#mike analysis

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about the airport scene more as a fully scripted interaction that Mike prepared on the way over that everyone else did not fulfill their roles in.

Script: El will probably kiss him, kiss back. Give her her flowers. "I picked these for you in Hawkins". "Oh! Hey! How you doin'?" to Will: spontaneous, casual. Shoulder punch: platonic. Leave the airport.

Execution: got nervous about saying hi to Will and rambled about flower ratios. Jumped the gun on the Will script and had to start again. Failed the shoulder punch, now it seems like a hug rejection. Forgot to prep for (to convince) anyone but El and Will so when Jonathan greeted him, just said "hey! how you doin'?" in the exact same rehearsed Will inflection. Awkward silence from the failed shoulder punch, impulsively filled it by asking about the painting (instant regret, no follow-ups). Awkwardly looked around for an escape. Argyle? Just say "Oh, hey" again, stay on script from here on out. Weird Argyle hug. Just stay silent if you don't have a "normie" line for this one. Wait for somebody else to leave first.

So...poorly. It went poorly. I can see what he was going for though, the real classic "romantic gesture: flowers, platonic gesture: shoulder punch".

And with this interpretation, it makes more sense why he thought Will was ignoring him and for unrelated or exaggerated reasons. To him, he was just a little awkward and clumsy on accident. (not realizing even had he succeeded, it would have still been a weirdly sudden change)

[wibble-wobbegong]

why do we lose mike’s perspective over time?

after s1, mike’s perspective on things slowly fades away. commonly, you’ll see people talk about the duffers hiding his queerness by stripping us from his perspective, and while that is true, it doesn’t make sense as the grander reason when we look at the show as a whole. it’s more of a helpful side effect

if mike’s perspective is given to us on a basis of his sexuality and wanting to mask his queerness, why do we get his perspective in scenes like these?

but not scenes like this?

really, the whole sauna test should have been from mike’s perspective because he came up with the whole thing, was the most involved in orchestrating it, and was a direct target of billy. we get many shots of mike, but little to none are from his perspective.

i don’t think it’s about mike being queer. i think hiding his perspective gives them more maneuverability as to how they want to handle mike’s queerness, but i don’t think that’s the main motive.

the thing about mike’s perspective is that is never completely disappeared. it still bleeds through, but only in specific moments, and it rarely lasts for long. we see his perspective bleed through in later seasons during scenes like these;

it’s weird, right?

let’s look at each season individually and what characterizes those seasons for mike as a whole.

Season 1 - mike is our central perspective and when he’s on screen, 90% of the time we’ll be in his POV. he’s determined and strong. he’s scared but also fascinated with what they’re discovering. this season can mostly be regarded as the season where mike is most true to to himself because he doesn’t yet understand why he would be anything else (until people start pushing him towards el, but he’s still being himself throughout it which is why he’s openly confused about what’s happening)

Season 2 - mike’s perspective becomes a bit more sporadic, and we aren’t in his perspective nearly as often as we were in s1, though still a good amount of time is given to him. his perspective becomes most prominent when danger is involved, and the hospital scenes are the best example of that shift between non-danger and danger scenes and where the perspective falls. in this season, he’s depressed and even believes he’s dealing with post-traumatic stress. he still has confidence in himself and his abilities, but we don’t see him partaking in DnD at all and he spends all of Halloween semi-pissed. he’s more uptight than he was in s1. he’s himself, but he’s being pulled towards a very dark spot

Season 3 - almost no perspective from him this season. the driest of deserts for anyone looking for mike’s perspective. even in danger scenes we don’t get his perspective!! this is the season where mike is doing everything in his power to repress who he is in order to try and “fix” himself — to grow up and finally start liking girls. he knows he doesn’t like girls, but he attributes this to being a child and thinks if he forces himself go grow up then he’ll finally like el back. he looks to lucas for guidance constantly and doesn’t know what he’s doing. even without his perspective, we see this perpetual regret on his face when he sees the consequences of his actions

