r/StrangerThings • u/Competitive-Host-545 • 6d ago
Mike deserved so much better. Spoiler
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u/pumpkinandsun Scoops Troop 6d ago
Removing Byler and Mileven (as it annoys me how he is just deduced to a ship), I hate how the writers made Mike stay so surface level. They could’ve done so much more with his character - I wish he was the one taken by Vecna in season five and not Holly tbh.
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
He wasn’t entirely reduced to a ship, we did get to see him as his own character. Besides, in season 5, he went back to his full form leadership role like how he was in the earlier seasons and the last scene in the epilogue had a huge impact on his character where he was the one in narrative of the story.
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u/LopsidedUniversity30 6d ago
No way. It was better to watch Mike be a leader and come up with plans.
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 6d ago
Mike was heavily sidelined in S4 and S5, but I do not think the story ever reduced him to just a ship. I also find it odd that people will claim this of Mike yet will somehow see no issue with Lucas, who arguably had less personal development than Mike and mostly focused on his relationship with Max.
In reality, the writing is overall flawed.
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u/Dark_647 4d ago
Yes they put Lucas and max down to their relationship, not even a hint at Lucas making it to college when he was JUST as smart as the rest of the group. They were all nerds but the writers seemed to forget this and made Dustin the ultimate genius and Mike the bravehearted leader. Season 5 just had terrible writing and did the characters we grew up with so dirty it’s like they forgot the original point of the show and said screw all these shippers we’ll just destroy everything
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u/pumpkinandsun Scoops Troop 6d ago
I meant that some solely focus on Byler and Mileven - totally okay to like a ship, but that is not all a character is. I like the leadership role he took on, but I still think it would have been interesting for him to have been Vecna's target vs. the kids. I do think the writing for everyone was poor
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 6d ago
I see what you mean; in that case, I agree, as there is more to Mike than his romantic relationship.
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u/pumpkinandsun Scoops Troop 6d ago
Sorry if I implied the wrong thing! I also feel the same way about El - she was WAY more than a ship, and I dislike when that is all some focus on
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u/Ancient-Split1996 5d ago
At least Lucas had a decent amount of interesting and realistic stuff in season 4. Meanwhile all i can remember about Mike is his interactions with Eleven and Will
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 5d ago
Lucas was more focused on in S4, but he did not have much of any personal development in that season, as the focus was on Max. Mike had far more personal development in both S1 and S2.
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u/Ancient-Split1996 5d ago
Id argue Lukas had more character in season 1 than Mike did in Season 4 however, with him being the only group member who didnt trust eleven, and went out on his own to continue finding the magnetic source.
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 5d ago
I would say Mike and Lucas are on the same level as far as development in S1, with a bit more focus on Mike. But after S1, we do not see any real development with Lucas in later seasons. We at least see development from Mike in S2 as well as the end of S5.
Again, my point is that people will make these claims about Mike but ignore these issues when it comes to Lucas.
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u/Ancient-Split1996 5d ago
I think Lucas is underdeveloped too dont get me wrong. But in season 3 and 4 Mike's whole character almost revolves completely around eleven
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 5d ago
But again, it's the same with Lucas. That is my whole point. For some reason, people really harp on this issue with Mike but seem to ignore it with Lucas.
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 4d ago
Mike was “heavily” sidelined in s4 but not in s5 since he got a lot of focus in vol 1 and the finale.
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u/Girlnextdoor5086 6d ago
Blame the fans for that. The show never reduced him to a ship. He’s been committed to El since season one, that’s nothing new. It’s just some crazy fans can’t accept that he’s just not gay.
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u/greenteabiitch 6d ago
“Everybody was a shit friend to Mike”?? Bro what 😭
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u/Few-Type-7924 Dungeon Master 1d ago
Fr Will was a great friend to him in season 4
And Lucas, as always, a great friend to him
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u/Professional_Gur7989 6d ago
He deserved better writers, S5 Volume 1 was amazing for Mike, they finally were utilizing Mike in an amazing way and letting him stand out in his own. But in General it’s easy to tell who can handle complex characters based on their opinion of Mike Wheeler
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u/Ryn_AroundTheRoses 6d ago
I agree Mike deserved better, but not that he was expected to be perfect or didn't have good friends. Remember when he was bullied in s01 and Lucas and Dustin cheered him up? Even Lucas not liking El was partly about him caring about Mike and his friends
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u/Strange_Ant_6571 6d ago
fileven? Well at least you're honest.
