S4 Wheelclair
Let’s talk S4 Lucas and Mike.
I really, truly do believe that people undermine their importance to each other because it isn’t given the same emphasis as Mike/Will or Lucas/Max. They aren’t in love so that’s a hard comparison to make, but they are best friends. Actual best friends. Dustin literally says that Mike and Lucas are closer than he is with either of them, and he’s right!
I’m gonna be covering their history, Lucas’ POV, Mike’s POV, and then their potential S5 arc. This is a very broad analysis, so I won’t be going into the grainy details in this post, or else it would be MASSIVE lmao
History
Most people are probably familiar with this, but I feel like I need to point out some things that often get glossed over. Keep in mind this is a brief summary.
In S1, there are two major things established about Mike and Lucas:
- They’re very close friends
- They’re both incredibly determined to find Will
We see them established as close friends through small things like Lucas’ teasing, having Lucas be the one to pull Mike away after the pissing incident, Dustin suggesting that Lucas is jealous, and their argument being resolved.
There is a ton of emphasis places on Mike and Lucas’ friendship in S1. One of the bigger of the side plots is this fight that Lucas and Mike get in because they’re disagreeing on the best way to find Will.
For Mike, when Lucas started going off on his own, I think there was a huge fear of losing Lucas too. We talk about how Mike only apologizes to Will, but he reaches out and apologizes to Lucas with that handshake. He does so teary-eyed, hoping Lucas will forgive him.
I think Lucas was frustrated with Mike because he doesn’t understand why Mike would do things that seem stupid when they have to be looking for Will. Lucas’ perspective isn’t stressed as much, but he was happy to shake Mike’s hand and move past their issues.
There are also moments like the end of S1 where we see Mike throw himself on top of Will and then Lucas throwing himself on top of both of them. That’s something else that connects Mike and Lucas, which nobody else really seems to have except the Byers family.
Mike’s relationship with Will is something we see heavily because y’know. He’s in love with Will. However, there’s also a fair amount of emphasis placed on Lucas’ relationship with Will. We see Lucas’ determination to find Will, we see them being close in S2 and S3 through their hugs and teasing Mike together. Lucas, Mike, and Will were put together for a reason.
In S3, there’s a lot going on for them. Firstly, Lucas was trying his hardest to be supportive of Mike. Yes, Mike was putting on a show and trying to win over Lucas’ approval by acting like a Straight Man, but Lucas didn’t know that. He was there for Mike and he tried to help him through his relationship problems with El.
From Lucas’ perspective, he saw one of his best friends struggling with his new relationship and was just trying to help. He and Mike were the only ones going through these sorts of problems, as Mike was trying to follow in Lucas’ footsteps in some ways.
From Mike’s, he was trying to put on a show in front of Lucas and Will — his closest friends at the time. He was trying to act as much of a typical Heterosexual as possible, and he was very much so seeking Lucas out to do this. He spent a lot of time looking to Lucas whenever he would act like an asshole because he was trying to be like him (not that Lucas is an asshole, but they were both trying to grow up and is resulted in them acting like dicks sometimes).
Essentially, Lucas and Mike are very, very close friends and we saw them heading down the same path in S3. They were as close as ever and their dynamic hadn’t changed much, but rather than butting heads they were much more agreeable with each other as Lucas tried to empathize with Mike’s struggles.
Lucas and Mike are best friends and their relationship is given a lot of emphasis considering their platonic nature (in comparison to their other weighted relationships being romantic).
Lucas’ POV
Lucas’ POV is something I find interesting, because we talk a lot about Mike feeling alone, but Lucas was also alone in his situation. When Lucas continued down the path of being normal, Mike started backtracking and returned to being a nerd and a freak. It left Lucas somewhat stranded, and when we have that confrontation between them in 4x01, Lucas was appealing to things he knows Mike understands. He says he’s tired of being bullied and that he’s tired of being made fun of by girls, which is something that is established that happens for Mike was back in S1 (he faces a lot of bullying and girls are grossed out by him).
For Lucas, he’s trying to be normal to escape the severe racism he faces as a black kid in the middle of Indiana, which was only made worse by being a nerd. Lucas goes on a journey in Lucas On the Line (LOTL) that heavily describes his experience with racism and his love for Max. He also wants Max to come back, hence the, “tired of being made fun of by girls.”
Something important from LOTL is Lucas getting to be friends with other black boys and seeing these qualities that are beautiful and unique in people like him, which was something Lucas definitely needed in his life. That’s not something Mike would see, as Mike only saw them as jocks.
These aren’t the same things Mike is going through, Lucas doesn’t know what’s going on with Mike, but he knows that Mike can at least understand why he’s doing this. He and Mike were on the same page in S3, and suddenly Mike is backtracking and is no longer trying to grow up and be accepted by the world. Lucas and Mike aren’t on the same page anymore, and Lucas feels alone and abandoned. We see it when he realizes he’s been replaced by his little sister.