Season 4 - mike’s perspective is still limited, but we get more blips. scenes like the cafeteria scene, the van scene, the scene on the couch and in the car back to hawkins. there are plenty of small moments that show us mike’s perspective, but majority of the season is through other people’s eyes despite the very central role mike has in the cali plotline. in a story that was meant to service the race to el, it ended up becoming much more about byler because the story was being told through will’s eyes. had it been from mike’s perspective, there likely wouldn’t have been as much clash between the romanticism of that plot compared to the action of everything else. obviously they wanted to include the romance stuff but they could’ve kept it more to the side like in previous seasons by maintaining the perspective of the guy finding all the clues and putting all the pieces together — they didn’t.

mike’s lacking perspective impacts more than just the byler story, and honestly i think that it very much so has to do with why mike was the one we were introduced to as the main character in s1 and why it’s important we’re going back to s1.

it seems that, typically, it’s only when mike is most secure in himself that we’re allowed to see his perspective (and i can make an argument for the ending of s3). mike being introduced as the main character, the character who’s shoes we’re supposed to fill, adds to this idea by making us less secure in the support we had for mike in s1 as mike becomes more and more insecure. it’s a rhetorical tactic to keep us in mike’s shoes in a very roundabout way and the unveiling of his perspective in s5, which i assume will happen in one massive episode, will directly coincide with mike being forced to face all the things he hates about himself.

mike’s sexuality is a massive insecurity, but it definitely isn’t his only one. we see issues with his family, his inability to be good enough for el or anybody, his slow loss of relationships by his own destruction, and his on-the-line dynamic with death. i’d make the argument that, rather than it being about his sexuality, it’s about having us go on this emotional journey with mike in an unconventional manner. as mike comes to accept himself for who he is (which goes far beyond his sexuality, which is arguably one of the few things he has accepted about himself using the perspective argument) we will learn to accept him as well. if we were the GA. we’re not which is why we already know all this

[hessolivagant]

God, this scene tells me a lot about how mike is feeling. Mikes micro expressions from el to will, is so??? Mike seems to have some conflict going on but we don’t exactly know what it is yet, which i 100% think is going to be addressed in s5. All of the looks, heart eyes and speeches are all going to add up to mike being a gay man. I know that Will isn’t going to be used for his queerness to help a straight relationship. This will ruin all three characters arcs, it would not make sense and it would also be harmful to the queer community:(

Mikes arc: this is based off my interpretation of mike and what i think his conflict and how he’s going to end up in s5. His conflicts are his queerness and his internalized homophobia that causes him to push everyone away while also watering himself down to the standards of “normal” mike is actually a gay man who loves to play dnd with his friends, he also loves star wars and writing :) but his father makes fun of him a lot, he was bullied in middle school, and he is associated with the “occultists”(dnd group💀) at school, he’s pretty much been outcasted his whole life for being different, so of course the poor boy is gonna have internalized homophobia and he going to repress who he actually is to impress el and to seem straight. He even pretended to not gaf about dnd but immediately after s3 he joins a dnd group, clearly he’s pretending to be someone he is not. At the airport he’s wearing his silly little outfit, and argyle points out that it’s a shitty knockoff, which is a double meaning. The clothes are knockoffs of ocean pacific and mike is a knockoff of himself. He was pretending the entire day. So his conflict is pretending he’s normal. Even though he stated in the first episode(with his gay montage) that he doesn’t want to be normal but then he turns around and does this? Interesting.

Mike and eleven: why i think mike and el won’t be endgame, mike won’t have his arc of being himself again and he’s gonna repeat the same thing his parents did(nuclear family) which is boring as hell and also ew? Why are we romanticizing this possibility?? Mike changed for el, mike changed to impress el. He also feels inferior to el and he’s said “i love you” twice to her for the past?? 4(?) years(I don’t remember I don’t pay attention to milkvan) mikes arc would be useless if he was just pushed into this other than, accepting himself and being who he was in s1 and s2 where he didn’t feel the need to pretend.

Mike and will: will, doesn’t pretend to be someone he is not. He’s still in the closet but he’s still himself. He doesn’t want to pretend to be anything else whilst mike is pretending. Mike needs will to fulfill his interests and accept who he is. They need each other to be themselves and they need each other in general because they love each other. If mike ends up with will, we will see our beloved s2 mike. And we will see a more interesting version of mike than mike with el.

