Argyle really was the greatest choice of friend they could have given Jonathan. Like we have yet to see him in a healthy, stable friendship/relationship throughout this entire series. Then here comes the lovable stoner pizza boy that helps Jon relax and drives his siblings around wherever and gives him realistic advice about the whole Nancy situation. God he’s so under appreciated and I love him so much
not Caleb saying he used to go to Dacre for advice, man 😭😭😭. I wish they got the chance to work more together on the show, something very beautiful could have come out of that instead of the shitshow we got
His father calling him homophobic slurs and physically and verbally abusing him his entire life:
Getting sexually preyed upon by a GROWN WOMAN IN HER FORTIES WHEN HE WAS 17-18:
And then on his way to go on a date with said 40 year old woman, he was attacked by the mind flayer(AKA, the rape allegory monster) while Karen mother-fucking wheeler was prepping herself up to have sex with a literal teenager:
"You called for help. But nobody came".
These scenes:
And this isn't even mentioning the fact he was forced to kidnap people and indoctrinate them into a cult allegory, and the fact that the moment he had control over his body again, he killed himself.
Max finds a key on the floor of her house. Doesn’t know where it’s from or what it’s for. During her investigation, she sees a lock outside Billy’s door.
Her gut tells her to keep the key away from Neil and her mother. When Neil goes apeshit searching for it, she stays quiet. Neil blames Billy first, then Susan.
Then, he asks Max with all the false sweetness of a con-man if she’s seen a key laying around anywhere. She lies.
Neil gets a new key that same day.
********
The house is parent-free. Billy usually comes out of his room to lift weights, listen to music and put the TV on. He hasn’t.
“I wanna order pizza,” is the first thing that pops into her head and comes out of Max's mouth when she unlocks his door.
Billy sniffs. His eyes and nose are red. Allergies?
“Are you just gonna sit there or do I have to do everything myself?”
Forever upset by the lost potential with Billy actually being in the loop and part of the “resistance” so to speak because he would not only have a chance at a proper “redemption,” but as someone who certainly had CPTSD, he would be wired to handle stressful supernatural situations considering his nervous system probably couldn’t tell the difference between being hunted down by upside down creatures and his dad asking him where his sister has been all night. Every day was terrifying and uncomfortable for him so what does it really matter if he’s got to fight a shriveled red skull wannabe and his army of goop… it might as well happen. He would just begrudgingly do what needed to be done and then fuck off to freedom but noooo we can’t let people with CPTSD survive even though they’re already maladaptively equipped to survive horrifying situations. It’s just not realistic.
The Billy showdown at the Byers House Analysis: PART 1
Welcome to another subtext exploration and nit picking bonanza.
The "there's certain people you stay away from" Analysis serves as a preface of sorts to this one.
The Billy showdown at the Byers House is supposed to be the pay off for the previous Lucas/Max/Billy scenes. It is not required reading, but you may come into this confused if you don't. The main thesis of that meta is essentially:
Reducing these scenes down to the an idiotic binary of “he is/is not racist” is not the fucking point, actually™ because that is not a coherent way to discuss racism or racial prejudice.
With that out of the way, let's get to this analysis.
Narratively speaking, the Billy showdown at the Byers House is the climax to the 'Billy is the human villain and also the B plot' story arcs. Instead of focusing on all the reasons this makes no sense for the themes and message of the show itself, my focus will instead be on the lesson or take away that the show presents the audience as a means of resolving the issue of racism and Billy as an antagonist.
Spoiler alert: the answer is Violence.
A quick warning, I like Max, but she is the inciting incident in this conflict not just because Billy is looking for her, but she falsely inflates the stakes of the scene. The conclusion that the narrative brings in relation to Max is awful. Billy anti’s love to say that Billy abuses Max, and yet the exact opposite is true at the Byers house.
Prepare for my crucifixion upon expressing my opinion that this scene about racism is racist, and so are the show runners.
Read more because this is unhinged af.
