#st4 analysis

Inspired by @miwiheroes's lovely post about food metaphors in s3 and s4 involving Mike and his societal conformity.

So at some point in s4, there comes a scene where Mike is forced by El and Argyle to try pineapple pizza. He's absolutely against it before even trying it ("gross", "That's insane. That's blasphemous. Putting fruit on pizza?"), but then he does and ends up liking it.

So it made me wonder about the slang "fruity" and I did a little research.

You can read the whole thing - "Fruit (slang)" - if you want, but suffice to say that 'fruity' was indeed sometimes used as slang in the 80s (to indicate a gay man).

But this is the most interesting part:

Fruit loops

Keep in mind that pineapple does often come in a shape that is, indeed, a loop! A yellow* fruit loop:

Anyways! Let's see:

"Gay men and an area where they hang out and cruise each other."

Reminds me of loverslakegate tbh.

But most importantly:

"A fruitloop can also refer to a person considered crazy."

Oh!

Like...

Like that?!

Interesting, interesting.

Also interesting how Mike did end up eating the pineapple; trying it, trying something new and enjoying it!

Mike Wheeler did indeed enjoy the yellow piece of fruit he was so hesitant to try.

Okay I HAVE THINGS TO SAY

Mike calms down and feels better about El because of Will

Nothing changes between him and El while he's having this conversation with Will, of course, and yet he instantly looks as if his troubles were nearly gone as soon as Will talks to him.

Look at this progression:

Mike talks about El and their fight.

Just like in the past, he looks more confused or almost bothered than anything - not at all maliciously, but just... he's not hurting because he needs to make sure the person he loves knows that he loves her. He's... encountering a problem. He looks, not very emotion-driven, let's say. He looks rather passive.

2. Mike is still talking but looks at Will with hopeful eyes, looking to him for reassurance and help.

"And maybe I should've said something, and if I would've said that thing, then maybe she'd want me there with her, wherever she is."

3. Mike looks distressed. Will has just started talking to him.

"No. Look, Mike, you're gonna see her again, and whatever it is- whatever you didn't say, you can say it to her then. Okay?"

4. Instantly, Mike looks way more relaxed.

And Mike is nodding frantically as Will talks; his expression changes into a smile.

"Yeah. Yeah."

And right after, poof, all his problems were fixed and it looks as if he's seeing rainbows and unicorns right now.

His eyes are smiling, his lips are relaxing, his eyes are nearly half-lidded. He's likely not focusing on El right now, he's lost in Will and how he makes him feel!

He might not even be focusing on what he's saying. He's clearly looking at his lips here!

5. "Will-Will-Will"

Looking at his lips. Then his eyes. Then his lips again.

Boy looks downright mesmerized! Just admiring Will.

I swear, from when he was talking about El to now - he just looks like he went under a spell. Like a cartoon character that got hypnotized or had their head hit with a pan and is now moving all slow and out of it. Like he's in another world or something.

Michael Wheeler when Will Byers:

6. And then he looks away all embarrassed and smug and proud when Will praises him!

Mike looks away all embarrassed (Will observes)

Mike smiling all flustered

Mike pressing on his lip before turning to Will with the most puffed up chest in the universe, so proud and smug:

"Looks like it's gonna be up to us again."

Translation: "I, Mike the brave paladin, shall save you, pretty boy in distress!"

Plus the Will voice!

The rest of the time, whenever Mike talks to people - even himself - he's louder, speaks in a higher pitch, more aggressively. But with Will? Ever since we first see him in this scene, which starts with him already in Will's room, Mike's voice is tremendously soft. He's SO softspoken! So gentle, so smitten!

One thing I love so much about Mike and Will's relationship is the way the complement each other so well. They fit each other so well, they just work. Without having to talk much or alter themselves at all. One big aspect I see is this:

Mike is a leader, his love language is protection, he wants his loved ones to need him and look to him for help.

Will continuously meets all of these things.

