I just want to take a moment and crash out on how much I absolutely hate this scene. Oh man, do I loathe it! It is downright insulting to my braincells. Gah! Everything about it is so freaking annoying!
One! Of course, they couldn't do something original! Like, why are we recreating a poor man's version of the Steve and Eddie talk? Why do they like to do so many meaningless fucking parallels? They even do the Nancy talk, but it rings so hollow. It removes Nancy's agency and makes it all about the guys, who DECIDE for HER that she doesn't need them. Like, are you kidding me?
Two! It's so fucking cheap to have Jonathan save Steve. It's just them wanting to fast-track their friendship without doing any of the groundwork! Just so Steve can feel indebted to Jonathan. Like, no, Steve, you don't owe J jack shit. You've already saved him in seasons 1 and 3. Like, if anything, this is him just repaying the favor. Like, come the fuck on. Steve saves Jonathan twice but never gets even a thank-you or an acknowledgement, but Jonathan does it once, and you have Steve going, "Golly gee, Jonathan, so glad you didn't let me fall to my death hurhur." And Jonathan being all, "Well, I feel like we're going to need you in the final battle (Lies). Still hate your guts tho btw :)" Like no! No, no, no! You owe this waste of space nothing, Steve! Absolutely nothing!
Because it's so STUPID! Jonathan saving Steve isn't an active choice. It's all circumstance. It pales in comparison to season 1! Where Steve is actively trying to apologize to Jonathan and chooses to go back to the house to save him and Nancy. There is a chance he could die easily, and he knows it. But it was a character choice that marked his growth. It actually fucking means something if Steve runs back to the house.
It absolutely means nothing that Jonathan grabs Steve's hand. Anyone could grab Steve's hand. We could've had Mike Wheeler grab Steve's hand, and it would be the same. There is no internal turmoil for Jonathan to save Steve's life. Their saving each other should be the obvious action at this point in the series.
It's like, for once, Jonathan actually fucking does something, and it still doesn't mean anything to his character.
Three! And the one thing that absolutely just gets my goat. Steve calling himself a prick. Fucking barf, man. Oh, like, how he doesn't blame Jonathan for not liking him, puke, puke, puke. Like STFU Steve! You're seriously going to let this paranoid pothead loser off the hook because...let me check my notes...oh, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. (The obvious author self-insert is obvious, man.)
Gross that they had to use Steve to resolve Jonathan's shitty fucking attitude. Jonathan can't even do the minimum leg work for his own character growth. It has to be Steve to drag his sorry ass into talking about it. God! This character is so STUPID! Like what the hell. Seriously! What are you going off on, Steve?! Cause Jonathan should've been the one to apologize to you! He should've called himself a prick first! That's what character development would've looked like for Jonathan. But he can't initiate anything! Like Jesus Christ!
This absolutely donkey literally acts like a territorial Chihuahua for 18 months, only because he doesn't want Steve to make a move on Nancy. He doesn't even like her. He threw away her pink sweater! He is just keeping her because he doesn't want Steve to have her. Like Hello! Is that not bonkers! He instigated shit when the world cracked in two, then didn't contribute to the group effort. Like, oh, Steve makes him feel bad because Steve was actually doing shit. This insecure man baby. And he can't even bother to apologize first! He can't be humble enough to start the conversation! It has to be Steve! It burns me because Steve is taking the step to start the conversation, being humble enough to get the ball rolling, and it is bullshit. Such bullshit for Steve to fucking do this, because it should've been Jonathan! The love triangle was there for his benefit; he has been stagnant for 4 seasons. His arc is unresolved in season 4. And it never becomes fully resolved by the end of it, because they couldn't bother to humble Byers.
And he only starts talking to Steve about it after he learns that Nancy isn't pursuing Steve. Like, he needed to do this before the gunk room, man! For it to mean anything.
I will forever despise this "Stonathan" moment. Because it is the biggest middle finger to those who actually wanted to see Jonathan grow as a person and a genuine relationship between two foils.
Charlie deserved better writing, man, idk what else to say. Okay crashout over lmao.