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Byler in season 5 volume 2 was not at all what I was expecting, and genuinely I am a little disappointed. I’ve had byler doubt ever since I first started to ship it, but mainly in the sense that I’ve been burned so many times by queerbait that I can’t help but be a little cautious. However, as I watched more and more theory videos and people doing genuine analysis on the show I was almost fully convinced.
Even more than that, all of the content outside of the show really made me more confident that it would happen. Actors and directors talking about character arcs, how Finn and Noah were supposedly together for every single scene, how they both had to hold incredible emotional weight, how byler shippers were going to be satisfied, even happy?
And now I’ve watched volume 2. And everything seems to be going really well, a lot of character and relationship arcs have been resolved, especially the ones that I was most worried about (jancy, steve and dustin). It feels like all the other characters have at least a relatively clear path except for Mike, Will, and Eleven. And I was so sure, so sure that they would finally do something good, something revolutionary with byler.
Now though?? I am genuinely terrified, I am so worried about how they are going to handle it. It’s too late. The tragedy of it is that no matter what happens, it is already too late. There is one episode left and they haven’t done it, they haven’t even addressed it at all! Even if they make it canon, they can’t fix the fact that the past seven episodes haven’t even come close to addressing Mike’s side of the story.
I need to see more from Mike. Where is the emotional depth I was promised? We were promised emotional depth and we haven’t seen anything beyond a discussion with his family. Where is Mike’s development? He can help his little sister, he can talk to Will, to his Mom, but where is his character arc? Why is our main character suddenly feeling like a tool for everyone else's development?
I miss Mike Wheeler. And yeah, I miss the byler Mike that we all wanted, but I really just miss a Mike that had depth, a Mike whose brain I felt like I could dissect. I miss Michael Wheeler.
It isn’t even that they are making mileven endgame, it’s the fact that I genuinely can’t tell. While suspense is a necessary tool, keeping things this ambiguous all season is making me more annoyed than curious. At this point I’d rather they just tell us which ship is going to happen, and I think leaving it to the last episode is a bad call. They aren’t appealing to milevens or bylers anymore, they are keeping both in suspense and it honestly pisses me off.
At this point, the Duffers are either queerbaiters or cowards. They are either queerbaiting the audience or they are too afraid of losing their general audience and mileven shippers so they are leaving it to the very last minute. While I would rather them be cowards by a long shot, I really wish it didn’t have to be either.
On a more specific note, I found episode 7 in particular really underwhelming and a little disappointing. I feel like it was hyped so much (excluding clips from the trailers and calling specific attention to it) and every single byler thought that we were getting a confession or SOMETHING. Without any exaggeration, I believe that every single byler content creator I saw was sure that episode 7 was their episode. It was Mike and Will’s. ‘It was a seven,’ just like way back in season 2. And we got. A coming out. But no byler whatsoever.
When Will was about to come out to his mom, I was so excited. I started filming my reaction I was so excited, because I wanted to capture the moment. When Mike showed up I screamed because I thought for sure, for sure this had to be what we had been waiting for, right? There was only 15 minutes left but the main action in Sorcerer happened in the last 15 minutes, right?
Then he brought everyone in. And at first, while I was still pretty excited, I thought it would be a really sweet moment. And then the camera panned out and I realised he meant everybody. I mean, seriously? What the hell is Kali doing there? Murray, really? I feel like the scene needed to be a bit more intimate, and I wish he had told at least a few people individually before just spilling it onto the entire group. It would have made it more realistic, and I do genuinely wish we had seen more of Will building up the confidence in his friends accepting him first.
The scene was really sweet, don’t get me wrong. It was beautiful, and I loved seeing Will accepted, but something just felt a bit off. This all happening right before a big battle yet being so slow and quiet for an extended period of time. Really my main issue was him telling everyone all at once without having told any individuals prior to it. I really wish he had told just one person first, just to establish that he isn’t going to be rejected and to make his confidence feel more realistic.
AND WILL CALLING MIKE HIS TAMMY? That shit scares me. I’m really scared that this is the Duffers trying to ensure that we are interpreting Robin’s earlier monologue in that way, as other than that it really doesn’t feel like it makes that much sense to include the line given that it won’t make sense to anyone other than Will and Robin. I’m scared that this is not just Will saying Mike is his Tammy, this is the Duffers saying that Mike is Will’s Tammy.
When the episode ended, my exact reaction was an audible “Oh. That’s it?”
I feel like they hyped it so much and yet so little came true. I felt let down, and maybe it’s just because my expectations were too high or maybe it’s because the showrunners promised greatness that they weren’t able to deliver on.
It makes me feel like I was being stupid, but wasn’t everyone theorising the same? It feels almost like being cheated (even though I know that isn’t really fair at all) but I just expected so much more. Seeing posts now of people talking about how episode seven byler was going to be amazing hurts to look at. It’s sad.
I went into volume 1 excited that I would know whether byler was canon or not. I came out of volume 1 a little disappointed but still cautiously optimistic. It was early season, they could still easily bring it in in the next volume and have everything still work out.
I went into volume 2 saying I would absolutely know whether or not byler was canon, and that if I didn’t it would be bad writing. I really don’t know if I can take back my words.
I’ve already said this but I just really feel like I need to reiterate it: It isn’t that byler is not canon, it’s that we don’t know. That’s what pisses me off. It feels like I am - and the rest of the byler community is - being toyed with. It feels like the Duffers want to make sure everyone, byler and mileven shippers, watch the finale to see which ship will be endgame.
And it isn’t like mileven shippers are getting much good either! At most, Mike and Eleven are acting like really good friends. I don’t know about anyone else, but even this volume felt like it was severely lacking in mileven scenes. Really, there was one, and it wasn’t romantic at all. They talked about running away, but El kept denying it. The Mike/Eleven already being broken up theory is intriguing and still possible which, even though I am a byler at heart, is frustrating! It is infuriating not knowing where any of these three characters stand. Are Mike and El still dating? Has Will decided to just ‘move on’ from Mike? Does Mike like Will back? Does he know Will likes him?
What about the painting? They said the painting would pay off. They said the painting would pay off! We have ONE episode left! How are they going to do this!?
Everything rests on this finale, and I just don’t know if they can pull it off. My hopes are probably higher than they should be and it’s kinda scary that I feel like this is going to shape my 2026. It’s dumb to let a show dictate how I’m going to handle my year, really dumb to decide that the fate of my happiness for the foreseeable future rests on the shoulders of two random guys who do not know or care about me and who will be unaffected by my reaction.
They have two hours and five minutes. Really, they have one hour and thirty five minutes because the last half hour is an epilogue. And I am scared. I am scared for how they are going to handle things, for how they will tie it all up, for how these characters are going to end their stories.
I am scared for how this show might end, and for how much rides on two hours next week. This has the potential to be terrible, or the potential to be amazing, and I just don’t know what to expect anymore.