All of those aspects of Mike that he has shown to want and need in a relationship. Example: (about El) "she doesn't need me anymore" (distressed).

Mike and Eleven through the seasons

Initially, El did meet these criteria. She did want to be in a space where Mike led her (and whoever else), she did want Mike to protect her, she did need him - except, not in a good way. El's identity is very fragile and she's incredibly anxious when we first meet her in s1. When she finds that Mike treats her well, and she's safe with him, she latches onto him. She never wants to let go. She attaches anxiously to him, relying on him for her sense of self, safety and worth.

So initially, she did fit Mike's emotional wants as a partner (though not coming from a healthy place). In s4, we see her grow out of this. She discovers and understands that she doesn't need Mike, she is not a monster and she's strong regardless of Mike.

She's now leaning towards being independent, both in her sense of self and in her actions and words.

Mike doesn't match this. There's nothing wrong with them not fitting each other in terms of emotional needs/wants and love languages, But they simply do not fit.

Will's monologue as the opposite of Mike and El's relationship

Will's monologue to Mike about El him (we know he was actually talking about himself) needing Mike, on the other hand, was exactly what Mike would've wanted from El. Which is exactly why he can even manage to get the love confession out later in the first place! (Wait till he finds out that the feelings he was able to respond romantically to were actually coming from a boy, his best friend)

It reassured him. Will simply spoke about his own feelings towards Mike, and they fit Mike's emotional wants and needs from a romantic partner like a glove.

1. "She doesn't need me anymore"

"But... What if... After all this... She doesn't need me anymore"

"She's already beginning to understand she doesn't need me, I saw it - I saw it in her eyes"

2. Leadership and protection

"The point is - see how you're leading here? You're guiding the party. Inspiring us. That's - that's what you do. And your coat of arms here - it's a heart. I know it's sort of on the nose but - that's what holds the whole party together. Heart. Because see, without heart, we'd fall apart. Even El me. Especially El me.

These past months, she's I've been... Lost without you. She's I'm so different from other people and... It's really scary to be different.

When you're different... Sometimes you feel like... A mistake.

But... you make her me feel like... She's I'm not a mistake at all - like she's I'm better for being different. And that gives her me the courage to fight on."

He's saying, "you lead me, you inspire me. This is what you do. This is who you are and I love it, I want you this way."

"i'm lost without you, you make me feel better for being different, you give me courage" - this is all a way Mike protects Will.

Plus, of course, Mike literally visually being at the front of the group in the painting - the image in Will's head of Mike protecting him, quite literally. And he's fighting beside him, because Mike gives him the courage to do so.

Of course, it goes without saying how Mike meets will's needs perfectly, too. It's the same thing, but reversed.

Will wants to be protected, he wants someone to lead beside him and to give him courage, he needs his partner.

Of course, none of this is an unhealthy kind of needing or wanting to be needed. It's not about emotional dependency. This is just a show of their love languages, both on the giving and receiving end. Mike has a certain love language he wants to convey to his romantic partner, and Will has a certain love language he wants his romantic partner to convey to him. And the two align perfectly, they are the same love language.

Whew. That was long. I just love the way their personalities fit each other like puzzle pieces, it already seems and looks so comfortable, so cozy, and we haven't even gotten to see it yet. "It" being Mike and Will in a romantic relationship. Not that they didn't have this dynamic before as well, but this will be a romantic relationship.

I don’t know if anyone has pointed this out before but I def think El’s season 4 poster foreshadowed El and Mike’s broken relationship (the squished coke can) and El saying goodbye to her own self (the broken mirror with young El)

"Jonathan clocks this in the rearview. It pains him that he can't comfort his brother here".

Jonathan clocks Will's feelings in the van.

"...passing by Robin, who clocks all; she knows her friend's pain all too well".

Robin clocks Steve's feelings in Hawkins.

Both clocked those feelings for different reasons...

