What’s Mike afraid of?

You know, the issue where S4's see-through cover makes S4 doesn't match up with the others, and apparently now people like this guy are already making and selling stickers to fix the appearance of it?

I haven't heard anyone mention, yet, how if you take the slip covers off all the other seasons, the titles at the top actually do match.

Excuse the dark picture and little un-even-ness. I've been playing around with them and it's late.

Maybe it's nothing, but I think it's kind of funny that I'm, like, "looking behind the curtain" for multiple seasons for things to line up. And if we're willing to consider that could be intentional, maybe there's also something symbolic that S4 slipcover is see-through (you know, with all the glass and mirror imagery)? Or, that S4 can appear to line up with the others (without slipcovers), even when it is behind a curtain or filtered in some way. Also - I think there's something a bit darkly funny going on here. I know Kate Trefry has spoken publicly about having "hardcore OCD." And, at risk of reinforcing the stereotype that OCD is about orderliness/cleanliness (it's so much more than that), I just want to say it's hilarious that S4 sticks out so much.

"we're friends. good friends." robin about vickie.

same vibes as: "i think itd be better if we were a team. friends. best friends"

basically both = gay

steve is styled to look like a ROOSTER in the finale: aka: A CHICKEN!!

(steve also eats chicken at barbs parents house)

who would need to use "good friends" (to hide their gay relationship) with steve, the chicken who is a friend at the squawk?

jonathan byers.

yes im making this about stonathan idc.

ive seen the @3mryss posts about the wsqk actually being at hawkins high!! which!! on a slight change to their theories, checks out for the both jonathan, nancy, and robin pre 18 month timeskip. they all wouldntve graduated yet. and steve could be volunteering? maybe?

We’ve been here before

Most of the loops in 5 seem to be coming from season 2 and season 3, but there are still a few standouts from 1 and 4. I'm doing this because it's hard to find anything that's actually original in season 5.

1 is like 5 predominantly in how it relates to Mike and El

-A child close to Mike goes missing

-Mike makes promises to El about what they'll do together after they defeat the bad guy (and again when they get Will back)

-Mike says El looks pretty in her new outfit (which is a weird comment because it's just a wetsuit, not a pink dress)

-El goes into the bath after promising Joyce she can find Will and Joyce thanking her.

-El has a scene in the tank with Hopper that matches her scene with Brenner in 1

-El's goodbye to Mike and his reaction is almost identical

-Karen opens the door to let Mike and the party know it's time to finish their D&D game, the way she did at the start of the series.

4 is like 5 in that

-Lots of Eddie related homages in clothes and comments "It's the tone." "Bad news first, always"

-Running up that Hill is played again to wake Max up. A lot.

-Will treats the demos the way Vecna treated his victims

-Murray gets into a locked military zone by pretending to be someone he's not in a truck.

-Max and Holly going through memories like El in the Nina was going through memories

-Attacking with Molotov cocktails and guns again

-Robin is giving bad/wrong relationship advice again, but still from a good place

-Robin figures out a mind/music connection (in 4 it's that music can rescue you from Vecna, in 5 it's using album covers in place of Max, Holly and Will to explain how they're trapped in Henry's mind. )

-Steve's six nuggets are mentioned again

-Purple Palm Tree Delight is mentioned again, as well as the Emerson lie.

-They are driving around in a van again. WSQK instead of Surfer Boy

-Steve and Robin working together again (like 3 and 4)

-Max and El are fighting Vecna in a memory again-his this time instead of hers and with Kali and a pack of kids along for the ride.

-Vecna in person is fairly easy to defeat. Again.

(What's really fun about this is there is NO mention of what Mike and Will went through in that van or the painting. No resolution to the "From Mike" fight and off love confession to El in the tub. NO REFERENCE to the Will, El, Mike story line from season 4 for AT ALL in season 5 except that El knows she isn't a "monster" anymore. It was like it never happened.)

If you combine that with what I found in 2 and 3 above, there really isn't much about season 5 that isn't a reheat other than:

-The wormhole explanation for the UD

-The walls (Pink Floyd posters, quarantine fence and fleshy wormhole wall)

-Will being hopeful, even though that was very short lived

-Demo vision

-A Wrinkle in Time references

-Mr. Whatsit version of Henry/Vecna/One

-the mine memory and the high school and play memory (two of which were never followed up on)

-Karen and Mr. Clarke being included in the supernatural aspect of the story line.

So this is something I've been thinking but threat level mom put so well on Tik Tok.

That Mike and Will horrible moment on the tower? That was Mike and Will in the bedroom in season 4. He was so focused on El he lost sight of Will and friends, best friends? It's the same conversation. But it feels horrible and wrong now instead of flirty because of everything that's happened.

