The story that he could never tell (2/3)
An analysis of the finale using WSQKsync
Part 1 | Part 3 WIP | Playlist
Some quick reminders (read pt. 1 for more info):
My running theory is that the sync gives us Mike’s POV that we have been missing so dearly in season 5; it’s the story he could never tell.
This also ties in with my theory that the WSQK as a media outlet represents propaganda, and our characters have to communicate in code to avoid censorship → we have to read between the lines to find the answer to our neverending story
Reading of general Stranger Things subtext I’m applying here:
The UD represents the closet (and homophobia, more generally),
water is a metaphor for love and that’s why there isn’t any water in the UD,
El is a personification of Mike’s same-sex love/feelings for Will,
the love triangle of Mike/Will/El is mirrored by Nancy/Jonathan/Steve.
I hope you're ready for the 6k words long monster this part has turned into
Before we continue where we left off, I want to add something to Dream A Little Dream Of Me from the first part as it’s one of three songs of the finale sync that is used in ST itself and I overlooked the connections that offers in part 1.
It plays while Henry kills his family, and serves as Victor Creel’s ‘lifeline to reality’ that prevents him from dying; it’s what inspires the party to keep Max tethered to reality through Kate Bush. When she acts as bait in the season 4 finale, she hides in her memory of the snow ball. When Vecna finds her and alters the memory, Every Breath You Take distorts into Dream A Little Dream Of Me. A song that in and of itself already suggests that the Mind Flayer is watching our characters closely, underlines by the MF looming over Hawkins High in the UD:
Every move you make Every step you take I’ll be watching you
Vecna taking over Max' memory of the snow ball is underlined by him changing the song. And then it reappears when El, Kali and Max enter Vecna’s mind… Hmmm…
If we look at this through a Byler lens, it also fits the narrative role of the snow ball; Will and Mike weren’t able to dance with each other, even if they wanted to. Instead, they both end up conforming by dancing with a girl. Will longingly looks at Mike during his dance. But while there are no such obvious signs from Mike, subtextually the snow ball plays a crucial role for his journey:
Mike kisses El in season 1 because he thinks that’s what he’s supposed to do. This was him picking up snow to form a snowball. And when they dance in season 2, the snowball starts rolling. He sets himself on a path of compulsory heteronormativity that becomes more and more difficult to leave, every subsequent decision further cementing this path: Choosing El over Will in season 3, staying together with El despite not being able to say ‘I love you’ in season 4, etc. — to the point he feels like he can’t break up with her because El needs him (because that’s what Will tells him). And the snowball slowly turns into an avalanche along the way.
So the meaning of Dream A Little Dream Of Me in the finale is manifold:
Vecna controls the narrative just as he did when murdering his family and when possessing Max — whether what they see in his mind is real or not, he's pulling the strings like a puppetmaster in some way
The song is a callback to the snow ball and its meaning for Mike and Will’s relationship, culminating in the ‘best friends’ scene shortly after this song
El submerges herself in the tank; Mike allows himself to entertain the possibility of indulding the feelings he has for Will. But this is manipulated by Vecna as we will discuss with the next track…
Cloudbusting (Kate Bush) — The parallel between Hopper’s curse and Mike’s repressed queerness
Cloudbusting is inspired by the memoir A Book of Dreams about Wilhelm Reich who, among other things, tried to build a machine that makes it rain (a 'cloudbuster'). Ultimately, he was arrested and imprisoned. The memoir and song are written from the perspective of his (adult) son. (x)
This is a very specific theme, and one that once again anchors the sync to the finale by connecting to the themes of Hopper’s past which are the center stage of the scene accompanied by Cloudbusting: The illusions Vecna is showing him — his trauma from being in Vietnam, the consequences of Agent Orange on Sara (his biological daughter), and now him hiding El from the government.
