have seen no one talk about the most obvious imagery of the entirety of volume 2:
will's head positioned perfectly inside the circle illustrating the bridge's exotic matter. as dustin explains:
the exotic matter is what holds the bridge (the upside down) together.
so how could will be connected to this?
we all know will was the first to be taken into the upside down. i dare say will was the first human to go in there at all. vecna said that when he took will, he realized the potential for what he could do using the minds of more children. will's mind is somehow directly linked to whatever is holding the bridge/UD together.
space . com explains exotic matter as referring to theoretical or rare forms of matter that don’t follow everyday physical rules. one type of exotic matter that could be related to wormholes is matter with negative mass. all matter we know has a positive mass and is attracted to other matter due to gravity, but matter with a negative mass would push other matter away from it.
the writers are giving us the most on the nose metaphor - exotic matter literally explains will. since season 3, they have pushed the narrative that will feels like an outsider, like he is an outlier even amongst his friends. this is reflected in how his character has been "neglected" and seemingly pushed to the side. and now it is confirmed; despite having most things in common, he is different from them in one way, and this one difference has defined the past years of his life.
slight paraphrasing here, but in the coming out scene will says vecna showed him it is going to lead to negativity that makes him push people away and drift apart from them:
this fear and this feeling is somehow intrinsically linked to the entire structure holding the bridge together. because this is the show that uses sci fi metaphors to explain the horrors of growing up, i think we can assume this connection goes farther than just this direct mirroring, but sadly i am not smart enough to think of a way this can play out in the scifi plot. but i have no doubt that it will.
but, we have now seen that (literally) all of will's friends and family accept and love him despite this difference. they're pulling him back in, proving his fears wrong.
but the one thing they leave open, unanswered, ambiguous.... is mike's part in all this. because despite will saying he "had a crush" on mike, and likening mike to "his tammy" - we already know from the previous episodes in season five that this is not the case. will is in love with mike; he is hopeful that they could be something more to the point of asking robin how you know if someone wants to date, and righttttt after his 'coming of powers' moment, he asks robin just how soon after her epiphany did she get together w vickie😭
will is not over mike! mike is not will's tammy, guys, obviously he is not. and that is the missing piece; mike revealing that will's feelings are reciprocated is essential, because it is the final step to will not feeling like an outlier amongst his loved ones. because if mike is like him and also loves him, it gives will someone he does not feel different from.
and as will said in season 4: mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake. like he is better for being different.
mike reciprocating will's feelings has always been the full circle moment we are coming back to. will and mike's arcs have been directly intertwined since always but was solidified in the "crazy together" scene, and just about everything in their arc since has drawn lines back to that moment.
so, somehow will's link to the UD is what holds it together, and mike's love for will is going to be the very solution to casting out the last "negative matter" (doubt, fear, feeling like an outsider) from will's mind, which is necessary for them to be able to take the UD apart.
confusion and memories: things aren't adding up in volume 2, and that is very much intentional
come along as i explain what the fuck is going on. everything is not what it seems:
vecna turns your own mind against you
going "cold turkey" from the "amount you were clearly on" could be causing confusion, paranoia, hallucinations...?
confused about what's happening, not sure what's real anymore, nothing is making sense
confusion, connections, a big puzzle piece missing
remembering places, memories coming back
and memories can't hurt you, they say?
but they can hurt you. because they can be used against you.
and what could the consequence of this be? vecna constructing the narrative. causing confusion:
because: remember where we were before vecna got into will's mind?
will has been receiving many signals from mike, to the point that he in vol1 and the beginning of vol2 stayed consistently determined to pursue him romantically - but suddenly it stopped, the signals stopped coming through. now, mike is barely even present at all, though he remains in will's periphery. as many have called it, mike has seemingly been "lobotomized". will has, as vickie put it, seemingly gone "cold turkey" from mike's signals.
but that's not the reality; the narrative has been messed with on purpose. we are confused and distraught, because will's perspective has shifted. and this happened because vecna got into will's head and misconstrued his memories of mike to hurt him. vecna is using will's love for mike against him - that is the last leverage he holds over will.
now mike needs to reach through to will. and stop him from slipping further away.
and if you dont believe me, read my analysis on how they already messed with the audience through will's perspective in season 3 here.
ok atp i'm fully aware that it is very much the unpopular opinion to believe in conformitygate... and to be honest, i'm not here in the business of wanting to convince anyone. i only want to compile what i think is some of the most obvious and compelling evidence we have.
so, you ask, why do i still believe that stranger things is not done with us yet? well, mostly because the story isn't finished.
and i say that for many of the same reasons that others are using to argue the creators ruined their own show, except that i see them as intentional storytelling choices. the most important choice of all, was to give us the perspective of one particular character; mike.
remember him?
yeah, that guy.
this promo poster is our first huge clue. mike's perspective has been withheld from us for so long, and we all hoped (begged) to finally get it in season 5. but, sadly, we were robbed yet again.. for most of the season. because the epilogue is, in my belief, told solely from mike's perspective. he is the only one looking into the camera in these promotional shots. he's breaking the fourth wall - it's supposed to mean something.
the "epilogue"
so, let's start with the end, because it gives us everything we need to be able to tell that this is only a pit stop in the story, and not its final destination.
first of all, the epilogue is largely from mike's pov. if you already believe that the epilogue is mike's camazots, then it becomes easy to see how the whole thing can link back to mike's memories and thoughts. i won't go through much of the evidence that mike is in camazots in this analysis, because it's been thoroughly covered many times. but i want to point out some of the key moments i find most compelling, and connect them to scenes that tell us these moments are, in fact, significant.
mike's parallel to will's disappearance
the epilogue introduces us to mike... going missing. that's a peculiar choice, isn't it? this is the epilogue to the finale of the show, but before we even see mike for ourselves, we're told he's been missing since last night.
and this scene directly parallels a scene from the very first episode of the show - when joyce called karen to ask if will was at their house. as we all know, will was actually missing, and in another dimension (wormhole?) at that. it is a strange parallel to make when we're supposed to believe this is the happy ending.
of course, hopper finds mike alive and (debatably) well in the town square. so, mike is not missing in the upside down, meaning his parallel to will going missing stops here, right? well, not really.
because hopper brings it up, which almost feels like the writers are begging the audience to notice the parallel. mike's mom is freaking out, just like joyce was. and hopper can't say he blames her, because there is good reason to freak out about mike seemingly missing.
mike was missing, but he was found! does that mean he's good? no, i don't believe he is.
the library
now the parallel to will going missing is behind us, surely. nope! because, see, where hopper finds mike, is sitting in front of and looking at the library (under reconstruction, mind). and do you all remember where joyce and hopper found will in the upside down in season 1? inside said library, of course!
and in his conversation with hopper, we're told mike feels unable to walk the stage at graduation because of el's death, saying "it would be like a lie. like i'm okay with moving on. but i'm not." - and okay, survivor's guilt? a staple for mike wheeler. but considering the aforementioned parallels, i don't think that is the full picture here.
mike's inability to move on from el's (apparent) death, actually relates back to will. walk with me.
the big main gate into the upside down goes right through the library, and is the place mike watched el sacrifice herself. you think that's an insignificant coincidence? doubtful! because they made sure to remind us how the library connects back to will right at the beginning of season 5.
