#and that parallel/call back to s2 would literally have me on my knees bawling like a bitch!!

[runninguplenorahills]

Mike is going have a heart-to-heart with Hopper in s5 Theory with a capital “T”

At the end of season 4 we have this very minor Mike/Hopper bonding moment which is honestly pretty cool considering the fact that they didn’t really leave on good terms in s3. It emphasized that the “hatred” towards each other was a short lived phase and not anything serious or overly concerning. Their interaction set the path for their relationship to be better in s5 than it was in s3!

Hopper:“you grew”

Mike:“you shrunk”

This is their dialogue in this scene and it immediately shows us that both of them are past what had happened the summer before, while still keeping that dynamic they’ve got going on with Mike having the freedom to be snarky and not overly cautious around Hop. They also hug afterwards which indicates that Mike is comfortable around him.

“You grew” is of course not only about Mike’s hight! It’s a comment on Mike having made progress in growing up, and that he’s more mature than he was last summer. This was their very first interaction since last summer though! They have not seen each other in 8 months and so Hop doesn’t actually have any evidence for the second meaning of “you grew”………yet!

I think this scene was foreshadowing the fact that Mike and Hopper will actually fully mend their relationship in s5 by having an impactful scene together! And I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a heart-to-heart and variation of a coming out scene!

Why do I think that?

At the end of season 3, right after that very awkward kiss between Mike and El, El goes to Joyce and they talk about the speech Hop wrote, and Joyce says:

“It’s the speech Hop wrote for you and Mike” – “you know. The heart-to-heart” – “he never talked to you didn’t he?”

The speech was for El and Mike! They were all supposed to have a heart–to–heart together but as we know, that didn’t work out at all.

Could this also mean that Hop will have a heart-to-heart with El and not Mike? Well, yeah. But I honestly don’t think it does! Hopper wanted to teach them an important lesson with his speech. The message behind his words was the important thing and by reading the letter El got that message! It might’ve not been in person but El already received that heart-to-heart that she was supposed to get. Mike didn’t.

Hopper’s speech/letter:

“I know this is a difficult conversation but I care about you both very much and I know that you care about each other very much […]”

Hop cares very much about both of them! YES, Hopper is El’s dad and YES, he’s going to be biased in a lot of different situations, siding with his daughter, but he also cares very much about Mike! So when Hop finds out about Mike and El’s current situation, I don’t think he will be an asshole to Mike again!! He said he cares very much about him but he has yet to show that he really does! And if he’s just an asshole to him again in s5 then he’s contradicting himself, their scene in s4 would be totally misleading and it would just be bad writing which is why I’m actually certain that Hop will even try and be there for Mike if he sees that he’s in distress over something!!!

This whole sentence also feels like it could foreshadow a heart-to-heart with Mike and Hop because the way it is phrased can totally be applied to Mike and El’s current situation!

“[…]a difficult conversation[…]” -> a heart-to-heart with Mike and Hopper would definitely be a difficult conversation because the main topic is a sensitive one, Mike already struggles with opening up and talking about his feelings, the suggestion of a breakup is difficult and the situation is just overall complicated!

“[…]but I care about you both very much and I know that you care about each other very much[…]” -> anyone who cares about Mike and El sees that they’re both not happy and that this is not working so the conversation is very much needed because Mike sorting out his feelings and a breakup is the best for the both of them!

“I care about you both very much” , “you care about each other very much” -> those two fragments are almost identical in sentence structure and wording which is usually done when trying to emphasize a connection between two separate things! So I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that Mike and El care about each other in a similar way that Hop cares about both of them: platonically!! Which reminds me of “Care. But you don’t love me anymore?” It’s almost like Hop will suspect that Mike doesn’t love El but cares about her endlessly nonetheless! And because Mike cares about her so much he should break up with her because that’s the best for her as well!!

“So we can build an environment where we all feel comfortable, trusted and open to sharing our feelings”

Mike is so clearly included in this!! Hop doesn’t only want El to feel comfortable and trusted enough to be open to sharing her feelings with him, he wants for Mike to feel and do the same!!! Can y’all imagine what kind of cement block would’ve come crashing down on Mike if he had heard Hopper say this to him during s3?? A person representative of a father figure (not to mike but narratively) actively trying to arrange things in a way that makes Mike feel comfortable to talk about his feelings??? Mike is in desperate need of that heart-to-heart!!

I feel like this sentence is also very telling that it all rather leads to a Mike/Hopper heart-to-heart than to a El/Hopper heart-to-heart in s5 because while El does have internal struggles, her main struggles are external and she doesn’t seem too have a deeply rooted inner conflict that impedes her relationships with others. Mike on the other hand has exactly that! Mike has this internal conflict that leads to him constantly repressing his feelings which he’s shown to also not be comfortable talking about. Which makes me think of “I never really… unpacked.” The fact that Mike has never actually talked about his feelings is such a significant problem and as of right now it’s one of the things that stand at the forefront of his character!! Mike’s character arc can not be satisfyingly concluded without him talking about his feelings which means it’s inevitably coming in s5!! And Hopper’s letter kinda seems to tease that exact moment!

“[…]changing. And I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change. So I think maybe that’s why I came in here. To try and maybe stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.”

This is the part of Hopper’s speech that directly resonates with Mike which is emphasized by the camera being on him all throughout! Mike has realized something about himself that inevitably will bring a lot of change along with it and that’s what he’s afraid of! He doesn’t want things to change so he represses his feelings in order to not have to face the change that would come with embracing them!! He’s so scared of things to change for the worse that he pretends that things are exactly like how they were before he had that realization!

That’s just not how life works. It’s moving. Always moving wether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes that’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes, it’s surprising. Happy.”

And this is the part of Hop’s speech that plays directly after the camera pans away from Mike! This is something Mike does not consider! Even less at the end of s4!! But it is most certainly something Mike would’ve needed to hear! That things can change for the better!!

The last sentence is also emphasized on. It feels like a big reveal before Hopper sums up his speech, which is why I believe that that’s where it’s headed. This is a piece of wisdom Hopper gives Mike! Mike will take it and life will be surprising. Happy. Change for the better!

There’s also actually a rainbow in the shot when Hop says “and sometimes, it’s surprising” and Mike coming out as gay would definitely be a “surprising” thing for the GA! [not for us though haha] And it will result in happiness 🌈

As I said in the beginning, Mike and Hopper’s little bonding moment at the end of s4 really set the path for their relationship to be better than it had been and I truly honestly think that a heart-to-heart/coming out is the only way to achieve that due to their very aggressive talk in the car in s3!! That was the furthest from what Hopper had intended to do so I think it would be really satisfying to have Hopper actually give that heart-to-heart which he had planned all along!!! Their relationship also really deserves a redemption from that car talk!

We also have to consider that Hopper was also in the shed when Mike opened up to save Will in s2 so Hop even suspecting something isn’t totally far fetched! A heart-to-heart would also open up the possibility for an insanely fantastic parallel/call back to Mike and Hopper’s scene at the end of s2:

Hopper:“it’s okay”

Mike:“No! Nothing about this is okay!”

-> There’s of course a big chance that this won’t happen!! But I honestly would love to see Mike coming out to Hopper!!! Something about it just feels so right and it makes sense too, so why not?