In Vol 2, Mike expressed that he felt like a looser. He also felt useless and insecure in himself as a person and in the relationship cause El is this super-powered girl and he’s just “a nerd”, as well as fearing that she didn't love him any more, but he put more emphasis on being needed by her cause she's literally becoming her own person. Hence the “What if she doesn’t need me anymore?” which I believe is not meant to be taken in the romantic sense only but also in the “caregiver” sense. If she grows as a person, she won't need Mike anymore. She won’t need for him to show her the ropes. If she knows she can continue relying on other people, she won't need him anymore. Mike himself says it when he gets to the "She's special, she was born special… Maybe I was the first to realize that” makes me think that he was THE first one to realize she had powers after she ran away, he gave her shelter, took care of her and was the first one to have a deep connection with El. We never hear how Mike thinks El is special besides the fact that she has powers. Only for that reason.

But now that you are wondering if Will’s words in the van were actually describing El’s feelings, I’m just thinking… Has El ever felt insecure and like a looser because of her relationship with Mike? I don’t think so. El felt insecure and discouraged cause she didn’t have her powers anymore, not because Mike is this super amazing boyfriend (I don't think he's terrible, haha). She knows how much people rely on her powers, and I’m sure said powers make her feel useful and make her feel as if people only consider her to be useful because of them. Those powers are also part of her identity. El lost her powers after the Starcourt battle, so she wanted Mike to think that she was handling that in a good way, that she didn’t care and that she was thriving as a person who is friends with the popular crowd, has an active social life and as is adjusting perfectly to her new surroundings. But why did El thought her being part of the popular crowd will assure Mike she’s doing great when he’s “a nerd”? Maybe because she saw how that worked for Angela, and how she's popular with a boyfriend and with lots of friends, which are all signs of how society sees being "successful" in life is...

I see both Mike and El feeling useless but not for the same reasons. I mean, they are both focusing on El’s powers though, but the reasons why are very different. Does that makes sense?

Although, El did say that she was different to Mike, and that she felt like a monster, as well as how Mike looked at her as such when they were at Rink-O-Mania. 

So, in that sense, Will's words in the van could apply to her? At least the “being different” part. But the “feeling like a mistake” part does not correlate with El’s feelings at all, as well as the part of Mike making her feel like she’s not a mistake and what goes on after that. It does not make sense with the things we’ve seen and how El behaves. 

So, I would say Will's words partly apply to El, but not completely.

At the end of the day, Mike told El that he “loves” her after being encouraged by Will, and he obviously used Will’s words as inspo for the monologue he delivered to El, and that “encouraged” El to push Vecna away from Max.

I'm saying all this cause El already expressed her feelings to Mike on how she felt different and like a monster (mostly because she thought she murdered all those children back in Hawkin's lab), followed by who Mike never says that he loved her. She never expressed how Mike's love makes her feel like she's not a mistake or anything though. Those are Will's words entirely. If you compare this to how Mike feels insecure and that being the reason why he apparently never said that he loved her, it doesn't make a lot of sense, cause El never seemed to not express herself to Mike cause she feels "insecure". If anything, El has become very vocal and outspoken.

Lastly, even if El is still in love with Mike, she’s allowed to feel mad with the person she loves and is allowed to feel betrayed or mad or lied to, which correlates with the way most Bylers have theorized on why she looks displeased with Mike and everything at the end of Vol 2.

So, lots of possibilities in here.

You have brought a good point @wakeupthemembersofbylernation; thank you. All your thoughts after The Piggyback script was released are very valid and objective.

Since this hasn't been debunked yet:

Is it all right to think they will kill VH1/Vecna on this episode?

Remember how on the D&D campaign from ST4EP1 "The Cult of Vecna", when they were playing, Mike said "He was killed by Kas!" when Eddie said that Vecna was back missing his left eye and left arm?

Assuming this tweet is legit, does that mean that they will kill Vecna on EP2, then timejump, then Vecna will come back as described on the campaign?