(potential TW: CSA similarities, images from s5e1 opening scene)
yeah, this scene. you did not think it was just thrown in there to remind us about will's time in the upside down and why he is able to get powers in ep4, right? because this is telling us so much more.
firstly, a blatant and lingering shot of the upside down library. they want us to remember where this scene takes place.
and secondly, the presenting of the chekov's gun that went missing somewhere in the moving process... strange isn't it, how vecna had will right where he wanted him, all ready to begin the process of his grand plan - but then he just... left? not even thinking to guard the initiation of will's part in this plan, like, could he not even spare a demogorgon at least? or did he stand by and let joyce and hopper save will and bring him back into regular hawkins...? (methinks the latter)
and that is not all, because a mere 6 minutes after they show us what happened to will there, they have robin remind us of the library again:
she's talking about the mac-z base, and her words allude to the fact she does actually know what is going on in there: the main gate (through which the gang has been helping hopper enter into the upside down regularly for crawls). but again they focus in on the library and the gate going through it, and if we look back at the opening scene from just a few minutes ago, robin's words could so have a double meaning (which words in screenplays often do!).
because the fact is that right now, we still kind of have, like robin said, no idea what was going on in there. henry said he and will were going to do "beautiful things together", but then in ep4 he brushes will off as only being a test-subject, and tried to kill his friends but left him alone? peculiar. especially when considering what we later learn in ep6:
henry lied about will's significance. probably because he wanted will to stay away; he did not want will to know what was going on in the library. but here he tells will that he made him his vessel, his spy, his builder. this further explains what went down during will's possession in season 2 - and i don't know about you, but it also tells me henry did knowingly allow will to be rescued: will became henry's inside man in the outside world.
it is also noteworthy that this scene takes place inside a memory of the library. yet again to remind us that the library holds significance, with henry asking: "do you remember this place, william? does it bring back memories?". this is foreshadowing! because we, the audience, should remember 'this place' very well - we recently watched the flashback at the beginning of the season, yet now they flash back to that flashback. broken attention spans be damned, i don't think this scene is meant to remind us of what we recently watched, it is there to tell us there is something else to this place; we still don't know the full extent of what happened to will in the library.
and interestingly, henry acknowledges the threat will poses to his plans, but he... still does not kill him? there is no reason for him not to... unless, once again, he is downplaying will's significance - lying, because he does not want him to know what goes on in the library. will's role in this is much bigger than ep8 led us to believe (we're also being lied to!!), but i will have to come back to that later.
because, friends, we have another significant clue telling us not to take the library location as random! and it came in the mail with the finale of season 4:
what's that right there? can't quite tell? it's the library, of course! this is how the mac-z gate came to be, when ritualistic murders of children coincided to form an x-shaped gate cutting through hawkins.
the x
the x, oh how it haunts me. but the x is our most vital clue. let me grab another screenshot from season 4 for you:
the midpoint of the x is at the library, but not because the four gates opened with the murders of chrissy, fred, patrick and max, just so happened to be located at four locations that perfectly placed the library in the middle. nope, because the x-shape is uneven - the four cracks forcibly made their way to the same midpoint. this is not random, the gate was always going to meet with the library in the middle.
i gotta ask again, if you remember what first happened in the library?
in season 1, the library was where will died (excuse the shit screenshot, but i'm sure you get it). and yeah, he was brought back, but so was max and her gate still opened. i don't think there has been a gate at the library in the four years between season 1 and 5, but i do think this is giving us an important clue to the significance of will's part in henry's plan.
this tells us will's death somehow played into opening the x-shaped gate. but when else do we see will's relation to it?
in this scene here! you might have to bring your screen brightness way up to catch it, but the x of the wormhole ('x' here to mark the upside down) is placed right over will's heart. and this was not accidental - they made sure to place him just so twice, both before and after his conversation with max about fear.
(small side note: will's head is framed in the circle illustrating the exotic matter, which i analyzed the meaning of post vol2, pre ep8. if you're interested you can read that here)
ok, ok, so the x is somehow connected to will's... heart?
how fitting, then, that hopper finds mike in another x-shaped location, right next to the library. i won't get too much into it, as we all know will told mike "you're the heart!" in season 4. it was quite telling at the time, but throughout season 5 the extent of what he meant by that is hammered into us: mike is will's heart!
and there are so. many. clues. telling us this. but to pick up on them all, you need to be aware that holly is mike's mirror character in season 5. i have already analyzed her and mike's arc several times, most thoroughly in this post and this post. i won't go through all the same points again here, but i will mention the most obvious ones in relation to the x.
"meet me at the x". we all know the saying "x marks the spot". but then, holly comes up with her own version, and it is hilariously fitting for the situation we have at hand: "m" marks the spot. "m", as in mike.
and most of holly's arc relates to finding the "x"/the "m". she first needs to find the "x" (the cave), and goes because she believes henry (actually max) needs her help. when she finds the "x" (the cave), she meets max (the truth). after discovering the truth (that she is trapped in camazots), she must try to find her way out (a door). and what leads her to find the door is the spyglass marking "m" (the cave) as the spot. and the cave? is a memory henry is too scared to enter. could the library be will's cave? it's looking more and more likely.
and btw, the shape of the cave (the "x"/"m") also looks like the "m" on the cover of mike's dnd binder:
which mike puts next to will's binder, and proceeds to cry. listen... are you hearing this? when mike places the "m" (the "x) next to "will", he starts crying, for the first time all season at that! the visual clues are clueing so hard: "m" marks the spot - and the spot, as we've been through, is will, i.e. will's heart (and i analyzed how the basement scene is when mike realizes his feelings for will in this post).
to put it shortly: the library connects to will connects to will's heart connects to mike
mike's options
let's go back to mike's conversation with hopper about his guilt over el's death, because it brings us a very poignant parallel to holly's conversation with max about camazots (or as max puts it, "when you're a prisoner in a messed up prison world")
hopper uses roads, max uses doors, but they are saying the same exact thing here. hopper's first road is to suffer alone, which parallels max's door of taking your own life. the second road is acceptance, paralleling the second door of accepting your fate. while hopper only lays out the two options, max also has a third one: escape. and holly? she thinks that one seems like the best door.
and here is where it gets reallll interesting, because mike does not choose either of hopper's roads.
mike chooses a different road - one where he chooses to believe el is still alive; that she escaped and found happiness. that's the road mike believes is the best one; the unspoken one, the same one max told holly about: escape! and isn't that something, that he chooses the door holly proclaimed as the best one? el isn't mike, sure, but this tells us mike believes the same thing as holly: escape is the best option.
but why does mike need to escape? well, because he's also a prisoner in a messed up prison world!
will's powers and his crucial role
will is completely sidelined in the finale, and by completely i mean they spent the whole season setting up just how deep his connection to henry/the hivemind goes, just for him to get the one conversation with henry that.. changed nothing, and one shot of flexing said powers, doing.. something that's up for interpretation.
but that's the thing, isn't it. it is not up for interpretation, because they kept building up will's importance in the final battle all the way up until the final episode. that is why will came out to everyone in ep7, because if kept secret, his sexuality would be used against him.
in my real finale plot theory, i go over this next point, but i have to bring it up here too:
holly is mike's mirror character. but moreso? henry is will's. in short: just as holly is compared to mike: "you're starting to remind me of your brother" "you are your brother", henry is compared to will: "except, i'm not vecna" "you sorta are", "you're saying i'm evil and hell-bent on destroying the world?" "totally!". these things are not coincidental.
holly's arc is a mirror of mike's: they both need to find the "x", to find their way out of camazots. and henry's arc is a mirror of will's: they are both vessels of the mindflayer, and lose against its control.
that is what went wrong in ep8, but i think it happened before we see will confronting henry in the abyss. there are many points throughout the season telling us something's not quite right with will, that he is slowly losing himself to the mindflayer's control, just like he did in season two (see: not wearing his jacket in the cold, his memories messed with and getting infused with henry's, mike disappearing from his flashbacks when he speaks with joyce).
and this is the real final battle: will is crucial on both sides. henry/the mindflayer's needs him for their great evil plan, and our heroic crew needs him to be able to defeat them. but will has fallen into the mindlflayer's control, just like henry, and someone (gee, i wonder who) needs to save him.
the storyteller
and as if it was not made obvious enough, they needed to give us a little more bone to chew on. the perfect way to do it is by way of the classic stranger things foreshadowing - mike's dnd campaign. this campaign is telling us what really happened, and what's to come:
the whole party has been taken out, except for will the wise. but will the wise has little power left, the suppression stone leaves him unable to use magic, and alone he stands no chance against the evil strahd. summoning the mage saves the party.
this, in short, is telling us exactly what i've explained above; will is the only one who is able to fight henry/the mindflayer, but something is making him unable to do so - he has lost control of his powers. el (the mage) can help will win, but i believe the "suppression stone" (losing his heart) must also be dealt with (mike needs to help him find it!)
and it's after the campaign that they introduce a fun new concept; calling mike "the storyteller". we all know mike as the party's dungeon master, which is sort of like a storyteller.. but i'm not so sure that is what mike is - in the sense of being the narrator of stranger things i mean.