Buckle up, this is gonna be a bumpy ride
My purpose is to discuss how depicting racism through the assault of a teenage boy gives barely any focus on the victim, does not allow said victim to stand up or assert himself or his rights, and relies entirely on the white protagonists around him to protect and fight for him.
Lucas does not get a reaction shot to the abuse and is not given any lines after the assault occurs in relation to the assault itself. He does not get to stand up for himself. He is never allowed to reflect on this experience. We aren't even shown his reaction to the assault once Steve appears.
Through the entire rest of the show, we never get to hear about how this affected him. We know Max thinks about her dad back in California. We don't know how Lucas feels about being assaulted by his girlfriend's brother. Think about how insane that is, given that all Lucas was allowed to be as a character was Max's boyfriend.
The scene is a complete and utter failure when it comes to saying something meaningful about racism, it's consequences, and showing how it could or should be dealt with. There is no narrative integrity. This was never about depicting racism. It was about the Duffer Brother's weird revenge fantasy about their own high school bullies and demonizing Billy's character by presenting him as a racist. And spoiler alert, people fall for it despite the fact the narrative just presents a scene of inferred racism without doing any of the work required to say something about racism.
Meaning, that if the goal of this scene was to call out racism and show the audience something meaningful about identifying and being able to defend against or stand up against racism, then this scene fails to do that.
Scene Stats
Given this is a charged scene and any good argument considers data, let's start there. During the entire 4 minute :59 second scene:
Dustin is on screen for a combined :20 seconds.
Lucas is onscreen for a combined :31 seconds.
Max is on screen for a combined 1 minute and :00 seconds.
Steve is onscreen for a combined 1 minute and :22 seconds.
If this is supposed to be about racism, then why does Lucas have so little screen time? Why does Steve have nearly 3 times as much? Why does Max have nearly double?
Additionally, the best shot scenes in this are Billy and Steve's show down, their fight inside, and Max drugging Billy. The worst shot scene is where Lucas is assaulted.
Pray for my sanity because this becomes progressively more unhinged. Wait for my cope graphic. You'll know it when you see it. 😉
Preamble
This analysis will be different than the last one. The previous meta had two distinct scenes, but the Byers House hi-jinks is one long scene that lasts approximately 5 minutes in length.
Using character interactions, I divided the scene into 5 smaller scenes.
The transcript will be broken up into it’s respective parts, with analysis under each transcript. Sorry for the kind of stop and go, but this scene is too long to do it another way.
This meta contains the following parts with their respective scene(s) breakdowns:
Part 1
1. Max’s hyperbole
2. Billy looks for Max. Steve Lies
Part 2
3. Billy assaults Lucas
Part 3
4. Steve and Billy Fight
Part 4
5. Max drugs and assaults Billy
1. Max’s hyperbole
Introducing Billy with the sound of the Camaro is such good auditory story telling. Giving him a loud, muscle car makes so much thematic and narrative sense. Whoever made this decision deserves an award.
No matter what, Billy makes himself heard. Billy makes himself seen. And you now what, I bet you can smell him too.
Perfect fucking character writing.
———
Transcript
Max: It’s my brother. H-he can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.
Steve: existential panic and dread
End transcript
———
The scene starts to Billy rolling up to the Byer's house and we hear him long before we see him. Hearing him, Max panics and her single line is the legitimate cause for everything going down hill in this scene. Let it be known that the sole reason Billy never got involved in the super natural circus until his allegorical sexual assault (and death) is because of the Duffer Brother's vengeance fantasy on their high school bullies this one line. Thanks, I hate it.
Starting with the basics: Max tends to hyper-inflate her language and she uses a lot of hyperbole. Normally this isn’t a problem for young teen characters, but for some reason everyone takes her completely seriously. Including Steve who would definitely know better.
She calls both Lucas and Dustin “stalkers” to their faces multiple times. She tells Lucas that he was treating her like garbage. Maybe the treatment is an exaggeration, maybe not. You decide for yourself.
