A question I've had since watching ST for the first time... eleven smiles after mike kisses her - how does she know that's a good thing? what kind of situations could she have been in to witness that particular exchange of affection?
thank you for asking! if anyone knows me, i love any excuse to ramble on about eleven!
i don’t imagine that there were any particular situations that she was placed in that would have introduced her to that sort of affection because i highly highly doubt she witnessed anything like that under the care of doctor brenner. i mean you could argue – and it’d be a bit of a long stretch to argue – that while flipping through the television channels at the wheeler house before stumbling upon that coke commercial, what if she happened to flip past a television program or commercial that had featured two people kissing? i mean, it’s a bit of a stretch but that is always a possibility in itself.
mike has always been really good explaining things to her in terms of feelings, friendships and especially the difference between friends and something more. now, i’ve expressed it multiple times that eleven is a highly intelligent girl. while she certainly lacks in many things - basic social structures and the common things that we are simply used to given the circumstances she was raised in versus the typical family home environment. there are things that we learn an inherit from our parents, peers and school environments. so while she is highly intelligent in the skills and actions brenner had taught her, there are things she lacks. though i think this makes it easier for her to learn and to pick up new things really quickly – which, if you were a weapon of destruction created by the government for their use – you’d have to learn things rather quickly.
i know that’s a bit of a tangent but it’s swinging back around to why i think she happened to smile in response to that kiss. eleven is able to have emotional responses and develop feelings just like anyone else. given all that mike has expressed to her and explained to her, i think she’d have a pretty good understanding of her emotions and feelings, even if she didn’t happen to know how to explain or express them.
given how comfortable she is around mike, how content she is holding his hand and being in his presence - we’ve even seen her smile at him while he wasn’t looking. i think because she’s comfortable with him and has this trust for him, that it was simply an automatic response to smile after he kissed her. even if she didn’t know exactly what it was or what it meant, perhaps she didn’t mind it? perhaps she felt content with it.
i know i’ve seen a lot of people try and argue that she didn’t enjoy it, that she hated it and was clearly uncomfortable – i don’t see that to be the case and i’ve watched the show at least twelve times now. it’s an awkward kiss in itself, but who’s first kiss isn’t awkward? it’s something new and something weird. she is obviously surprised by it because it is something so new and different but i wouldn’t say she didn’t like it. i think it’s just something that takes getting used to - like anything else for her.