Mike Wheeler: He repeats things for emphasis. EMPHASIS!

[VCRTracking]

Mike isn't as entertaining as Finn Wolfhard's other character, Richie Tozier in IT but the one thing Nostalgic Critic said about the character in his review of the movie("He is somehow the dorkiest AND coolest character") applies to Mike. He is both dorky and cool.

[EarlGreyTea]

My absolute favorite character on the show. He was very much the Elliott to Eleven's E.T. in season one. It was touching to see him completely welcome her into his world. I loved his idea of being a gracious host - stealing Eggos for her, giving her his sleeping bag, offering his parents to her. For me, he is the heart of the younger kids' group.

Which isn't to say that the kid isn't flawed. He has jerkish tendencies (see: treatment of Max), and I thought that was a nice touch. The Duffers sure understand how preteens work.

Are we allowed to post spoilers here? If not, here's some stuff from S2:

Season two really gave Finn a chance to stretch his wings. The difference between S1 Mike and S2 Mike was stark. It was subtle, and he was relegated to the background for the second half of the season, but I enjoyed seeing his slow descent into a kind of mental breakdown, culminating in his screaming match with Hopper in "The Gate." No one really seemed to notice how traumatized he was. I was pretty disappointed that even Nancy didn't seem to pay much attention to the poor kid, to say nothing of his parents.

Finn also proved he has real potential as a romantic lead. The kid knows how to stare longingly at someone, which is half the battle when it  comes to romantic pairings.

They push the Mike/Eleven pairing so hard that I'll be surprised if they DON'T end up marrying the two off at the end of the series.

It was a small moment, but Mike sleeping on the floor next to Will's bed was adorable. Such a sweet friendship. Of the entire set of younger characters, they seem to be the closest, excepting Mike and Eleven.

Edited December 1, 2017 by EarlGreyTea
removed spoiler tags

[Dev F]

Per board policy, I don't think we need spoiler space in a character thread. So be forewarned, I'm gonna dive into season 2 . . .

On 11/28/2017 at 7:12 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

Season two really gave Finn a chance to stretch his wings. The difference between S1 Mike and S2 Mike was stark. It was subtle, and he was relegated to the background for the second half of the season, but I enjoyed seeing his slow descent into a kind of mental breakdown, culminating in his screaming match with Hopper in "The Gate."

I had the same reaction on first viewing -- that what we saw of Mike this season was really interesting but that he was somewhat underutilized -- but on rewatching I realized that he's more central than it first seemed. He's a key part of Will's storyline pretty much all the way through, from the season premiere, when he's the only one of Will's buddies who can tell that something is really troubling him, to the penultimate episode, when his affection for his friend is instrumental to breaking through the Mind Flayer's influence.

I think the reason why Mike's role sort of flies under the radar this year is because it's a bit reactive. Most of the other characters make affirmative choices that lay out a clearly defined personal arc, whether it's Joyce going from overprotective mom to angry avenger who's willing to hurt her son in order to save him, or Steve transforming from shitty boyfriend to damn good babysitter, or Eleven realizing that she cares more about saving her friends than satisfying her own need for vengeance. But Mike's stuff is mostly him responding to other people's circumstances and choices; heck, his most anticipated moment of the season is how he reacts to the fact that Eleven chose to come home.

Still, what Mike goes through is pretty interesting, if not as a character arc than certainly as a character portrait. To me, one of the most interesting things this season reveals about Mike is how much he's driven by a need to be needed. That's a big part of the hole that El's disappearance left in his life; he got so attached to the idea of being the magical girl's knight in shining armor that it's hard for him to deal with being just one of the ol' gang who goes to the arcade and chases after the cute skater chick. (In fact, I think a largely unacknowleged factor in his tension with Max is that he doesn't actually dislike her; he's attracted to her just like Dustin and Lucas are, and Mike and Max actually are low-key flirting in their big scene in the gym, but Mike can't deal with it because it would mean that his special relationship with El isn't so special.) I think that's why he gets particularly drawn into Will's troubles -- because poor Will relies on him and cares about him in a way that sets him apart from the rest of friend group. (I don't think it's an accident that when Will complains to Jonathan about how "everyone else" treats him like a freak, he calls out "Mom, Dustin, Lucas . . . everyone" -- conspicuously leaving out Mike.)

