There’s something interesting happening between Will, Mike and Eleven in Stranger Things Season 4. Could this be the end of their friendship?
In shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things, sometimes, what isn’t being said carries a lot more weight than the things that happen explicitly. Even though it might seem like the show is an anthology mystery about kids who face off against an otherworldly entity, Stranger Things is more about the woes and pains of growing up in a society that doesn’t always understand you.
We’ve seen Mike and his friends go through hell and back in the series run, facing off against some of the nastiest threats that the Upside Down has to offer. However, while they have faced those horrors head-on and survived them all, the biggest threat may be one they haven’t had to deal with just yet: high school relationship drama.
High School Relationship Drama
One of the reasons why the group of friends has been able to combat the worst the Upside Down has to offer is because their bonds are rock solid. They trust each other with their lives, which also goes for their romantic relationships. When one of their own gets into trouble, they always jump in to help, no questions asked. It’s this unwavering dedication to each other, not just their friendship, that makes them such a formidable force in the first place.
That said, the series has hinted – from the very first season, no less – that one of the characters might have a side that they don’t completely embrace yet. The main reason why the gang remains together is because of what they lived through searching for Will Byers in the first season. For all intents and purposes, Will is the unifying force behind his friends, but with Season Four, he also might become the reason why the group finally splits apart.
Throughout the series, there have been subtle yet decisive hints about Will’s sexuality. He seems to get along better with men than women, particularly Mike Wheeler. There is strong chemistry between the two boys, but it might mean different things for them both. While Mike clearly sees Will as just another one of his closest friends, there have been some hints of Will being interested in Mike just a bit more than the rest of his friends.
Not only was it seen in his jealousy towards Eleven throughout most of Season Two, but the show’s fourth season looks like it’s trying to make Will’s sexuality much more obvious to fans. There’s no issue with Will being gay: even if the show is set in the eighties, Will can still be quite happy with his sexuality if he finds the right person; the problem is that Will seems to be infatuated with Mike, and that might spell problems for the show’s central couple (Mike and Eleven) in the latter half of this season.
The End of Many Friendships
Whether it’s due to his jealousy or something else, Will’s feelings could get in the way of Eleven and Mike. To make things worse, Will and Eleven are housemates – very close to being adoptive siblings. If the fan theories about Will having a crush on Mike are true, there’s no telling what negative effects that information could have for both the Byers and Mike, not to mention the central group of friends as a whole.
The next chapter of Stranger Things will be available to stream on Netflix this first of July, and with it comes the promise of new and exciting mysteries, as we prepare to discover what might lie in Mike and friends’ future as they approach Season Five, the last one in the critically-acclaimed series.