The point here is that the way Max speaks to and about Billy is so extreme and sensational that as an adult viewer, I wonder how people can take her seriously when she says like this. And, do the people who take her seriously not have siblings? Because, threatening to kill siblings and close cousins is a fairly common experience for siblings. Who of us with siblings hasn’t said “I’ll kill you if you tell mom/dad”?
Was this scene supposed to convey that Billy was dangerous? Because nothing we've seen up to this point has indicated that he is or that this threat should be taken seriously.
Was this more off screen development?
And as a viewer, we just saw him be abused. It doesn't make me think he's a dangerous, angry, violent racist. It makes me think he's a hurt, abused kid.
For some reason, during and after Max's line we do not get to see Lucas’ reaction head on. Max faces the camera, why couldn't you jump over her shoulder so we can get a full face of Lucas? Why is this scene shot like this? Why is Max the center of this conflict if it's supposed to show us how racist Billy is and how that racist rage leads him to beat up Lucas? Because, spoiler alert, this scene does not do or show that.
We do get a full face shot of Steve though. And this is my main issue with this scene. This conflict is framed on Steve. On Max. For a scene about racism, there sure are a lot of white people in frame. The next section proves that. If this is about racism, please explain why Steve is the focus. Not Lucas.
Look at Steve's face below. He is preparing himself for some shit. The first image is pure realization. In the second image, you can see the oh shit oh shit oh shit in eyes when he fully accepts Max’s explanation and accepts that he has to protect Max because she is serious.
Steve is an only child, so I guess I can give him the benefit of the doubt that he has no ideas siblings say crazy shit to and about one another. Sure. Fine. But sir, excuse me?? The writers have yet to retcon your IQ, so you for sure fucking know better.
Now, some people would ask: Why would Steve doubt what Max says about her own brother? A guy that Steve has interacted with and has been teased by. But here's the thing, Steve knows he has to handle the situation, but the most important part of all this is that Steve knows Billy. This isn't some random dude. Billy has never been outwardly violent. Sure, he's been an absolute asshole to Steve, has stolen his Keg Stand Record, has teased him, pushed him around on the basketball courts, and surely he's heard little things about Billy from the kids. Maybe Steve thinks that Billy is a violent piece of shit that might hurt his sister.
If that's the case, he should be trying to talk and deescalate the situation, which is not what he does. Lying to Billy like he does only escalates things.
Steve's actions only make sense if they think Billy isn't volatile and dumb enough to fall for his flat lies.
Some Billy anti’s take the language used in the show and treat it like gospel, that the characters never exaggerate or have a biased perspective on other characters. This is too simple of a view to have on any narrative because all media has a bias. The fact that I even have to bring up 'hey unreliable narrators exist' in a show with a cast this size is wild. If you’re unfamiliar with narrative bias or unreliable narrators, good fucking luck in life.
Point here is that Max says in a serious tone that Billy will kill them. We know that’s not true. We saw Neil assault and threaten Billy, humiliate him in front of Max’s mother, call him a faggot, and call the girl he had a date with a whore. Neil ordered Billy to return Max home safely under the threat of physical consequences.
Not to mention, Billy is not dangerous. The narrative has shown us over and over again that he's not. He is not a danger to Max.
Lucas is a big brother
Also, just throwing it out there, but Lucas is a big brother. He for sure knows that siblings use threats of death with each other casually. How do I know that? Season 3.
Lucas: Isn't it past your bedtime?
Erica: Isn't it time you died?
Lucas knows about sassy sibling shit and little sisters. In fact, if anyone in this room can understand having a stubborn little shit for a sister, it's Lucas! Its wild to me that this is not considered in the scene at all, especially when Max and Lucas just had a heart to heart where Billy was directly brought up and Max said he's just angry now. But hey, they're kids and kids are selfish. So I guess back to the bullshit.
It's so painfully disgusting that a scene that is supposed to be about racism is framed as a conflict around Steve and Billy. And most importantly, Lucas is not the narrative focus. Again, if you are not going too frame a racism conflict around the person subjected to the racism, you’re gonna have to go to writer jail.
