been almost entirely an exposition dump used to speed Will’s self acceptance arc along. But at least we have something to go off of with them… I can’t say the same for many other pairings.
The absolutely worst handled relationship so far is Mike and El. Last we saw, Mike gave a love confession that El never acknowledged in season 4. Now we are halfway through season 5, and all we know of them is that Lucas calls them lovebirds, Mike is optimistic while El is more pessimistic, and they smile when they hug. You cannot be serious. How often do they see each other? Do they ever sneak around together, upping the stakes of El getting captured? Are they simply coasting? Did they patch everything up off camera? Did they quietly break up? Drift apart? No one seems to care. They barely mention each other to their respective groups. Mike doesn’t seem the least bit worried, yet his entire character revolved around worrying for her in season 4. They don’t even have the exposition that Rovickie has! This is a core relationship to the show! I don’t like Mileven as a couple but, god damn, I’m pissed off about this. They deserve development or solid conflict or a clear direction before episode FIVE.
And you know I can’t talk about Mileven without mentioning Byler. We are given the subtlest of clues about how the past 18 months of their friendship have played out. Will is even more in love, questioning the signs of reciprocated love, and they are back to speaking the same language (D&D). Cool, this is great! But why? How did they get there? What changed? Why does Will have so much hope after basically friend zoning himself last season? Why did he openly flirt with a boy who seems just peachy with his girlfriend? They are focusing so much on Will’s romantic feelings, but their friendship seems bland and neutral until episode 4. They got a single moment where Mike encourages Will to embrace his power, which was a sweet nod to their old dynamic, but it kind of feels like a plot device to, again, further Will’s personal arc.
And while we’re on the topic of Mike, he is the designated “voice of reason” this season. His only conflict with Nancy is that… he’s totally chill about his family being torn apart? Why is only Nancy affected by this? They showed Mike being a good big brother to Holly, but as soon as she’s taken… he’s not freaking out? He freaked out when El and Will were in danger but not his little sister? The Wheeler family situation is given no emotional weight with the exception of Nancy’s guilt. She is the only one acting normal here.
Don’t even get me started on Jonathan’s relationships. Joyce who? Will where? Even his relationship with Nancy is being neglected. He’s been reduced to a rivalry with Steve for 4+ episodes. The love triangle is cringey and forced and has well overstayed its welcome. And the ring? Why on earth would he propose to Nancy right now? It feels incredibly forced. Everything they are doing with Jonathan feels like an afterthought, but especially his familial relationships which again are core relationships. My favorite dynamic in season 1 was Jonathan and Joyce!
The four boys… I just… they promoted them as a group for weeks. We get them working together very briefly, which is fun plot stuff, but where’s the tension? Where are the conflicting motives? What key moments will test them and make them all come out of this as a stronger friend group? How are they supporting each other emotionally? Oh, they’re not. They’re all suffering in silence with the exception of Mike, who apparently has no internal conflict (Yet. I’m holding out hope he gets something)
Finally, Eleven and literally everyone that isn’t Hopper. Has she even mentioned Max? You know, the one she was devastated about at the end of season 4? The one she was driven to protect? The one she felt immense guilt over? Also, the Duffers claimed to be going back to season 1 dynamics, but none of El’s closest connections from season 1 are there. None. The poor girl is reduced to a plot device in Hopper’s arc this volume while she waits around for her Kali arc to kick off.
This volume was way too plot-heavy. Half of the characters felt like cardboard cutouts of themselves, and because everyone has the same goal, it strips the relationships of any tension or stakes. I know they are likely saving most of this for volume two, and a lot of the answers could be hiding in the subtext, but WHY? This is the last season!
They are going to have to do some serious character and relationship work in the last 4 episodes if they want to “stick the landing.”
I plan to dive deeper into analysis territory, which may change my mind on some of this stuff… but honestly, I shouldn’t need to analyze subtext just to know what’s going on in the final season.
