but essentially: mike's 'just a wheel' purpose narratively is identical to joyce (at least in season 1), in that his character's motivation, like hers, is to drive the story forward until the Goal (finding will) is reached. (also funny that he's the character known for pacing while he's thinking aka moving while the "wheels are turning")

(these are far from the only joyce/mike parallels in s1, nvm the whole show, but u get the idea).

bike wheel's are also not the only wheel's mike is framed in/near. there's also the furniture in mike's basement:

personal favorite: from will's room in s1

in stories, wheel's (visually and conceptually) don't just represent narrative progression. they also represent time, life, and the idea that all events are cyclical in nature. stories are inherently cyclical because once they end, you can just start them from the beginning again. (neverending story stranger things version plays ominously from somewhere.) visual triggers for this concept (to me) include but aren't limited to:

(these are all just from the first few episodes of s1, the amount of unrolling/rolling, rewinding/fast forwarding, spinning and clock shots in the entire show are diabolical)

for mike, i've noticed his interaction with (wheels) tend to occur mostly with literal bike wheel's, his watch, and dials. specifically, in s1e1, with Mr. Clark's radio.

peep the 'australia' (down under/upside down) joke. the other interesting part in this scene to me, is lucas mentioning california. mike's trip to california i believe is HUGELY significant in this regard.

especially considering the events at the roller rink take place on will's birthday. that nobody remembered. likely because there's something messing with time/reality?

(red wheelgate included)

2x04, before Joyce will say this👇 in 2x09:

1) one more quoting stressing that Jonathan might be Robin (the theory)

2) Will will drive them with Mike out of Hawkins