Another thing in LOTL, Lucas gets annoyed by Mike thanks to his sudden rise in assholery after the Byers moved. Specifically, it’s around the start of school that the conflict between them starts to kick in a little. Mike’s dealing with stuff he won’t tell anyone, but Lucas doesn’t understand that and he doesn’t have to. As far as he knows, both he and Mike lost Will and they’re both affected similarly. He thinks this is about El. Lucas has never really been a fan of Mike’s relationship with El, and this is definitely adding onto that.
At the end of the season, we see Lucas complete his arc of realizing that he’d rather be a freak than a raging psychopath normal. He’s accepted that the life he thought would be good for him, that would make him happy, is one that ultimately rejects him and he learns to reject it in return. He no longer holds this need to be normal, which is important because Mike was trying to not be normal at the beginning of the season too. It’s what their conflict was about.
Mike’s POV
Mike’s perspective on his relationship with Lucas at this point seems a lot like he’s having an internal war. He’s finally learning to embrace himself and making steps to accept his sexuality, and in accordance he’s playing DND and hanging out with outcasts, which is the exact opposite of what he was trying to do in S3. However, there are some things that suggest that there’s still a part of him that wants to be like Lucas.
Like, I’m their confrontation, the way Mike reacts shows a lot more reluctance and that what Lucas is saying hits closer to home. He’s not being argumentative, showing that same complacency he had in S3 that differs from his stubbornness with Lucas in S1 & 2.
On the table at the cafeteria, we also see this book which talks about learning how to play sports. That doesn’t make any sense for any of the Hellfire Club members. Except for Mike. That part of Mike that still wants to be like Lucas has him reaching out to learn about sports and how to play. He’s torn right now.
As established in S1 & S3, Lucas’ approval in regards to Mike’s acceptance with his sexuality means a lot. Lucas was the one who initially pushed him to consider El as a romantic interest, the one to point out that girls don’t like him, and the one to walk him through a lot of relationship problems in S3. Assuming LOTL is canon, we also know that Lucas thought Mike was the “worst person to be around” right as school started after Mike’s isolation. Mike’s reaction to the move was deeply rooted in his feelings for Will, and I personally think this when he really came to terms that he was in love with Will (not necessarily the first time he realized he had feelings, though. I think that was the S2 monologue). Lucas reacting like that to Mike’s post-isolation probably felt like a rejection in some way.
Mike also doesn’t really understand the depth of Lucas’ need to be normal. Mike can never have the experience Lucas has. Mike won’t be able to realize that Lucas wants to be around other black people and people who will help him become normal/popular because of his experience with racism. That creates a divide, because Mike doesn’t see the motivation to become normal beyond what he and Lucas have in common, which is being bullied and being made fun of by girls. Mike is realizing that he doesn’t care about girls, though, and the bullying itself never seemed to bother Mike much. He only ever got upset when it came to his friends being targeted.
Games and being an outcast and DND are all important to Mike’s journey of self acceptance, but more importantly Eddie was important to Mike’s journey. Lucas didn’t seem to get along with Eddie, which was something that made it even harder for Mike to be on the same page as Lucas. Eddie’s heavy queer-coding (no not steddie) sets him up as a role model for Mike in a lot of ways. Mike is seeing someone like him be completely, honestly himself. Zero shame. That was something Mike needed in order to move towards accepting his sexuality.
At the end of the season, Mike has gotten over El. He’s ready to truly give up on being normal, just like Lucas has.
S5 Predictions
As for S5, I think Lucas and Mike are both starting off on the stance that they’ve finally given up on being normal.
Lucas thought Mike had accepted being an outcast already, but he doesn’t know about Mike giving up on trying to be straight.
Mike doesn’t even know that Lucas is against conformity now.
I think we’re gonna be getting a reconciliation arc between them in S5. Especially considering that we’re returning to S1 dynamics, I’m hoping we’ll get S1 callbacks as well. I think we’re gonna get a scene of them really talking it out; Lucas admitting that he was wrong, and that he’s sorry for leaving DND behind while Mike apologizes for not being a good friend. I hope that leads into a coming out scene between Mike and Lucas.
Mike coming out to Lucas is the ideal, in my opinion. Lucas is so heavily tied to Mike trying to be straight and he’s sought Lucas’ approval of that straightness, so for Mike to come out to him and be accepted would be the best way to satisfy Mike’s acceptance of his sexuality in words.
For Lucas, I want that conversation to lead to him getting his best friend back. He spent a lot of S4 feeling alone, and almost all of pre-S4 as well. Lucas deserves to have his friend back, for Mike to bring him back into the party (I know he never technically left but emotionally…). I need for Lucas to feel like he hasn’t been abandoned, that he hasn’t been replaced.
Lucas and Mike need to really accept each other, and I think their arc will play heavily into that idea in S5.
bywheelclair hug to end the post :) these three make me wanna bawl like a BITCH bro