Mikes s5 ending: none of us know but one thing i do know is that he’s gonna have his gay little moments, and i want it to be NOTICEABLE. I want people to be like “ohhh, okay that makes sense” LMAO YK?? Also byler kiss!! I’ll take anything, as long as they kiss and confess to each other. I don’t think theyll pull a reddie or all of us bylers are going to riot💀 so i want mike and will alive, they deserve a happy ending.

Also in s5 i want mike to be with another queer character where they open up, like robin orr vickie(?🤨) or maybe even just a conversation with will. OR SUPPORT, ANYTHING FOR THE POOR BOY😭😭 el could be like “mike, ik what you are” and it would work. Please, he needs comfort 😢

(Im in class and my teacher has been showing us monkey photos for like 30 minutes, so um😭???)

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about this and Mike thinking the painting is from El and the words are from El but still falling in love with Will as the one who chose to say them. Even if El called him a hero behind his back, Will is the one who chose in that moment to say it to his face to make him feel good. So stuck on this idea of Mike falling in love with Will's intention to make him feel happy and not being distracted by who's credited.

anyone else up thinking about how mike wheeler dreams about being seen as a hero and being good enough to protect the ones he loves and how he thinks he’ll never be deserving of love until he proves himself worthy of it meanwhile will already sees him as his knight in shining armor and paints him a picture just to show him how loved he already is

[gayofthefae]

The talk in the junkyard getting Mike on the right track but him still not having figured it out and his speech in the van not being that he thinks he figured it out or that he's committed to breaking up with her, but rather more matching in the speech's anxious energy in being

"What if I don't figure it out in time? What if I show up and I'm trying so hard and she says 'too slow' and leaves me?"

The fear not just that he's not enough, but that with all the effort he's pouring into solving this, his best isn't enough. The feeling of lost effort or unacknowledged effort. The feeling that unlike just a fact of being incapable of it and her being hurt by that, the fact that he still is trying.

"What if El gives up on us for me? What if I'm not giving up and she 'calls it'? She deserves better than someone who makes her wait like this. What if she realizes that in time?"

That's the line. That's nearly the line he says.

So let's break it down, actually.

"What if- what if she doesn't need me anymore? - I keep telling myself that [she'll always need me] but- I don't believe it. She's special. She was born special. Maybe I was one of the first people to realize that, but the truth is: when I stumbled on her in the woods, it wasn't fate. It wasn't destiny. It was just simple dumb luck, and one day she's gonna realize that I'm just some loser who got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep. [She's already beginning to understand she doesn't need me. I saw it- I saw it in her eyes that last time we talked.] I mean, at least Lois Lane is an ace reporter for the Daily Planet, right? But-" [I will also be referencing the cut line

Now subtextually.

"What if I can't figure it out in time, and she stops waiting around for me? I keep telling myself she'll be patient with me, but I don't know. She's amazing, she always has been. But I'm not the only one who knows that anymore, I just happened to be the first to tell her. Anyone who took her in could have told her that, I was just the first person who had the chance to know. It was coincidence that we met and one day she's gonna realize that. She's gonna realize that it wasn't some fantasy true love fate or destiny. She just needed someone - anyone. She could have been found by anybody that night and whoever that random person was would have told her she was amazing just like I did. I'm not special. I never brought anything to the table but making her feel lovable, which anyone who knew her could do. Then lots of other people loved her and she only kept me around because I didn't fall behind. Now, I'm falling behind. What reason does she have to keep me around, then? She's starting to realize that. I couldn't make her feel lovable like I used to. When we fought, I saw it in her eyes: she started to give up on me. She realized that the one thing I could give her, I couldn't anymore. She loved me because of what I had to offer and I don't have that to offer anymore. I haven't for months, in our letters, she just hadn't noticed yet. She's noticed now. What if next, she realizes not only am I of no use to her now, but she doesn't need to wait around for me until I am? At least Lois Lane has other value, I don't. All I can do for her is love her and I can't even do that. She knows I can't right now. What if she gives up for me - *on* me? I'm trying still, but what if she calls it? What if she decides she's done waiting for me and it doesn't matter when I get around to loving her because there are plenty of other people who already do and plenty of other people who could? What if I get around to it and she doesn't care because...I just took too long?"