She mentioned the loop rebooting because what might have happened in the original wasn't okay with the powers that be, and they did a replay. I really like that idea, and it's something I've been thinking about.

Like, imagine Will just telling his Mom and Mike. Maybe Jonathon, instead of the entire group that included people he'd never spoken to. Imagine him not mentioning Tammy at all that time because no one but Robin, Vickie and Steve got that reference. Imagine Mike getting Will alone on the tower and having an entirely different conversation.

The scene that we got? It didn't feel real or authentic to their relationship at all. It was a repeat. It was a lie.

And I think we get clues about what happens when you do that with Mike coming up the tower twice right after that conversation and then disappearing from the shot etc. The editing is off. We're supposed to notice that.

I've done this about season 2 as well, but I was thinking about the missing people from season 5 today and realizing they were missing from season 3 as well, so I decided to make another list of similarities.

Who is missing?

The deputies and Florence and the police station

In season 3, Hopper's went to Melvald's to talk about El and Mike with Joyce. Then he went to the mayor's office twice. Then he left town. He never went to his station again after season 2. and in 5 the deputies and Florence were gone and never once mentioned.

2. Hawkin's lab scientists/Owens

The lab is a huge part of 1, 2 and 4 (the Nina), even 5 had 2 labs, one in the UD run by Kay and one in the UD that was a mirror of the original. But in season 3, the lab was different and the scientists and military we saw were all Russian. We only saw Owen's for less than 2 minutes after the battle of Starcourt. He had no dialogue and no one in the party saw him either. /In 5 Owens was gone and never once mentioned.

similarities and/or bookends

Season 3 started with the party climbing a hill to put together a radio tower (Cerebro) in Suzie Do You Copy and ended with Neverending Story to save the world/ Season 5 started with Steve and Jonathon climbing the WSQK radio tower and ended with the party climbing the tower to save the world.

Season 3 had a beautiful and private coming out scene with Robin and Steve in the bathroom where she talked about Tammy/ Season 5 had a crowded and horrible coming out scene where Will also talked about Tammy.

Season 3 Mike said to Will "It's not my fault you don't like girls"/Season 5 Will said to Mike and others "I don't like girls"

Season 3 Nancy tries to charm the nurse to get in to see her "grandmother" / Season 5 Robin does charm the nurse by pretending she's visiting her "grandmother"

Season 3 attack in hospital (meatflayer)/ Season 5 attack in hospital (demodogs) *demodog attack happened in lab in 2 as well.

Season 3 had the Billy and Heather dinner/ Season 5 had the Turnbow dinner-both laced to knock out the family.

Season 3-they used a dummy in the sauna test/Season 5 they used a dummy in the Turnbow trap.

Season 3 had Jonathon forgetting to reset the alarm after the power went out and waking up late (like Mike was always late)/Season 5 had the same.

Season 3 there were no demodogs, demobats or demogorgans at all in Hawkins/Season 5 there were none in the Abyss, where you'd most expect them to be.

Season 3 Lucas gives his "bolder, better" speech about new coke/ Season 5 Lucas gives a "bolder, better" speech about his plan.

Season 3 Dustin was separated from the rest of the party-with Steve-underground until close to the end when he drew on a map to explain what they needed to do to get to the hub. Oh and he says the solution is the radio tower/ Season 5 Dustin was separated from the rest of the party-with Steve-in the UD until close to the end when he came back and drew the wormhole to explain where and what the Abyss was. Oh and Steve says the solution is the radio tower.

Season 3 Mike hits Billy with a pipe/Season 5 Mike hits demo with a shovel. (Since he's not very physical in this series, it seemed relevant.)

Season 3 Murray wears a uniform, drives, smiles and pretends to be someone else to get into part of the Russian lab/Season 5 he does the same to get into Hawkins quarantine *he also does this in 4

Season 3 is when Hopper asked Joyce to go to Enzo's/Season 5 is when they went to Enzo's.

Season 3 the plan is to "blow this sucker sky high" / Season 5 the plan is to blow the exotic matter and the UD sky high.

Season 3 Nancy says Jonathon can stay in her basement instead of moving away/ Season 5 starts with Jonathon staying in her basement.

Season 3 El says I love you for the first time and kisses Mike before she leaves/ Season 5 El says I love you for the last time and kisses Mike before she leaves.

Season 3 Heroes played at the end/ Season 5 Heroes played at the end.

do they not realize that books, plays, music, movies, tv shows and video games. any art! wouldn’t exist if stories weren’t important?

But on the morning of November 6, Vickie Dunne was arguing with the soldiers who had arrested her almost-certainly-addict girlfriend, spent the afternoon in another dimension searching for some guy named Dustin (after first surviving an attack by mutant dogs), and spent the night glued to her walkie-talkie like some action-movie hero's wife.