Max's responsibility
Part of the conflict in this scene is Max’s responsibility. She snuck out without telling her brother, and when he arrived to get her, she didn’t go outside to talk to him or try to explain what happened and instead allowed Steve to go out and stand up for her, and she poked her head into the window to watch what would happen.
Then, she said nothing other than his name, did nothing to explain what was going on, why she left, why she has to stay, and she does not intervene when Steve returns and hits Billy, she watches them fight, until the screen writers decide it's time for her to drug him. No, I will not let go of what a terrible choice this was. Especially for a show as that prided itself on being grounded as evidenced by Season 1.
I am not saying that Billy is not at fault here. He is at fault and is arguably almost an adult. His reactions are understandable given the situation, but not excusable.
All this is to point out that Max is old enough to have some responsibility in this scene and offloading all of that responsibility onto Billy is unfounded. Almost kinda reminds you of the scene where Lucas unloaded all of his emotional responsibility onto Max in the previous analysis, huh?
Both Billy and Max are responsible for what’s happening in the scene and part of what makes the conflict work and feel believable is that both of them are wrong, but think they are right in what’s happening.
Doesn't that make you wonder how Neil speaks to both Max and Billy? About the implications around how language in their house is used, the extreme views of their house?
Neil is a part of this scene. He's baked into every aspect of it, to how and why Billy is here to the unbalanced anxiety in Billy, and the inevitable breakdown we all know is coming
Abusers alienate members of the family, keeping them in conflict with one another to prevent them from uniting and getting out. By forcing Billy to take care of Max, Neil breeds resentment in Billy by forcing him to look after her and breeds resentment in Max by making her feel that Billy is hovering over her and causing issues with her friends.
Instead of Max rebelling against her mother and Neil, she rebels against Billy because he is forced into a position of authority over her. Parentified and forced into this position by an abusive father and neglectful and silent step-mother, Billy is trapped in a cycle that he can't escape. Telling Max what is going on is not an option because that's not a survival tactic for someone going through this sort of abuse.
Billy is ignored when he asks for help.
All threads lead back to Neil.
Pulling their strings, keeping them fighting with one another and eliminating the possibility that they will communicate in a healthy way. Also, it is likely Neil whom has racist ideals in the first place and is enforcing them in the household.
Neil Hargrove forces ultimate control over his possessions. And make no mistake, his family are his possessions. Susan. Billy. Max.
Of the three of them, Max is the only one who does not belong to him. Not fully. That’s why she’s the Golden Child. That’s why Billy is made to be her keeper. Neil has not had an opportunity to (non sexually) seduce and coherence her into the shit show dynamic that Susan and Billy have long since fallen prey to.
Given Neil's insistence that the woman Billy is seeing is a whore, that Max is Billy's responsibility, and nothing about Billy expressing his needs and boundaries are okay with Neil.
But yeah sure. Racism is the problem here. Keeping telling yourself that, buttercup.
2. Billy looks for Max. Steve Lies
This. Iconic. Scene.
Harrigrove, Mungrove, and Metalsandwich fandoms, still your racing hearts. Just ignore the way they look at one another. This scene analysis is going to suck, so brace yourselves.
———
Transcript
Billy: Am I dreaming or is that you Harrington?
Steve: Yeah, it’s me don’t cream your pants?
Billy: What are you doing here, amigo?
Steve: I could ask you the same thing. Amigo.
Billy: Looking for my step sister. Little birdie told me she was here.
Steve: Huh, that’s weird, I don’t know her.
Billy: Small. Red head. Bit of a bitch.
Steve: Doesn’t ring a bell, sorry buddy.
Billy: Ya know. I dunno, this… this whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie jeebies
Steve: Yeah, why’s that?
Billy: my 13 year old sister goes missing all day. And then I find with you. In a strange house. And you lie to me about it.
Steve: Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.
Billy: Then who is that?
Dustin: Oh shit! Did he see us?
Steve: Oh shit. Listen—
Billy: I told you to plant your feet.
