if you‘re still on your lunch break… do you have any dynamic you favour from mike interacting with the different party members? or even the adults?
My lunch break is over unfortunately 💔 but I'm formatting a presentation on concrete rn so I could use the mental stimulation lol
Byler aside, I think me favorite dynamic within the party would be Mike and Dustin. Mike tends to be a more emotional thinker, while Dustin is more logical, and I think that dynamic clashes, but also works together really well. They're both highly intelligent, but balance eachother out well because they both provide different perspectives to a solution. I think this is why Steve and Dustin work so well together too, because Steve is also more of an emotional thinker (although in a different way than Mike) and that meshes well with Dustin's logical thinking.
It's also interesting how Mike's emotional thinking is offen the cause of conflict. He's a very emotional character, but lacks emotional intelligence and maturity. I also find his relationship with his mom compelling for this exact reason. Karen provides a space for him to be in-touch with his emotions and work through them, even if he doesn't fully understand them. We see this as early as season one, and even though Karen isn't a major character throughout the show, the influence she has on Mike is prevalent within his character, and I think that overall her relationship with Mike is very realistic and compelling.