And if Mike does have an arc of sorts this season, you might argue that it's about him finally realizing on some level that this is how he's wired. That's perhaps the point of his big "It was the best thing I've ever done" scene with Will -- going from the kid last season who insisted that all his friends were his best friend and maybe Lucas most of all because he lives next door, to acknowledging that what he really looks for in a best friend is something more intimate and more vulnerable. And perhaps that leads into him finally breaking down in Hopper's arms. But it's still pretty subtle compared to the journeys most of the other characters go on this year.

As to where they might go with Mike in season 3, I think that some sort of triangle among him, El, and Will is pretty likely. I could see El and Will connecting over their shared traumas (and possibly shared family, if Hopper and Joyce end up getting together), and Mike feeling left out and ordinary again. I could see Mike getting sucked in further by the specialness of his relationship with El, and Will feeling jealous that he's been replaced. (It might be worth noting that in Mike's characterization of the "party" to Max, he imagines El as the mage -- which is the character Will role-plays in their actual D&D campaigns.) But I figure that those two characters, and some of the emotional issues raised this year, are going to be central to where they take Mike in future seasons.

Edited November 30, 2017 by Dev F

[EarlGreyTea]

10 hours ago, Dev F said:

 (In fact, I think a largely unacknowleged factor in his tension with Max is that he doesn't actually dislike her; he's attracted to her just like Dustin and Lucas are, and Mike and Max actually are low-key flirting in their big scene in the gym, but Mike can't deal with it because it would mean that his special relationship with El isn't so special.) I think that's why he gets particularly drawn into Will's troubles -- because poor Will relies on him and cares about him in a way that sets him apart from the rest of friend group. (I don't think it's an accident that when Will complains to Jonathan about how "everyone else" treats him like a freak, he calls out "Mom, Dustin, Lucas . . . everyone" -- conspicuously leaving out Mike.)

Excellent post. This struck me as well when I first viewed the season. Mike doesn't dislike Max one little bit when he meets her. To me his tantrum about her coming along for Halloween was a classic case of the gentleman doth protest too much. He likes her, all right. Of course not to the same extent as his feelings for Eleven, but it's there. I don't know if Sink and Wolfhard were instructed to play the gym scene as such, but there was a natural spark that showed up anyway. I noticed that by the time eavesdropping Eleven realized what was going on, Mike had finally begun smiling at Max. Had Eleven never existed, I have no doubt Mike would have also been one of Max's suitors. And since he displays the same kind of deep empathy towards Eleven that Lucas displayed to Max, I have no doubt he'd have given the other two a run for their money in the Max sweepstakes. And had Eleven truly been destroyed at the end of S1? It may have gone differently indeed.

Still, I'm glad there was not a full fledged triangle between Mike/Max/Eleven. The second I heard about the casting for Max, I feared that's what would happen and sure enough, it was hinted at this season. Luckily it was just a plot device to keep the characters apart. It would have cheapened Mike/Eleven, and a lesser show may have gone there. I'm glad they didn't.

Mike strikes me as a classic Harry Potter type. The two could get together for coffee, because both of them have this deep need to save others. What strikes me is that Harry, like Mike, seems to have no idea who he is when he's not saving the world. It's both an asset and a liability.

10 hours ago, Dev F said:

 some sort of triangle among him, El, and Will is pretty likely. I could see El and Will connecting over their shared traumas (and possibly shared family, if Hopper and Joyce end up getting together), and Mike feeling left out and ordinary again. I could see Mike getting sucked in further by the specialness of his relationship with El, and Will feeling jealous that he's been replaced. (It might be worth noting that in Mike's characterization of the "party" to Max, he imagines El as the mage -- which is the character Will role-plays in their actual D&D campaigns.) But I figure that those two characters, and some of the emotional issues raised this year, are going to be central to where they take Mike in future seasons.

Agreed, and frankly I'll be disappointed if there ISN'T some sort of tension between Mike/Will/Eleven for reasons mentioned. I think the jealousy will mostly be on Mike's part. We've already seen that Will and Eleven are the dearest to his heart, and I can't see him taking it well that Will and Eleven have a unique shared drama that he does not. He doesn't seem to take it well when it becomes apparent that one of his loved ones doesn't need him. And since Brown and Schnapp have repeatedly asked the Duffers for actual, substantial scenes together in S3, I think we're finally going to get the Will/Eleven friendship that so many have asked for. I am actually very curious to see if their close offscreen friendship comes across onscreen. It may be that they completely rival the chemistry between Brown and Wolfhard. Another thing that will piss Mike off, heh.

