#stranger things analysis

[lillie98]

How to Save the World—Stranger Things 5

I’ve had some time to sleep on the episode titles and think about them, read theories, etc. and I now believe they might be real.

Hear me out: Stranger Things is all about cycles, parallels, tropes happening over and over again. The Duffers love taking a moment and repeating it in slightly different ways to prove a point. The story started with “The Vanishing of Will Byers” because we needed to place a small, innocent child in the center of our story, something to bring our character together and drive them to action. Well, that child is no longer in danger and our team is ripping apart at the seams. It’s almost like we need something similar to reunite everyone and drive them to action again.

Remember: The Duffers love parallels. Will’s disappearance brought his deeply fractured family together, uniting them for a common cause. It also brought Nancy and Jon together when their families needed them most. Now, the Byers are a united front, ready to tackle any monster that comes their way. They are the glorification of the avant-gard family. Now which family is struggling? The Wheelers. The perfect, All-America Nuclear Family: Mom, Dad, 3 kids, and a picket fence. They look perfect to the outside world, but behind closed doors, they are deeply struggling. They don’t communicate, the parents have idea what’s happening in their children’s lives, and if they’re not careful, if they don’t come together and form a united front—they’re going to lose everything, potentially causing the end of the world. (Why? I haven’t gotten that far yet!)

Now, how do we inspire them to action? Maybe by taking the child who was born to save their crumbling marriage—the one has seen everything but, up until this point, been too young to contribute. Now, she’ll be the same age Will was when he disappeared and Mike and Will are the same age as Jon and Nancy. The Duffers are trying to illustrate the idea of “The Next Generation.” This evil, this Upside Down dimension is NEVER going to stop until someone from the Wheeler and Byers families breaks the cycle. Children will continue to vanish, the world will continue to crumble, until someone steps up and says ENOUGH. The Wheelers and Byers (parents and children) must step up and face their pasts in order to move forward.

The “Stranger Things” are not only LGBTQ+ matters, they are the skeletons we hide in the closet that literally eat us alive. They are the dark, festering parts of ourselves we don’t let anyone else see. The invisible cancers that slowly and silently kill us. Until we face them head on, until we bring them to the light, they will NEVER die. Stranger Things is about owning your past, facing your fears, and finding the light again.

So yes, Stranger Things will end with Will Byers making it home from Mike Wheeler’s house on November 6, 1983, but not in a time traveling way, in a finally letting go of that scared, pained little boy who thought the world was better off without him. It’s Mike accepting his sexuality and place in his family. His role as a leader. It’s Joyce accepting love from Hopper, who must accept that he is not actually cursed, but that sometimes, bad things happen to good people, even when they think they’re doing the right thing (Vietnam). it’s Karen and Ted falling in love again and fighting to save their family. It’s Eleven discovering that love, not anger, should fuel her powers. It’s mourning your stolen childhood while stepping into the version of yourself that child never got to be. It’s stopping the cycle and creating a better world for the Will Byers and Mike Wheelers and Jane Hoppers of tomorrow. THAT’S how you become a Hero.

[romainlettusdinnerparty]

there’s something about this little moment here that tells you everything you need to know about the love triangle between mike, el and will.

i remember that video of eduardo talking about how the directors would pause to make finn and noah have a “shared look” and this is so clearly one of those moments. this is so prevalent to bylers’ relationship. they are the first person they look to in a room. they want to share their reactions with each other. they look to each other for reassurance in their own reactions. they know what the other is thinking at just a glance (“i didnt say it” “you didnt have to”). but what is so important about This “shared look” is that mike turns away from will to look at el, almost like he wants to share this moment with her as well. all three of them know what really went down, how its not “a miracle” as lucas says, and they are the Only three that know, it would make sense for them to all share a moment of understanding between the three of them. instead, what happens? mike and will share a look, share understanding, mike then looks to el to share understanding with her, and she is looking away. mike and will both prioritize communicating this revelation with each other while el is only focused on max, she doesn’t need, want, or prioritize that connection at this time. its not that mike and will dont care about max, they simply want to share that care and worry and reaction with each other. i think mike in general wants someone who he can share that type of communication with, so he looks to who’s supposed to be his partner at this moment, el (post love confession they should be closer right?), and simply does not receive it. i think you can even see the little look of disappointment when he turns to her and find she’s not looking back at him. he is looking for the connection he so naturally has with will in who he’s in an Actual Relationship with and cannot find it. he will only ever find that within his relationship with will, there is no replicating it with a girl he is simply not in love with.

