Another point I’ve seen brought up for byler is “what was the point of making Will gay if he doesn’t end up with Mike? What was the point of putting him through that?”
I know unrequited love is sad to see. Especially when it’s shown along with someone coming to terms with their sexuality for the first time, and having to accept themself. We want to believe there will be some sort of “reward” or “happy ending” for all that emotional suffering.
But gay people still exist outside of relationships. Gay characters should be allowed to exist outside of relationships. That’s like saying what’s the point of establishing a character as straight if they don’t end up with someone. Because that’s simply their sexuality.
Will’s queerness is a part of his character with or without a boyfriend. As someone who’s struggled with their sexuality and came to terms with it without having a partner, I think his story is beautiful.
That beautiful speech Robin gave him really resonated with me, and others only viewed it through the lense of shipping.
That montage of happy moments while Will was gaining control over the demos was beautiful, and others only viewed it through the lense of shipping.
Will’s coming out scene had me tearing up because I haven’t reached that point yet, and a lot of what he said made me feel seen, and yet people only got upset over it because it crushed their ship when Will referred to Mike as his Tammy.
Like it’s all just about the ship with so many people and they see it as queerbait or homophobia that Will isn’t going to end up with Mike and I think that’s far from the truth.
Will’s queerness still matters. It’s still there and it’s so important.
His reward and his happy ending is being able to fully embrace himself. No longer is he afraid of his family/friends seeing him differently. No longer is he ashamed or looking for the answers in someone else, as Robin said.
I think his character arc actually strengthened his relationship with Mike. Mike now understands him better, and Will no longer has to hide this part of himself from him. But it isn’t romantic so shippers don’t care.
Would it have been nice to see Will have his own well developed romance? Yes, of course. But it wasn’t needed. There being no endgame love interest for Will doesn’t make his story useless.
The person who made the comment I saw is 17. So I understand why they feel that way. Many byler shippers seem to be very young. So I get why Will not ending up with the first person he falls in love with hurts to see. I get how that may seem like a disservice.
But it’s not the end of the world for Will (or maybe it is but not because of the unrequited love thing) and I think that’s what Will is realizing himself.
It’s sad to see many say they’re going to stop watching now because byler isn’t happening. Like there isn’t any storyline at all keeping you engaged? But hopefully that means we’ll see less people making the show all about shipping.