because we need to remember that mike's pov is one we have rarely been privy to since season 2 - so, how could he be the storyteller? well, he is - in the epilogue, that is. and we see this at work: mike tells the party how their happily ever afters look, including el's, and they all accept his endings as truth. now is the perfect moment to bring up a conversation that tells us mike's endings are, in fact, not the truth:
like a warning, in ep6, they told us not to believe mike is the storyteller. and mike agrees - they are all the storytellers.
and the ending of the story starts with getting will back. the ending of the story starts with getting will back. THE ENDING OF THE STORY STARTS WITH GETTING WILL BACK! (hello? can anyone hear me?)
if will has lost control to the mindflayer, they need to get him back to finish the story - just like in mike's campaign and just like the foreshadowing and clues have all been telling us.
to the point
so, a quick summary: the library shows us will played a part in the opening gates. henry's words and lies tell us will's has capabilities we have yet to see play out. henry's avoidance to kill will tells us he is important to his plan. will and henry being the same tells us will also loses control to the mindflayer. and the x's tell us mike is somehow the clue to helping find the solution.
i'm sure most, if not all of this has been pointed out by others already, and i'm not trying to claim i've made any new discoveries here. the point i'm trying to get across is this: to say that the creators of stranger things got lost in their own plot, forgot how to write their characters, changed their ending in a last minute ditch due to unknown reasons, or that it was ruined by a pair of evil twins and attempted to be salvaged by the remaining crew/cast.... does not hold up as an explanation.
and the reason i say that with my full chest, is that the storytelling is there, every step of the way, including the epilogue. if you sit down and analyze this season like that guy with a board full of red strings (i.e. me for the past 22 days), you will find hundreds of pieces of proof that the story always kept building, also in the very last scene.
a certain theme follows the whole season. it's done subtly in the first volume, becomes visible in the second, and culminates in disaster in the eight episode. and the theme is: things aren't making sense - and that's because it's meant to not make sense!
the promo
to avoid this becoming a full length novel series, i have to limit myself here to a few significant interview statements made by the cast.
finn wolfhard on mike wheeler's ending
i want to start here: finn's statement about mike's ending. he said this in his interview with sfx magazine (i own it, read it with my own two eyes). i'm sure we can all agree this seems like far too grand a statement if it's about mike's "stuck in conformity"-ending in ep8. luckily, we have more clues about what mike's ending really entails.
gaten matarazzo on the show's lessons
i wanted to put finn's answer here as well, but the video was too long, so tumblr would not let me (i will link the full interview below w the timestamp!). this statement to me is super telling.
gaten says: "it's about people learning to really love each other beyond any way they knew they possibly could, and fighting for things that you love when it seems like they could be taken from you."
this is a theme the show has continuously displayed, however - i find this an odd answer to give in this context considering ep8 does nothing of the sort and rather goes blatantly against it: mike literally does not fight when it seems like el could be taken from him, at least not with love - he still can't say it. but if the story building is working right, mike is going to fight for will.
(it's also funny how gaten stares finn down while he's saying this. could be a subconscious choice because he relates his answer to finn's character?)
about the details
something i'm very tired of reading, is that the details in the show mean nothing. because yeah, it might seem like that now, but only because the story isn't over yet! luckily, we have many cases where the cast tell us just how involved the duffers are with the details.
such as this statement from maya hawke, saying how the duffers have "an extraordinary attention to details"
i also remember seeing a video of millie saying "the duffers don't do anything half way", but i can't seem to find it rn. and joe keery, i believe, said the duffers have barely even taken a week off every year since they started the show.
my point is: the duffers are known to be extremely peculiar about their show - they even describe themselves as obsessive perfectionists. they've poured over ten years of their lives into it - this show is their baby.
but more than that, the duffers have many times insisted that this show is as good as it is because of the involvement of other people. they praise everybody on the crew for making the show what it is, while everybody involved all praise the duffers for how much they have poured into it. and i think both things are true.
it's very telling of the duffers' character to see just how much they sing their cast and crew praises - they want everyone to be highlighted for their efforts - and we see this in stranger things promotional material. set designers, costume designers, stunt choreographers, even the guy in the demo suit - if you're willing to watch the content, you might remember all these people by name by now. that is because the duffers don't take all the credit - but you can be sure their crew members will mention how great they are to work with.
slip-ups or deliberate clues
the cast have been making a lot of weird jokes about there being an alternate finale.
finn went on the "last meal" show on yt channel mythical kitchen in april 2025 (over half a year before promo for st5), and said this:
"some people were mad about the last episode of game of thrones, and this is the thing that kind of retcons that. we go back and rewrite history"
could merely have been a joke of course, because the host's question was one - but the game of thrones finale has been mentioned a lot this press tour, and someone pointed out how ep 8 makes fun of got's ending. to me, that makes finn's statement here seem like it could bea truth hidden behind the pretense of a joke.
these subtitles are in czech, but here caleb said "my finale was different, so i don't know" and both finn and gaten first seem a little shocked at him saying this, before they joke along... a deliberate slip-up?
the merchandise
there have been several oddball merch pieces related to things that never showed up in the show (for example, the 'for will' mixtape, sold as pillows, bags, bath mat, you name it). but the most interesting merch i just keep thinking about, are these netflix official character standees - sold before ep8 released.
their descriptions, again, do not fit the finale we got.. but they do fit what the foreshadowing and story building tells us we will get.
mike: "the heart that powers the mission! this standee features mike wheeler, the emotional anchor whose conviction will be vital in the final confrontation. his presence is a reminder than in the end, love and friendship are the true weapons against vecna. he is essential for rallying the troops for their last stand."
will: "the key to the darkness. this life-size cutout of will byers represents the character whose intimate, painful connection to the upside down will be the guide to victory. place him where you need a reminder of the personal stakes in the finale - he's the one who will help them finally understand the enemy."
i think i'll leave you with that to ruminate on.
end credits
i loved compiling this hunk of evidence and seeing just how well the puzzle pieces actually fit together - everything is pointing in the same direction! if this does not mean anything, i deserve an award for being able to frame everything to fit my own narrative :)
robin is indirectly helping mike figure his shit out
listen!!!! i think this is a big deal actually...
in episode 7, we see will separated from the gang at the beginning of the episode. and a surprising new duo keeps popping up together.
mike is "losing" dustin because the signal is bad. bad radio signal is usually caused by problems like distance, obstacles, interferences, perhaps even antenna issues... in this scene, robin is helping mike read the signal when he can't interpret what's coming through.
earlier, robin helped will figure out what kind of signals to look out for. and after this conversation, will and robin found a mutual understanding. and just to be particular about it; a mutual understanding is when two or more people share the same comprehension, feelings, or agreement about a situation.
in this scene at the squawk, we see robin and mike positioned closely next to each other and reacting similarly to the situation that's unfolding. mike and robin seem to also share a mutual understanding.
later on, robin asks mike about the bomb he's building. she calls it his "contraption". a contraption is a device that 'appears strange or unnecessarily complicated, and often badly made or unsafe'. but she inspects his bomb and calls it "genius". so it's not the bomb that appears strange or unnecessarily complicated.. could the contraption be symbolism for mike? is mike about to explode like a bomb? it's more likely than you think:
but, moving on from those implications, what robin does have a problem with, however....
is his chosen "save-the-world" soundtrack, because it's "lacking". mike insists that because he built the bomb, he should pick the record. and robin agrees that he can pick, but he needs to pick a good one.
mike argues that the record he picked is great. and the song is 'human cannonball' by the butthole surfers, of which the lyrics are... quite revealing.
my quick interpretation is that this song is about a relationship that has felt wrong from the start, though it was easy enough to go along with. but now they're only hurting each other, and the end of their relationship sets their partner free, "like a human cannonball". this song seems to quite obviously refer to mike and el's relationship: there's nothing there anymore, we've seen that all season.
robin is telling mike that his choice is lacking, i.e. his relationship with el is lacking.