Edited November 30, 2017 by EarlGreyTea

[Dev F]

7 hours ago, EarlGreyTea said:

This struck me as well when I first viewed the season. Mike doesn't dislike Max one little bit when he meets her. To me his tantrums about her coming along for Halloween was a classic case of the gentleman doth protest to much. He likes her, all right. Of course not to the same extent as his feelings for Eleven, but it's there. I don't know if Sink and Wolfhard were instructed to play the gym scene as such, but there was a natural spark that showed up anyway.

In interviews, Millie Bobby Brown makes it sound like Shawn Levy directed the scene by winding both girls up about how Max was "stealing Eleven's man," so I figure it was probably intentional. And I think it comes through in the script as well: Max goes from argumentative to playful the moment she realizes that El is another girl Mike clearly had feelings for, as if sensing an opening.

Quote

Still, I'm glad there was not a full fledged triangle between Mike/Max/Eleven. The second I heard about the casting for Max, I feared that's what would happen and sure enough, it was hinted at this season. Luckily it was just a plot device to keep the characters apart. It would have cheapened Mike/Eleven, and a lesser show may have gone there. I'm glad they didn't.

Agreed. There was enough of a spark that it didn't come across as a cheat (as it would if El just stumbled onto a totally innocent interaction between Mike and Max and mistakenly thought it was romantic), but not such a dramatic thing that it needs to color the Mike/El relationship going forward.

Quote

I think the jealousy will mostly be on Mike's part. We've already seen that Will and Eleven are the dearest to his heart, and I can't see him taking it well that Will and Eleven have a unique shared drama that he does not. He doesn't seem to take it well when it becomes apparent that one of his loved ones doesn't need him. And since Brown and Schnapp have repeatedly asked the Duffers for actual, substantial scenes together in S3, I think we're finally going to get the Will/Eleven friendship that so many have asked for.

Yeah, arranging the triangle that way would also keep Mike at the center, appropriate since he's the main character, and give Will a bit of a break, which the producers have claimed is a goal for season 3. The only potential complication I see is that to me Will reads as probably gay, potentially with a crush on Mike, so the triangle would likely be more complicated than two boys being interested in the same girl. But even that wouldn't make a triangle impossible. Will and El could still have a strong brother/sister-type connection that Mike misreads and resents -- in which case Will's sexuality could even potentially serve as the resolution to the triangle, i.e., Mike, you doof, Will isn't into El like that!

[nodorothyparker]

Really excellent analysis in the previous posts.  I too was struck by the Harry Potter comparison, although I saw it almost in reverse.  Harry at times has a fair amount of resentment of Ron and Hermione because they each have fairly ordinary respective backgrounds and do get to be more or less normal people.  They can blend into the crowd unless they just choose not to.  Like the Boy Who Lived, Will and Eleven will never have that.  They're each extraordinary or have had these incredibly extraordinary experiences that should be a natural basis for bonding going forward, and while Mike may have been the leader of their party probably at least a little because hey, it's his basement, he's a painfully typical surburban kid save for the geeky AV Club stuff.  He's a great kid with a lot of smarts and loyalty and a huge heart, but he's not "special" like that.  It'll be interesting to see where they go with it.

I found Mike's limited interactions with Max fascinating in that his surface rejection of her was such a complete reversal of how unguarded and accepting he was of Eleven where normal people might have been at least a little bit skeptical last season.  There was an unconscious vibe of protesting a little too much that I don't think would have existed had he not previously so deeply connected with Eleven and maybe felt like accepting Max was moving on from that.  After all, as Lucas pointed out last season, Eleven was "the first girl who doesn't think you're gross."  Lots of adults struggle with feelings so while it didn't bother me to see 12- and 13-year-olds taking their first crack at it and stumbling through it, I am glad the show didn't take it any further to a full blown middle school triangle because I'm just not interested in watching that.  

[EarlGreyTea]

50 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

 

I found Mike's limited interactions with Max fascinating in that his surface rejection of her was such a complete reversal of how completely unguarded and accepting he was of Eleven where normal people might have been at least a little bit skeptical last season.  There was an unconscious vibe of protesting a little too much that I don't think would have existed had he not previously so deeply connected with Eleven and maybe felt like accepting Max was moving on from that.  After all, as Lucas pointed out last season, Eleven was "the first girl who doesn't think you're gross."  Lots of adults struggle with feelings so while it didn't bother me to see 12- and 13-year-olds taking their first crack at it and stumbling through it, I am glad the show didn't take it any further to a full blown middle school triangle because I'm just not interested in watching that.  

