Remember When The Show Said "well, It Doesn't Make Sense That Mike Says He's Straight" Through Jonathan

Remember when the show said "well, it doesn't make sense that Mike says he's straight" through Jonathan Byers

Well, shit...

Basic rules for analysing fiction, an incomprehensive list jotted down in a hurry:

The protagonist isn’t always right

The protagonist isn’t always good

The protagonist isn’t always written to be relatable or likeable

The narrator isn’t always right

The narrator isn’t always good

The narrator isn’t always telling the truth

The narrator isn’t always the author

The protagonist’s moral compass, the narrator’s moral compass and the author’s moral compass are three entirely different things that only occasionally overlap

Pay attention to what characters do and not just what they say

Pay special attention when what the characters do is at odds with what they say

A lot of the time the curtains are blue for a reason. If they aren’t, you should read better books

happy birthday to my favorite ‘80s gremlin and his read-them-for-filth judgmental face

his biggest fear is losing the people he loves

Lock Him Up And Throw Away The Key

There's something to be said for the wording (words in the words show as usual):

Virginia: Promise me you'll lock him up and throw away the key. Brenner: Understood. Virginia: The Principal’s girl, Patricia Newby.

Patty is equated, here, to the key that could free “Henry” from being locked up. She's literally thrown away in the scene with Brenner, and she was the last thing keeping Henry from falling to the Shadow. She was quite literally a key/the thing keeping him free.

This kind of wording often comes up in relation to the supernatural plot (and I'm sure there are more I can't remember off the top of my head). Joyce loses her keys in ST1 when Will goes missing. Mike speculates that closing the gate would kill Will in ST2, implying that Will is the key that needs to be thrown away in order for the gate to close/the Mindflayer to be locked up. Will is equated to keys. The Russian machine is the "Key", and it holds a gate open, and it takes two keys to close it/lock it. Joyce turns both those keys, equating her specifically to keys. Vecna needed someone (El) to “open the door”, equating El to the Russian “Key”. El is also heavily paralleled to Patty, and they have a number of duplicate lines between the two of them (I have a post drafted about that, it's in the works). El is, then, a key. Scott Clarke, in the pitch, is described as the key to solving the mystery of Montauk, and Alexei, one of the designers of the Russian "Key" is described as a "Russian Scott Clarke". Scott also has the key to the AV room in ST1, which he gives to Mike...which ends in El contacting Will in the void.

Something shrimpresting to me is that the key thing seems to come in sets of three. Two keys, two man rule, two man crew, sure. However. There’s always a secret third guy.

In TFS, Patty's accident took three despite the wings requiring a two-man crew. It took "Henry" unlocking one side, Brenner unlocking the other…and Virginia selling Patty out at all. Patty wouldn’t have had an accident if it wasn’t for Virginia. Virginia’s the secret third guy here.

It took three to close the gate in season 2: Mike in the tunnels, El at the gate, and Joyce to take Will out of the equation as that key. El and Will are the two focal points/the two "keys". Mike, despite the fact that he's not supposed to be there, is integral. He's the secret third guy.

In season 3, Murray, Hop, and Joyce argue about whether the Key is a two or three person job. It ends up requiring all three of them, despite there only being two keys. At above-ground Stargate, it took Mike's planning, El's powers, and Joyce's keys to take down the fleshflayer. Joyce wasn’t meant to be there, but she was integral to completing the mission. Joyce is the secret third guy this time.

In season 4, it took three to knock Vecna down, even if they weren't totally successful: El in the Mind Lair, Nancy in the UD, and Murray with the blowtorch in Russia. El was the late addition, she's the secret third guy. ST4 failed because Nancy's plan was rushed/full of pitfalls, and El's mental/emotional strength wasn't bolstered during the piggyback. Dustin makes specific references to needing both Mike irt the UD and Will irt the Mind Lair, and he was right. Mike's the planner/strategizer; They needed him in Hawkins. Mike would have been in Hawkins, were it not for the vacation. Will has the connection to One/the Mindflayer; it should have been him there with El, rather than Mike (hell, Will is the one who drove the monologue. There's a reason why Hopper said "Getting to Mike, that's the key" irt making mileven break up...). It failed because the keys were in the wrong places.

Will and El are said to be main characters next season…our two keys. Will is a key multiple times on a mental basis, and El is a key in relation to powers...Which means there's and integral secret third guy. And the guy? That’s Mike, baby!

This becomes interesting when we consider Will’s on-film Henry parallels, El’s Patty parallels, Mike’s Scott parallels…plus the boy "Henry" attacked in Nevada and the little black haired boy who sits next to Henry in the “Henry is 7” birthday video. Secret third guy.

It also becomes interesting when we consider this weird “three outcomes, two timelines” deal. Secret third guy.

All this to say...A Henry, Patty, Scott trio as compared to the Will, El, Mike trio irt Edward/Vecna. Come home to me <3

(Also, an aside: In the video, even Brenner sounds taken aback by Virginia's lack of care towards "Henry". He interrupts her to reassure her they'll take good care of him, and she comes in with the "I don't care about that, just make sure I never have to see him again" steel chair. Goddamn.)