It all comes back to that same idea: if he knows the problem and explicitly, word for word, how to solve it...why is he scared? He's not scared of the solution not working. And his confusion and fear he keeps repeating in episodes 4 and 5 too aren't about what that solution is. He's scared of the ACTUAL unknown: what happens if he fails.

Because he doesn't know. Maybe she doesn't leave him, but look what happened last time he failed. She could barely look at him then she left.

I don't think he knows yet. I think he's panicking because he still doesn't. He's on his way, but he still doesn't. He empathized with not wanting to admit he still can't because it would upset El like Will said, but he hasn't given up on trying yet. This isn't his reasoning for why he can't say, it's his panic around the fact that he can't.

Then Will comes in. Lovely, comforting Will...with a painting. And for those first couple seconds...it's from Will. And I think that's what ruined everything. That's where the feelings came crashing down. That's the thing he can't unknow. It broke his illusion. It answered his questioned.

He was terrified El wouldn't stay with him if he couldn't love her because he thought he was generally unlovable if he wasn't of use. Will showed him that he wasn't. Then said it was from El. And he was disappointed. And then he knew why.

Because for everything I've just written, he knew too...his face shouldn't have fallen Will said it was from El.

[dysfunctionalupsidedown]

"Mike didn't love El at first sight. He treated her terribly."

"Well, he had just met her/didn't know her yet/was upset about Will!"

The analysis I'm working on is really opening my eyes...

[wibble-wobbegong]

okay listen man. listen. i was gonna make a big formal epic post but i feel like this gets explained constantly by everybody and yet the point is still constantly missed by even some of the same people who explain it

the entire point of mike’s character is that we are supposed to be in his shoes. mike is the odd one out. mike is the one who doesn’t fit in the supernatural storyline. but he doesn’t fit in with society either. he has nowhere he feels like he belongs.

so many people around him fit in with society. they can be accepted there — they can be cool and have value there. mike can’t. mike doesn’t fit in with society because he’s gay. it’s a very real, very human problem for us. mike will never fit in with society because of how they view him, so he’s always turned to fantasy and comics because he thinks he can fit in there only to find out he can’t

he finally gets to live a real life comic book with super heroes and dark villains only to find out he isn’t the main character he thought he would be. he doesn’t have el’s powers (superman) or even nancy’s ability to gather informaion (louis lane) so where does he fit? he views el as this unreal, amazing superhero he always wanted to be as a kid because then it would be okay for him to not fit in. if he couldn’t be that, then at least he could be someone who doesn’t fit in with society but fits in with superheroes, right?

but it doesn’t work like that. even further than just el or nancy, he can’t be brave like will or strong like lucas or smart like dustin — he doesn’t see how much he adds to the story because he’s constantly just watching. nobody ever tells him how important he is.

the entire point of mike’s story is learning that he doesn’t have to fit in anywhere to be good. he doesnt have to fit society’s standards or be some superhero or fit in with hellfire (ex: dressing like eddie). he doesn’t have to fit in at all and he can still be good.

mike is ugly. mike is queer. mike doesn’t have superpowers and he won’t ever be popular. and none of that matters, because what makes him special doesn’t fit in any sort of standard or expectation — its that he never stops trying. he never gives up. mike will fight till the day he dies for the people he loves and that is what makes him special. he will take people by the hand and drag them out of the dark. he will keep giving people a reason to fight and keep fighting when they’re done.

mike is special because of how he loves. he’s not worthy because of any sort of idea of speciality. it’s his qualities that make him special and them alone. he just needs to learn to love those parts of himself in order to really, truly become the person he wants to be. he needs to stop wishing he were like lucas or nancy or el and start just loving and being himself.

every time we hype mike up or talk him down, we are like him too. we can be who we want to be if we start loving and being ourselves instead of reaching for these unattainable goals set by both the normal people AND the freaks.

that’s the point of mike’s character.