I hid my yo-yo in the garden I can't hide you from the government
This shows Hopper’s struggle — he desperately tried to save Sara but he couldn’t, and now he is scared of losing El, too. The following lyrics are overlayed with the shot of Hopper seeing Sara on the hospital bed:
Oh, God, Daddy, I won't forget
I have wondered a lot about Hopper’s role in the subtext. On one hand, he ensures El’s survival throughout the seasons by hiding her. On the other hand, he is overprotective, doesn’t allow El to be independent and freaks out about El and Mike spending so much time together (kissing). I feel like Hopper might be another foil for Mike — he tries to hide and control El (his feelings for Will). It might essentially be the part of him that wants to conform, that wants to stay in the closet. Or, considering Hopper’s season 4 Kamchatka plot, it’s rather being so traumatized that it feels like a necessity.
There is one issue with this interpretation because Hopper obviously doesn’t want El to die and actively tries to talk her out of committing suicide. This might represent Mike not giving up on his sexuality entirely but rather him feeling the need to hide it for now due to imminent danger. Mind you, we’re in the middle of the AIDS crisis here, with a very homophobic climate in society and politics. But maybe Mike (Hopper) does have hope that he can hide his feelings (El) until it all gets better. Or until they can go somewhere else, which parallels the talk between Mike and El about going somewhere far away with three waterfalls. The 80s were more progressive elsewhere, so this could also represent Mike’s wish to leave small-town Indiana and go someplace more tolerant where his sexuality (El) isn’t a viewed as a threat, similar to how he sends off Will to the bustling city of Vallaki aka NYC in the epilogue.
There are actually some lyrics in the song that parallel queer love: It’s different, it’s special (just like El) yet dangerous (the military hunting her down), so Mike tries to hide it, tries to bury it.
You're like my yo-yo that glowed in the dark What made it special made it dangerous So I bury it and forget
But you can never completely bury your sexuality. It will always come back to you sooner or later. You might even have hope again. Hope to find love, hope for a better world.
But every time it rains you're here in my head Like the Sun coming out Ooh, I just know that something good is gonna happen I don't know when But just saying it could even make it happen
Arguably, there is even foreshadowing here that Byler will happen at some point, but they need to talk about it first; and we never got that confession scene, did we? The second pre-chorus (the one we discussed above), is also interesting in this regard:
I hid my yo-yo in the garden I can't hide you from the government Oh, God, Daddy, I won't forget
There is a realization you can’t hide forever; that Hopper can’t hide El forever; that Mike can’t hide his sexuality/feelings for Will forever.
Moreover, Hopper is sabotaging El by pulling her out of the tank — the tank that amplifies her powers and helps her fight Vecna — after being reminded of his trauma through the illusion. Mike self-sabotages his relationship with Will by not being honest; he’s overwhelmed by his internalised homophobia (and the very real homophobic sentiments around him) and pulls back. It falls in line with the many times he is so close to telling the truth, e.g. with Will in Cali.
And again, this is symbolised with the water metaphor.
Kyrie (Mr. Mister) — Hopper’s monologue to El
Hopper confronting El about her suicide plan is the most prominent scene for this song, so I'm focusing on that one.
El: "If I’m alive, then so is Henry. I have to end the cycle."
It’s interesting how sometimes the characters refer to Vecna as Henry; Will does it too when talking to Mike in the abyss. At first I found this to be very confusing in this particular scene. The way I interpret it, Vecna is a monster, while Henry per se wasn’t one; he became one, with 001 being the ‘intermediary’ step. If we assume that Vecna represents how Mike perceives his queerness, then Vecna needs to be killed, not Henry. So why is El referring to Henry here?
Given the ultimate ambiguity of her death, it starts to make sense: El is telling us that if she is still alive in the epilogue (I believe) then so is Henry (Mike’s queerness — only this time he doesn’t see himself as a monster). Obviously, on the textual level this doesn’t really make sense, but we all know that the ST plot has more holes than a Swiss cheese, so that doesn’t really matter in my opinion.
What Hopper is trying to do here is also interesting: He wants to see Henry dead, but wants to keep El alive; he couldn’t stomach losing El after already losing Sara. Read: Mike wants to kill his queerness, but wants to keep his feelings for Will alive. He’s lost Will once, and he can’t imagine losing him again.