but what does robin think constitutes as a good record, in this scenario? she suggests the replacements, but no spefcific record. however, the band's third album "let it be" from 1984 is fitting, known for it's coming-of-age theme. what's very interesting is the song "androgynous", which is considered to be revolutionary for its time with its message about suffocating gender roles. and the lyrics.. pls have a look:
dick and jane, you say? hm...
it could make the recurring dick jokes seem a rather targeted, dont you think? bc why is mike the one who's always at the crime scene?
but i dont think either of these songs will be what mike ends up choosing for his bomb. no, i think the song he finally chooses won't be about el/jane at all, it is going to be about will. (heroes, maybe? yeah i'm still there, waiting patiently..)
anyway, what's going on, robin? do you even know what you're doing here? does mike know? in any case, this is not coincidental. this is foreshadowing.
not listening to each other and needing to hear things...
whether indirectly or not, robin seems to be playing a part in helping her new bff's future man get it together.
mike being in love with will is the vital last piece of the puzzle to defeating vecna
as a companion piece to this post about will's role in holding the UD together, i'm going to reiterate how we can know that mike is in love with will. read that post first because i kind of reference my points in it here throughout.
and first off, can we please remember that we have not seen the season in full yet. i've seen so many people talking like vol2 was the nail in the coffin and it simply is not. vol2 was 3,5 hours long and the finale is 2,5 hours. this is still a lot of time for them to tie up the remaining loose strings.
alright, let's get into it. i know none of you have forgotten the painting scene. and maybe i'm beating a dead horse, because everybody knows this scene in and out by now. but i'll give you my take anyway. because i think the painting scene is more relevant than ever.
in this scene will is using the painting, el and el&mike's relationship as a front to tell mike how he feels about him. in the context of season 4, it seems like this scene exists to have will help mike get the strength he needs to save el and their relationship. but when it comes down to it, in the end we see the execution of mike 'saving her' is shaky at best. because mike's courage was based on will's feelings for him, not el's.
in reality, i think what this scene was meant to do (along with will encouraging mike's monologue to el in s4e9), is lay the groundworks for mike and will's arc in season 5.
in will's coming out scene, they draw direct parallels to the words he used to describe himself in the painting scene. this is to show us that despite coming a long way in accepting himself, will still sees himself this way. like i said in my linked post, his feeling of being different has defined his character arc throughout the seasons, but it also defines will's connection to the UD and how it all ties together.
after this he clarifies:
(excuse the lousy screen recording)
here, we see mike is the only one out of the party (all will's best friends mind you) who nods along as will says "and i am like you". mike is agreeing with will. it's like he is saying "yes, you are like me".
also, when will says "we like playing d&d late into the night", mike is again the only one who physically reacts. he smiles genuinely at will's words. and d&d is really closely intertwined with mike and will's relationship in particular, and i wrote some of my thoughts ab that here if anyone is interested.
a big point in the van scene is when will tells mike how he makes him feel: which is that he is better for being different. mike in particular obviously plays a huge part in will's self-acceptance, and not just because will is in love with him. one of the reasons will is in love with mike, is because he has always made will feel not just like he can be himself with him, he also he feels better for being himself when he's with mike. this distinction matters. and the fact that he wants to tell mike this at this point in their lives, despite the rough patches their relationship has gone through in the past few years, is because he still believes it to be true. will's feelings run deep and true and strong.
by using el and mike's relationship we are of course meant to realize will is really talking about his own feelings, but it is important to note that will is not just lying about el's feelings to make mike feel better. will genuinely thinks he understands how she feels about mike, because he's in love with mike so wouldn't her feelings be just the same as his? and not only that, he also thinks he knows how mike feels about el. but by the end of season 4, it is very clear that he in fact did not know a thing ab the inner workings of their relationship.
so, i think it is not just what will says about el's feelings that needs to be switched around - we also need to switch around what he says about mike's. which is why, without intending to, what will actually says to mike is "i'm scared of losing you" followed by "just like you're scared of losing me". unknowingly he acknowledges that mike reciprocates his feelings. leading us into this:
everything about mike's reaction here should tell us that what will just said does in fact reflect mike's own feelings in regards to will, not el. the soft and wondering heart eyes, the disbelieving "yeah?" and the tender little smile at the end... (you never lost me, duffers)
and what follows in this scene is will turning away to cry in secret, thereby hiding his true feelings, and mike "not clocking it". that, along with "it's not my fault you dont like girls" in season 3, are both referenced when ep7 gives us this:
now, will is seemingly not hiding anymore. he is finally opening up, and letting mike (and the others) in. but then, we get the mike specialty: barely showing any reaction at all. this is how mike reacts to shock usually; he goes blank and appers non-reactive. but a closer look tells us there is more to it than that. as will continues, he looks directly at mike, saying this:
mike's eyes widen slightly, then he looks down thoughtfully. this is him realizing what will is really saying, perhaps realizing what he has been saying all along, that it could be mike that will had a "crush" on.
okay, so, after seeing the flood of aggrieved and horribly negative reactions to both the coming out scene and vol2 as a whole, i want to remind everyone to remember that the season is not finished yet, and also to look at the season as a whole and not the volumes as separate entities. this is what we've seen in season 5 so far:
coming in from what we already saw in volume 1, before shit hits the fan in ep5, will asks robin if her relationship with vickie started after "the tammy and the tape epiphany". this tells us that robin's tammy speech in fact did not deter will's hopes of pursuing a romantic relationship with mike, instead it encouraged him further. robin answers that she "never would have had the guts to talk to vickie back then", but that "eventually she told someone". will is shocked to hear that this someone was steve, because he seems like "a bonkers choice" - which i think foreshadows the rather bonkers choice will later makes to tell everyone all at once.
robin then says that "saying it out loud to someone and hearing them be cool with it was like a weight lifted" and it eventually led to her having the courage to open up to vickie. to which will asks her if she has any more "truth serum" left - meaning he wants to tell someone, because he wants to get the courage to open up to mike.
and will's big moment of bravery where he opens up to everybody about his sexuality, really only takes place in the way it does to prevent vecna from being able to use his secret against him. this is a parallel to robin's "truth serum injected by evil russians", which made her admit this personal and scary thing to steve, that she might not have done otherwise but still led to a positive outcome. just like will's coming out ended up doing for him too.
but all this is to reiterate that will is still not being truly honest about his feelings for mike. he calls mike a "crush" that he "had" using past tense. and as explained above, this season has made it abundantly clear that will's feelings are as strong as ever. but then in ep7, he seemingly does a jarringly sudden 180 - saying he now sees mike as his "tammy", and the reason it feels so jarring and out of place because it's a lie. will lies about the true extent of his feelings for mike, because he is too scared of what might happen if he does share them.
interestingly, his fear of mike rejecting him seems to run even deeper than his fear of being alienated by his friends for being gay. like will said in the van, he is scared of losing mike. in the months living in california he "felt so lost" without him.
and because will was not fully honest, still hiding the true extent of his feelings for mike, vecna still has leverage over him. we, the audience did not see what vecna taunted will with, only what will told the group about. they left this unresolved, because it is going to be brought back up in the finale. and it is definitely about will's fear of mike reacting badly to learning that will is in love with him. this perfectly explains why will seems to do an abrubt switch up in regards to his feelings for mike.
which is why it has to be mike who saves him when vecna inevitably uses will's remaining fear against him: that his feelings for mike are not reciprocated and that he will lose mike if he finds out about them. mike needs to defy every aspect of will's fear. it won't be enough to say he 'doesn't care about that' and 'still loves his best friend' and that 'it changes nothing', because will's fear directly comes back to mike's rejecting his romantic feelings. it's all up to mike now.
mike is the heart, remember?
"without heart, we'd all fall apart. even (me). especially (me).".
mike being in love with will is not just a possibility, it is a narrative necessity and the only sensical outcome here. this isn't a one-sided love story at all, it is the story about a boy who always grew up feeling like a mistake, except for with his best friend. it is about a boy who was traumatized right on the cusp of his teenage years, which permanently marked him and made him fall out of sync with his friends and loved ones, feeling lost with no longer having the boy who used to make him feel better by his side. it is about of a boy whose internal battles are deeply entwined with his connection to the looming threat to the world as he knows it. and it is the story about a boy who fell in love with that best friend who makes him feel better for being himself, gives him the courage to fight on, and who leads him when he feels lost.
that is why mike's feelings for will are the big plot twist. it is the last piece in will's coming of age story; to make will be able break his tie to the upside down and the hive mind mike needs to reciprocate his romantic feelings.
will needs mike, he always will. and mike will always need will, too.
