Will’s JAWS Poster: Targeting Mike
In Worlds Turned Upside Down, JAWS is mentioned as a source of film inspiration for the show—a source of inspiration for who we now know is Henry/Vecna.
I like that the word ‘haunting’ is used to describe “the key inspiration for [ST’s] monster.” That’s precisely what Vecna does. He terrorizes by using what haunts Hawkins’ residents, lurking in the dark recesses of their minds/ sense of reality as he spies on them. We have seen the JAWS poster in Will’s rooms. We know it represents the dangers of the Upside Down/Vecna coming up to the surface.
There’s an interesting specificity to the times we most notably see this poster in the series: during heart-to-heart scenes between Will and Mike in s2 and s4.
In s2, when Mike is in Will’s room after Will is possessed, we see Mike trailing along the drawn tunnels on the wall. As he slowly reaches the JAWS poster and passes it, we get these lines in order:
Some of him is there (Mike gradually passes the poster—). But some of him is here (—and now the poster is between Mike and Will) too. Through JAWS, we can establish that the Mind Flayer/Vecna is here, right here in the room with Will and Mike. Spying on them.
As the scene continues, the poster is not only behind them but between them and not in-focus/ blurry. The JAWS poster may not be hugely noticeable if you aren’t thinking about it, but it’s there and stays between them through a chunk of the scene as Will tells Mike the horrors he experiences due to his connection with the Mind Flayer: his now-memories, remembering them all the time, and seeing and feeling what the Mind Flayer does.
And Mike says “maybe that’s good.”
When Mike says this line, JAWS has shifted from between Will and Mike to behind Mike.
The poster was already behind Mike. It was there when Mike placed himself on the opposite side of it, very close to it. The poster, while Will is talking, is just framed in such a way that it falls evenly between Will and Mike’s heads. You can see the distinction before and after “maybe that’s good,” because there is a clear shift towards Mike’s head; especially as the scene goes on:
S2 wasn’t the first season to show suspicious imagery that looks like Mike was being watched/spied on. It continues in every season. But here, with that JAWS poster representing a haunting, villainous monster, we know that is what’s happening to Mike in this scene too. Here, Mike has once again involved himself in helping/saving Will. He knows about the tunnels under Hawkins now. He’s learning about what Will is experiencing. He talks about spying back on the monster, and the JAWS poster closes in behind him. This is a symbolic indicator that Vecna is honing in on Mike, targeting him for his interference/ his close bond with Will.
Will then expresses worry over the Mind Flayer spying back. Mike says he won’t. “We won’t let him.”
But the emphasis against ‘not letting him’ states otherwise:
Will’s drawing gets closer to us every time we cut back to it. The poster also peeks out from behind Mike’s head when he says “We won’t let him.” In true Jaws fashion, the threat moves closer and closer in, his sights set on his prey as he prepares the attack. You don’t simply thwart what he’s doing. Vecna was already spying back in this scene, and the framing of the poster throughout it shows us Vecna has a specific target on Mike.
Then in s4, you see the poster again. This time the poster is solely behind Mike and can be seen in all noticeability while he’s having his reconnecting heart-to-heart with Will.
We see JAWS very blatantly while Mike talks to Will about ‘working together’ as “a team. Friends… Best friends.” In other words, united. Working together, being together, makes the two of them stronger. Vecna knows this. He’s experienced it; especially when Mike reached a possessed Will with his monologue, allowing Will to secretly communicate through Morse Code. Unlike in s2, the JAWS poster is never positioned between Will and Mike. Only behind Mike, once again showing a clear—and more threatening—target on Mike’s back. And from this scene onward, Mike and Will + the Cali crew have shots that suggest outside forces spying on them.
Notice the first shot; Mike is in center-frame with his back facing us. We’re meant to take this as a hint that it’s Mike in particular who is being watched and targeted.
Additionally, the fact that the JAWS poster belongs to Will and is in his s2 and s4 bedrooms, where we prominently see it between him and Mike + solely behind Mike, makes it an indicator that Vecna has continued to spy on Will despite him having moved to Lenora. I’ve seen it discussed many times before that Will is still a spy for Vecna, just unknowingly. With this analysis in mind, it makes sense. S3 didn’t end with a truly dead and defeated monster. Will left Hawkins but Vecna’s connection to him was never severed. S4 ends with Will still feeling him.
S4 also ends with Mike by Will’s side. Vecna’s sights on Mike remain and he’s preparing the attack.