imagine saying “this isn’t like one of your campaigns” to mike who fought and eventually managed to save will in s1 precisely because he approached the problem as a campaign, who has been inspired by will’s dnd actions and who perceives those actions to be as real as anything, exactly the same way that will does, exactly the same way that will prompts mike to reestablish leadership as his true core purpose based on his dnd persona. this is the more painful, more intense version of el putting hands over mike’s mouth when he started singing during their make out session. imagine saying “you don’t get to write the ending” to mike who is an idealist, who holds on to the heart metaphor to push through, who copes by fixing things, and who also believes el was the one to craft the metaphor itself. Mind you, this is also the first time el even acknowledged dnd or, hell, any of mike’s traits at all. which is just crazy and it painfully forces me to think once again about the fact that these two people haven’t been shown to know shit about each other. *finn wolfhard voice* damn
here is every memory that comes to max in 4x04 when she's being vecna'd
that's 15 different memories that come to her UNPROMPTED
here is every memory that comes to el while she's being choked by vecna, and as her boyfriend is confessing his supposed love to her
one. singular. memory. 
all of those memories with mike and she only thinks of one, and it's the one specific thing mike mentioned in his whole 2 minute long monologue
if there were no memories shown in that scene at all i would be a little more reluctant to compare these, but that fact that they show ONE confirms it for me.
because as mike is saying these things she has no memories that match what he is saying. "i love you on your good days and bad days, with your powers without your powers" nothing comes to her. because he's never acted that way to her.
i'm pretty sure that every single person finished season 4 believing that lucas and max are in love. and they never had to say it once. max didn't need lucas to go on a rant about how much he loves her even though they were distant and had issues. all he had to say was "i'm right here" and the happy memories came flooding to her.
and to make it EVEN WORSE.
not even 5 minutes after she hears mike's monologue, this happens:
here is all the memories that come to el when she saves max. and there are also multiple audio clips that play, including "Not Hopper, not Mike, you."
10 different memories.
unprompted.
milkvan is BONES.
someone made an amazing post about this based on a twitter thread i made that goes into this but WAYYYY deeper and way more organized than this, PLEASE go read it here
So there's one thing that kind of has me stumped for my triangle imagery analysis and that's this pennant flag here. Does anyone know what this is referencing or where it's from? The text on the flag says "Dynamite Falls" and I'm pretty sure next to that it says "Putt Putt & Fun." The only thing I could find out really was that there was a mini golf course in Fairfield, New Jersey called "Dynamite Falls Adventure Golf" that closed down a few years back. That would explain the words "Putt Putt & Fun" but it seems like a really random reference if that is the case. Anyone got any other ideas XD?
Mike Wheeler: S4 Outfits & Identity Crisis Analysis
One of aspects of s4 I find the most interesting is Mike's costuming. We see him in 4 distinct outfits in this season (not counting the white t-shirt look since it's not a separate outfit), and they are all interesting in their own right. But ultimately, they all contrast each other and represent different aspects of Mike's internal conflict and identity crisis.
s4 is the season where Mike's internal conflict is externalized via his costume design. He’s trying to figure out who he is and – like for so many queer teens – it starts with his hair and his clothes.Â
Shout-out to @glisten-inthedark because it was during a fantastic discussion that I drafted out a much shorter, much rougher version of this analysis!
*Disclaimer: While a lot of my analysis is formatted as statements – more out of habit from years of writing academic essays than anything – much of this is still speculation and subjective opinion. If you have a different perspective or disagree with my analysis, that's perfectly fine! This is just my interpretation.
1.
First up, my second favorite outfit: The Hellfire outfit.
If you put this Mike beside any of his s3 outfits, the difference is incredibly stark. s3 Mike has bright colors, neons spread throughout the palette, nearly all of them collared shirts. Yet the first outfit we see Mike wear in s3 is edgier: nearly all-black, featuring the word HELLFIRE loud and proud, the face of a tiefling or daemon, and weapons. This is also the first time we've seen Mike wear a graphic tee, which is more up Dustin's alley.
Not only this, but his hair is long enough to brush his shoulders, the longest we've ever seen it. Finn Wolfhard calls it "kind of the most metal Mike's hair has ever been."
So why is this so important? Let's talk about modeling for a second.
Dustin models himself after Steve in parts of s2. He listens to Steve's romantic advice and styles his hair like Steve's for the Snow Ball. For Dustin, Steve represents the masculine, heternormative ideal: the kind of guy who girls want to date, a "ladies man." When Dustin does find a girlfriend who loves him for him, he stops modeling after Steve in terms of outward appearance and returns to his own personal sense of style in s3. In fact, it's Dustin who ends up giving Steve romantic advice in s3, because their roles have flipped: Dustin is comfortable in who he is and his romantic prospects, whereas Steve is struggling. ("Instead of dating somebody because you think it's gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoy being around?"
