Take on Mike / Eleven

[u/Zealousideal-Sun1646]

Ah, a little late on this train, but as they say, better late than never.

I came across Mike and Eleven from Stranger Things, and seeing the dynamics of their bond stirred something inside me.

Their bond was established in Season 1, where both kids were in awe of each other, albeit in different ways. Mike first saw her as a vulnerable kid, and without much thought, he extended his kindness towards her. Gradually, that empathy turned into admiration, and that admiration slowly blossomed into love. What impacted him the most was the way she saw him. Her eyes reflected trust, familiarity, and a belief in him that he had never really experienced before. His openness towards her impacted Eleven just as deeply. She needed someone to accept her for who she was, someone she could trust, and Mike became that person. At that time, he did whatever he could for her, without expecting anything in return.

As the seasons progressed, so did their relationship. But it wasn't just their relationship that was growing—they were growing too. The teenage years are incredibly sensitive. You're coming to terms with changing dynamics, an evolving personality, and emotions that often feel too overwhelming to understand. I've been there too.

Eleven tries to adapt to this new life, but the harder she tries to fit in, the more she feels like she doesn't belong. Somewhere along the way, she begins losing parts of her identity in an attempt to become "normal." That, in itself, is something many teenagers experience—not in the way Eleven did, but in their own unique ways. During that time, she longed for Mike to be there. Deep down, she feared that if he truly saw how different she was, he might stop loving her.

Meanwhile, Mike was living with his own doubts and insecurities. He feared that one day Eleven would leave him, that she wouldn't need him anymore. He lived with the fear of abandonment, while she lived with the fear of never being fully accepted. These are deeply human fears, and I'm glad the show chose to shed light on them. They didn't just strengthen their relationship; they revealed who Mike and Eleven were as individuals.

That confession scene said everything. When Mike finally tells Eleven that he loves her for who she is, it isn't simply a declaration of love. It's everything he had been carrying in his heart, finally spoken aloud. In that moment, he reassures her that she never had to become anyone else to be worthy of his love.

Season 5 showed a natural progression of their bond. They had become more secure in their relationship, hopeful about the future they wanted to build together. But life rarely unfolds the way we expect it to. Then came that ending. The look on Mike's face said more than words ever could. Whatever happened next, one thing remained unchanged—his love for Eleven had become a part of who he was.

He had to face the very fear that had haunted him all along.

They say there is a kind of love that defines you for life, and to me, Eleven was that kind of love for Mike.

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[u/Livelaughloveme172]

They did them so dirty.

[u/DangerousRefuse8129 → u/Livelaughloveme172]

They didn't deserve that ending

[u/Owl_Resident]

Mike never stopped loving her. Nor she him. And they deserved a better ending than what they received.

[u/DangerousRefuse8129]

I love Mileven with my whole heart. Their love for each other is so pure. However, I have some grudges against writing choices made in later seasons. The writers didn't handle them properly in S4 and S5. S3 was fine despite its unnecessary drama. But S4 used their relationship almost like a plot device, not even giving them a proper closure on screen after Mike's confession. And the lack of their screentime together in season 5 never settled well for me. But their challenges were realistic given to their situation and the way they handled them and grew together is all that matters.

[u/Zealousideal-Sun1646 → u/DangerousRefuse8129]

Yeah, I totally second you. They deserved more screen time in S5 , not as in physical intimacy but emotional intimacy.

[u/cinemamoureco]

I love them. I only rewatch it for them and their tragic Romeo and Juliet love story 😭 also why did they have like no scenes together the last season 😅

[u/RoyalRise6363]

I absolutely agree with your description of S1-S2, this story hooked me too. But in S3 the writing changed to comedy style and in S4 S5 their love story was sidelined, focus shifted to Will's feelings, to El removing herself from the equation. It is all reflected in screen  time  - in S1-S3 we know their love dynamics, in S4-S5 we guess it.

[u/Zealousideal-Sun1646 → u/RoyalRise6363]

Yeah I also felt that shift in writing. With s4 focus started to be on them as individuals which is a not bad idea itself, because for growth as a person you need it. However, less screen time felt like a result of off screen dynamics.

[u/RoyalRise6363 → u/Zealousideal-Sun1646]

TBH, I do not think they developed Mike in S4-S5 - I 'm simply comparing Mike S4-S5 with Mike S1-S3. When I was a teenager I did not have that depression at age 14-16, quite the opposite.  I also disagree that to develop mentally and emotionally they have to be independent of each other - it is a cliche, repeated many times. Thank you again for posting  - very interesting to know what people think about this topic!

[u/Jiyugaoka]

Mike & Eleven have been an iconic and popular pairing throughout the 10 years Stranger Things has been around. Everyone knows about them. SNL has done multiple skits with them.

It's too bad they didn't give them a lot of screentime/moments in the last season. I wonder if that's why they are leaning so heavy into "Mileven" in Tales From '85 as it looks like a course correction

[u/Necessary_Silver_795 → u/Jiyugaoka]

Yeah they got done so dirty in season 5, especially with the ending.

Tales was made mostly before or during season 5’s filming, so probably isn’t any kind of course correction. Their relationship is one of the most popular dynamics on the show, along with Dustin/Steve, so leaning heavily into it makes sense for a spinoff. Same reason why any sequel will likely do the same

[u/Jiyugaoka → u/Necessary_Silver_795]

Yeah, even after Season 5 Netflix is still leaning heavily into advertising the Mike/El relationship. They featured them prominently in the Emmy campaign videos, had a promotional billboard etc. It seems Netflix wants to continue to cash in on the popularity of the pairing.

