What’s Mike afraid of?

Running up that Hill by Kate Bush

The B side - Under the Ivy

It’s very much a song about someone who is sneaking away from a party to meet someone elusively, secretly, and to possibly make love with them, or just to communicate, but it’s secret, and it’s something they used to do and that they won’t be able to do again. It’s about a nostalgic, revisited moment. (…) I think it’s sad because it’s about someone who is recalling a moment when perhaps they used to do it when they were innocent and when they were children, and it’s something that they’re having to sneak away to do privately now as adults.

~ Kate Bush, 1985

The lyrics:

It wouldn’t take me long

To tell you how to find it,

To tell you where we’ll meet

This little girl inside me

Is retreating to her favourite place

Go into the garden.

Go under the ivy,

Under the leaves,

Away from the party

Go right to the rose

Go right to the white rose

(For me.)

I sit here in the thunder,

The green on the grey

I feel it all around me

And it’s not easy for me

To give away a secret

It’s not safe,

But go into the garden

Go under the ivy

Under the leaves

Away from the party

Go right to the rose

Go right to the white rose

(For me)

It wouldn’t take me long

To tell you how to find it

so an elder brain is depicted as living in a pool of brine water correct? like a puddle of salt water. (i had that wrong - i thought it was like immersed in a tank of water but it sits on the surface of the pool. this is like the isolation tank and the void at the same time.) in real life, a brine pool is an underwater lake of highly-concentrated saltwater at the bottom of the ocean. alright so above the upside down is the sunny, arid abyss right? but if the upside down is the ocean, then the brine pool would be at the bottom. that's where the elder brain is!

the abyss was the complete opposite direction. it was totally the wrong way! they need to go down deeper. not up.

They say that Hop found him in an abandoned cabin

It's in the cabin that they burn the Mind Flayer particles out of him

It's there that Will reveals that he's still connected to Vecna

And they take him there again in S5

Elder Brains are stored in brine pools.

The thing above Hawkins Lab reflects like pool water at night.

Elder Brian's have access to memories.

This is the characters inside the Mindflayer making one Elder Brain. Minus Creel, big scary guy, Lucas, who is aware and choosing to stay, hello Dimitri in Russia plot line, and Erica, who was smart enough to avoid getting caught.

Meaning somewhere the characters are all in their own baths. In fact, I bet all of Hawkins are in baths. It would allow the Elder Brain to maintain safety, keep the military away, give Hopper his job back no questions, let Jonathan go to school, Nancy have her dream career, Steve to get what he desires, Lucas gets his love story, Max does not need to be disabled, Dustin gets to attend college, and Mike gets to marry Jane. A fairytale ending at the price of the water supply. Because the Abyss just happens to not have water, and that's the future if the Elder Brain and Vecna continue down this path.

With that said. What if a character woke up and realized they were under water? How would they locate the others?

Sonar.

What if this is the wave, is a sonar wave, from the future, the epilogue we saw. Using the Elder Brain water against the Elder Brain. Sending out a sonar wave to the past because their friends are lost on the other side of the wall.

Who is meant to tear down the Wall?

There are surveillance cameras throughout Hawkins?

(x image credit to @lilialunaa)

Which looks awfully similar to the surveillance camera footage we see in the lab (s2e8).

And within the first two minutes of the show, we see the lab, multiple surveillance cameras (this shot is held for like 12 seconds btw), and one of those stalker shots.

I fear we've been in the Truman Show this entire time.

and also Will the Spy

To summarize, all of the "year" dialogue references seem to point to four things:

Mike and Will connecting and working together as a team.

Finding El, plus one reference to her saving them.

A gate to the Upside Down.

"The truth", plus commentary on "last/past year".

I listed these references in episode order. I also found some of the corresponding episode titles interesting, so I've included those as well.

S2E1 (MADMAX)

Mike "still be[ing] on the team".

S2E9 (The Gate)

The episode title is The Gate, plus El "sav[ing] [their] asses" by closing the gate.

S3E1 (Suzie, Do You Copy?)

Also in this scene, the gate:

And the two keys, which symbolize Mike and Will imo (x).

S4E2 (Vecna's Curse)

"Friends... Best friends."

Possible bridge imagery between Mike and Will, and "Reach[ing] out more" dialogue.

Also in this scene, there's mention of finding El.

S4E3 (The Monster and the Superhero)

Again, mention of finding El.

S4E4 (Dear Billy)

"We should work together" and "We're a team", plus another "Friends... Best friends". In addition to, "The truth is, the last year has been weird."

And to be clear, best friends is queer coding for boyfriends imo. Just like good friends is code for girlfriends.

I'm inclined to think that these references are foreshadowing, but let me know what y'all think :)

Lastly, S5E8 (The Rightside Up)

"This past year... the truth... pissed off about it."

I don't think this is foreshadowing, but more just commentary on this year.

Let me know if I missed any!

Bonus:

Not a "year" reference, but the "We just need more ti-" line from S3E1 reminded me of the "Just give him time" line from S5E4.