Great post! On the surface, his rejection of Max from the jump would be puzzling. Even Dustin and Lucas don’t seem to get why another girl joining the group would be painful to Mike. Although Lucas does call him on the hypocrisy of it all, no one seems to acknowledge that the poor kid is struggling. Wolfhard does subtlety really well.

I think the perfect illustration of the shift is when Max comes along for Halloween. Dustin and Lucas are hanging on her every word, walking alongside her in front of the rest of the group, oblivious to Mike’s silent fuming. It’s almost a perfect mirror of S1 when they’re all walking in the woods. Mike and Eleven are up in front and he’s hanging on her every word, with Dustin and Lucas trailing behind, the latter upset about the whole thing. How about them apples, Mike?

I will also add that like Harry Potter, Mike lashes out in a big way this season as a way of letting out all his trauma.  His mom’s recitation of his laundry list of misdeeds was sad. And yet neither parent cares to look a little deeper as to why he’s suddenly angry all the time. Capslock of rage Harry, meet Emo Mike. 

Edited November 30, 2017 by EarlGreyTea

[nodorothyparker]

1 hour ago, EarlGreyTea said:

I think the perfect illustration of the shift is when Max comes along for Halloween. Dustin and Lucas are hanging on her every word, walking alongside her in front of the rest of the group, oblivious to Mike’s silent fuming. It’s almost a perfect mirror of S1 when they’re all walking in the woods. Mike and Eleven are up in front and he’s hanging on her every word, with Dustin and Lucas trailing behind, the latter upset about the whole thing.

I loved the symmetry of this.  At one point, Mike is snitting about how having Max along is "ruining the best night of the year."  Well yeah, that probably is a little of how it felt to your friends last year when you were completely taken in by this strange monosyllabic girl who couldn't answer basic questions of where she came from or how she knew what she knew.

You're given clues in that first Wheeler family dinner scene that this past year has not been okay for Mike in the way it seems to have mostly been for Dustin and Lucas.  His parents are listing different instances of him acting out that have led to the punishment of him having to donate his toys.  We know they know something happened last year but it seems doubtful they really understand the particulars of it or how profoundly Mike is grieving over it.  That's the thing that really strikes me both in the late in season scene with Max where she again clearly wants to know more about Eleven and all he'll say is that "that thing took her" and later when he's raging against Hopper over his realization that Hopper had been hiding Eleven all year so close by:  He and Eleven may have only known each other for a week or so and sure, they're kids, but sometimes the huge life altering experiences happen like that.  He's been walking around with this open wound of grief over it all this time and no one acknowledged or even really noticed it.

[EarlGreyTea]

10 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

Really excellent analysis in the previous posts.  I too was struck by the Harry Potter comparison, although I saw it almost in reverse.  Harry at times has a fair amount of resentment of Ron and Hermione because they each have fairly ordinary respective backgrounds and do get to be more or less normal people.  They can blend into the crowd unless they just choose not to.  Like the Boy Who Lived, Will and Eleven will never have that.  They're each extraordinary or have had these incredibly extraordinary experiences that should be a natural basis for bonding going forward, and while Mike may have been the leader of their party probably at least a little because hey, it's his basement, he's a painfully typical surburban kid save for the geeky AV Club stuff.  He's a great kid with a lot of smarts and loyalty and a huge heart, but he's not "special" like that.  It'll be interesting to see where they go with it.

 

Thinking more closely about the Harry Potter comparison, Mike seems like he'd be the Ron Weasley. Normal, average, with an underlying resentment towards Harry for his uniqueness and fame. And Ron's normal existence is what draws Harry to him. So I can see Eleven/Mike/Will functioning in that way in terms of a possible friendship tug-of-war: Mike resenting the Will/Eleven shared experience, with Eleven in particularly cherishing Mike's normalcy and the stability he offers. So I can see some real tension in S3 - because Mike can be prickly and jealous - but overall I think we'll end up with an even stronger friendship with those three in particular. Not sure where Dustin and Lucas fit in. For all that Lucas was resentful of Eleven taking Mike away from him, those two spent little time together.