[nancyfilm]

remember when nancy couldn't say "i love you" to steve so she sat on the car with jonathan to have a heart-to-heart conversation.

and remember when mike couldn't say "i love you" to el so he sat on the car with will to have a heart-to-heart conversation.

and the fact that wheelers are on the left and byers on the right and there are soda cans in both scenes. wheelers are opening up about their feeling while byers are hearing and comforting them... come on! that has to mean something!

[martukyymm]

We can talk about the fact that Mike HATES being on camera but agrees to be on Will's recording because it distracts him from the Mind Flayer??😭

[byleranalysis]

I FOUND THE SIGN ITS REAL

USE #StrangerFansforWGA to kick Netflix 👹🤡 (not the writers 🥰) in the ~balls~ <3

[thranduel]

[pinkeoni]

“And yet, you still have a C in Spanish”

The meaning behind this is so obvious I’m kicking myself for not noticing it sooner.

Dustin and Mike are in a friendly battle of “My girlfriend is better than your girlfriend” brought on by Dustin, who wants to brag about his amazing girlfriend.

Mike’s rebuttal is “Well, El is a superhero.”

And yet—

—or what Dustin is really saying, maybe without meaning to, is “You’re girlfriend is a superhero, and yet it’s not enough.”

Sure. C’s are fine. It’ll pass the class. “C’s get degrees” as they say. But it’s not an A.

This is the show telling us through Dustin, in big red letters, that Mike’s relationship with El is not adequate.

It’s funny that both of the classes being discussed here are language classes. The class that Suzie changed the grade for was Latin.

Dustin talks to his devout Mormon girlfriend, is honest about his grade, and she’s willing to cheat for him. As a result, he gets an A in language.

What’s also funny is the fact that the Duzie moment takes place right after we see Mike reading El’s letter. You know, the one full of lies. You know, the ones that Mike has been responding to with “From, Mike.”

As such, Mike get’s a C in language.

[cluelessbees]

OKAY SO I FOUND SOME STUFF ABOUT RINK O'MANIA

Hi, Hello, Welcome as I take you down the journey I fucking went through

So I was watching byler clips, as one does, and I was wondering whether or not they got lucky with the yellow and blue lighting in Rink O'Mania or whether they like – change the light bulbs or whatever. So I decided to stalk the Skating Rink they filmed at.

And holy shit did I find some interesting things.

I have no idea whether or not this was discovered before but I JUST NEED TO SHARE. SO HERE WE GO.

So, first of all, the place was originally called Roller King but they changed it to Skate O'Mania. Which, pretty similar to Rink O'Mania right? THAT'S BECAUSE THEY REMODELLED THE ENTIRE FUCKING ROLLER RINK FOR THE SHOW

LIKE I'm not even kidding.

They posted this message

Followed by a video (which is just a photo) with a little clipart of "under construction"

THEN, on August 10th they posted that they wrapped filming.

"Remodel courtesy of Hollywood" They deadass redecorated the entire roller rink for the however many minutes spent in ONE episode of the season. (The probably spent half the month redecorating and the other half filming which I'm losing my mind over?? no way this is a one time setting).

LIKE– Let me show you the difference in before and after the remodelling

The Roller Rink Before and After.

They added the blue and yellow light strips and the disco ball. And I can’t say 100 but it looks like they removed the pink and green coloured light(?)

And they added the whole ‘Skate/Rink O’mania’ sign (basically everything honestly was added by them–)

The Snack Station Before and After.

Again, we see the blue and yellow lighting.

The Table/Seating Area Before and After.

And okay I’m sorry about the quality of the second one I couldn’t find a better photo from their Google maps gallery or Facebook bUT- you can see that originally the lighting scheme was pink and blue but now it’s yellow and blue.

(here's another photo)

Like idk I’m losing my mind over this- they really like remodelled the entire fucking roller rink and added so much yellow and blue like?? I just think it's insane and I needed to share this discovery.