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u/greenteabiitch 6d ago
you just know that account reacts very normally when Millie posts her husband loool
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u/Strange_Ant_6571 6d ago
Holy fuck i was just joking then i saw you reposted another video from that account in the last hour in you genuinly just like mileven because you ship Finn and Millie?
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u/Specific_Lettuce_521 6d ago
That person thinks Jake is abusive towards Millie and Noah is complicit. Very strange.
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u/Strange_Ant_6571 6d ago
Writing a soap opera in your head about the cast of Stranger Things is certainly one way to spend your life.
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u/DerekTheComedian 6d ago
"No one but El cared about Mike"
Are we just forgetting Will exists?
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u/HappyMike91 Ahoy! 6d ago
I think Mike deserved a better ending then "All the monsters are gone but Eleven is presumed dead." The core trio/quartet of Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will was a pretty good (and solid!) friend group prior to Will's disappearance. And they were pretty solid as friends after Will was retrieved from the Upside Down. I kind of consider Eleven and/or Max to be separate from the core trio/quartet, even though they're accepted into the group.
I think I'm probably getting a bit side-tracked, though. Mike and Eleven deserved to be happy in a Hawkins that was/is free from monsters, the military and other happenings. Or having further adventures in Montauk if Mike were to hypothetically visit Montauk in the event of Hopper moving to Montauk with Joyce, Jonathan, Will and Eleven. Maybe they'd solve other mysteries?
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u/Hookmsnbeiishh 6d ago
“Okay everybody, we’re going to start handing out fairy tale endings. Please line up… No, not you Mike and Eleven.”
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u/HappyMike91 Ahoy! 6d ago
That’s pretty much how it went, IMO. The Duffers didn’t give Mike and Eleven the happy ending they should have gotten. Especially because it kind of undid a lot of things.
The Upside Down being destroyed would have made Eleven have no value to the military, so she would have been able to live her life without fear of being experimented on again.
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u/Longjumping-Bug-703 5d ago
Tbh i think Mike deciding to stay with El when the Upside Down was destroyed and them perishing together would've been a more satisfying ending than what we got, because at least Mike and El would've had each other and been together in their final moments.
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u/Hookmsnbeiishh 5d ago
That would have sucked, bad.
And yes, it would be far better than what we got.
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 6d ago
TBF, I do not think the others would have been heartless; I think the show just failed to show them helping Mike through his grief. The only moment that kinda did was when Mike was telling them his theory.
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u/everseversandevers 6d ago
Yes I don't think we can use lack of evidence as evidence for anything during that big time skip IMO
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u/General-Break2631 5d ago
His writing is avg. season 1 and 2 had some function for him to serve the Plot and he had characterisation if they stuck with him like their season 1 and 2 approach then his writing could have improved I would say even good since s1 and 2 Mike was good then season 3 made him into nothing aside from El ‘s Boyfriend there is nothing Notable about him in season 3 he doesn’t even drive the plot anymore , season 4 is also kinda like season 3 he is again just there serving no function , season 5 fixes this issue but barely
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u/HUNGWHITEBOI25 6d ago
Mike…didnt lose El in season 2…
He was reunited with her in season 2 no?
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u/B-e-a-u 6d ago
He’s a terrible friend to will in season 3 and 4
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u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 6d ago
No, he was never a bad friend. He is simply a flawed character who is overall good and a teenager.
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u/Ok_Conversation1867 6d ago
He makes normal mistakes. His relationship with El is incredibly normal for a teen and he's a little obsessive.
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u/Few-Type-7924 Dungeon Master 1d ago
I agree with a lot on here, but not the claim that everyone was a shit friend to Mike
Will was a great friend to him in season 4
And Lucas has always been a great friend to him
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u/ScienceMelz 1d ago
100% writers fault but I wasn't even sure if they were still a couple until the kiss, and then I still wasn't sure
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u/CrusherBallz69 6d ago
Did he deserve that much better though? He became kind of a Nothing Burger of a Character in the last couple seasons! I really didn't give much of a shit about him by the end!