I also thought the Mike/Nancy relationship was criminally underused. They had improved their relationship by leaps and bounds last season, so it was a rare misstep on the show's part that she didn't notice what he was going through. After he stole the money from her I was sure they'd have some kind of heart-to-heart, but it didn't happen.

11 hours ago, Dev F said:

In interviews, Millie Bobby Brown makes it sound like Shawn Levy directed the scene by winding both girls up about how Max was "stealing Eleven's man," so I figure it was probably intentional. And I think it comes through in the script as well: Max goes from argumentative to playful the moment she realizes that El is another girl Mike clearly had feelings for, as if sensing an opening.

Hilarious. I still say the genuine spark between Max and Mike was natural chemistry between the two actors. Shows simply beg for this type of cast chemistry. There is not one misstep in terms of friendship dynamics, the standouts being, of course, Mike/Eleven and more recently Dustin/Steve. What I did like about the gym scene was that Max wasn't remotely threatened at all; she was simply fascinated by the idea of another girl in the group, one with powers at that. It makes Eleven's later rejection of her even harder to watch.

Edited December 1, 2017 by EarlGreyTea

[bettername2come]

I'm so glad there's a Mike thread now. He's such a great character. In terms of Harry Potter, I've had the quote from the Goblet of Fire movie about Cedric Digory stuck in my head about being "fierce, fierce friend." I think Mike Wheeler may exemplify that quote better than any other character. I mean, people say his friend's dead and he leads the search for him. Bully says jump off a cliff or I'll mutilate your friend, dude jumps off a cliff. Evil government agents want his new girlfriend, he tells them they'll have to kill him first. Friend has PTSD, first one to go after him when he acts weird and make sure he's all right. Girlfriend missing and possibly dead nearly a year, he keeps calling her daily. He's such a great character.

[MarySNJ]

Of all the younger boys, Mike reminds me the most of my son when he was about that age. He didn’t play D&D, but Magic the Gathering - similar though.  I like all the boys, but Mike’s my favorite TV son.

My reaction to Mike’s reaction to Max was that he resented that this new girl was coming in to replace Eleven who he missed deeply and was still pining for.  If Eleven had not returned, I think Mike would have eventually gotten over it, but he wasn’t emotionally in a place to do that, before El came back. Maybe now that El is back, he can relax and let Max have her own place in the group... although some of that will depend on how El reacts to Max I suspect. 

[EarlGreyTea]

2 hours ago, bettername2come said:

I'm so glad there's a Mike thread now. He's such a great character. In terms of Harry Potter, I've had the quote from the Goblet of Fire movie about Cedric Digory stuck in my head about being "fierce, fierce friend." I think Mike Wheeler may exemplify that quote better than any other character. I mean, people say his friend's dead and he leads the search for him. Bully says jump off a cliff or I'll mutilate your friend, dude jumps off a cliff. Evil government agents want his new girlfriend, he tells them they'll have to kill him first. Friend has PTSD, first one to go after him when he acts weird and make sure he's all right. Girlfriend missing and possibly dead nearly a year, he keeps calling her daily. He's such a great character.

Mike is the friend you want in your foxhole. Kid may be average when compared to Eleven, but I think his own personal superpower is his extreme loyalty to his friends. He pretty much singlehandedly headed Eleven off at the pass from becoming Kali (yeah, yeah, Hopper and the others had a lot to do with it too, but I'm not a huge fan of the Hopper/Eleven relationship. Like, at all).

1 hour ago, MarySNJ said:

Of all the younger boys, Mike reminds me the most of my son when he was about that age. He didn’t play D&D, but Magic the Gathering - similar though.  I like all the boys, but Mike’s my favorite TV son.

My reaction to Mike’s reaction to Max was that he resented that this new girl was coming in to replace Eleven who he missed deeply and was still pining for.  If Eleven had not returned, I think Mike would have eventually gotten over it, but he wasn’t emotionally in a place to do that, before El came back. Maybe now that El is back, he can relax and let Max have her own place in the group... although some of that will depend on how El reacts to Max I suspect. 