[strawberrybyers]

it’s been said a million times but i feel like people don’t see the love story between byler because it’s more subtle and of course people don’t expect the nerdy boy who gets to date a girl with superpowers to be in love with his male best friend… the trope of a character like mike, a leader, dating the girl with superpowers who also needs to be “saved” and is somewhat established as a leader herself because of her superpowers and by association of dating mike is a very familiar one. that trope/dyanmic/storyline/arc or whatever you want to call it has been done to death. we’ve seen it a million times. it’s easy to put characters like mike and el together based on the main standouts of their roles in the show. the thing is, is that their relationship never progresses in the way a true lovers story would. in a way their relationship is kind of poking fun at the stereotypical romances we see on tv and films and how if we were to see how two characters who are just together out of convenience for a romantic subplot would actually turn out. it wouldn’t be a healthy relationship. the characters would clash a lot because they aren’t together for the right reasons, but instead just to somewhat satiate the audience’s need for a love story.

el and mike’s relationship is written to purposefully not be endgame. their arcs and personality types don’t mesh together. and for 4 seasons that’s what’s been developed between mike and el. the only progression they’ve had in their relationship is their demise. that’s done intentionally. the real love story is between mike and will because through the cracks of mikeven’s relationship we see the building blocks of byler.

it’s like what murray says about the curtain. i like that analogy because mike and el are the curtain. mike and will are what’s behind the curtain. and with a curtain you can choose how much is shown. you can reveal nothing, you can show glimpses, or you can reveal everything behind it. a curtain is a safety net and facade. using a curtain doesn’t remove what’s behind it— it just hides it.

[love-byers]

it’s been a year, mike. (MAJOR BYLER REVELATION INCOMING---MUST READ)

mike and will constantly saying "a year" or "all year" when talking about the time since the move when it's only been six months keeps me up at night

i saw people talking about how they say a year when it was only 6 months because they’re idiots in love and are being dramatic. as cute as that is, i didn’t really buy it until RIGHT NOW. i just saw it as a cute headcanon, but now i see that the writers could be enabling you to make this realization by use of subtext.

allow me to explain

^ these are the three times they say it

at first i thought the writers may have just used year because that’s less confusing for the audience because 1 year time jumps have been used before in stranger things and are super popular in books/movies/tv shows. BUT, it clicked for me that that doesn’t make sense. the timeline in stranger things has always been acknowledged. throughout s1 we hear the amount of time will has been missing several times (as far as i remember). in s2, mike counted the days el had been gone. he called her every night for 353 days. when el and hopper argue in s2, el uses specific numbers to tell us how long she’s really been with him. in s3 hopper specifically says ‘6 long months’ when talking about how long he’s been dealing with mike (lol). that's the same amount of time between s3 & s4, yet mike and will don't say 6 months, they say year. there’s a date at the start of every season. and in s4, el says this in her letter to mike. 

185 days = 6 months (almost on the dot)

the writers have specifically told us how long it’s been since they moved, down to the amount of days. and it’s 6 months, not a year. this makes it very hard for me to write off mike and will saying ‘year’ as just the writers slipping up. also in el’s letter, she says this:

this is INSANE. 

mike and will are saying the wrong amount of time. the writers aren’t stupid, they know how much time has passed since season 3. THEY WROTE IT. i’m a writer as well, and i know how much time is passing between what im writing because I CREATED IT. IT CAME FROM MY BRAIN. and like i said, the stranger things writers have proven to be very keen on dates and time. all of this happening in the same season is not a slip up, its on purpose. stranger things 4 had a 30 million dollar budget PER EPISODE. do the math--that’s 270 MILLION DOLLARS. and yes, i know they supposedly forgot will’s birthday, but that’s different. his birthday is a date that was mentioned one time and served no purpose aside from creating emotional tension in that one scene. none of their birthdays are important to the plot, hell, will’s is the only one mentioned in the show and it wasn’t even on his birthday. one date that was mentioned one time and never brought up again is NOT the same as continuous attention given to timelines/time jumps over the course of all four seasons. and some fans theorize that they’re lying about forgetting his birthday anyway. either way, its not the same.  