Lucas wears a Karate Kid shirt in s3 bc Max thinks Ralph Macchio is attractive, so he wears clothes that reference him to appeal to her, his girlfriend, but he mixes it with his classic camo bandana because Lucas has a very strong sense of self that was only rocked in s4, when he tries to model after the basketball team, who are also representative of (1980's) socially acceptable masculinity and heteronormativity, for popularity's sake. But he ends up rejecting their blind conformity and regains his sense of self by the middle of the season.
And Mike…..models after Eddie. Eddie “forced conformity is what’s killin’ the kids” Munson. Not just in clothes, but in his more "metal" hairstyle. Eddie even makes a note about Mike’s wardrobe change during the cafeteria scene, saying he’s no longer wearing whatever his mom buys him at the GAP, which highlight this change for the audience.
This is significant because even though Dustin and Lucas are his fellow nerds, even though both Dustin and Lucas end up being chased down by Jason & Friends for their status as members of the Hellfire Club, even though they're labeled as outcasts and reject conformity in their own way –
– they still model themselves after classic heteronormative and socially acceptable representations of masculinity, while Mike is the only one who actively models himself after the school “freak" and vocal non-conformist.
Sure, Dustin wears the Hellfire shirt too, but Dustin is the graphic tee king of the show and he still wears an iconic baseball cap and overlays his graphic tee with a fun and funky button-up in s4. How he dresses in s4 is wholly consistent with his identity throughout the rest of the show. Whereas Mike's first outfit of the show contrasts heavily with all of his outfits from the previous seasons particularly s3.
And this is intentional. This is what Amy Parris, costume designer for Stranger Things says in this GQ interview about it:
Mike's Hellfire Outfit represents his growing internal resistance to and rejection of conformity and societal expectation.
2.
....which is exactly why the airport outfit gives the viewer such insane whiplash.
It is bright, gaudy, dorky, cartoonish and a completely different person than we were just shown. It's no version of Mike we've ever seen. Sure, we've seen him in shorts, and that surfer shirt is technically a button-up, but that hat? Those glasses? Flip-flops? It's so clearly an act that it's laughable.
Amy Parris, in the same GQ interview as before, goes as far to say, "We knew we'd wanted something that felt like an outfit maybe he would've bought at the airport before he got there."
This isn't Mike. This is Mike's attempt at conformity, post-meeting and modeling after Eddie. This is Mike feeling like who he is in Hawkins – the edgier Mike who models after the school "freak" – isn't the "right" version of himself to immediately present to El after months and months apart. Almost like he feels the need to wear something more similar to what he wore in s3, the shorts and the bright colors, to "ease into" the rest of his wardrobe, because when he's with El, he strives to present as "normal."
Finn Wolfhard says this about Mike in s4: "I think Mike's just trying to be as normal as possible and trying to keep on a normal path." Yet Mike says this in s4: "Have you ever considered that we don't want to be popular?"
If Mike isn't trying to be "normal" in Hawkins and is sitting at lunch with the school "freak," then in what ways he is trying to be "normal"? It's when he's with El in California, particularly their first day before everything goes to hell. Yet we see that "normal" = not himself.
Amy Parris notes in the GQ interview that they picked an orange (a rather yellow orange) button-up because it's the opposite of what Mike normally wears (blue tones).
The purple shirt is also an attempt for him to appeal toward El because purple, according to Mike, is one of her favorite colors. He is trying to appeal to El's taste/likes while wearing the literal opposite of what he normally does.
Mike's Airport Outfit represents his attempts to conform to heteronormativity and society's expectation of what a "good straight boyfriend" does, is, and looks like – and how unnatural and unlike himself this attempt is.
3.
This plaid look is my personal favorite Mike look in s5. This is one of the very few times we see Mike with an untucked shirt – possibly the first time we see him wearing a button-up/collared shirt and it's not tucked in. Untucked makes him look less preppy, taller, and more mature. It's a very flattering look and especially refreshing after the airport look.
But, I also have a lot to say about this symbolism of this particular outfit.
The rich blue is a standard Mike color, so it's the first outfit he wears in s4 that feels familiar to us. Additionally, the hint of yellow is commonly speckled throughout Mike's wardrobe. However, look at the pattern. It's plaid.
We all know by now that Mike is the king of stripes. Stripes and the color blue are the most consistent aspect of his wardrobe other than his calculator watch. But plaid?