I think Mike won't give two shits that Max is now in the group, now that he has Eleven back, and I hope they wrap up the whole Mike/Max misunderstanding by the first episode. in fact, I'm really curious to see if Mike'll basically devote all his attention to Eleven once again, like in S1. Except now he'll be devoted to helping her integrate into normal life, and now Lucas won't be as upset because he has a girlfriend now too, and now Will is safe and sound. I'm really excited to see how the entire group interacts together. They have never all been together at once. How will Mr. Clarke deal with the fact that Mike is now dating his Swedish cousin Eleanor? lol

Edited December 2, 2017 by EarlGreyTea

[wanderingstar]

On 11/28/2017 at 8:12 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

It was a small moment, but Mike sleeping on the floor next to Will's bed was adorable. Such a sweet friendship.

I loved that. I'm glad we got to see more of Will and MIke's friendship in season 2. 

[stealinghome]

Quote

I also thought the Mike/Nancy relationship was criminally underused. They had improved their relationship by leaps and bounds last season, so it was a rare misstep on the show's part that she didn't notice what he was going through. After he stole the money from her I was sure they'd have some kind of heart-to-heart, but it didn't happen.

Agreed. I think you can fanwank that Nancy was kind of choosing not to notice just how upset Mike was because she was trying so hard just to go back to normal, and acknowledging Mike's pain would have made the "normal" facade a lie. And also because she was dealing with her own grief and guilt over Barb, so trying to help Mike with his own pain was just too much for her. (I WAS struck by how Episode 1, I think it was, made a point of juxtaposing how lonely and miserable both Nancy and Mike were--at the end of the day in S1, they were the only two people who lost their Person.) But that's not really something we should have to fanwank when it involves two central characters who are siblings and live under the same roof!

In general I thought Mike was a bit sidelined in S2 and Nancy too out on a storyline island with only Jonathan (who doesn't do anything for me), so giving them a meaty storyline together could also be a way to bring Nancy back to the center and give Mike a subplot of his own.

Edited December 3, 2017 by stealinghome

[Dev F]

On 11/30/2017 at 7:13 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

What I did like about the gym scene was that Max wasn't remotely threatened at all; she was simply fascinated by the idea of another girl in the group, one with powers at that.

I imagine it was probably a relief to Max, in fact, to learn that Mike was cool with having another girl in the group at one point. As a junior-high tomboy, she's probably used to encountering guys who share her interests and have compatible personalities but don't want her around just because she's a girl. And that's not a surmountable problem, since she can't just stop being female. As soon as Mike confirmed that he didn't just hate icky girls -- indeed, that he seemed to have strong feelings for this mysterious other girl -- it became an obstacle they could potentially get past.

[EarlGreyTea]

18 hours ago, stealinghome said:

Agreed. I think you can fanwank that Nancy was kind of choosing not to notice just how upset Mike was because she was trying so hard just to go back to normal, and acknowledging Mike's pain would have made the "normal" facade a lie. And also because she was dealing with her own grief and guilt over Barb, so trying to help Mike with his own pain was just too much for her. (I WAS struck by how Episode 1, I think it was, made a point of juxtaposing how lonely and miserable both Nancy and Mike were--at the end of the day in S1, they were the only two people who lost their Person.) But that's not really something we should have to fanwank when it involves two central characters who are siblings and live under the same roof!

In general I thought Mike was a bit sidelined in S2 and Nancy too out on a storyline island with only Jonathan (who doesn't do anything for me), so giving them a meaty storyline together could also be a way to bring Nancy back to the center and give Mike a subplot of his own.

I can accept your fanwank. I think it's a really good one, especially since Nancy was trying so hard to appear normal. But she did crack pretty early in the season, although by then she and Jonathan had moved onto their storyline island and there was probably no good time after that. I guess it's important to remember she is also a teenager, and being empathetic and comforting to her (until recently) distant younger brother may have  been asking too much of her. But I'm a sucker for a good sibling relationship on TV. Why bother making them related if you're going to waste it?

 

7 hours ago, Dev F said:

I imagine it was probably a relief to Max, in fact, to learn that Mike was cool with having another girl in the group at one point. As a junior-high tomboy, she's probably used to encountering guys who share her interests and have compatible personalities but don't want her around just because she's a girl. And that's not a surmountable problem, since she can't just stop being female. As soon as Mike confirmed that he didn't just hate icky girls -- indeed, that he seemed to have strong feelings for this mysterious other girl -- it became an obstacle they could potentially get past.