so....the writers want us to know that emotions can make time speed up or slow down....and that el’s week has felt very fast because of her emotions....and then show us mike and will SPECIFICALLY deviating from the timeline established in the SECOND LINE OF EPISODE ONE “yeah, but you knew she was having problems for months and didn’t tell me.” “its been six months, mike.”, or “it’s been months, mike.” or not even including that line at all, or “the past couple months have been weird” would’ve worked and stayed in check with the timeline we’ve already established. but when writing those scenes, they chose to say year. which is flat out wrong and way off from the actual time they’ve been apart. 

and what did el say makes time speed up or slow down? emotions? oh, okay got it 

the first two times mike and will say it’s been a year are in the same scene: the rink o mania fight. emotions are high. they’re in a pretty serious fight. its not about something dumb, it’s about their ten year friendship and how they’ve grown apart. their friendship is VERY important to both of them. (remember when mike said asking will to be his friend is the best thing he’s ever done?) the third time it’s said is when mike is opening up to will in episode 4. it’s a very emotional scene. mike is being honest and vulnerable with his feelings. in this conversation he apologizes and admits that will didn’t deserve how mike had been treating him, which mike never does to anyone else. he admits his relationship with will is different and home isn’t the same without him, and that he feels like he lost will and wants to be best friends again. 

and the obvious: emotions making time speed up or slow down doesn’t just apply to in the heat of the moment occasions. (in theory) mike and will are in love. the six months they’ve been separated felt like a year to them because of their emotions, just like el said in the letter. and mind you, will is canonically in love with mike, yet they’re both acting the same way about this. it’s not just will. it makes sense for six months to feel like a year to will because of his emotions, because he is in love with mike, right? well, mike feels the exact same way. this isnt even about the characters as people. narratively speaking, mike and will both doing this doesn’t make sense if it’s unrequited. one way writers show how characters aren’t on the same page about something, a relationship for instance, is whether they’re on the same emotional page about different plot points. something major and emotional happens to all the characters---now we watch how they react to it. and i don’t mean small disagreements & such, characters are allowed to feel differently about things. i mainly mean when whatever happened is painful and important to one or more of the characters. for example, steve and nancy. steve and nancy didn’t feel the same about barb, barb’s parents, and everything that happened in general. steve wanted to keep on like nothing happened while nancy was literally eaten up with grief, guilt, and trauma. jonathan was the one who was on the same page as her and made her feel better about carrying that baggage around all the time. they understood each other. and who was nancy in love with? jonathan. narratively, that makes perfect sense and even further sways the audience into understanding they’re in love.

so...what? the emotions that made mike and will’s six months apart feel like a year to them is....friendship? not a fucking chance. mike and el are a couple, and according to mileven fans, they’re the main couple of the show who are in love and are going to be an endgame couple. why save this incredibly romantic coded trope for will and mike, the best platonic bros? idk, you tell me. and the fact that the line about emotions came from someone in the love triangle?? and it was said to someone else in the love triangle?? not a coincidence.

edit: someone reblogged and pointed out how el said 185 in her letter to mike that we SEE him reading. there is no reason for him not to know how long it's been. so either he isn't paying attention to a damn thing el says in her letters or he is just extremely in love with will

another edit: i keep seeing reblogs of people saying they're probably referring to the time since mike and el started dating, which i used to think too. but the context when mike and will say a year makes it hard for me to believe.

"but you knew she was having trouble for like a year and you didn't tell me"

here mike is specifically talking about el's bullying problem which has only been going on since the byers have been gone and she enrolled in school. what he's talking about is something very strictly related to the time since they moved, and it's been six months, not a year.

"you called maybe a couple times. it's been a year, mike. meanwhile el has like a book of letters from you."

will is again, very specifically talking about something that strictly happened between the time since the byers left and the start of s4. he's saying how crazy it is that it's been a whole year and mike has barely called. but it hasn't been a year, it's only been six months.