There are only two instances in the entire show where Mike wears plaid. (I've triple-checked this, but if I still somehow overlooked anything, please let me know!) Here, in s4, and in his final scene in s1:
(top row is unedited, bottom row is brightened – no I couldn't get a flattering screenshot of the second image lol)
A blue plaid with (faint) yellow accents. Hm. How intriguingly familiar!
In s1, we see Mike experiencing conflicting emotions in his final scene. He is very happy that Will is back and that Will is having fun with his DND game. But he is also sad that Eleven is gone and experiencing survivor's guilt. His emotions are split between Will and El. This emotional turmoil is illustrated with the use of much busier pattern than Mike normally wears, but because that pattern is plaid, a pattern Will often wears, it aligns him with Will.
Why does plaid connect Mike to Will yet not El, even though El has worn plaid before? Because El has only worn plaid because of her circumstances, not her own personal style.
El first wears plaid when Hopper gives her his flannel in s1. This continues into s2 when she begins living with him. She's receiving either hand-me-downs from him or boy's clothes because he's having to hide the fact that he's sheltering a girl wanted by the government. If Hop were to start buying girl's clothing/more feminine clothing, that would be suspicious. When El goes on her shopping spree with Max in s3, after Max tells her to focus on what feels like her – "not Hopper, not Mike, you" – she picks bold, bright colors and abstract patterns, completely avoiding plaid. Then, in s4, El is living with the Byers and receiving their hand-me-downs and borrowing from their closets.
Amy Parris confirms this in the GQ interview, that what El wears in s2 is meant to feel mismatched, borrowed, and hand-me-down because she is trying to figure out who she is in Lenora.
She also says this:
It was intentional that when El wore plaid in s4, it was meant to remind the audience of Will and look as though she was wearing his clothes.
Which means Plaid = Will, not El.
So let's put this all together: Mike has worn plaid once before, when he was experiencing conflicting emotions torn between Will and El. Plaid is Will's pattern, not El's. Blue is Mike's color, and it's commonly known that yellow is Will's, which means that not only is Mike wearing Will's pattern, he's wearing a hint of Will's color. On a more minor note, the return of the black jeans and converse from his Hawkins/Hellfire outfit means that the facade had dropped and he's slipping back into what he's more comfortable in.
It's also notable that Mike wears a blue plaid shirt the very next day after Will wears a blue plaid shirt. (Also, Will's blue plaid shirt has more white, which suits his wardrobe more than black, whereas Mike's blue plaid shirt has more black, which suits Mike's.)
And this is the shirt Mike wears during his fight with Eleven, where she calls him out on never saying, "I love you," accuses him of thinking she's a monster, and he calls her ridiculous and tries to place the burden of their relationship issues on other people ("You can't let those mouthbreathers ruin you! Ruin us!")
Visually, the plaid tells us what's going on in Mike's head and heart.
Mike's Plaid Outfit represents his internal conflict between Will and El while simultaneously betraying where his true feelings lie: with Will.
4.
Last outfit! The outfit he spends nearly a full week wearing, the teal outfit.
Right off the bat, this color is one we've seen him wearing before in s3. However, as @hawkinsschoolcounselor points out in this brilliant post, the teal polo he wears in s3 looks nearly identical to one his father wears in the same season.
This has a few nuanced implications.
Firstly, in s3, it carries the visual implication that s3 Mike is currently on a path that could cause him to turn out like Ted. What does s3 Mike do? He neglects his friendships to spend time making out with his girlfriend, tries to reject his childhood hobbies and passions as childish (Ted disdainfully calls toys "hunks of plastic," in s2) and something he needs to grow out of, and, like Ted, makes a comment that could be interpreted as a homophobic slight – ("It's not my fault you don't like girls!" – a comment that I believe is a moment of projection for Mike due to internalized homophobia, not legitimate homophobia toward Will. In s3, Mike is trying to be "normal," "grown-up," socially acceptable and heteronormative.
Remember how I talked about modeling earlier? Yeah, s3 Mike models after Ted in mild aspects.
Yet the very next season, it's revealed that his rejection of his hobbies, passions, and games like DND was a complete farce. He returns to wholly embracing DND and, other than this teal color, stops dressing like Ted. He stops modeling after his father, much to Ted's disappointment: "Might as well call [Hellfire] the high school dropout club."
Secondly, because this teal color ties Mike to Ted, it's notable that this is the color that Mike wears when he tells Eleven he loves her.
(Now if you've read this far, my guess is you're a Byler fan and you've read 50 million analyses of the I love you speech, but if you haven't, the gist of the conclusion of those analyses is this: Mike felt pressured to say he loved El in order to save her and because he believed she commissioned the painting, but he tells provable lies during it that will be dismantled in s5.)