[strawberrybyers]

the outfit parallels to season 1 are going to put me in a god damn coma,, if you hear nervous laughing sorry that’s just me because WHAT THE FUCK

[love-byers]

this is so funny

[tryingonametaphor]

Why Will Byers?

An analysis and theory on why Henry/Vecna targeted Will first in season 1 and his plans for Will in season 5

‼️Contains The First Shadow (TFS) spoilers so please proceed with caution.‼️

This is going to be a little long but I’ve tried to give as much context as I can without actually being able to show snippets from the stage play. This is my interpretation of everything that went down as a member of the audience and not as someone who has read up any theories about TFS before. To understand why Henry took Will first in 1983, we have to start with -

Henry and Joyce

From all the times I’ve watched TFS, the one thing that has stuck with me is the final conversation Henry has with Joyce. It’s just before his last confrontation with Patty Newby and before he joins Brenner for good. Joyce is the last person (who doesn’t know about Henry’s powers) that he canonically talks to.

Throughout the entire play Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are investigating the animals dying at the hands of Henry and come to the conclusion that Victor Creel has been the one doing the killing. They get so close to solving the case. In her last conversation with Henry, Joyce tries to comfort him by saying that Victor will pay for his crimes - which makes Henry laugh because she’s so close yet so far from the truth. He gets a little frustrated and says something along the lines of “You don’t get it. But someday you will.” (edit 28/9: the exact dialogue is [Henry: you’re too nice. that is how they’ll get you. you have to learn to do anything you can to protect the ones you love] [Joyce: I don’t understand.] [Henry: You will.]) The next time we see Henry make a reappearance in Joyce’s life is during -

The Vanishing of Will Byers

Will is taken into the Upside Down (UD) by Henry. It’s not even a question anymore. All of the context clues from 1x1 lead us to believe that Will’s kidnapping was not by a demogorgon. Will - a 12 year old - miraculously survives a week in the upside down with no food or water. Will is even around the demogorgon a few times in the Upside Down. (Joyce communicating with Will through the lights and then the demogorgon coming after her immediately).

Barb dies the night she is taken but Will stays alive and also somehow manages to talk to Joyce through the wall. Joyce is led exactly to where Will was held at the end of s1 and he makes it out alive. It’s almost as if Henry knew all along that Joyce was the most capable of never giving up on finding her son. Like Henry took Will Byers because he was Joyce’s son. And like he was giving her just enough to know that Will was alive. Even when Joyce and Hopper find him at the end in a state of near death, he’s not injured by a creature. He was being prepared for the next stage of Vecna’s plan -

The Possession of Will Byers

The origins of Henry’s powers happen as such - As a kid, he is transported into the UD (originally coined Dimension X by the government) for a few hours because he touched something he wasn’t meant to touch. During his time in there, he came in contact with the Mind Flayer (MF). According to TFS this is the point in his life when he started getting “corrupted”. Brenner’s dad - who was one of the first people to enter dimension X - had mutated blood after but no powers. Henry was the first person to come in contact with the MF and it’s highly likely he got his powers because of this (This would also track considering how most of the party has been in the UD now but show no signs of having powers). The MF controls Henry for the rest of TFS and Henry grows more power hungry the more he kills.

In S2, Henry presumably sends the MF after Will - who has now had a year to heal from the events of 1983. Will is the only other person in all of ST to have had direct contact with the MF and survived it. Henry didn’t hesitate to kill Billy in S3, but he always gives everyone just enough to keep Will safe. Will himself tells Owens in S2 that the MF wants to kill everyone except him. Will once again survives the entire ordeal and is given a “break” for the next 2 seasons. Except I don’t believe he’s been just given a break. I think Will is -

Henry’s Sleeper Agent.

Ready to awaken in s5. I undoubtedly think that Will is going to have powers. And I don’t think they’re going to be the same as Henry and El. El and the other lab kids get their powers directly from Henry. Will’s powers will be directly from the MF like Henry. I believe this has been Henry’s plan all along and it’s further affirmed by what he tells Will in the recent VR game. That Will will be the key to Henry being able to infiltrate his friends’ minds. Jamie Campbell-Bower also mentioned during the S4 press that to get in character, he set up a display with all of Henry’s victims and targets’ faces on his wall(?), and Will was in the center.

