Let me start this off by saying I have no problem with Byler as a ship, you can ship whatever you like..what I do have a problem with is people insisting it was a queerbait, that they were set up to be lovers, that Mike is queer coded etc. which is just not true. This is a short part 1 but I want to start off simple.
I’ll start with the infamous Mileven kiss in front of the empty closet at the end of S3:
Bylers go crazy for this insisting because Mikes eyes are open and they’re in front of a closet it means he’s not into the kiss and he is therefore in the closet. They go in deep with the closet analysis (more on that later). They also mention how he didn’t say I love you, I don’t understand how they can say they’re into media literacy and completely miss the point so badly, Mike is scared to say it, he is terrified of losing Eleven, I’ll talk more about that in another part, back to the scene sorry lol.
Every post I’ve seen talking about this completely ignores the context of the scene. Eleven asks Mike what he was trying to say (all season he hasn’t said it to her but he told everyone “I love her and I can’t lose her again”) and he once again gets all nervous and awkward which many Byler shippers interpret as him being unsure of his feelings, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Mike gets very nervous and stumbles on his words but then Eleven says “I love you too Mike” and kisses him, he is taken by surprise and this is also the first time El has ever said it to Mike. It’s a special moment but Mike is also really upset because El is also just about to leave to live in California. We have this shot of him standing there as she leaves the room:
Mike is surprised in a good way (hence his eyes being open in the kiss) but he is also very upset as El is leaving.
The closet theory is ridiculous to me but I’ll talk about it a little. The theory goes this is the show trying to do symbolism with this, but it’s simply just because the part before this El was trying to reach a stuffed animal out the closet as she was emptying it and Mike helped her get it because she couldn’t reach. It just happens to be the setting of the scene, there are more scenes where they’re in front of a closet and I’ll just say this here: people have rooms with closets, I don’t believe it means anything nor do I think they purposely put in these hints for people to find. Moving on…
The scene literally right after this we have a montage of goodbyes and we see this:
Bylers seem to completely ignore this moment, Mike and El look so in love here and they can’t ignore that.
Mike is losing his girlfriend and his best friend with this move. Bylers say the screencap below is evidence he’s upset about Will moving, it’s a mixture of both losing his friend and his girl, but mostly El as we find out in S4 (more on that soon) but also by his face in the image above, he looks so in love. That’s why the Byler shippers ignore it.
He is clearly distraught losing El, this is the first time they’ll be apart for a long time since their reunion in S2.
Season 4:
Now I’m not sure if I watched a different version of S4 than all the Bylers but I feel like I have with the way they talk about them in that season. They say Mike is a bad boyfriend to Eleven (in moments he wasn’t the best and I’ll get into that), they say because he didn’t tell El “I love you” until the end of the season and she was in danger it means he either doesn’t really love her, he’s really in denial or (and yes this is a real theory) he’s actually talking to Will because Will prompts Mike to say it by telling him “you’re the heart”. It’s actually quite simple, the writers used Mikes inability to say I love you to El as a plot device to bring out for the big moment when she really needs to hear it to fight. Will telling Mike he’s the heart gave Mike the courage to tell Eleven how he felt, that was the point. And also to give Will a little closure and realise that even if this hurts him personally, he has to help the friend he has feelings for tell his girlfriend how much he loves her. It’s an important thing for character development because Will was being very petty sometimes with his jealousy.
I am very much a firm believer in actions speak louder than words and Mikes actions speak a lot louder than his lack of I love yous to El,
He called El every single night between S3 and S4
He brought El flowers that were her favourite colours and wore colours she liked
He wrote to her all the time, even if he didn’t say I love you he took the time to write her constantly even though they were speaking on the phone every night
Searched for El and wouldn’t give up the entire season until he found her
Was practicality attached to her hip when he got to California
Meanwhile with Will:
In a scene in rink-o-mania this song plays and Bylers have severely misinterpreted it:
This song plays as Will and Mike have a conversation where it’s clear Will has romantic feelings for Mike. This was written for Will, not Mike. It is a part of Wills story. Not Mikes, just because Mike flashed on the screen as you watched and it played it doesn’t mean anything. Infact Mike is really annoyed at Will during that scene for not telling him about El being bullied.
Mike: You knew for a year (about the bullying) and you didn’t say anything
I also want to talk about this scene a little (I will be posting more about it in p2):
Will tells Mike he’s been feeling like a third wheel so he sarcastically apologises to Mike for seeming annoyed, Mike just says “whatever man” and walks away. I think Will was hoping Mike would say “oh I’m sorry you’ve been feeling like that cmon” or something but El just got humiliated by Angela and her friends and he can’t find her, he doesn’t have time to argue with Will right now. This is so telling because how can Bylers sit there and say Mike doesn’t care about El and he really loves Will? Then this happens:
Will: What about us?
Mike: What?
Will: You’re mad that I didn’t talk to you? Seems you’ve made it super clear you’re not interested in anything I have to say
Mike: That’s just not true
Will: You called maybe a couple times, it’s been a year Mike...meanwhile El has like a book of letters
Mike: That’s because she’s my girlfriend, Will
Will: And us?
Mike: We’re friends, we’re friends
These are Mikes facial expressions after Will mentioning the letters and telling Will they’re friends.
Mike is basically trying to tell Will that El is more important because she is his girlfriend and Will is his friend. In canon they have made this clear time and time again that Mike sees Will as his best friend, above everyone. But not as anything more. How is this queerbait? Will having an unrequited crush on his childhood best friend is not queerbaiting. Will goes on to say they use to be best friends and Mike says maybe Will should’ve reached out more. This reads so clearly as a friend who just has lost touch with a friend because of his girlfriend, this happens in life all the time. But Mike is unaware how much he means to Will in that way, he is focused on finding El in this scene.
I’m going to jump into the outfit of Els all the Bylers talk about. This one:
They’re saying because what she’s wearing is similar to Will that Mike likes it or the show is trying to hint at Mike liking Will somehow through the clothing. This can be explained really easily by listening to the costumer designer from the show:
The costume designer is brilliant at thinking about all the little things, but not in the way Bylers think. As you can see from the clip above she is very much thinking about the environment Eleven is in and what she would realistically have available and dress like with Will, Jonathan and Joyce - the queen of casual wear - around her all the time with limited money for spending on clothes. There was no conspiracy about the costume designer being told to make El dress like Will.
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That’s part 1! Not too long but a start, I will be posting way more. Let me know what you think, always up for a discussion if you disagree. Next part I will be talking more about Bylers season 4 interpretation. Thanks for reading! :))