If teal is a color Mike wore during a season where he's modeling after Ted, a husband who the show makes very clear is lacking in passion to the point of his wife feeling unsatsified, a father emotionally distant from his two eldest children, and a man who is the epitome of heteronormativity and the typical mundane nuclear family man – this does not bode well for the success of Mike's romantic relationship with El, nor does it frame his romantic relationship with El in a healthy light.
Thirdly, there are several key differences between s4's teal shirt and s3's teal shirt.
Mike's s3 teal shirt is buttoned-up to the top button (in most of his scenes wearing this shirt) and is tucked into higher-waisted black shorts. It's solid-colored, neat, and preppy, and gives two hilariously contrasting impressions: the outfit of a little boy, and the outfit of a tween trying to dress like an adult.
In s4, however, Mike's outfit is partially unbuttoned, revealing a white tshirt beneath, with gives it a more sporty or even outdoorsy vibe. It's also not a solid color and has angular grey accents – particularly, triangular and diamond shaped accents.
This is what Amy Parris has to say about those grey accents, + what she says about how they purposefully added triangles to Robin's outfit as LGBTQ+ symbolism:
Because of this, it is not a stretch to speculate that the angular accents and, in particular, triangle design on Mike's breast pocket is a nod to his queercoding.
It's no coincidence that this is the shirt Mike wears during his bedroom talks with Will, the van scene with Will, his interrupted pizza parlor talk with El (that reads more like an impending apology and amicable breakup, not a confession – just mute the music look at his face during that scene, and El's), and his speech to El.
Most notably, it's the shirt he's wearing during this moment:
Look at Mike's face. Look at how conflicted he is. How guilty. This is the first time since Mike put on this teal shirt, the first time since he had his two separate bedroom talks with Will, the first time since "as a team," and "best friends," and the van scene & painting, that Mike has to deal with Will and Eleven at the same time.
Mike's Teal Outfit represents the tug-of-war between two contrasting concepts: his internal struggle with practicing comphet and heteronormativity (pursuing a romantic relationship with El and pretending to be straight), and his growing internal resistance to comphet/hetnorm and desire to embrace a truer, more alternative/noncomforming identity (his true romantic feelings for Will and accepting his queer identity).
Conclusion
I could honestly continue this post with analysis of the s5 outfits we've seen from Mike and what that means for his characterization/arc in the final season, but this post is long enough already. Perhaps when we get more content/trailers for s5, I might put out a speculative post in anticipation for it.
If you have a different perspective and want to share it, feel absolutely free! I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.
Much respect to the wardrobe department for their work in designing outfits that give a look at our heroes' inner workings. Also, much respect to you for writing this.
Mike definitely goes through an identity crisis of sorts in season 4. His clothes tell the story. He basically is in the exploratory stage of identity formation, which is typical for his age. According to Erikson, the identity vs role confusion stage that generally occurs during adolescent is a big time for experimentation. Mike is trying to figure out who he is, but, like many of his peers both real and fictional, he does so by assuming the identities of those around him.
His first outfit is him conforming to the noncomformity of Eddie and the Hellfire Club.
His second outfit is him dressing in what he thinks is typical California fashion.
His third outfit is him dressing in plaid more like the Byers.
His final outfit is a sort of regression back towards how he dressed in season 3, like you suggested, but it has a bit more to it. The gray accents on the teal shirt could be significant in some way. Blue is a Mike color, so it's not terribly unusual, so it could show he's making a conscious effort to be real to himself, but that there's still something muddying the waters.
In regards to Mike, season 4 was about him knowing fuck all about who he is, or, perhaps more accurately, who he feels he is vs who others want him to be. He's playing around with all these different identities, and it is likely to be no single one of them that ends up feeling right to him. Season 5 will likely be where he figures all of this out, which would line up with how the show seems to end with the end of his adolescence.
Woke up to new BTS content, and right off the bat I noticed that it looks like Mike is saying the same lines in the new clip as he did towards the end of the clip dropped in January AKA these are two different takes of the same line. Even though the mouth movements/words look similar, the delivery of the line is different.
I was looking at this shot of Holly’s room and noticed this poster next to her bed:
(It is also notable that she has a violin)
Here are some interesting snippets from the plot of “An American Tale” that could potentially hint at her story this season (+ some familiar names and elements from ST)