End Transcript
———
Quick reminder on Steve
Just so we all remember some basic facts related to Steve’s past actions, and circle back to the unreliable narrator idea.
Remember when Steve let (or asked) Tommy spray paint Nancy Wheeler is a slut on the front of the movie theater? Remember when Steve pushed Johnathan around and called him a queer and a screw up like his father? Remember when Steve started a fight he couldn't finish? Remember when Steve kept hammering on Johnathan about his family being screw ups and all that? Remember how in the original draft of the script, Steve was supposed to sexually assault Nancy and the idea was changed because of Joe Keery?
After getting the shit beat out of him and joining the fight with the demogorgon, Steve eventually forgives Nancy and understands things where beyond her control, she lied to protect him, and there were extenuating circumstances.
What did that experience teach him? To lie to Billy's face about the whereabouts of his 13 year old sister. Great.
Steve Harrington is 2 for 2 on starting fights he can't finish.
Quick reminder for Billy
What a fucking day this is for Billy. He went from listening to music and hyping himself up, to being abused, shutting down, using seduction as a tactic to get what he wants with a much older woman that was basically naked and returned his advances, to driving to the middle of no where to find one of his classmates, the only one he has shown any interest in, in the fucking woods with his sister late at night.
Additionally, Billy is not involved in the Plot, and has no idea the stakes of the situation. Therefore, all he sees is someone he goes to school with, looking around, avoiding eye contact as they talk - which is not baseline for Steve when interacting with Billy - and then lies to him about knowing who Max is and her being present.
Billy looks for Max. Steve Lies Analysis
The framing here tells us exactly what’s about to go down. Billy and Steve are in a perfect 1v1 set up. Refer to the shit post below.
Test your might, Steve.
Because of the slope of the drive, Billy and Steve are the same height in this shot. In fact, Billy is a little taller. They are equals, but the winner is already decided. From the very first shot. Billy is just slightly above Steve. And yet, Steve is basked in light.
Despite Billy's might, Steve is right.
Or, the narrative ordains Steve as right.
Given how these are two of the best actors on the show, let's gush about the acting for a hot second.
The flat, dead, and toneless delivery Joe uses in this scene is perfect.
When he forgets his line, Dacre bleeds through as he shakes his hand and the take was so good that it made it in the final cut.
Dacre's facial expressions in this scene are fucking incredible and just telegraph Billy’s inner world and how deeply unsettling this entire situation is and I will be pointing out particular micro expression below.
It should be noted that Lucas and Max were on the couch by the window before Steve comes outside. It's possible that Billy sees Max or Lucas at any point in his interaction with Steve before he points them out. The kids likely didn't all pop up at once. One of them probably looked out, then another and another. That's how kids act. At any point during this interaction, he could have seen any of the kids' heads pop up in the window.
Billy starts the interaction pretty chill and calm. He's exhausted and over tonight. He's been slapped around and threatened by his father, his step mother witnessed it and did nothing to intervene. Then he went to the Sinclair house and the Wheeler house. Where an adult woman answered the door naked under a bathrobe and invited him inside, giving him a cookie and wasting his time with flirting instead of just telling him where to go. And now, primed with the lingering experience of the adult predator, he happens upon Steve.
gif source: disdaidal
Still, when he shows up, Billy is more or less acting like everything is fine. He's casual and talks with Steve as he normally would, his eye contact is casual, as is his tone. He clearly articulates what he's doing here in a way that suggests he expects Steve to help or answer his question and potentially for Steve to clarify why he's here too.
Then, with poor eye contact and darting eyes - something not common for Steve when talking to anyone, but especially Billy - Steve lies.
gif source: disdaidal
And Billy clocks the lie immediately. Look at the difference in his expression, in the first top gif vs the first bottom gif. The second gif has drawn eyebrows, tight chin, more physical movement, and unbroken eye contact. He's pissed, but willing to explain. He's giving Steve the benefit of the doubt that maybe Steve doesn't know Max is his sister.