I'm rewatching the MadMax episode, and I notice when she first makes her appearance, Mike totally checks her out along with the other three boys when she first sits down in class. As I mentioned earlier, I think what really boils Mike's bunny is that he doesn't object to Max at all. He probably is downright attracted to her, and mix that in with all the guilt and grief over the missing Eleven - and you end up with a hostile Mike. I did like that he was rightfully impressed with her driving skills. I bet she'll be the main driver in S3. I  can see her stealing Billy's keys.

I did like that as much as the boys came on too strong with stalking Max, and she tried to act tough, she showed up for Halloween anyway. She was secretly pleased to be included. I like that she shared their interests too.

Edited December 3, 2017 by EarlGreyTea

[bijoux]

Man, poor Mike. He was depressed for a year and nobody noticed? Will’s visits with the doctor didn’t do much good, but at least Joyce was trying. It was genuinely heartbreaking to see him trying to contact El.

[Perfect Xero]

Rewatching the series and I think I find myself really disliking Mike this time around. I know he's going through a lot but he just takes his shit out on people around him, particularly the girls. Everyone remembers how he treats Max in Season 2 for no good reason, but he's a complete asshole to a barely verbal, clearly confused about everything Eleven when she tries to lead them to Will in Season 1 and they find "his" body instead.

Him fixating on/being in a relationship with a girl who, basically, never had a social interaction before she met him and he took her in just seems like a huge red flag to me as well.

[Ambrosefolly]

So I was reading this long tumblr post about Mike being gay and not straight or bi. I don't why it go to me, maybe is the amount of effort to look for gayness in Mike because she is a Byler shipper. Probably because I am a Mike/Eleven shipper myself. As friends, I love Mike and Will, and I also think Will is the one person that can knock out Mike's tendencies for self absorption. (And I do think this show has dropped enough hints that Will is gay and now is struggling with his sexuality. I'd be pretty shocked if he turned out to be straight or even bi.) That is the thing with Stranger Things, when it come to the romantic relationships, they usually don't beat around the bush much with crushes or even sexuality. 

However, one of the things I disagree with: when El tells Mike she loves him too, it looks like Mike is kissing El back in the gif she featured trying showing he wasn't kissing her back, even if he is taken back by her declaration and kept his eyes open.

Here is the post. She might be right, but I think she wants Byler so badly she is seeing patterns where there are none. (Also Finn Wolfhard playing queer characters in "It" and "Goldfinch" might have something to do with it).I think when Dustin called out Mike and El taking off to go make out "bullshit" because they were ditching him right after he returned home (he was right, it was). I doubt that it was supposed to parallel between Nancy & Steven when she called their relationship bullshit and that she didn't love him, just because they used the same word. When he declared he was the "only one he that cared about Will," it was among his family, with Nancy obsessed with hanging out with Steve and Ted being more interested in his dinner.

@Ravenya003, what do you think? Does she have a point?

[blueray]

Mike is definitely straight to me. When he was talking about being the only that "cares about Will", he was referring to his family not seeming to care that his friend is missing. Which at that point was true, his parent were (and well stay) clueless about anything and Nancy does start to care when Barb disappears too. Dustin calls it "bullshit" has nothing to do with Mike and El's relationship is that he feels left out as they clearly don't want to help him with the radio and rather make out.  So it's actually the opposite.  And Nancy said "bullshit" in reference to her and Steve pretending nothing happened. Her friend was murdered in another detention and she obviously is struggling to cope. As is Steve, but his way of "coping" was to pretend nothing happened which doesn't feel right to Nancy which causes her to break up with him. 

[Ravenya003]

On 12/12/2020 at 5:22 PM, Ambrosefolly said:

Here is the post. She might be right, but I think she wants Byler so badly she is seeing patterns where there are none. (Also Finn Wolfhard playing queer characters in "It" and "Goldfinch" might have something to do with it).I think when Dustin called out Mike and El taking off to go make out "bullshit" because they were ditching him right after he returned home (he was right, it was). I doubt that it was supposed to parallel between Nancy & Steven when she called their relationship bullshit and that she didn't love him, just because they used the same word. When he declared he was the "only one he that cared about Will," it was among his family, with Nancy obsessed with hanging out with Steve and Ted being more interested in his dinner.

@Ravenya003, what do you think? Does she have a point?

I think shippers can ship what they like, and bloggers can make giant meta commentaries that delve into Jungian symbolism and thematic resonance and minute details to their heart's content if that's what they enjoy, but there's no way the Duffer Brothers are changing course from Eleven/Mike as the show's OTP. Not after three seasons of setup, and after making their relationship the heart of the whole show. I do however think that Will will get a "coming out of the closet" arc sooner or later. 

