Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Stranger Things series finale.
After nearly a decade, Stranger Things is officially over, but the show’s final episode feels like a lackluster send-off for the once-phenomenal series. After defeating both Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the Mind Flayer a little too easily, the main characters have to say goodbye to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who is given an ambiguous ending where she has either sacrificed herself or disappeared to live alone in hiding.
Many of Stranger Things‘ main characters earn disappointing conclusions in the series finale, but one that really stings is how the show wraps things up for Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). Will has been suffering non-stop since he was taken in the show’s premiere, and he has since had two main arcs. Will’s supernatural storyline has revolved around moving forward after his time in the Upside Down and struggling with his lingering connection to Vecna, while his personal arc has centered around accepting his own sexuality. A major part of Will’s Season 5 journey seemed to be building up to him finding romantic love, but Stranger Things ultimately failed to give Will a proper romantic storyline, and it’s a real disappointment.
‘Stranger Things’ Series Finale Doesn’t Properly Pay Off Will’s Feelings for Mike
Romance has never been Stranger Things‘ main focus, but the show’s various couples have always been important, and they are often used to show how love can be a powerful force in the face of darkness. Will’s feelings for Mike (Finn Wolfhard) have been built up to for arguably five seasons now, and the show made his crush inseparable from the storyline of realizing his sexuality. In Season 3, Mike makes Will feel bad for not liking girls when Will is hurt that he is losing him to El. In Season 4, Will inadvertently tells Mike that he makes him feel like he isn’t a mistake, leading Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) to realize the extent of Will’s feelings and express his support. In Season 5, Robin (Maya Hawke) picks up on Will’s crush on Mike and begins to act as a mentor to him.
Will spends Season 5 believing that he might finally have a chance with Mike,until he suddenly, abruptly reverses at the end of the show’s penultimate episode, coming out to the whole group and confessing that he used to have a crush on someone who isn’t like him. The scene feels pretty definitive, but Will’s revelation is also seemingly corrupted by Vecna tampering with his thoughts and memories. Heading into the series finale, there was still reason to believe that Mike and Will would have an important follow-up conversation, but instead, this storyline is given bare minimum payoff. Mike pulls Will aside to offer his support and apologize for not being there for him before, but neither of them acknowledges Will’s crush.
‘Stranger Things’ Fans Had To Wait 5 Seasons for the Most Important Scene
Finally running up that hill to some character progression.
The two move forward after their brief conversation, and Will’s remaining storyline, until the epilogue, explicitly revolves around the supernatural, while Mike suddenly starts acting like a proper boyfriend to El again. After Stranger Things keeps Mike and El’s relationship status ambiguous for the majority of Season 5, he kisses her in her void and acts the part of grieving boyfriend when she seemingly sacrifices herself. He still can’t say that he loves her, but all of their scenes from Season 4 are played as romantic via montage before culminating in an unearned goodbye. Mike never finds out that Will made the painting that he credited to El, nor does Will get proper closure after keeping Mike and El’s relationship together in Season 4. Instead, this is the end of Mike and Will’s potential romantic arc — and, to make matters worse, Will doesn’t even get a separate romantic storyline of his own.
‘Stranger Things’ Series Finale Should’ve Given Will a Proper Love Interest
If the Duffers’ plan was always for Mike and Will to remain friends, the show shouldn’t have waited until there was one episode left to make this clear. Mike and El should have been a clear couple all season, and Will should have gotten over his feelings for Mike much earlier, moving on by the end of Season 4.Instead, Stranger Things never delivers a proper romantic storyline for Will.
Over the course of Season 5, Will witnesses Robin and Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) kissing and starts to consider a future where he could have that, too. He asks Robin about potential signs, tries to make his interest clear to Mike with a playful shove, and ultimately hopes that he can have a romance after accepting himself, but the show ends before Will can earn a new love interest. While playing D&D with the whole party, Mike writes an ending for the group, including a future where Will goes off to college and gets a boyfriend(Ryan Anthony Holcomb). It’s not clear whether this is real, but even if it were, this half-baked romance for Will just isn’t good enough after five seasons.
It’s also hard not to notice the difference in how Stranger Things treats its straight pairings in comparison to Robin and Will’s romances. Robin’s relationship with Vickie is developed off-screen in between seasons, and Vickie doesn’t even appear in the epilogue, leaving the future of their relationship ambiguous. Meanwhile, Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) end the show engaged, Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) saves Max (Sadie Sink) from Vecna, and even the straight pairings that don’t end up together earn beautiful goodbye scenes. As for Will, one of Stranger Things‘ most important characters, his suffering and pining may have taken place on-screen, but his joy and future romance are disappointingly left to the imagination.
Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.
- Release Date
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2016 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
- Writers
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Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
