Okay so I have more to say about this scene in Stranger Things S5E4
(1)
This scene would've been different if it cut from Mike bumping into Will right to their conversation, implying that Mike was getting Will's attention to talk and/or nudging him to hang back more. But no. Mike bumps into Will and then doesn't look at him until Will turns to question if he meant something by it. It's only after Mike seems not to have been expressing any clear motivation and they walk a few more steps that we then cut to their conversation.
From a watsonian perspective, maybe Mike is naturally drifting towards the larger group, which incidentally brings him closer to Will. Maybe he stumble-steps and the bump is an accident. Or maybe he saw Will looking at Robin and is nudging him to tease him about maybe being into her.
From a doylist perspective, the direction was for Mike to bump into Will. This scene, at minimum, is showing that Will is questioning if Mike has romantic intention behind his touches and is suggesting that there are enough of them for Will to have cause to.
Are we, the audience, reading into Mike bumping into Will just because we want it to mean something? The point is that it was included so that we would wonder if it did, just like Will is
(2)
Joyce is speaking while the bump part is happening. When Mike bumps into Will, she's saying, "Sometimes people need someone to believe in them..."
And as Will turns to look at Mike about the bump and Mike looks back at him, she continues with "...and they can do amazing things."
(This is also right before Mike and Will's conversation wherein Mike suggests Will can take control of the hivemind, which is later realised.)
And that's just sweet (i.e., the reference to Mike believing in Will and Will being able to do amazing things as a result)
(3)
Maybe pushing the bounds of the creatives' intentionality but idc:
Robin's answer to Will about how she knew Vickie was romantically into her was that there were signals -- "Yeah, you know, like a brush of the knee, a bump of the elbow, a shared look. It all just kind of accrued, like a snowball rolling down a hill, until it was obvious."
They're literally walking down a hill in this scene