Remember in the showers when Billy jokes about plenty of bitches in the sea. Apparently, the sea includes Max. Billy even says “bit of a bitch," when telling Steve about his sister. He’s telegraphing exactly what’s on his mind and why this situation is so fucked up. Not only is Billy pissed that Steve is lying, but he's indicating he has an idea of what's going on.
Does Billy think that Steve went after Max to get revenge? Billy said something shitty about Nancy, so Steve decided to seduce and lure his sister out into the woods?
gif source: disdaidal
Billy takes a huge drag from his cig because he. is. fucking. done. The first gif below? Oh fuck no. You can see the last ounce of chill leave his body. Steve lied to his face about Max. Twice.
The tilt of the head and the way he closed his mouth. You can see the this fucking piece of shit is a liar.
Here is where Billy starts to lose control. In the second gif below, he's visibly angry and there are three distinct micro expression. Anger. Doubt. Sadness.
gif source: disdaidal
When Billy articulates his concern with the situation, his mouth pull down in sadness. And it's gone in a split second. Before he even tells Steve what’s going on in his head, we see Billy come to the realization that he is facing someone he was interested in (whether as a friend or romantically) is a monster. In this moment, Steve is a liar and a predator, just like Karen.
Nothing is free and there are always strings attached in Billy's world. He flirted with Karen to get the information he needed to get here.
Just the idea that Steve would be doing something for the kids own safety is not something Billy has ever once experienced and it is not something he understands. People are not selfless with Billy.
Dacre is such an incredible actor because you can see in real time as Billy is realizes that Steve is just like all the others in his life before now.
And that hurts. Has anyone else ever pointed out Billy expressing sadness in this scene before? Because in the second image below, that is not disgust. It's sadness. Billy is sad, perhaps disappointed that Steve is not who he thought he was.
From where Billy's standing, Steve looks like a sexual predator, a liar, and a con-artist because no one at school shuts the fuck up about him. Everyone's been talking about King Steve.
First: Anger | Second: Sadness
Steve is such a fucking creep in this scene. Like wow he is a piece of shit. From an outside perspective, he has a house full of kids in the middle of no where. Billy is entirely in the right to be angry because his sister is with an 18 year old.
And just look at Steve's face. He looks so calm and confident. Like he's done nothing wrong.
In Steve's head, he hasn't.
And you know what that's so fucking terrifying?
Because the Duffer brothers and actress Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler) did not think anything was bad or wrong about Billy and Karen. The Duffer Brothers brag about adding an unscripted kiss scene between Lucas and Max, and forced Sadie and Caleb to have their first kisses together, on camera, despite the fact both of them were deeply uncomfortable about it. Something else that might just be a coincidence? Ross Duffer decided to film that scene to see their first kiss.
Predators don't think they're doing anything wrong. Predators don't care about the damage they cause, the people they hurt, or the aftereffects of their actions.
Steve feeling as though he has done nothing wrong makes him look guilty, not innocent.
That's not suspicious at all.
gif source: disdaidal
Billy is 17 at this point and his 13 year old sister is missing all day, and he finds her here, with Steve, at a stranger's house, and Steve lies to his face.
Maybe Steve didn't understand the implication of what Billy is saying? But it doesn't matter. Any normal person would be horrified, would hold out their hands and say, "oh shit, no man, hey. That's not what's going on here. Do you want to come inside? Do you want to talk to Max?"
Trying to protect her or not, ignoring this accusation is suspicious.
Is this showing us that Steve is so sheltered and out of touch that he doesn't even consider the fact there are child predators? It's the 1980s, so they were not as well known. Even so, this seems like an incredible oversight.
And so, Billy's facade crumbles. He starts the interaction with step-sister, but here, he drops his cool guy front. For the first time, including earlier when yells at his father and says Max is not his sister, which prompts his father to attack him, Billy refers to Max unironically as his sister.