Henry is going to use his connection with Will sneakily and midway through S5 he’s going to awaken Will’s powers (maybe in ep4 - which is said to be titled ‘Sorcerer’ and has young Will in it). Henry is going to try and manipulate his way into making an ally out of Will, and it’s not going to work because -

Will is the Perfect Character Foil.

Will is everything Henry could have been if he had a better support system. He is the perfect character foil. Unlike Henry, Will has a mother who loves him unconditionally and more importantly, believes him. Unlike Henry, the person who Will loves the most (the Patty to Will’s Henry: Mike) is going to love him back and stay by his side all season. No one is going to force them to be apart the way Henry was told to stay away from Patty. Will is not going to be easily swayed even though Henry has spent years crafting him into the perfect soldier. Sure, Henry has seen him heartbroken and sad, but that comes nowhere near to the amount of love and support Will is going to get from his people next season. And they’re going to quite literally defeat Vecna with the power of love and friendship. After that, Will Byers is getting the happy ending that Henry could have gotten.

[gayofthefae]

Right???! We so often forget because having background noises in those moments in film would be weird and is better left out. It would also make the scene different to have extra reactions.

But like..the roller rink could hear them. There were still people around.

In the same way that I often forget that Jonathan couldn’t just see but could hear them the whole time in the van.

In the same way that many of you likely forget that even ARGYLE knows the ENTIRE PAINTING SITUATION AS WELL. 

Like every is still THERE. Just because they zoomed in and played music and it “feels like they’re the only two people in the world” doesn’t mean they actually are.

In acting a big thing is “stakes”. As people, they still made those choices to say those things in front of people - be it big crowds of strangers or two people close to them.

I have a post about how Mike is very emotionally intimate with Will and not super weird or outbursty - but specifically when alone with him.

We know conceptually about the social stakes of being gay. But I think we forget it on a smaller scale. There are times that, maybe Mike would have totally said things to WILL. But they were still yelling in public. Or he wanted to say something when he saw Will crying but Jonathan and Argyle were right there. We forget these things. The stakes are very much real in those moments. 

I saw something stating that El was right behind the door and may have overheard Mike and Will’s fight. Maybe Mike thought of that too. That not knowing where she was, she could be hearing them. Anyone could be hearing them.

Maybe one of the things exaggerating his reactions or in the case of the van, minimizing them, was also their environments, not just his comfort level with Will - which we see change...based.  on. environment.

Not to ramble on, but a quick example not in the referenced post is also how Mike seems about to say something - not only before Argyle interrupts him in the desert. But until Argyle reminds him by doing that they are not alone.

thinking about how will and mike missed each other so they made sure everyone in that goddamn roller rink heard all about their business like they were YELLING IN PUBLIC i keep forgetting

[myname1sca1]

When Finn Wolfhard's nervous lying tell (pursing his lips) shows in his acting

[ghostlyaces]

Byler Kiss 🤭

[sirfrogthe3rd]

"If an artist falls in love with you, you can never die."

[gayofthefae]

This is hilarious

Also just remember its literal perfect alignment with “I like presents” from the season 3 finale that I had forgotten about so thank you for this reminder.

quick side note acknowledgment though for the moments I get to see wholesome milkvan fandom moments bc this was very cute and respectful, albeit oblivious.

Here’s to supporting El getting Mike a present platonically in season 5 <3

Yeah, imagine…

[zom61eboy]

Let’s say Mileven is endgame. Do you think it is a satisfying way to fix their relationship problems in s4 by using Will’s painting and Will’s feelings (disguised as El’s) to inspire Mike and give him the courage to confess to her? Are there any other pairings that needed external help to save their relationship?

And not only they needed external help but a gay character’s feelings were used to fix a straight relationship. If they are such a great pairing why not use something that El actually said/did to inspire Mike? Why did Will have to resort to lying and using his own thoughts to help Mike?

If the Duffers wanted to make them look like they have a beautiful and strong relationship they could have written it differently. But they didn’t.

And besides that, imagine how bad it would look for them if a gay character was used as a plot device to further a heterosexual relationship.