El points out that this is contradictory; maybe Mike believes he can kill his queerness and keep being best friends with Will? But suppressing his sexuality would require distancing himself from Will because those feelings might never go away, and thus always remind him of his true self.
The rest of Hopper’s speech is interesting because it’s something you can easily apply to queer people; talking about how homophobia affects your entire life, how unfair it is, how difficult it is (and especially how difficult it was back then!) to believe that there’s a happy ending for us, too.
Hopper: "You will. You will. But not like this. Not with more violence. Not with more pain. There’s already been so much pain. From the moment you were born. Your mother was taken from you. Your childhood was taken from you. You’ve been attacked, manipulated, abused by terrible people. Life has been so unfair to you, so cruel. But you never let it break you. And I need you to fight, kid. I just need you to fight one last time. Fight for the happy days on the other side of this. Fight for… for a world beyond Hawkins. Fight for that day that you have a kid of your own, and you give her the life that you never had. For the day you get so angry because she invites some boy over, and she won’t keep the door open three inches. I know. I know you don’t believe you can have any of this. But I promise you we will find a way to make it real. You will find a way to make it real. Because you have to. Because you deserve it."
There is another very interesting line El says to Hopper after being confronted about the plan:
"Henry lied to you. He tricked you. He used you, and you fell for it."
This could just be El trying to deflect, but assuming that her death was indeed an illusion, Vecna did lie to Hopper. Because Henry would have seen the entirety of their plan in El’s mind but chose to only show Hopper the part that would make him believe El and Kali would sacrifice themselves (though they might have only come up with the plan later when Kali was shot). Mike’s internalised homophobia might make him believe that he won’t find love, doesn’t deserve it; painting everything black, basically. It’s like the vision Vecna showed Will, only this time we see it through the personification of El (supposedly) dying. El tries to make Hopper (Mike) realize that it is just an illusion, just one of many possible futures, etc. (Alternatively, this is a conformitygate hint that Henry/Vecna/the MF won.)
Let’s actually get to the song now:
Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night Kyrie eleison, where I'm going, will you follow? Kyrie eleison, on a highway in the light
“Kyrie eleison” is Greek for “Lord, have mercy”: This scene is about a difficult decision El has to make — sacrifice herself for the greater good or fight for the happy days on the other side of this? A sentiment clearly reflected by the lyrics. This is what Richard Page, the writer of the song, had to say about its meaning:
“I get a lot of power from meditation, from being still and realizing that what I'm doing is insignificant compared to the universe. That's what the song is all about.”
This could reflect El’s thought process here, and parallels what Kali says in this scene; that this is about so much more than just Henry/Vecna, El, Kali or Hopper. That much more is at stake. If we return to the ST subtext analysis by TVmicroscope (and this probably won’t make sense if you haven’t read that, sorry), this is ultimately about killing the Mind Flayer, i.e. homophobia. In that context, Mike’s feelings are irrelevant. Sacrificing them in kind of a martyr way, maybe? Just theorizing though.
Or, a bit of a more concrete speculation: Will told them in his coming out how he’s not afraid of Vecna anymore. That he was doing this to make himself not be vulnerable anymore. If Mike clocked that he was Tammy, or even that the painting was about Will’s feelings for him, then he might be scared to admit his own feelings to Will now because he would think that it would make Will vulnerable again. If Will is over him and coming out was the last secret to admit in order to be invulnerable to Vecna, then Mike might feel like he needs to kill those feelings off (El sacrificing herself) in order to protect Will.
Aside from the fact that we viewers know that Will reciprocates those feelings and that they still constitute a weakness when facing Vecna, Mike makes a mistake here by seemingly forgetting about the fact that Vecna has been targeting his own family and that he himself, thus, might need to overcome his biggest fears to protect himself, too.