"the last year has been weird, you know? and you know, max and lucas and dustin, they're great, they're great, it's just..it's hawkins it's not the same without you. and i feel like maybe i was worrying too much about el...i don't know maybe i feel like i lost you or something."

this one i will cut some slack, i think he could be talking about literally the last year, as in since the beginning of 1985. but immediately after he starts saying how home hasn't been the same without will (and separates his relationship with will as being different than his relationship with max dustin and lucas and even el), something specific to the time since they byers have been gone, six months, not a year:

in conclusion: mike and will referring to their time apart as a year when it’s only been six months is not a mishap on the writer’s part. they go out of their way to make sure you know exactly how much time has passed, down to the number of days, and they put this much attention on time in every season. and in the same season mike and will do this, there is a line in the SECOND LINE OF THE OPENING SCENE OF THE SEASON about emotions making time go by faster or slower.

byler is going to be a s5 surprise, but its not coming out of nowhere. there’s piles of subtext in every single season---enough that when you look back, it all makes sense. small details like this aren’t outlandish because this is without a doubt the length writers will go to keep something hidden, and in byler’s case and many other tv show plots case, to keep something a surprise. and for christ’s sake, WATCH THE SHOW! the amount of attention to even the TINIEST details in stranger things is insane. they put so much thought into everything---not just ships, and not just byler. idk how many times the writers are going to have to say details matter and that there are no coincidences until people believe them. 

anyways, byler is endgame. thanks for reading :) 

[lillie98]

You Can’t Be What You Can’t See.

Positive, authentic representation means the difference between feeling like an alien in your community and discovering your identity. I’ve been on this journey for the last four years. Diving into media, my past, and other autistic creators to put together some semblance of what it means to be me. A large piece of that puzzle snapped together last year after watching Stranger Things Season 4, specifically the Painting Scene. I could not wrap my head around why Mike didn’t take the time to comfort Will as he cried or why he didn’t seem to understand Will was talking about himself. I thought back on his whole characterization and what I would have done in that situation, and the lightbulb dinged: Mike is autistic…just like me.

It was an overwhelming moment of joy, understanding, and identity that not only did we share the same diagnosis, we practically share the same brain. Since then Autistic Mike has taken over my mind and taught me more about myself than any doctor. I’ve explored him through my writing and used his (eventual) relationship with Will as something to aspire to, that maybe someday my Will will come for me. Someone to accept, love, and understand every part of me. It is incredibly healing and life-giving and I’m so thankful for everyone involved in creating such a beautiful story. When Bhavna announced she had opened commissions for her art, I knew I had to have this turning point in my life memorialized. We worked together for about a month to come up with this piece and I could not be happier. I sobbed when I saw the preliminary sketch—I finally felt seen.

All that to say, never be embarrassed about something you love. There is someone out there who needs to see it’s okay to exist. Please enjoy Mike’s latest DnD info-dumping session while his boyfriend, Will, looks on. It’s late, they should be in bed, but Mike can’t stop and Will’s too infatuated with Mike’s happiness to make him. The world is a little too loud, so Mike donned his headphones, and Will loves the way they relax Mike and allow him to process the world a little easier. Thank you, Bhavna. Happy Stranger Things Day. ❤️

[romainlettusdinnerparty]

HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO BIRTHDAY GATE CODED

[robynrocksforbrains]

One scene that never fails to break my heart is the scene where Joyce is reporting Will missing. Specifically Hopper's behavior in this scene. Before Hopper walks into his office, he knows that Joyce can't find Will. And he's treating it like it's no big deal. Obviously this is off-putting considering we, as the audience, already know that this situation is very serious. But also, this was a different time. This was a time when parents could let their kids run around unsupervised and not worry that they wouldn't come home. The Duffers cite this as one of the things about this time that was integral to telling this story. This story would play out completely differently if it took place in a modern setting. Hopper views this small town as a sort of safe haven. It's quiet and nothing ever happens. Kids don't go missing here. It just doesn't happen. So his immediate assumption is that Will is just being a kid. Which honestly, you can't really hold against him. But then Joyce says "Lonnie used to say he was queer, called him a [f slur]". And Hopper's demeanor completely shifts. He says "is he?" and at first that seems like a rude question. Like he's being homophobic. And Joyce interprets it as such, which is why she says "he's missing! is what he is!". Hopper leans back in his chair with a look that I really don't know how to describe, but he's obviously reevaluating what he initially thought of this situation. And then he asks when was the last time Joyce heard from Lonnie. It becomes clear that Lonnie is already a suspect in Hopper's mind. A suspect in what he is assuming to be a hate crime.