He cares. There is no pretense. Billy cares about her and is worried about her. How can people view Billy as not caring about her? Billy uses the facade of indifference toward Max to protect her because if Neil thought they were united, he would start hitting Max too. Domestic violence households divide members to keep them at odds against one another instead of against the abuser. Not to mention, Billy resents Neil forcing he and Max together as a perfect little family when they’re not. He does still care about her, despite their family situation.
That's why Max and Billy are always at one another's throats. Neil is actively cultivating resentment between them! Why do you think they blame one another for the move? Neither of them is at fault. Neil is. But it's easier for them to blame each other than someone as temperamental and volatile as Neil.
And don't think that Steve taking a 13 year old (presumably alone?) into the woods is normal behavior. Self described "babysitter" or not, Max does not have permission to be here.
What possible rationale should Billy consider in relation to her being here? Well, it's certainly not to play fucking checkers.
Again, Billy does not know about about the Upside Down.
What the actual fuck is Billy supposed to think? My brother would have kicked the shit out of someone if they did this to me. To any one of our cousins. To any of my friends.
It's not just the fact that Max is here, it's that Steve is lying to his face. Repeatedly. Can't keep eye contact worth shit, flat tone, voice low, he's answering in short, fragments and not full sentences, with short questions.
None of this is normal behavior for Steve. And say what you want about their relationship until this point, but Billy has interacted with Steve and has a baseline for all of these behaviors.
Billy is from a DV household. He knows how to read people. He can spot differences in someone's temperament a mile away. He can spot a lie.
This is not the Steve he's used to dealing with.
gif source: disdaidal
And how does he react to Billy articulating exactly why this situation is so fucked up and unacceptable for Steve as an 18 year old peer? Steve smiles and seemingly even laughs at the accusation. Like this is a big 'ol joke and Billy's just not in on it. Look at the smile in the screen shot below.
Good news is that Steve can finally keep eye contact worth a damn. Seems more comfortable lying and is looking at Billy when he speaks now. So, hey, small miracles.
Billy is disappointed and angry. So this is the guy everyone raves about, who's so fucking great, right? Steve is not his equal. Billy was wrong. The one person in this shit town he was interested in and wanted to be around turned out to be worse than he imagined.
They're not equals. Not anymore.
Then, insulting Billy, asking if he was dropped as a child, and notably, he's not looking at him, but off to the side. It's not clear if he can see the window (or the kids), but it would make sense that he can't since he doesn't react, and in the gifs further below, he has to turn completely around to see them.
Here's everyone's favorite part. Billy's tongue comes out to play! And Oh boy, Steve is a fucking idiot. Billy is ramped up. This is a game now, a challenge, a fight.
The lip licking and tongue thing is something Billy does a lot around Steve and it happens most often when sports are involved. It's also part of his oral fixation. His cigarette isn't in his mouth. It's part of how he shows anxiety and keeps control of himself. It's grounding as much as anything else. It can be a sign of aggression too, which fits in this situation and what happens in the gym.
The fact that he does this around Steve also shows that he feels comfortable, more comfortable than he should be. Billy knows this is going to escalate. That's why he's anxious. That's why he smiles and tries to keep his aggression in check.
If Billy was truly as violent and short tempered as everyone says he is, he would have reacted by now.
All the kids are for sure in the windows at this point.
In the first gif below, his head tilts down slightly and Steve follows his movements. Billy looks down, nodding along, and even without seeing his face, he's accepting, processing. he did something very similar above, right before he tells Harrington about his heebie jeebies. Probably making the same sort of facial expression too.
Rather than pointing with one of his hands, Billy uses his cigarette, which is such a great use of a prop. More than that though, the cigarette is fire, the burning tip is lit and red. It's got a course, like a missile. Billy sees Max, sees the kids. He knows exactly where she is. Where he's going. He knows where Harrington's going to.
In the dirt.
With all the information he needs, Billy makes the decision that this bullshit is over and he pushes Steve. Interestingly, he reminds him to plant his feet and gives him a good old kick. It's not totally clear where Steve is kicked and I'm tracking down a script. Wish me luck.