Twist of Fate (Olivia Newton-John)
At the end of Hopper’s monologue (coinciding with the end of Kyrie), Kali lowers her gun and a tear rolls down El’s cheek while Hop is trying to get her to promise to not kill herself; but then, they are interrupted by Murray informing them that the military is showing up at the lab. We then cut to the kids reaching the cave when Holly realizes that Derek is missing, running back to get him. The ‘portal’ opens up behind Derek, Henry stepping out of it. Again, this track is anchored to the show by underlining scenes of second chances:
Just when Holly gets to Derek and they run away, now chased by Vecna, the first line of Twist of Fate is sung:
Do we deserve a second chance?
When Vecna extends his tentacle arm to latch onto Holly but retrieves it the moment it touches the cave:
A higher voice has called the tune Two hearts that lost the beat will now resume The gift of life extension By divine intervention
And finally, when the kids reunite in Max’ sanctuary and Holly tells them that they’re safe and that Henry can’t get to them in the cave, the first chorus starts:
It's gotta be a strange twist of fate Telling me that Heaven can wait
We then cut to the party in the abyss walking towards the Pain Tree. The second and third chorus aligns with two other plot twists, respectively: The start of the second chorus coincides with Mike getting the flare gun from Nancy, allowing him to fight against the Mind Flayer.
But then, Will starts getting visions of Henry, telling the others that Henry is still alive. And just when we see that close-up shot of Henry stepping up to the cave to face his demons, the third chorus plays.
But I haven’t mentioned the rest of the chorus yet:
Oh, I'm gonna get it right this time Life doesn't mean a thing Without the love you bring Love is what we found The second time around
The song is about second chances not only in life but in love specifically. A second chance for Henry? From all I know he became a villain after being rejected. Lovewinsgate is all about the fact that the party didn’t win with love. A second chance for Will and Mike? This might refer to the fact that Mike fumbles it in the final fight, but maybe not afterwards (see their flirting in the epilogue). Or maybe we needed the timeline where love didn’t win (Mike and Will didn’t confess, El dies) because love wins the second time around (new content).
[Ad break]
We get an ad break during ‘filler scenes’ where Will explains to the party in the abyss what’s going on, as well as the military raiding the lab. The onset of the next song aligns pretty well with Kali and El getting hit by the kryptonite at the lab — but it doesn’t line up perfectly, and that puzzled me. Until I realized that it lines up with the “K” from the WSQK jingle (”This is the Squawk - W-S-Q-K!”). Like, perfectly. They bend down the moment we hear the “K” on the radio. Don’t think I need to spell it out further, but K as in kryptonite. Yeah.
Is There Something I Should Know (Duran Duran) — The illusions of Camazotz and Kali
We get all the scenes of Hopper hiding El, then looking for Kali who is getting captured. When we see the kids entering the mine shaft, these are the accompanying lyrics:
I made a break, I run out yesterday Tried to find my mountain hideaway
The second chorus lines up with Kali being caught and being asked where the others are, but she’s not giving in, instead spitting on the soldier.
Please, please tell me now Is there something I should know? Is there something I should say That would make you come my way?
And when Holly guides the kids through the shaft, telling them that nothing in here is real and to keep their eyes on her (because she knows the horrific memory they’re about to witness):
And fiery demons all dance When you walk through that door Don't say you're easy on me You're about as easy as a nuclear war
And then, when they do pass that memory with the dead spy:
There's a dream that strings the road
Holly, too, is a foil for Mike: The cave is shaped like the ‘M’ on Mike’s D&D folder, Max literally tells her “You don’t remind me of your brother. You are your brother!”, and the entire cave/Camazotz plot carries subtext about Mike. So Holly escapes, she walks through that door (mind you, door three, the door to escape) but we’re informed that escaping conformity, accepting his sexuality, isn’t gonna be easy for Mike (”you’re about as easy as a nuclear war”), it requires facing his trauma. But getting signals from Will that he reciprocates his feelings would make it easier (”Is there something I should know? […] That would make you come my way?”).
The chorus, especially that line “Please, please, tell me now” is then repeated over the scenes of Hopper and Kali being interrogated where El is, and Kali signalling to Hopper that she would rather die than give El away, with him instead telling them to “Go to hell”. We as the audience are asking the Duffers here: Is there something we should know? About Kali’s ending?
