something something mike wearing willās colours during these moments and what it all meansĀ
1. thereās a lot to unpack here but THIS ENTIRE montage. first of all, el dumps him when heās wearing willās colours and not his own. this is the only occurrence of him wearing just yellow as opposed to yellow and blue.Ā
heās wearing it for all of the romantic-coded material girl montage of el and max, including this iconic gay panic where we see fear in his eyes at the sight of womenās lingerie.
and this ridiculously romance-coded shot of him kneeling next to a jewellery case with will in the frame. thereās a post out there somewhere explaining this better but why would will be in the shot? lucas isnāt, despite the fact that heās also standing right there. and mike didnāt really have to kneel down, my bad posture king could have just hunched over the case for the same, will-less shot. and yet here we are. idk man sort of proposal-coded
honorable mention: el is momentarily wearing blue and yellow in this scene. sheās putting aside mike for the moment and exploring both herself and a new friendship. sheās realised she doesnāt need him to function and be happy, and it feels like sheās also giving him permission to start exploring other relationships, hence the yellow for will. this is good, this is healthy.Ā
also, every single garment to the left of max is green or yellow hm
2. same outfit as the first point, but the byler rain scene. first of all, look at my guy. mike āheart eyesā wheeler indeed.
he knows heās crossed a line with his ānot my fault you donāt like girlsā line. he was there for all of willās bullying, all of lonnieās taunts. mike knows how much that hurt will. below is his face just before will leaves. he knows what heās done.
but, hang on a second. will just suggested it was dumb that mike is throwing everything away for his girlfriend, which makes a lot of sense. itās unhealthy to do so, as is highlighted multiple times in this season. we all know itās important to have relationships outside of romantic ones - those of family, friends, mentors, et cetera. will wasnāt suggesting he also didnāt want a girlfriend, or mike was wrong for wanting one, just that mike needs to stop throwing everything else in his life away. heās trying to cling to childhood as well. but mikeās response is to lash out with the line - why? is he projecting? is he making a desperate attempt to clear the air about his own heterosexuality (or lack thereof)? i believe he is. he wouldnāt intentionally use that insult - an insult that has been crushing will his entire life - against him unless there was some kind of internal struggle surrounding his feelings for will as opposed to el.
and here. aha. michael wheeler. little man. your girlfriend just broke up with you, but whatās on your mind? upsetting will.
mike knows he crossed a line, and heās back to apologise, donning a green raincoat over his yellow shirt. this is where the importance of it being ONLY yellow and not blue in this outfit comes in. heās focusing on will. he may not have been during the rest of the day, but here, with the will-and-mike colour over the will colour, heās not thinking about himself anymore. heās put all of his confusion and pain aside to focus on making it up to will, biking to his house and knowing exactly where to find him when he isnāt home. season 1/2 mike is back for a moment and in-tune with will. thereās also the green, to emphasise how heās trying to prop up their relationship once more. itās the first green heās worn all season, because itās the first time heās really focusing on healing his friendship with will. that is the only thing on his mind at this point, not any of his own concerns or needs.
3. the grocery aisle scene with el. this scene honestly felt so platonic to me, despite mikeās halfhearted attempt at telling el he loves her.Ā plus the wording of āblank makes you crazy.ā crazy. crazy together, you mean?Ā
in this scene the yellow is more subtle, because itās more about mike being unsure of himself and his emotions than directly referencing byler. but he canāt say it. he canāt say i love you. maybe thereās something - or someone - whoās making him hold back. this might be a bit of a stretch, but the yellow around his neck on his collar could be something about his feelings for will holding him back from telling el he loves her. even though will isnāt directly trying to keep them apart, thereās something constricting mike in this scene, like a collar. that being said, the button is undone, suggesting mike is trying to put his confusion aside and be dedicated to el.Ā
4. double date time, baby. mikeās got a lot of yellow on for the iconic hand-holding and lip-glancing movie theatre scene. but his gay ass little jean vest in blue is over his yellow t-shirt, possibly depicting mike covering his emotions surrounding will.Ā
itās also the ensemble heās got on when we clearly see the state of el and mikeās romantic relationship in the scene before. el isnāt interested in his goofy singing, clearly saying sheĀ ādoesnāt like itā. this continues a common thread of them not having much in common. itās established that they spend all of their time making out and this is scene asĀ āunhealthyā by hopper.Ā
5. the shed scene. need i say more.Ā the yellow is subtler than some of the season 3 moments, but this scene is an important reminder that at their core, regardless of any romantic implications, will and mike are best friends. thatās something el and mike never got a chance to be, and i hope season 5 will explore platonic elmike because i really do think they are good friends.Ā
but back to this scene in season 2. we see mike at his best: loyal, kind, soft with will, concerned for his best friend. unlike with his protective moments with el (when sheās getting arrested in season 4, when he tells her she doesnāt have to use her powers to find billy in season 3, etc), thereās no hint of a saviour complex. he reassures will, but he isnāt saying, itās okay, iāll make it all okay like he does with el. he just opens up, unafraid to express his feelings and cry in front of will. thatās another thing heās never been good at with el: opening up. as mentioned before, will and mike are best friends, and this scene as well as the rest of the byler scenes throughout season 2 shows us the level of both devotion and honesty they have with each other.
heās got the same subtle yellow stripe below, where he shows up at the byersā and knows something is wrong with will. again, itās established how well he can read his friend and how much he loves him. heās always been very in-tune with willās emotions, although this is clouded with confusion about his own in later seasons.
6.Ā mike what are you wearing scene, aka In The Closet At The Rink-O-Mania. well. heās wearing yellow, for sure. and thereās already a lot of good content out there surrounding his sunglasses and el, so iām just gonna go ahead and focus on his (eye-scorching) yellow ensemble (maybe itās a metaphor for how obvious his love for will is). warning: very unserious analysis below because itās been said so many times and is also painfully obvious, just like mike wheeler in a crowd.Ā
mike wheeler is back at it again, stunning in blue and yellow to burn the eyeballs of innocent californians. and heās seeing will and el again!! and heās awkwardly half-hugging will for no reason!! which, as many have already said, makes no sense from a platonic pov. why canāt you hug your friend? youāve done it many times before. yāall are KNOWN for having no personal space around each other. and if mike doesnāt know about willās feelings, this awkwardness is because of his own feelings for will.Ā
then thereās the wholeĀ āyouāve been moping, your bad mood is making me in a bad mood cus i love you and i canāt see you unhappy, will baby please talk to meĀ š„ŗš„ŗā shit that goes down while his GIRLFRIEND has just been publicly humiliated and bullied and is crying in a closet. so um. mike. anyways.Ā
7. honorable mention to his warm sort of yellowy shirt with blue during the whole byers leaving scene where el kisses him and he doesnāt kiss her back, where he makes heart eyes at will, et cetera. iāve run out of analysis juice and yāall know what i mean anyways.Ā
8. finally, just going to go ahead and point out that mike is wearing all green when heās leafing through willās art. so yeah, byler endgame. thanks for reading <3
love from, the homophobic dog