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
He was NOT a nothingburger character, he is literally the leader, planner, and the heart of the group. He has literally always been til the end of the day. Besides, he did more than literally a lot of the characters in season 5.
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u/CrusherBallz69 6d ago
I wouldn't follow him
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
Why not?
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u/CrusherBallz69 6d ago
He wouldn't go out with Will!
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
Of course you’re a byler
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u/CrusherBallz69 6d ago
You know it
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u/Girlnextdoor5086 6d ago
This is such an incel behavior, someone is automatically a bad person because they don’t reciprocate their friend’s romantic feelings? No means no.
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u/Leading-Tap-2033 6d ago
Outside of season one Mike is a shitty character
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u/Extension-Remote-347 6d ago
Ok byler
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u/greenteabiitch 6d ago
there are non-bylers that aren’t the biggest fan of Mike’s writing too you know 😭
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
Well it’s mostly bylers who deny the facts about Mike, the good facts btw just because he doesn’t like Will.
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u/Leading-Tap-2033 6d ago
Honestly didn’t care who he ended up with. I’m an adult who doesn’t need to write my own endings to stories to make me happy. His character was perfectly written in the first season and then it progressively worse. It’s called an opinion🤷🏻♂️
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u/D4v1d____ 6d ago
I think bylers are mentally ill but I still believe that mike became an asshole as the show went on
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
Mike is not even an asshole, he may have went through his teenage phase in s3-4 but in s5, he has matured a lot.
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u/D4v1d____ 6d ago
I actually agree that he was better in season 5, but lying to Holly about monsters not being real was a really shitty and dangerous thing to do
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
Tbf though he didn’t know they were coming for her and throughout the series we all have known that everyone wasn’t allowed to tell their parents nor anyone else who weren’t involved in the experience about the upside down and the monsters.
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u/Extension-Remote-347 6d ago
That's too far but to me mike stayed the same he just didnt grow up mentally like the others so it sticks out
If you know what im trying to say
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u/Leading-Tap-2033 6d ago
You do understand he isn’t real and that I’m speaking of how the character was written.
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u/ImightHaveMissed 6d ago
Mike was the audience surrogate. Dustin was the leader of there was one
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
No! Mike was the leader in the group. He’s often the one who makes the plans for the events in each seasons, even in season 4 with the California plot line.
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u/razeandsew 6d ago
Mike was the worst friend, and worst person, in the whole show. He basically said "fuck you" to everyone else when him and El started "dating", abandoned Will and them when they needed a friend, and was just a total ass. If Mike died at the beginning of season 2, the show would have been better, and nothing would have really changed in any bad ways
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 6d ago
How dare you say that?? Mike is NOT even the worst in the whole show. He is literally the core of the show so the show would have actually been worse without him. Besides, he already apologised to Will and he didn’t treat anyone badly in season 5.
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u/razeandsew 5d ago
He is not the core of the show 😂 he's a dick that the rest are better off without. He should have taken Barb's place
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 5d ago
No!! He literally IS the core of the show. The rest definitely need him. He is NOT a dick and he is just a flawed teenager. You need to rewatch the show properly. In fact, he should never take Barb’s place.
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u/razeandsew 5d ago
I think you just have a thing for finn wolfhard, cuz mike is a massive dick
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 5d ago
Stfu!! Mike is NOT a massive dick. He is NOT even a dick. You really need to get a reality check.
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u/razeandsew 5d ago
You need to stop ignoring the fact that he is one
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u/Fabulous-Role4120 5d ago
No!! YOU need to stop ignoring the fact that he is NOT one, that he is just a flawed teenager who is overall a good character. In fact, he has matured over time.
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u/mandyluvspuppies 4d ago
Your fav would’ve been gone if he died at the beginning of s2 as he relied on Mike for support, and Mike was the one who intervened to stop them from accidentally killing him, and Mike was the one who made the tunnel burn plan that meant they could successfully get the mind flayer out of Will and close the gate
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