[Moderation]
Vance: “You’re locked into the Squawk with me, Vance Goodman” — close-up of the gun pointing at Kali — “and this may be the end of everything as we know it.”
This is right before the ‘plot twist’ aka did Kali die or not? Was is an illusion or not? And therefore, is El possibly still alive or not?
The moderation continues by dedicating the next song to Eddie and saying “proceed with caution” while the helicopter blows up, and consequently giving a shout-out to Barb.
The Riddle (Nik Kershaw)
The Riddle doesn’t have any meaning according to the artist, so I don’t think there’s any purpose in analyzing the lyrics because they don’t really make much sense. But this song plays during two important riddles that aren’t resolved in the finale:
1. Kali’s ending and therefore El’s ending, as in: Was Kali’s death an illusion, and could El therefore still be alive? We know that El’s conversation with Mike in the void should have been impossible. But beyond that, it really is up to us to believe.
2. Henry’s ‘villain origin story’ aka him revisiting that memory in the cave. Because we are never told why Henry didn’t resist the Mind Flayer; whether he was still in control at the end (as he claims) or not (as Will indicates). The second part can actually be answered if you investigate the story closely; it becomes pretty clear that the MF was, in fact, controlling Henry/Vecna, and that the MF, not Vecna, is the real villain. But many of the other questions can only be speculated on, e.g. the parallels between Henry and Will.
Can’t Fight This Feeling (REO Speedwagon)
This track tells us the story of a friendship from which the speaker developed feelings. He’s trying to hide/fight those feelings, telling us that he’s afraid of showing them but also recognizing that there is no reason for it. With the chorus, he concludes that he forgot what he was fighting for (remember that ‘fighting’ herein refers to fighting his feelings), instead bringing the ‘ship to shore’.
Oh, I can't fight this feeling any longer And yet, I'm still afraid to let it flow What started out as friendship has grown stronger I only wish I had the strength to let it show I tell myself that I can't hold out forever I said there is no reason for my fear 'Cause I feel so secure when we're together You give my life direction, you make everything so clear And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might And I can't fight this feeling anymore I've forgotten what I started fighting for It's time to bring this ship into the shore And throw away the oars, forever
It plays during two scenes:
First, El’s ‘goodbye’ to Hopper where she cherishes him for taking her in, for helping her, for keeping her safe, etc. But then she says that she isn’t a kid anymore, and that she isn’t Sara. That Hopper needs to trust her to make the right choice. This is essentially where El’s independence arc is tied up.
Second, Henry re-living the memory of being taken by the Mind Flayer in the cave. Will observing it all and urging Henry to fight the Mind Flayer, giving him the opening for his redemption arc.
Subtextually, both of these are tied to Can’t Fight This Feeling:
Mike (Hopper) tries to hide his sexuality and his feelings for Will (El); tries to control them. But at some point, he can’t fight those feelings anymore, especially after having confirmation that Will likes boys. So El steps up here, demanding autonomy; demanding to no longer be controlled.
Simultaneously, Henry is facing his deepest trauma. If Mike wants to embrace his feelings for Will, wants to confess them, then he needs to overcome his internalized homophobia first. He needs to get out of the cave where he’s hiding. But Henry can’t bring himself to see himself as a victim, and the Mind Flayer as the abuser. Does that mean that Mike couldn’t face his own trauma and thus buried his feelings again? I think it shows us one possible path for Mike’s future: Henry was a scared boy back then, trying to stay alive when that man was attempting to kill him. But now, he has become a monster. It’s a key memory the Mind Flayer didn’t want Henry to see; and maybe Henry himself didn’t want to see it either because it would show him how far he has strayed from the real Henry. It forces him to see that by acting on his fears (which he was overcome by), he became a monster. And not someone supposedly saving the world/creating a better world.
[Moderation]
The WSQK moderation after this song is also noteworthy, with Vance saying “And let me just say, it has been a pleasure working alongside you” while we see the Mind Flayer cloud calling out to Henry “Find me”.