Is it just me, but is the whole shipping phenomena within fandom is getting out of hand lately? I'll give the OP you linked to the benefit of the doubt and assume she's just having fun with the material, but so often these days shippers get completely carried away with their theories and endgame predictions and subsequent meltdowns when things inevitably don't go their way. Zutarians, Johnlocks, Destials, Reylos, Merthurs, Klances, Bellarkes... if they make a loud enough on-line noise, the rest of us will inevitably have to suffer through tedious fanservice designed to appease them, but it never works out for them in the long run.

In this case, the Duffer Brothers clearly have their eye on what fandom is saying/doing, and makes slight calibrations in order to cater to popular opinion, but I definitely don't think they'll remove something as central as Mike/Eleven.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Ravenya003

[Ambrosefolly]

54 minutes ago, Ravenya003 said:

Is it just me, but is the whole shipping phenomena within fandom is getting out of hand lately? I'll give the OP you linked to the benefit of the doubt and assume she's just having fun with the material, but so often these days shippers get completely carried away with their theories and endgame predictions and subsequent meltdowns when things inevitably don't go their way. Zutarians, Johnlocks, Destials, Reylos, Merthurs, Klances, Bellarkes... if they make a loud enough on-line noise, the rest of us will inevitably have to suffer through tedious fanservice designed to appease them, but it never works out for them in the long run.

In this case, the Duffer Brothers clearly have their eye on what fandom is saying/doing, and makes slight calibrations in order to cater to popular opinion, but I definitely don't think they'll remove something as central as Mike/Eleven.

No, it isn't just you: shipping is getting out of hand. The nice thing about Mike's realization that he mistreated Will and their friendship it got him to stop obsessing over Eleven, as much. 

Again, I have nothing against the blogger and have to give her credit for writing out her reasons why she thinks that Byler is endgame. And you never know, she might be right. 

[Ravenya003]

38 minutes ago, Ambrosefolly said:

No, it isn't just you: shipping is getting out of hand. The nice thing about Mike's realization that he mistreated Will and their friendship it got him to stop obsessing over Eleven, as much. 

Again, I have nothing against the blogger and have to give her credit for writing out her reasons why she thinks that Byler is endgame. And you never know, she might be right. 

That's true. These days anything can happen. (I just wish it would stop happening due to on-line fan campaigns. Man, I miss the fourth wall!)

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, Ravenya003 said:

Is it just me, but is the whole shipping phenomena within fandom is getting out of hand lately?

For real. I'm an OG Mulder/Scully 'shipper, and since the internet was just becoming a household thing at the time we were literally the first fandom discussing our 'shipping theories online, and it was just FUN. We'd have debates about MSR vs. NoRomo and the debates could get intense but never hateful (except for the random crazies every once in a while). It's an entirely different world now and it is NOT better. It's just exhausting.

 

43 minutes ago, Ravenya003 said:

(I just wish it would stop happening due to on-line fan campaigns. Man, I miss the fourth wall!)

A thousand times Yes! to this.

[moonb]

I too am old enough to remember X-Files shipping discussions,  and with season 4 coming I made the mistake of reading some of the promotional stuff, and yeah....it's funny that fandom is so  furiously arguing over whether 14 or 15-year-olds will marry their 8th grade boyfriend/girlfriend, lol.

That said, I really liked Mike and Eleven's storylines especially in seasons 1 and 2. Almost fairy tale-like.

 

[Snow Fairy]

On 6/20/2019 at 9:00 PM, Perfect Xero said:

Rewatching the series and I think I find myself really disliking Mike this time around. I know he's going through a lot but he just takes his shit out on people around him, particularly the girls. Everyone remembers how he treats Max in Season 2 for no good reason, but he's a complete asshole to a barely verbal, clearly confused about everything Eleven when she tries to lead them to Will in Season 1 and they find "his" body instead.

Him fixating on/being in a relationship with a girl who, basically, never had a social interaction before she met him and he took her in just seems like a huge red flag to me as well.

I am rewatching first three seasons now (I watched season 4 already) and I feel the same.

In the first season I didn't like Lucas, but Mike is getting more and more annoying in the following seasons. He had bad moments in the season 2, but a lot more further on