(and this is just mostly just drawing lines to the painting scene... there is sooo much more to go on. other strong signs are: "it's hawkins, it's not the same without you", the rain fight, the rink o mania fight, mike's apologies, mike rejecting dnd with el still around and diving headfirst into it with will being gone, mike crying in his mom's arms (twice) after losing will, mike staying by will's side like lucas does for max, and i could go on but i think you get it.)
stranger things 5: the consistent storytelling of losing the plot
you better believe it - the tragic loss of the show's overarching themes is not accidental or a real happy ending. the show has always used radios/signals allegorically, but in the fifth season this was pumped up to the maximum.
the radio symbolism is there to tell us everything that the plot isn't: the downward spiral isn't due to bad or inconsistent writing - it's because the true story is lost in interference to the signal.
to see how everything truly does tie together, we need to understand these things: what the overarching theme is, how the sci-fi/horror storyline reflects it, and what this whole radio allegory is telling us. i'll do my best attempt to explain by analyzing robin's wsqk broadcast in the opening scene ->
the overarching theme: conformity vs truth
season 5 establishes its theme at the very beginning of its first episode. it's not rocket-science; you only have to sharpen your ears a tiny bit to be able to catch it. and, to keep track of the theme throughout the season, we rely heavily on the symbolic radio.
robin's broadcast: the viewer's table of contents
this post by @walkablepurse50 gives a well-structured analysis on how robin is (unintentionally) helping vecna move his plan ahead. based on that, i think it makes sense to view her radio broadcast in ep1 as a reflection of vecna's vision. but not only that, the broadcast also reflects that we're already in it from the start, where we end off in the "epilogue" and, crucially, where it will actually go.
alright. just put aside robin's apparent sarcasm for now and have a closer look at the actual words being said:
1: quarantine = compliance
hawkins is in quarantine. a quarantine is "the restriction of movement or separation of people, (..) exposed to a contagious disease to prevent further spread". what robin says is that she "couldn't be happier" with the arrangement of being 'restricted' and 'separated from the outside world. is she happy being restricted? obviously not, but nevertheless, that is the message she gives to the people: comply and be happy.
then she asks the question that we should all still be pondering: could something be wrong with them after inhaling the UD particles? the answer is yes. something is indeed very wrong. like many have pointed out, what's wrong with them is that they (and we, too) have been 'spellbound' into compliance with vecna's version of the story.
2: the band aid = hiding the truth
a "natural phenomenon" that's been covered up by a band-aid, she says. what vague phrasing - there's definitely subtext at play here. and please stay with me, because i had a lottt to say about this point :D this is the creme de la creme of the broadcast; the narrative's saving grace
we all know you can't heal a stab wound with a band-aid, and that's the case here, too - the gates are very much still gaping open beneath those metal plates. the military does not like people playing on the band-aid, hunting down those who do and forcing them to scatter. we can understand why, they don't want people getting so close to the gates - but why make a point of telling us? because the people of hawkins already (sort of) know what's underneath the metal band-aid, and they don't care enough to keep distance.
let's try rephrasing it a little; the military don't want people getting so close to the band-aid, because they would be getting too close to what's hiding underneath. wait, could there be more to what is beneath the band-aid? well, yes, there most certainly is more to it! because, see, hawkins believes the metal band-aid is covering up simple cracks in the earth, nothing scary. but we (the viewers) know very well that what's under there are certainly not cracks. there's an allegory in here.
the clue to what that allegory is, is in a parallel. this scene is not the show's first mention of a band-aid, and here's where the food gets truly delicious. it's will who first says it in st4 when he gives "the heart" painting and his cloaked love confession to mike.
will believes he's going to lose mike (because of his love for mike), so he'd rather get it over with quick, like "ripping off a band aid" ('being mean' or pushing mike away). st5 is, in fact, building onto that same band-aid metaphor, which is obvious if you know what to look for:
because we actually see the moment will is about to lose mike, in every sense of the word - and what actually prevents it from happening is will.
the metal band-aid rips away, and from beneath it comes a demogorgon to kill mike. mike being in danger (bc of the monster that comes from what the band-aid is covering) is going to bring will's fear (of losing him) to reality. will's love (for mike) triggers him to find his inner strength (powers) and save mike's life.
so, what this is telling us is that will got it wrong in st4; the metaphor is not: 'ripping off the band-aid makes will lose mike quick'. this is what the actual metaphor is: ripping off the band aid prevents will from losing mike. the allegorical 'natural phenomenon' that's been covered up by a band-aid is will's love for mike.
the x is above will's heart is not random. "the x" symbolizes will's heart <- read my previous analysis on that. the metal band-aid is covering up the x-shaped gate, meaning... well, i'm sure you understand what i'm getting at.
but hold up! there's actually a bit more to it. and i rly need the meaning to be super clear: the metaphorical band-aid symbolizes will hiding his love for mike. ripping the metaphorical band-aid off symbolizes will revealing his feelings for mike. are we on the same page? ok, good - now, keep holding onto that real tight going forward.
see, here's the thing: what initially happens after the metal band-aid gets ripped off, is that a monster climbs from the gate beneath and mike's life is endangered. it's only after the fact that will's love gives him the strength to siphon the powers to save mike (& friends). why should that mean anything, you ask?
because also see the moment will rips off the metaphorical band-aid, but something about the metaphorical wound it reveals isn't quite right. season 5 makes it unquestionably clear that will is (still) in love with mike, but when he rips off the band-aid, he calls his feelings for mike 'a crush' he 'had'. confused? very much so! but we really shouldn't be; remember, this confession doesn't come at will's own volition, but from necessity, after henry went into will's mind and turned his own fears against him.
now, what did vecna show will would happen if he came out to his friends and family? he would lose them. why did will tell them anyway? if kept secret, vecna can use it to hurt him. and what integral part of will's confession doesn't add up with what we know? that mike is just a past crush. hold up. why would will suddenly switch up about his feelings for mike? (is it the fault of bad writing with cruel intent, brushing over the depth of will's feelings and not giving the queer main character the love story he deserves after 5 seasons of build-up? no. not at all. or, well, cruel intent is at fault, but not that of the writers.)
post-st5, noah schnapp (will) posted this pic with a repositioned line up of the party's d&d binders posted on ig. finn wolfhard (mike) shared the same one to his ig story.
will didn't have a change of heart, will lied. but then, if the reason for him confessing is so vecna can't use his fears against him, why would will still lie about his feelings for mike? because henry has made will go back to believing in the wrong metaphor!!!!! will believes that his feelings for mike will lead to losing him, and he doesn't want that to happen at all. after california will knows what it feels like to be without mike ("felt so lost without you"), and he never wants to be again. he would no longer prefer to "make it quick, like ripping off a band-aid", because he needs mike. this is literally telling us that will's worst fear is losing mike in particular.
alright, so. this is the deal: the metal band-aid ripped off, first revealing a monster. when the metaphorical band-aid rips off it reveals a lie about will's true feelings. the monster's threatens mike's life and will draws strength from his love for mike and saves him. but the lie is never shown to pose any threat and never negates the need to reveal the truth... seemingly. as i mentioned, will's hidden fears can be used to hurt him, because he hasn't had them disproved yet. so, as for the metaphor's equivalent to the "monster", the lie also poses a threat to mike. so, we should all be certain of two things after ep 7: henry still has leverage to weaken will and break him (bc his worst fear is losing mike) and the lie leads to mike's endangerment (he's is in camazots, also a lie).
a quick rundown:
the x -> will's heart
will's heart -> in love with mike
the band-aid -> hides will's heart
ripping off the band-aid -> reveal will's love for mike
the monster -> will's lie about his love
the consequence -> losing mike
the power to save mike -> will's love
to sum up this convoluted mess, what robin is saying is: don't touch the band-aid, the men with guns don't like it. in regards to will and mike's story arcs, meaning: don't reveal your queer love, the people in power (the mindflayer = the conforming majority) don't like it.