There’s ads playing throughout the dialogue of Henry and Will, including “Hawkins hardware has everything you need to tackle any job no matter how strange” while we see Henry’s flashbacks of finding the spiders and reversing time on the grandfather clock. Also, note how it’s an ad about fixing stuff, and Henry says that “man is broken” and so on.
Fernando (ABBA)
There was something in the air that night The stars were bright, Fernando They were shining there for you and me For liberty, Fernando Though I never thought that we could lose There's no regret If I had to do the same again I would, my friend, Fernando
This song starts playing the moment we see the shot of El facing the Pain Tree. It’s a song about war, specifically about fighting for freedom, which is interesting given it plays during the final fight. Some background on the meaning of the song:
"'Fernando' was about two old freedom-fighters from the Mexican Revolution. […] I had this vivid image in my mind of two old and scarred revolutionaries in Mexico sitting outside at night talking about old memories". (Wikipedia)
”’Fernando’ celebrates the fight for liberty, and like all great stories, reminds us of an essential truth: freedom is not a guarantee. Someone has to fight for it.” (americansongwriter.com)
Playing the scene of El jumping into the Pain Tree is honestly stunning (if that’s not intentional then I don’t know what is), I think it’s my favorite part of the finale sync because the second verse of the track aligns beautifully with that slow-mo shot of her flying towards it:
They were closer now, Fernando Every hour, every minute seemed to last eternally
When Nancy offers herself up to be bait and starts shooting the Pain Tree:
Since many years I haven't seen a rifle in your hand Can you hear the drums, Fernando?
The song aligns with the sentiment of the party very well; they’re fighting for freedom and they would do it again, no matter the outcome. But I do think it’s interesting the lyrics say “Though I never thought that we could lose”, potentially hinting at the fact that they didn’t actually win. Especially when considering that this same song played when Holly was abducted by the demogorgon, setting a precedent that while Karen fought to the best of her abilities (and as a mother, she would always do it again), ultimately she lost her daughter in that fight.
The subtext for this one doesn’t need to be spelled out, I think: El stands up to the Mind Flayer, she risks it all to save the party and the children. It’s her fight for freedom, Mike’s attempt to liberate himself, killing his self-perception as a monster, Vecna, once and for all. And in the same vein, Will is trying to liberate himself, too: "[The stars] were shining bright for you and me, for liberty".
Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley)
Someone is being rickrolled here; the song starts playing when Nancy is about to die and the party intervenes by attacking the Pain Tree with fire. Is it the Mind Flayer/Vecna being rickrolled because they didn’t expect this kind of attack? Or is the party being rickrolled, thinking that this is how they could win the fight when we've been told time and time again that fire and guns aren't enough to kill demogorgons or Vecna?
Never Gonna Give You Up is a love song after all, but I’m not sure it’s worth looking at the actual lyrics because the strongest association people have with it is by far the rickroll.
Nonetheless, Will saving El from Vecna and Nancy saving Holly are underlined with that very lyric of “Never gonna give you up”. And I do think that subtextually this scene is relevant because we've been talking about signals all this time; and Will reaching out to save El from Vecna is exactly that -- a signal that Will is never gonna give Mike up. El by herself wouldn't have been able to win. But together with Will, she was able to. I mean, this is literally lovewinsgate spelled out; but hidden so deeply in the subtext that it's easy to miss.
R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (John Mellencamp)
So, they won -- and I think this song represents that sentiment. Their chances of actually winning were slim, yet they still did it (from their POV, we’re leaving CG out of this for now).
Well, they said goodbye to their families, said goodbye to their friends With their pipe dreams in their heads and very little money in their hands Some are black and some are white And they ain't too proud to sleep on your floor tonight With the blind faith of Jesus, you know that they just might Rocking in the USA
The song might very subvertly be social commentary, in which case -- given it praises the rebellious rock ‘n’ roll spirit, this does align with the party killing Vecna.
