#joyce got a direct message with knowledge on the upside down and el's survival and fought to get back to him

[gayofthefae]

Obviously, narratively, it was all planned, but the thing about the bad timing trope is that Byler was almost Jopper. And they sorta thought they might be to. The one with the martyr lover healing from grief and learning to find love again in their best friend.

But imagine if Bob came back to life at the end of season 3, right after Joyce asked Hopper out. No one would be mad if Bob came back to life. Someone we love coming back to life is good. That's how Mike feels, of course it is. That's how Joyce would feel too. But... There's a "but". If we hadn't known El was alive, that's what it would feel like. That's what it was for them. That's exactly what it was.

No one could fault Joyce for moving on after a year of grieving. No one can fault Mike either. When it's Joyce, her eight months is a long time, long enough. When it's Mike, his year is barely anything and he should just keep holding on. But holding on like that isn't healthy. And no one can fault him.

They held out for a year, still grieving, then in the week we saw them, their arc was to overcome that grief in shifted their attentions to the person who had been supporting them and being able to find love again in them. That was Mike's arc too. It was. Learning to love again after your last love died in front of you, sacrificing themself heroically. Now, after holding on a long time, you're learning to let go and heal so you can move on with your life; you're learning to love again. That's good. We're rooting for you.

Then "Bob" comes back. And that reunion scene would be beautiful. You know that it would. But you also know that the inner monologue would be complicated once the relief died down. And you also know that the following season would demonstrate the complications in the relationship that it left.

Him hanging up that radio on Halloween was healthy. We were sad because we knew she was alive. But him hanging up that radio was healthy, no matter how grateful he was to be wrong.