-> tiny additional point: the writers having robin say 'the men with guns' don't like it when you get too close to the band aid, and pointedly never give mike a gun. they also have lucas point out that nancy didn't give mike a gun, but a flare, in ep8. and in the doc the writers were vocally against mike ever having a gun. they're making a point of it: men with guns dont like you getting close to the band-aid, but mike is not one of them!!!
3: mac-z = enforcing the lie of conformity
ok this is actually kinda funny and i cant believe i never noticed it before, but robin's phrasing here actually contradicts itself: "things not to do" -> "steer clear of the mac-z". lmao right, right.... we'll have to make sure we look extra closely next time.
but first, what exactly is the mac-z? it's a military base, and the military is about as conforming as it gets; wear the uniform, don't ask questions and do as you're told. the mac-z is the base to the soldiers working on containing the ud from spreading, experimenting on it and hiding the truth about it from the outside world.
robin is telling us "they'd like you to stay away" - 'they' being the military, aka conformity. conformity does not want us to know what's in there. as she's saying this, the camera focuses on the library, which is the building that the gate goes through, and the very center of both the mac-z base and the x-shaped gate splitting hawkins open (remember, the x that is covered up by the metal band-aid).
in the same analysis of mine that i referred to above, i also go through this part of the broadcast and my thoughts on the meaning of the library based on what robin says. what's certain is this: something is being kept from us. the military/conformity is heavily guarding the center of the x-shaped gate, and going off the band-aid metaphor, it's easy to draw a between it and here: conformity is keeping the core of will's heart locked up.
but let's not gloss over the implications of that first shot! i actually think that one is particularly important. going back to what i first pointed out, notice that as robin is saying "speaking of things not to do", we get a shot of mike, holly and will biking right past the entrance gates to the mac-z, right before it zooms out to a full view of the base and robin continues to say, "please steer clear of the mac-z". bc, like, hello,,, the visual foreshadowing is going crazy: the thing that mike, holly and will should not do, is steer past the center of the x.
which is very telling, considering that holly is mike's mirror character, meaning they're supposed to reflect each other in the storyline. as we've already seen, holly's arc this season is about facing her fears and the truths about herself. but the problem is that although holly did do that, she still couldn't save herself! and remember, will had a very similar arc; accepting himself/his sexuality, and facing his fears by coming out and revealing his feelings for mike... except that he didn't actually do that last part - he didn't reveal his feelings for mike! do you get it?
allow me to rephrase: holly, mike and will bike right past the x that they should not steer clear of. holly's arc of believing in herself was fulfilled, but ultimately "pointless" because she still did not escape vecna's captivity. and will's arc is similar to hers, only will actually "won" the battle - but will didn't reveal what was really underneath the metaphorical band-aid: his love for mike, aka his heart, aka he steered past the center of "the x". and mike's arc should be the same as holly's, but we dont see him go through much of a change or growth at all. so wtf is going on? well, it's exactly what this scene shows us: the three of them went right past "the x" that they should not steer clear of.
remember: x is a lie. and the meaning goes beyond will's lie about his feelings to mike. the x is a lie, currently, but it actually symbolizes the truth; the truth of will's heart is that he's in love with mike. conformity wants us to steer clear of the truth - but it's not just the military guarding said truth.
and this is how the failure of holly's arc is actually telling us what went wrong with mike's: he did go through all the same motions as her; facing the truth about himself and his battling his fears. and then things went to shit anyway, because mike steered clear of "the x" too. and what was it that happened to holly after finding her strength and bravery? vecna got her and placed her back in camazots as his prisoner. meaning, that what also happened to "arcless" mike was, in fact... yep.
and this is where it's relevant to mention @upsidedownlurker's brilliant theory on how season 5 is actually vecna's version of the story. scenes have been reconstructed by henry to further the outcome he wants and prevent the one he doesn't. and henry does not want mike be able to reach through to will.
4: signal / static = love / loss
alright, i'll try to not dig too deep into this part, bc this post is getting ridiculously long, and after all the above points, i think this part sort of speaks for itself anyway.
robin's broadcast ends on an equally telling note as she dedicates a love song to vickie - a declaration of love, if you will. but of course, this is the very moment the radio signal cuts off, so vickie doesn't hear the song, just static. is it just for the lols? no, babes, there's nothing funny about it.
there are many clues telling us that robin is meant to parallel will and that vickie parallels mike (i dont have a compilation at hand, sorry). if we add that on top of the clear symbolism of the band-aid and the x, and the added allegory of the mac-z busting their asses to keep both of them locked up.... well, the metaphorical 'cutting off the radio signal delivering the love song robin dedicated to vickie', seems to get a very distinct second meaning, don't you agree?
-> vecna interferes will's love declaration, causing mike to pick up a jumbled signal and not receive the full message.
and that happens to be very fitting, because we have been shown that mike is indeed dealing with jumbled signals that make his struggle to hear the full transmission.
yep. and robin's helping him decode the words between the static? well doesn't that seem right, seeing as robin knows will is gay? butttt. i don't necessarily think this means she will be the one who's going to help mike out with picking up will's signal.
i think that is what this is foreshadowing, as a sort of parallel to the guidance robin gives will. her advice about mike's choice of record is vague, which could mean that robin might help mike out in accepting his sexuality and reading the signals, but i'm not sure she will be able to guide him in the right direction in regards to will. because as far as robin knows, mike is just will's "tammy". which she got totally wrong, obviously, but that's just because she does not know the extent of them yet. thankfully, there is someone who does!
mr jonathan byers did not get front row tickets to the mike&will show for nothing! as a long time audience member, he is already in the know that will is in love with mike. and sitting up close, he does not miss a thing - including mike's googly eyes. anyway.
this conversation, theee heart-to-heart to ever be hearted, is never to be forgotten. jonathan even says the same thing to make sure the point sticks with will - but also with the audience. so, isn't it a little strange that will and jonathan go on to barely interact, like, at all, in season 5? yes, it is actually very strange that the one person will knows he can go to for anything, has drifted into the background of his periphery.
again, very telling. another one of the people most important to will is erased from the narrative.. methinks jonathan is also a victim to vecna's scene reconstruction. but worry not, he will get his time to shine in the real deal!
and why do i think it is jonathan that will help mike? well, a big reason is that charlie heaton said his character "sees something his brother wants, and helps him get it" (do forgive me if i'm paraphrasing here). but my main reason is in the narrative; if i'm assuming correctly, will is now out for the count after losing himself to the hive mind (bc vecna could still use his love for mike against him). and that means someone else has to help mike pull his head out of his own ass, because it will be necessary to save will. and the only one who knows how will truly feels is jonathan. simple maths.
anyway. the final clue in the broadcasts, that also happens to tell us why mike isn't picking up the signals, is the song robin dedicated to vickie. remember: vickie parallels mike.
"lives in the place in the side of our lives where nothing is ever put straight", then "loses herself in her dreaming and sleep". yeah. as we've been through, the reason mike is not picking up any signals from will, is because he's not watching the real scenes. and neither are we. we're watching vecna's reconstructions - versions that he conjured up in his mind, y'know, like in a dream. and you know, someone under vecna's trance just so happen to look like they're just sleeping.
conclusion
yea i don't even feel like i need to write one, it all just lines up so clearly. i wanna shout out robin with her narratively psychic abilities and for laying it all for us out so neatly!
oh, alright then. so, the quarantine of hawkins symbolizes the characters, by extension also the audience, being in compliance with the false narrative; conformity. the big, metal band-aid symbolizes hiding the truth. the mac-z and its accompanying military symbolizes the majority (and vecna/the mindflayer) enforcing the hiding of the truth -> enforcing the lie -> enforcing conformity. the radio signals symbolize the communication that bridges the gap between the lie and the truth.
i might have to come back and analyze the much kookier broadcast robin does in the epilogue, but for now - thank you for reading !! :-D
will's character arc, and the role mike has always played in it
stranger things is a coming of age story - the duffers have said so themselves. they also said that season 5 is meant to circle us back to where this all started; with will.