Hopper takes Will's disappearance extremely seriously from this moment forward. The possibility of Will being queer didn't cause him to take it less seriously like some other cop might've done (or like a lot of townsfolk did). No, instead the possibility of Will being queer lit a fire under Hopper. In his mind, a gay kid was missing in this small conservative town, and he wanted more than anything to find him alive.

[prfctmxxnlight]

let’s talk about

michael’s airport outfit

and how different it is from the rest of his clothes

as we all know, the people involved in making this show go above and beyond to make everything mean something. almost nothing is a coincidence. you can see it from the way some characters talk and react, to the way they’re placed in a scene, maybe from a small detail in the background, or the music that’s playing during, but most importantly: through their clothing

for the most part, mike’s style has always been the same, collared shirts and jeans, maybe shorts (which he only ever wears on season 3 and on his first day in lenora in season 4)

the airport outfit is just so out of character, and i don’t think it’s a coincidence

when argyle first meets mike he checks out his shirt and calls it a “shitty knockoff” and while they’re making it up to seem as if he’s talking about the brand, he’s talking about mike

how airport mike is the shitty knockoff of hawkins mike, real mike

mike is pretending to be someone he is not

he’s trying to please el, dressing how he thinks she’d like, trying to prove that he likes her (despite the fact that no one doubts this), trying to convince himself that he likes her

this weird, knockoff version of mike wouldn’t even hug his best friend after 6 months (give or take) of not seeing him, i wonder why?

6 months really is a long time to reflect about your feelings and come to new realizations

this outfit, this attitude, they’re a representation of mike trying to hide who he really is, how he really feels. it’s him trying to be someone he is not to please other people but also to erase himself, to try to change who he is because he doesn’t accept himself

[robin-buck1ey]

No because when I tell you how they set up Jancy is the EXACT same thing as they did with Ronance, I’m not kidding like look at this shit.

Looking at evidence to try and come up with a theory (Barb picture & weekly watcher article)

Getting caught lying about who they are (said they were reporters & said they were scholars)

Walking in the woods together talking about love troubles and becoming friends

Gun wielding wheeler + fire partner + Steve

Plotting/discovering/ believing two old people others incorrectly labeled as crazy

The only (and important) difference is that robin was always there supporting, believing, and adding on to Nancy’s ideas and plans.

[lordystrange]

Believing that you’re doing the right thing, when in fact you’re doing the wrong thing - a recurring theme in Stranger Things s4

First example that may come to your mind is Jason or Vecna/Henry/001. Jason believed he was doing the right thing by trying to catch Eddie, ”the murderer”, but due to the lack of information, that was a wrong thing to do. Vecna/Henry/001 believed he was doing the right thing when trying to create a different world, but the things he did while trying to do that were horribly wrong.

But that’s not it. Doing something you think is right, but is actually wrong, is something that everyone does in this season. I haven’t listed all examples but here’s a few:

The army

The army believes they are doing the right thing by catching Eleven, who they believe is behind the killings. But that’s a wrong thing to do, because El is actually the one cabable to help.

The parents and Erica

The parents think they are doing the right thing by trying to keep the kids inside even tho the kids need to be helping the older teens. And Erica thinks she’s doing the right thing by calling their ”bullshit” in front of the parents and police.

Jonathan

Jonathan thinks it’s the right thing to do to not go to college and stay with his family. But it’s just harming him and his relationship with Nancy.

Young Eleven

Young Eleven believes it’s the right thing to do to try and help Peter/001 escape too. But the consequences were horrible.

Max

Max thought it was a right thing to do to become a bait. And also to try and attack Vecna even tho she should have stayed hidden and let El handle the situation.

Lucas

Lucas that it was the right thing to do to try and become popular. But he would have been better off with his real friends.

The Hawkins crew and Russia crew

They thought it was a good idea to try and harm Vecna with fire and swords and shots, when actually that robbed Eleven a chance to finish him off for good. (Ofc we don’t know for sure she could have but no she didn’t even get the chance because the Vecna world just collapsed around her)

Will

Will thought it was the right thing to do to lie about the painting and his feelings when in fact… oh well…

So basically all characters have done this. Except for Mike.

Oh wait…

Mike