Given that Billy is also male, I doubt he'd kick Steve in the nuts since he knows how much that hurts. It's rare for men to go around kicking one another in the stones. My guess is Billy kicks him in the gut or the solar plexus. Multiple forms of martial arts teach to incapacitate someone with a kick to the solar plexus. It's also taught in basic training in some of the armed forces.
Probably something Neil has used on Billy at least once before, because if you do it right, it doesn't leave a mark, and it chokes the wind out of you.
@bubblegumflavor coming in clutch with the Season 2 script.
Stomach is close enough to guts, my guys! That said, given how long Steve stays down, it's far more likely he was kicked in the solar plexus, because that's where you 'get the wind kicked out of you' most easily. They're close enough that I call that good enough.
The framing on Steve and Billy is too tight. This discussion is for them. All indications are that the kids can't hear them and don't know what's going on until Billy points them out.
The kids
Final note on the kids in this scene. I love that they're all in the window. It's cute and realistic that they would peak out. Of course they would.
I wonder who crept up first, because that would mean Billy would slowly see heads in the window. Was Max first? Was Lucas first? Dustin is now between them, so maybe it was him? Doesn’t matter. I love it when kids act like kids in media.
This is one of last expressions of character for the kids in this scene, so say goodbye to their personalities until the writers decide it’s time to go somewhere.
gif source: strangersource
Also, not the poison the well, but why in the teeth brushing fuck is Dustin at the center of the couch and camera zoom, and the one with lines? Guys. Come the fuck on. Dustin is NOT the focus of this conflict. Based on what’s about to happen, it should be Lucas. We have already seen Lucas stare Billy down and up until this point, Lucas and Billy have not interacted directly.
Lucas should be the center frame and it should be his focus. Why not have him say, “Shit! I told you we shouldn’t have looked?” Something? Anything?!
How can anyone think this conflict is about Lucas when the slow pan happens on Dustin? We've watched the show, we know what happens.
Why is Lucas not the focus?
No, I will not shut up about this because if you're telling a story about racial injustice and racism against a black boy of color, don't you think the interaction should be framed around a person of color? And not the antagonist’s white sister? Not his white schoolmate? Not a white friend?
Y’know what I’ve been recently thinking about, in regards to Billy Hargrove?
His Camaro has California license plates in season 2.
That means, that to get it from California to Indiana, he would’ve had to drive it there (because shipping a car would not be something Neil Hargrove would pay for).
And it’s a near certain possibility he drove it there on his own - Max was probably with Susan and Neil (whether they were flying, or also driving).
So Billy would’ve been by himself. In his beloved car…driving to a state and town he knew he was gonna hate.
And I just wonder how many times he considered driving in a different direction entirely, or turning around and going back to California…going literally anywhere else….
But maybe he thought about how Neil might track him down eventually, and how mad he’d be…
Or maybe…he thought about Max. And even though he didn’t have boat loads of affection for the little twerp…there was something inside of him that told him that he couldn’t just leave her alone with Neil
Just sitting here thinking about my girly pop Chrissy Cunningham and how she could've gone to Jason at anytime to open up to him about how she was feelings and all the things inside her head and how she felt like she was losing her mind and also about the mistreatment of her mother and how Jason would brush it off and say that it was all in her mind and she just needs to relax....
And how devastated and sad she's feeling that her own boyfriend can't even see that she's slowly losing all her will to live and doesn't know who to turn to...
S4 Vecna: Terrifying villain who brutally murders children by infiltrating their minds and preying on their traumas. The battle against him serves as a metaphor for overcoming trauma and mental illness by grounding yourself using the things you love. Shows us the dangers of misanthropy and lack of faith in humanity. Splits Hawkins in 4.
S5 Vecna: Cartoonish character with less depth than the brainchild of an 11 year old. Spends most of his screentime either babysitting children or delivering vaguely threatening cringeworthy dialogues. Gets defeated in 2 minutes.
messy
I know I’ve posted a crop of this already, but this is a very different paintover from what the final art will be (I just wanted to play a bit, literally painted over a screencap lol) so decided to post it here too, to keep for the future
