#snowballgate

It's senior prom, and because it's the 80s, Mike and Will show up in their suits but not as a couple.

Then, boldly, Mike walks up to the Gang. He asks Will if he'd like to dance.

Will stammers a bit, looking around.

"Um, I..."

Max gives Will The Look. ("Do it!")

"Uh... I mean... yeah! Yeah, sure."

Just thought it would be a cool callback

It was the very obvious clue (signal) put directly in the GA's face. If only they would be open to receiving it 😕 🫩

Radio towers give off signals.

To piggyback (from a pizza dough freezer anyone huh huh what a pun I know) on that....snowballgate

Snowball turned unavoidable avalanche etc etc..

For those of us who have seen '85 you know where this is going.

Snow shark??? The animation of how the monster attacked????

Moral of the story I'm painting here is,,, we are crazy; crazy (and stronger) together. I'll be honest I don't think there is a definitive confirmation coming, not in the form of new content for the original show anyway.

That being said; between the script books(+ the other official books), The first shadow(when it does eventually release on streaming), Tales from '85 (notice how its from and not of because it isn't the telling of what happened in '85)...I truly believe the puzzle pieces are all being given to us to put together and "guess the ending." I've always thought it strange that there was a point to say no one had guessed how it would end. They want us theorizing. "I think you guys are better writers" they would never allow someone to say that if there wasn't a reason..even if that really was Noah saying something he shouldn't have the things he has said lately/after that comment would never be allowed. They would have scolded him to some extent after saying fans are better writers if they didn't want him saying it and he would not be so lax with his comments.

Mixed media gate anyone???? Unless we combine the different forms of media/storytelling, you're unable to get the full picture.

snowball

snowball

snowball

It's such a sad and bitter song!!!!

Yet many listeners often miss the point and play it at their weddings and stuff, which the artist even said was the incorrect way to read that song.

Likewise, the Duffers knew that the GA would similarly misinterpret the end scene to be sweet and romantic for Milkvan.

But Byler are actually both crushed and yearning!!!

It's not a happy and sweet moment for Mike.and Will like it is for Lumax or even the way it's supposed to be for Milkvan.

Even without knowing the Vecna context of stalking/watching the party the song is NOT uplifting and sweet, like you would imagine a song would be for a new relationship.

Mike and Will were both faking happiness as they danced with girls, painfully aware of the hopeless nature of their crushes, yet feeling jealous and upset all the same.

Clever of them to blur Mike's face when he's paralleled to Dustin's pain:

That's why Mike's face during his dance with El is mostly in shadow and he looks so serious. If he was just feeling really happy, his face would've been fully lit and smiling, like Lumax both were. Instead, it's mostly just El whose face is lit up and smiling. They hide Mike's face from us.

Lighting enhanced to show his expression:

Even when he kisses El, he doesn't look happy afterwards and only smiles when she boops his forehead:

Lighting enhanced to show his expression:

And the lyrics. Ohhhhh, the lyrics.

We've talked about "every smile you fake" playing when Will is doing literally just that, but also the whole song opens "every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you" with the context of Mike openly staring at Will dancing with the girl with a mixture of seething jealousy and crushed heartbreak:

^this gif doesn't give the full impact of just how long Mike was staring at Will, but you can watch the clip here:

In closing, I think my very favorite use of the song is "every vow you break" - perhaps the vow to go crazy together?

Can you imagine if El had showed up earlier to the Snow Ball and she thought Dustin's hair looked amazing? And what f he instead asked El to dance, leaving Max and Lucas to dance and Mike and Will to hang out alone??