EXCUSE ME?????

EXCUSE ME?????

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

Lucas knows about Mike and Will

First off, of course the context is needed that Lucas has known the two of them the longest out of any of the kids. He is Mike’s neighbour and joined their party even before Dustin. He also played wingman for Mike previously in S3, trying to help get Mike and Eleven back together. It’s not a stretch of the imagination that Lucas would end up in a role like that again.

So, the hospital scene at the end of Season 4.

There’s a few things within this scene that are a little suspicious, and then one big thing that basically has no explanation other than Lucas suspecting something is going on with Mike. I brightened the scene here- first let’s just acknowledge they held hands on Lucas’ back. This is the only kind of direct hand touch we get this season.

Lucas can’t see that.. but it’s on his back. Of course he would be able to feel it. It’s also another moment that separates Mike and Will as a pair, versus Eleven on her own. Here’s the full clip below. And then just LOOK at the expression Lucas gives Mike after he sees El lingering behind. Your friend just visited as soon as he possibly could to give you support. Why would you look at them like this after he hugs you? Because he knows there’s something weird going on in the relationship between Mike and El. No other explanation.

Lucas is clearly giving Mike a “what the fuck is going on” kind of expression, eye squinted, eyebrows furrowed. There’s also a blink and you’ll miss it moment where Mike’s breath catches after the contact with Will’s hand, and he makes a split second glance to look at their hands (which I captured in the first image).

Then after Lucas hugs El, he clearly parts and steps back to give room for Mike to join beside his girlfriend. But Mike crosses the room to put himself in between El and Will instead. Another thing Lucas would have found weird. Lucas isn’t dumb.

Then we have the shotlisting post from Ross’ instagram. Shot listing is where they plan out what happens within an episode and what kinds of shots they want. This image is obviously an Easter Egg for fans about who’s interacting with who in the first 2 episodes (ie Stonathan shenanigans of which we already know about). I didn’t see it at first but Lucas is clearly placed in the centre of a triangle between El, Mike, and Will. He’s the centre of the triangle.

This makes sense with what we know about S5 thus far as well. There’s a confirmed plot line that has Dustin trying to isolate himself from the rest of the group (if he hasn’t already been isolated enough from the party in recent seasons). It shows up in the shot list image too of course, with Dustin on the opposite side. For the kids, due to Max being out of commission, the only interactions we are going to get in the first two episodes before the time jump seem to be between El, Will, Mike, and Lucas. We also have confirmation from Millie that El and Lucas will be spending a lot more time together than they had in previous seasons.

Moving onto a bit of cornplating for the last points which just serve as some cherries on top of this theory - we already have imagery of Lucas acting as a bridge between Mike and Will in the party image Ross gave us. This is post time jump most likely because of the new outfits, so it’s interesting that this role could continue throughout the season.

We also have the imagery of Lucas holding a suspiciously coloured blue and yellow shield in Will’s painting of the party. A bit of a stretch, sure. But complied with everything else it is definitely interesting to consider.

Now for the character reasoning, which is always important to consider: why would Lucas end up in this position?

Lucas is going through his girlfriend being in a coma after they had a major distance in their relationship. A coma that Lucas in universe has no clue if she’ll ever wake up from, and realistically (in-universe) hopes are slim that she will recover. And if she does, she may not have all the memories of times spent together still with her. There’s probably so many regrets swirling around his mind of things he could have done or said in the time that they had together. Lucas doesn’t have this luxury - but his friends still do.

Lucas is Mike’s oldest friend outside of Will, and Will/Mike are Lucas’ first friends. They existed as a party even before Dustin.

Out of his pain of ‘losing’ Max and the wisdom he learned from it, I really do think Lucas is going to encourage Mike to seize the day and take control of his life once again. Will and Mike still have the luxury of time and still have chance. If anyone could convince Mike his feelings are reciprocal, it would also be Lucas.

Furthermore, Lucas understands that as a black man in fairly rural 80s Indiana, his relationship with Max is also one that is singled out due to prejudice against interracial couples. Interracial marriage would only have been legalized less than twenty years ago. It’s not quite the same, but again if anyone understood the position Mike would be in (other than say Robin) - it would be Lucas.

Forever thinking about S1-S2 Mike and how his relationship with Will developed over time.

People always talk about Mike pulling away from Will because of his growing feelings towards him, but what about their collective trauma?

Mike watched them pull his best friend’s body out from the quarry. He saw what everyone said was the dead body of the person he cared about most. And then he came back.

Will basically came back from the dead for Mike. And in season two, when Will was going through the flash backs, Mike tried to hang onto him and support him as best he could. Mike couldn’t protect him from the upside down the first time, but he could this time. He was dedicated to protecting Will from the horrors he had been through.

But once Will was possessed, I think Mike pulled away a little. He realized he couldn’t protect Will the way he wanted to. He couldn’t save him. But El could. So he pulled away. He couldn’t bear to lose Will. He couldn’t bear to watch him slip from his grasp a third time. So he made El his priority, to ensure that she stopped all of this once and for all, so he could have his Will back.

Mike doesn’t want El to be his super hero. Mike doesn’t want El to be free from the upside down. He wants El to make Will free from the episode down. She needs to be Will’s super hero, because Mike can’t be.

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

The three main responses to threats: fight (Eleven obviously), flight (Will who runs away), and freeze (Mike??).

You also have Mike who is constantly late at the start of each season.

I don’t believe Mike has powers of his own because there’s not enough foreshadowing I’ve seen to believe in that. But it’s possible to me that because their bond is so strong (just like Joyce and Will’s which allowed him to appear to her), Will was the conduit to Mike’s feelings and that caused time to stop.

I have a lot of thoughts about the whole “Will’s superpower is his heart” comment and the whole idea on Will being associated with electricity. Then electricity being associated with emotion in the show. Will’s ’heart’ may be a conduit that is powered by others’ connection to him. His powers work due to others’ feelings and intentions.

They've really put yellow, blue and red for Will, Mike and El, right?