with his looming absence, will's role was central to season 1; his disappearance is what brought our unlikely team of heroes together in the first place, and the events that transpire throughout the rest of the show all somehow connect back to the day that he went missing.
season 5 has reestablished that will is the main character. the show is first and foremost about will's coming of age story. with this knowledge, we can already start to reframe the events of the previous seasons, and through them be certain of how the finale will conclude will's character arc.
season 1 was the catalyst
will is forcefully taken into a darker, scarier and mysterious version of the safe small town he grew up in. it's all at once somewhere familiar and an entirely new and unpredictable place. the upside down is meant to serve as a allegory for growing up - in particular, as in will's instance; growing up when you're different. the feeling of being different isn't all new to will, but as a child he has up until now found solace in friends that are like him, who are different too. the true ramifications of what makes will different (which is that he's gay) hasn't hit him yet.
the first season establishes will as a shy and sensitive kid, who gets bullied for potentially being gay, but it is not confirmed in the narrative at this point. he is honest to a fault (at least he is with mike). he is deeply loved by his family and friends - and the love they have for him is not only what saves him, but also what brings together a group of people who will later grow to be like a family. mike is also shown to be especially close to will, and is the party's driving force in looking for him, remaining unwilling to give up on him.
after will returns, all seems well - but we soon see that the upside down has left its mark on him. the trauma will went through in the upside down marks the beginning of the alienation he will face growing up as a gay kid in small town america.
season 2 marked the shift
it's now a year later and will is officially a teenager. but he is still only 13 years old; still just a kid. this season takes care to highlight the effects will's time in the upside down still has on him, while he is also trying to cling onto normalcy - wanting to go back to how things used to be. by showing us how he is now being targeted by bullies for what he went through, branded as 'zombie boy' in place of the previous insults aimed at his sexuality, we see how his trauma from the upside down has intertwined with his normal life.
but will can't go back to how things were before, and it makes him feel like a freak. we see that his mom, brother and friends are trying their best to be there for him, but they too are treating him differently, and, as much as he loves them, it serves to make will feel like even more of a freak. what this season also makes sure to accentuate, is how mike is different from everybody else in this aspect. mike is there for will with no limitations, but instead of coddling will with worry, he treats will like an equal. where he hesitates to open up to even his mother, will opens up to mike easily, and that is because mike opens up to will. mike's not scared of meeting will half way, because he trusts will to know his own limits. but more than that, they bond over a shared feeling of "going crazy". in the context of this season, they're referring to will's episodes and mike feeling like he still sees el around. but this scene sets a precedent for the rest of the series: the boundless trust and and mutual understanding between will and mike is what sets their relationship apart from the others.
the mind flayer possessing will works as doubling down on the original allegory, only this time i think it's about trauma and depression; he is losing himself in the fear and pain of growing up and into the understanding that he is queer. the mind flayer isolates him, wants him to be cold and alone. will is slowly losing his grasp on who he really is, struggling to remember his loved ones, and is made to lash out against the people that love him and mean him well. the importance of mike sticking by will's side through this whole ordeal should not be lost on anyone; mike does not care about anything other than getting will back from the darkness that has pulled him under, and his perseverance is vital to will being brought back. as we all know, it is mike's, joyce's and jonathan's love for him that brings will back to 'the light'.
season 3 isolated him
this season is often misunderstood in my opinion, because its emotional depth in regards to will's character arc is extremely important.
it deceivingly opens on a good note, with will going to see a movie with his friends, all joking and laughing together. for a moment, it can almost seem like things are back to normal, but from the start there are signs something is off. the first obvious sign is when will lies to mike at the movie theater after he first feels the 'goosebumps' on his neck. will's goosebumps this season are not just a tool that lets him sense when danger is close, they also serve as a constant reminder of the horrors he went through in the upside down and with his possession (remember, the allegories for him growing up as a gay kid and trauma and depression). i don't think it is redundant how often will's goosebumps come into play this season. and the particular moments they do are not coincidental.
like i said, the first goosebumps moment happens when will and mike are going to see amovie with lucas and max, who are a couple. what makes this interesting is when they separate the two pairs and parallel them sitting next to each other. putting will and mike in the exact situation as their romantically involved friends is meant to resemble a double date. and although it technically isn't one in that sense, it is not far fetched to assume that will also picks up on the implications of their 'movie date'. will's goosebumps come at this exact moment and reminds him of the upside down; metaphorically reminding him that he's different. when mike asks him what's wrong, the moment feels intimate, mike even glances down at will's lips. but mike has a girlfriend now, so whatever will is feeling does not fit here. and that's why will lies to mike and tells him he's okay; will's connection to the upside down is no longer something he can confide in mike about.
the other times will gets the goosebumps are thematically similar; they're all framed by moments that either relate to his changing feelings for mike, or his feeling of falling behind and feeling left out because he is different to his friends. the second time it happens is right after he destroys castle byers - coming from the rain fight and feeling more different from his friends than ever, and from mike in particular. the third time is during the sauna test, when will is standing close to mike's side and mike glances at will's lips again. the fourth time is in the hospital when will is alone with his friends; the two couples both snuggling up and sharing candy with each other, while will sits by himself to the side eating his own candy. the last two times it happens is in hoppers cabin and at the mall; and both times will is alone with all his coupled up friends, and with jonathan and nancy. (edit: just realised i forgot ab the actual second time, which was in the field going to set up cerebro. will gets the goosebumps as mike and el leave their friend group early to go hang out alone)
this season goes above and beyond to make it seem like will has been cast to the side - and in many ways within the story, he has. like i explained above with the goosebumps, will is always surrounded by straight couples throughout the whole season. this is to constantly remind not just him, but also the audience, that will is the odd one out. if will seems like he is being neglected to us as the audience, it's because that is how will feels. it's not an accident, the writers did not forget to tie him properly into the story; will is feeling isolated because the thing that makes him different from his friends is persistently being shoved in his face.
and will is trying so hard to hold onto what used to bring him and his friends together; d&d, their shared interest before all his friends swapped it out with their interest in girls. and will can't relate to that, so he feels like he is losing his connection to them. and then, when he finally gets mike and lucas to play, they use the game to make fun of him. will reacts strongly, surprisingly so judging by mike and lucas' reactions to his anger. and it is because will doesn't just feel like they're making fun of him, he feels like they just ruined the only way he still knew how to relate to his friends.
even worse, when will finally breaks and tells mike how he's feeling, mike unknowingly uses will's achilles' heel against him. this whole season we are repeatedly shown how will not liking girls is making him feel othered around his friends. and here mike (even if it's not his intention) confirms will's fear; that him not liking girls is what has driven them apart.
the following scene in castle byers shows will breaking down, both figuratively and literally. he tears down castle byers as the final nail in the coffin that things can never go back to the way they were. they are growing up, and to will that seems to mean he is going to lose everything and everyone he loves. breaking castle byers is the moment when will begins "ripping off the bandaid".
finally, joyce makes the decision to move their family to the other side of the country. this is the culmination of will's isolation from his friends as he officially leaves them behind. he leaves d&d behind. and importantly, he leaves mike behind.
season 4 brought him home
will's storyline is intrinsically tied to hawkins because that is where the connection to the upside down is. i think it was purposeful to remove will from where his growing pains hurt the most, as it gives us the opportunity to see how distance from the upside down will affect his growth. the way i interpret it is that it doesn't. and by that i mean; in his time away from the upside down (which again, is an allegory for growing up), will has not done much growth at all.
when we meet will again at the beginning of the season, he appears to be very much in the same place he has always been. he's still shy and withdrawn, does not appear to have made any new friends, stays close to el who is his only connection to his life back in hawkins, and he is still in love with mike. despite moving to california, his life remains, in many ways, the same as it was in hawkins. the key difference is that his connection to the upside down and mind flayer is out of the picture, and this plays a big part in how his arc plays out this season.
when mike arrives to lenora, we are introduced to the fact that his friendship with will is at a standstill. mike's standoffishness is striking, and will understandably takes his behavior personally. at rink o mania we see the continuation of what plagued will and mike's friendship in season 3; will once again getting pushed to the side and ignored, as mike and el try to have a perfect day "all about them", as el called it. but the perfect day quickly falls into shambles, and inexplicably mike blames will for this. once again mike manages to say the worst thing he could have.