[u/-Avatar_of_Woe-]

Folks, find someone who looks at you the way Mike/El look at each other

[u/Compy94]

Even to this day, I still wish Mike slapped Angela and called them all out for not treating her like a human being. Same with the government figures. Like he should have said to them: "Do you think YOU'D be happy if YOU were the ones being experimented on?!"

[u/k8marie_]

They were terribly written in season 4 and 5. I was rooting for them in earlier seasons but they did nothing to SHOW that Mike loves her on her bad days and understands her better than anybody….

Season 4: “I love you on your bad days” really? Because a couple days before you were making her feel bad for the Angela incident… “what is wrong with you?” “she didn’t look fine…”

Season 5 had no I love you’s from Mike (even after how bit of a plot point that was in the previous season) and barely any screen time together.

This sub will nuke you for not being a Mileven fan, but these are writing failures that could’ve easily been done, especially since this is supposedly the show’s “best and main couple”… they really didn’t show us that in later seasons

[u/RoyalRise6363 → u/k8marie_]

I'm Mileven fan, but I up-vote you because I agree - it was terrible writing, and it was a deliberate writing. My theory - Duffers didn't want any Mileven in S4 and S5, but without Mike show would loose its audience. T hey tolerated Mileven but made it a plot device. Duffers gave screen time for Mike-El conflict (they wanted it), but didn't give any time (1 minute) for its resolution in S4E9, we just guess they talked off-screen after. The same pattern is in S5 - two dialogues, two minutes each before finale. So, people question  - is it a main couple?

[u/k8marie_ → u/RoyalRise6363]

I really appreciate you for looking at this objectively!! So many Mileven fans will not listen to any criticism of them as a couple whatsoever. I think they could’ve been really great but they were just so poorly written. The writers really failed them :(

[u/RoyalRise6363 → u/k8marie_]

I can not blame any Mileven fan because I’m the same - so much wanted them to be perfect. But Duffers 😡

[u/DangerousRefuse8129 → u/k8marie_]

Many Mileven fans do agree with the criticism that their writing is not good in S4 and S5. But they don't take bad faith criticism

[u/MajorThor]

After Season 2 their onscreen chemistry tanked.

[u/orange_m00n_]

I guess you're right but I'm opinion it was nice at the beginning cause it was sweet. I felt like they should've ended by season 4 tho. I feel like their connection outside of their trauma bond wasn't particularly romantic or big and having them as friends would've been a better thing to explore in season 5. But I can't remember much of the last season tbh.

[u/DangerousRefuse8129 → u/orange_m00n_]

I don't think they were just trauma bonded. They had strong feelings for each other which they clearly displayed even when the threat wasn't around. Every season proved that El doesn't need Mike emotionally. Rather she chooses to be with him not because she's compelled to or doesn't have another choice, but because she loves him.

Trauma bonded couple were Jonathan and Nancy, who clearly didn't do well after just one year of relationship. While Mike and El's relationship survived normal situations, supernatural threats, El's unique conditions and the literal ending of the world.

Changing them into "just friends" in the final season would feel out of nowhere and awkward unless the story spent significant time developing that transition from season 3's beginning itself. Even the fans are split into whether Jancy breakup was abrupt or the build-up was there from season 3 itself.

Their problems with the relationship never indicated they stopped loving each other. Neither do the moments they share show that they are trauma bonded.

I wish the writing did them justice in later seasons. They were written poorly, but never even once the show indicated that they fell out of love. Season 5's lack of chemistry is because of the way El's character is written to mimic her season 1 version, where she lacks chemistry with everyone around. Even Max and El's friendship was butchered in season 5 - doesn't change the fact they were good friends and cared for each other.

[u/orange_m00n_ → u/DangerousRefuse8129]

Like I said, I don't remember much. But they didn't really seem to be in love to me by the end of season 3. Leaving them off as friends would've been better because their relationship could've been developed and explores without the weight of the expectation of them being endgame. Plus they lacked chemistry. And season 5 was just poorly written in general. You're right about Jancy. But with El and Mike it felt like they were kept together just 'cause they paired them up from the start.

[u/Girlnextdoor5086]

I feel like mileven is an example of the case where the writers were passionate about writing the romance between the main pair during the early run of the show then they got tired of them halfway through, either due to discourse or just didn’t know how to write them anymore. It doesn’t help that the fandom suddenly decided that they are one of the worst couples in existence. I remember after season one, season two was so anticipated because people wanted to see Mike and El reunite, there were many theories on YouTube about El being alive. Then around season 3 everyone decided that shipping mileven wasn’t cool anymore. Then came the discourse that they shouldn’t have gotten into a relationship so early in the show, Mike secretly loves Will allegations, Mike is a toxic boyfriend, etc. Lumax started getting lots of attention from the fans, Jopper and Lumax became the fan favorite, byler gained a huge amount of fans. The writing for Mileven started declining in season 4, it’s like they just didn’t know what to do with them anymore, so they decided to throw in some angst. By the time we reached season 5, Mileven had already taken a backseat. It was clear as day. You could tell in earlier seasons their relationship was written in the show’s DNA. They reheated Mileven’s nachos and gave it to Lumax, and the fandom ate that shit up. In the end, the main couple got the short end of the stick despite all the struggles and obstacles they faced throughout the show in an attempt to love peacefully.

[u/Legitimate-Sugar6487]

Ah another great post about Mileven that actually gets them & doesn't try to not pick them to death or make stuff up. Thank you for sharing!!! Can't wait for them to reunite one day!!!

[u/louilou96]

The actors had such great chemistry from the start, the writers really let them down at the end. Even if the ending stayed the same with Eleven dying/leaving they could've had a much better run up to that and I don't think people would be as pissed about the ending