#snowballgate

[teambyler]

From Season 5, Episode 8, "The Rightside Up"...

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

-teambyler

[byler-alarmist]

So damn wild that the final song of the Snowball (and S2) was "Every Breath You Take."

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?

[byler-alarmist]

"every vow you break...."

I was going through my 5E player's handbook for something else entirely when I found this. At level 3 a paladin takes an oath that basically summarizes their life's mission. They live every moment and decision through the lens of this oath.

There are a few different oaths to choose from, but I think the Oath of Devotion is a blow-by-blow perfect list of Mike's values (Note how honesty is first on the list.... 👀)

That's all standard paladin stuff, but what I found really interesting was what happens when they break their oath. I've never played with a paladin who ever came close to breaking their oath, but obviously it can happen under extreme pressure, demands, emotions, etc.

And do you see that second paragraph?

Not saying Mike is going to pour his heart out to Will in a rite of confession and forgiveness in order to start fresh but..... keep your eyes peeled.

[byler-alarmist]

Ok, so I wasn't previously on the Henderhop train because I like the idea of lesbian El Hopper, but I'm starting to warm to the idea and thought of some cute things.

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??

The way that would've let El get her Snow Ball dance, no sadness for Dusty-bun, Lumax would still get together, and maybe Mike would've told Will "hey, I'm kind of bored, you want to step outside for a minute?" And they ended up having a confession and secret first kiss in private....