their following argument is like a confirmation to will that he once again was expecting too much; friends come second to girlfriends and he should not expect the emotionally profound friendship they used to have. any point will tries to bring up, mike turns back around on him. mike's words have the unintended outcome of calling will the problem in why their friendship isn't what it used to be. in other words, the isolation that enveloped will in the previous season is still very much in place.
after this, will takes mike's words to heart. following their argument, will takes a step back as mike's honest best friend, and takes on the role as mediator for mike and his relationship with el. the reason he can't be both at the same time, is because his own feelings for mike get in the way of complete honesty. i think will does this because it's what he watched lucas do for mike after el broke up with him in season 3. will thinks mike does not want the full transparency their friendship used to have anymore, because all his attempts at being honest with him have only led to hurtful outbursts. and will does not want to lose mike entirely, so he becomes what he thinks mike wants/needs him to be.
the funny thing is that all of will's advice to mike regarding his and el's relationship have double meaning. will's words of consolation are meant to soothe mike's worries about his relationship with el, but what becomes increasingly obvious as a viewer throughout the season is that mike is taking the advice in regards to his relationship with will.
will's first consoles mike back at the california house, and this directly leads to mike apologizing to will; taking accountability for not only their argument at rink o mania, but the past year of miscommunication. it's the first real conversation they have had in a long time, and they immediately agree to be best friends again, to work as a team. this gives will back his hope again, showing us once again that the role mike plays in will's life is central. slightly paraphrasing what will later says - mike is will's heart.
the painting scene confirms what has been building over the past few seasons: will is in love with mike. will feels like he needs him, that he is lost without him. he blames himself for pushing mike away, because he thinks it would be better to rip the bandaid off if he was going to lose him anyway. but will hides behind el as he says all this, using his own love to try and be there for mike in the way he thinks mike needs him to, hurting himself in the process.
placing will and mike together and far away from hawkins this season was an intentional plot device; they needed to give the two of them some time away from the "real world", i.e. the upside down and the horrors of growing up, to allow them to find their way back to each other. to will that is a double edged sword; on the one hand, he gets to have mike back, but on the other, he has to sacrifice his own feelings to do so. will thinks that to be allowed space in the lives of the people he cares for most, he needs to suppress his true self.
what he does not realize is that mike is looking more closely than he thinks. which is where this season leaves us: will's character arc has officially been established as being tied together with mike's. and will is back in hawkins, where his connection to the upside down, and as we now also know, vecna/the mindflayer, needs him to be. but he is also back where he needs to be: with his friends, and with mike by his side once more.
season 5 is about finding his heart
the final season meets us 18 months later, and we're introduced to a will that has reestablished his place in the party. this lays important groundwork, because it shows us that will's feeling of being isolated from his friends has been broken.
but the calm before the storm is short, because will soon starts experiencing a new type of 'episodes' - and this time they connect him right into the source of his trauma; vecna's hive mind. i think this is meant to serve as another metaphor; will is forced to be a spectator to the end of his life as he knows it. and this is reflected in the passive part will is made to play in their group's work to find and defeat vecna. in wanting to protect him from danger, his mom refuses to let him take part in any of the action despite all his friends having crucial roles, even though he is the only one who has an actual connection to the upside down. and it is not with bad intentions, but joyce worries for him to the point that she takes away his agency in regards to the situation that changed his life as he knew it. it's a callback to season 2 - worrying about him to that extent makes him feel like there really is something wrong with him, which is a point he later brings up during his coming out.
and the crucial event that leads to things finally switching up for him, is learning that someone he knows is like him. robin takes will's potential seriously, and is willing to believe in his plan of action if he is. will getting to know someone he can relate to in regards to his sexuality is vital. not only does it let him see that he can find love and happiness too, but also because he and robin can understand each other because of the thing that makes them both 'different'. and robin tells him she believes in him because of it. furthermore, robin's guidance gives will the ability to believe in himself, too.
and will believing in himself leads to several things at once; he finally dares to stand up to his mom's coddling ways, takes control his part in the group, and he becomes hopeful about getting to date mike. robin's advice about signals immediately gets will's mind going, and what this implicates is that in between seasons, mike has been sending out signals. what the season quickly established within the first ten minutes, is that will and mike's day to day life is at each other's side. they sit next to each other at the breakfast table, bike together to school, and stick close to each other throughout the school day. the idea that the two of them have been growing close enough for will to think there is a possibility for him to date mike, is not far fetched. especially considering will looks even more thoughtful after robin says 'the snowball became an avalanche'.
up until this point, will hasn't been allowed to take part in the crawls, and this is what separates will from mike in the first part of the season. putting will on the sideline of his own battle is what distances him from his opportunity to win it. episode four is the first time will has gotten to take part in both the planning and execution of one of their missions, and this time he gets to work together with mike again. and for the first time ever, we see will take initiative to flirt openly with mike. having hope made him take action.
but it was never going to be as easy as that - because mike does not know what will knows, and does not clock the flirting for what it is. this leads to robin's speech about the answers always being within herself. this is important for will to hear, because up until now, will has put all his self worth into what mike's opinion of him is. it is essential to will's arc that he accepts himself separately from mikes feelings for him. that does not mean will's self-acceptance is fully separate from mike at all; will draws strength from his love for his mom and brother and their love for him, but also from his love for mike and mike's love for him; the bond they have as best friends of over ten years.
and many worries that this means will's complete character arc is about his own self-acceptance, without getting the boy he loves. but that would ignore the many signs telling us otherwise. yes, robin's words of wisdom gave will the strength to tap into vecna's powers, allowing him to take control and fight back against the darkness trying to bring him down. but we can't forget that it was not only robin's words that helped will, it was also mike believing in him.
mike does not only tell will he believes in him, he tells will that his powers are innate; mike thinks will's strength has always been within him. he is in reality saying the exact same thing robin is. will's strength comes from within himself, and he is the one with all the answers. and after the fact, mike is even prouder than joyce is when will proves them right.
and after will finds the answers and the power within himself, he still is hopeful of pursuing mike romantically. we see this is the case when will asks robin for more romantic advice after mac-z. will finding his own strength can be separate from his feelings for mike, without the two being mutually exclusive. which they aren't. but robin tells will he needs to tell someone before he can get the courage to open up to mike about his feelings, and will asks her for help to do that too. will's self-acceptance arc is not being framed as his ultimate character arc - it is being framed as the stepping stone before he can open himself up to be loved.
but will's arc continues to be tied in with the upside down - somehow, he is the key to bringing down vecna. and to do it, he had to rid himself of the secrets that vecna used against him, by coming out to the people who had to know in relation to the mission. but we know will is also in love with mike, and will has not shared the full truth about that. this will be how vecna can still get to will, and likely the way he is going almost take will down. that means there needs to be a confrontation with what remains of will's secret. but after vecna turned will's own mind against him, the prospect of revealing his love to mike now scares will too much - the reveal is never going to happen by will's initiative now.
will's fate - and with it the fate of the world - now lies in mike's hands. as i think we all know deep down, mike is going to reignite will's hope and power to save the world from the threat of darkness, by revealing his own secret, the one they've been dangling in front of our eyes since the very beginning of the show: that mike is in love with will, too.
need to talk about HOW CREEPY will is being on the top of that tower after the scene blacked out for 7 seconds (!!) (seven!!!)
i mean we only see his back? he and joyce don’t hug anyone after they all nearly died, but everyone else are hugging each other? but will and joyce don’t even hug jonathan? and joyce can be seen standing in front of will at some points, but we don’t see her properly even then. and here she’s just fully obstructed, almost invisible? what the fuck
and here, why is will like fully hidden behind steve’s shield this whole shot?? also, why does joyce keep glitching out???? where is she??
??? HIS FACE IS ALL BLURRED OUT but he keeps slipping out of the shot, fully obstructed behind that shield??? it’s sooo icky
i’m telling you. everything that happened after el stopped henry’s ritual with the children (the same moment steve fell and jonathan magically managed to grab him)…. most likely did not happen the way we saw them happen. something has gone seriously wrong
and this is the moment things we can tell things went to shit. bc of the spy😭