Towards the end of the track, Joyce starts chopping off Vecna’s head, saying “You fucked with the wrong family”; she is angry, obviously. But as we see the flashbacks, we feel the pain the characters went through, and this shift from anger to pain is accompanied by the shift in tone of the music.
Enola Gay (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark)
Enola Gay is an anti-cold war song, referencing the atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. over Japan. While this song plays, Joyce hits Vecna with her axe repeatedly, and we see the flashbacks of the entire party being hurt and traumatized by the Mind Flayer/Vecna. So in a way, the ‘war’ waged on Hawkins by the Mind Flayer and Vecna is paralleled to A-bombs (and the cold war, more generally). These lyrics underline the sentiment of Joyce/the party in this moment very well:
Ah-ha, this kiss you give It's never ever gonna fade away
Even now that they have defeated Vecna and the Mind Flayer, nothing will ever truly go back to ‘normal’; they are all scarred for life, given the horrors they endured and the loved ones they lost along the way.
Moreover, the song foreshadows El’s death and its impact on Mike; the parallel between their kiss in the void and the verse cited above is kind of crazy, to be honest. And it doesn’t fade away either, leaving Mike feeling guilty (and, imo, ashamed because he couldn’t love her the way she deserved to).
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (U2)
This song plays throughout the entire scene of the party getting captured by the military, looking for El and seeing her standing in the gate, as well as the subsequent conversation between Mike and El in the void. The subtext here is screaming that Mileven is bones. And, arguably, from both of their perspectives:
Mike hasn’t found what he’s looking for in Eleven; he hasn’t found romantic love in her. But neither has El because Mike isn’t reciprocating her love. We see the flashbacks of Mike saving El and their moments together throughout the years. We see their first kiss, accompanied by these lyrics:
You broke the bonds and you loosened the chains Carried the cross of my shame Of my shame
This reinforces the general message of the the song, and the shame Mike experiences about his true (queer) feelings. Moreover, it’s the only kiss we see in this flashback — the ones from season 2 (”I love you too” in front of the closet), 3 (kissing nonstop), and 4 (kisses at the airport) are all missing.
The chorus — “But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” — is repeated while we see them fooling around in El’s bedroom in season 3 (but not kissing!), their reunion at the end of season 4 (with Will standing between them), and Mike’s love confession in the season 4 finale. And then El’s final “I love you” and their kiss in the void.
This underlines a point that can already be made by watching the season 4 finale alone; she knows. Mike’s love confession meant nothing to her -- or maybe it meant something to her, still, because he does love her as a friend -- and him finally saying “I love you” like ten times in a row didn’t fix their relationship problems either (they’re still not on talking terms in the season 4 epilogue). They both didn’t find (romantic) love in each other, no matter how hard they tried, and this is underlined by them having like zero chemistry or romantic moments in season 5.
But then why is this the dialogue we get between them?
“You understand me. Better than anyone. You always have. From the day we met… you’ve seen me. The real me.” They hug. “Please don’t leave me, El. Please don’t do this.” “I will always be with you. I love you.” They kiss. “Goodbye, Mike.”
I don’t think this is about their relationship/their romantic love. What they have in common is that they are both different, and feel like nobody else could understand them (or, well, Will just proved Mike wrong a few hours ago). El because of her powers and the abuse she experienced. Mike because of the feelings for Will he experiences. I think that’s what they saw in each other. They both needed somebody to cope with this, somebody who could understand feeling alienated, somebody to give them a sense of normalcy. The relationship was basically pushed onto them and not what was truly right for either of them. But they convinced themselves that they needed each other because nobody else would understand.
Also, this dialogue makes much more sense if we move onto the subtext: The 'real El' is the personification; nobody understands his queer love and struggles better than Mike himself; and that love will always be with him. Mike isn't able to say 'I love you' back in this scene. It's a slap in the face of the Milevens who can only see their textual relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend; but subtextually, Mike doesn't have to say it back. He's not ready yet but remember, he still has time; he's only 16. He will always feel that love, and no matter how much society tries to villanize it, love is still love. It's something undeniably good.
