During one of the first scenes of season 4, we see El's shrine of Mike in her bedroom. It has various pictures of him and them together. However, the writers must have been very lazy if they used actual screenshots from the show. I mean, Charlie and Natalia (Jonathan and Nancy) had a full photoshoot to take photos for their plot, why didn't Mike and El? This isn't that much proof, I just found it funny.What is proof, however, is that Mike has no shrine of El in his room, only Will's drawings. 

Now, nobody say Mike doesn't like hugging people because he hugged Dustin just fine in episode one. But for some weird, totally unobvious reason he completely avoids Will's hug at the airport. Finn said Mike is oblivious to Will's feelings so this can't be the reason either (he wouldn't avoid him because of that anyway). He is definitely trying to repress his feelings here, and is half upset that he and Will haven't been in contact for the six months they've been apart. 

When Will says ; "What about us?" Mike replies; "We're friends! We're friends." almost like he's trying to convince himself. Will KNOWS you're friends, why emphasise this? Also, this parallels to other scenes where romantic pairings refer to each other as 'friends'. Hopper says to Joyce; "It's just two friends getting together for a nice dinner." They get together the next season. Nancy says; "No, no I mean, we're just friends." Jonathan agreeing; "Friends." They kiss then get together that night. Now Mike is calling him and Will friends which is a direct comparison.

Mike and El have a massive fight because Mike can't say "I love you".  El finally confronts him and complains saying; "You never say it." Mike lies; "I say it." Byler have this crazy parallel that is much more uplifting. Mike apologises for their fight and Will says; "I didn't say it." Mike smiles and replies with; "You didn't have to." This scene depicts their relationship and how intricately connected they are. They don't have to say anything to understand what the other is feeling. However, with El, Mike doesn't even reassure her with ANY "I love you"s at all, just gaslights her into thinking he says it when he doesn't!

Mike can't accept that he is in the wrong when he and El fight. He blames other people when El complains that he was looking at her like she was a monster. Mike can't defend himself very well and blames what happened for his reaction instead of apologising (like he immediately always does with Will) when El is visibly very upset. When El also complains Mike doesn't say "I love you", Mike brings up how they shouldn’t let other other people get between them and still doesn't say what she wants to hear. It's an emotional scene and El is crying. Mike ISN'T.

Throughout season 4, there is not one single scene of Mike and El together where Will isn't there in the background, EXCEPT for the fight. Smart people know that Will's signature colour is yellow and guess what colour the curtains are behind El while her and Mike are fighting? (Hint: look above). YELLOW. The writers/directors want us to sympathise with Will and root for him, to show the audience how much Mike and El's relationship affects him. 

Mike is known for collared shirts and jeans, it's his signature look. In spite of this, Mike in the airport doesn't even look like himself. He decided to wear purple and yellow, El's favourite colours, to please her. Something even more shcoking and obvious occurs when Argyle hugs him, then pulling away complaining that it's just a "shitty knock-off". This represents that Mike is not his true self and is pretending to be someone else. He then says "I'll get you the good threads out here." This may be Argyle referring to Will and that Mike will be more like himself with Will.

Mike gives El flowers, yet there's too much YELLOW in the bouquet (Will's colour). He says he tried to do a "70-30 split kind of thing". There 70% YELLOW and only 30% PURPLE (El's colour). Mike was thinking more about Will than he was El because he is in love with him. He says he got too much yellow and not enough purple. This part is really noticeable because what he says is a little random and adds nothing much to the plot unless you REALLY notice the symbolism behind it.

Not only this, but at the end of the season, the same flowers are dying on the hill that El notices, representing the end of Mileven.

Honestly, this one is obvious I don't need to explain much because it's literally right there. The light reveals itself between these main couples. There is also a picture where it happens with Robin and Vickie too, but I didn't have enough room to fit it in. Mike and Will's lights are the biggest and make their scene together look very aesthetically pleasing.

With El in the van, she is visibly upset after being brutally humiliated in a public space. Mike doesn't even try to comfort her, even looking towards Will in a frame. The dark lighting shows how they don't go well together, because they aren't happy together. El wants reassurance, Mike isn't giving it to her.

With Will, he may be talking about 'El' but that still isn't relevant. Mike is looking at Will and not at El. Why would they frame these two shots like this, that directly parallel to each other? The lighting in Mike and Will's scene is much more bright and beautiful than El and Mike's scene, who by the way ALSO HAS WILL in the shot.  

In the scene where Mike is smiling, the word 'boy' is in the background. In the scene where Mike is unhappy (for the whole scene by the way, not just a specific frame I screenshotted), the word 'women' is in the background. Mike is also smiling where men are wrestling in the background. The Duffers have stated that most things they input into the show are intentional. This can be proven by the word Henry by Will's neck on a cardboard box during the scene where a girl tries to flirt with him at school. This was a very small detailed word they inserted, and so is this. It's honestly not that much of a stretch at all when you think about it.

Anyone who disagrees with this one is actually insane because this was so obvious and I immediately noticed it the first time watching this season in 2022. There is a sign which is pointing into the closet while saying 'one way'. This is basically just saying that Mike is in the closet.

During Mike and Will's fight at the roller rink, the song "Tarzan Boy" plays in the background. This song is about being gay and finding other gay people within the 'jungles' of the world. Specifically, about a gay man convincing another gay man to embrace the gay lifestyle. The Duffers really didn't make this subtle at all.

Will and Mike have a heart-to-heart on the car and Will says; "Sometimes I think it’s just scary to open up like that. To say how you really feel. Especially to people you care about the most. Because, what if… what if they don’t like the truth?" Will is talking about himself here, but Mike visibly nods and agrees with what Will is saying. Why won't El like the truth if Mike loves her? 

When Mike is ranting in the van to Will, he says; "And one day she’s gonna realise that I’m just some random nerd that got lucky SUPERMAN landed on his doorstep." Mike refers to El as "superMAN" which is kinda weird. Why wouldn't he say "superGIRL" or even a gender neutral term like  "a superhero"?  Mike barely ever refers to El with feminine terms unless it is 'girlfriend' which is only directed towards Will. He says things like "incredible person" and "superhero".

Mike and Will both kind of rant to each other about Mike's relationship and these two scenes directly parallel each other. Unrequited love when they both look at each other the same way? I don’t think so. Mike and Will are both in the exact same positions, except opposite each other. This may possibly mean that they both understand each other and feel the same way the other does. They're so stupid I hate them.

When Will first gave Mike the painting, he had the biggest smile on his face and asked; "Did you paint this?" Will says yes but then backtracks and explains that El commissioned the painting. Mike's smile visibly drops and he looks upset. This could be because he wanted the painting to come from Will and not El.

El draws a diagram on a fogged up window of a car. The camera is then inside the car and shows El talking to the group. This cinematographic shot is so pointless unless the directors are trying to show us a sign that Mike and Will are going to end up with each other next season and El is starting to suspect this with the way both Mike and Will are in her thought bubble. 

Lighting is key in every piece of film media, smart people know this. Every person's face is lit up in this scene; El, Jonathan and Will. Everyone's face EXCEPT MIKE'S. If this was a romantic scene then Mike's face would be lit up with a glow and gentle shadows to suggest the love he is going to give, but it's not. Shadows and low-key lighting can suggest that a character is not being entirely truthful or is concealing their true intentions. The darkness can symbolise hidden agendas or unspoken truths (Mike is hiding that he loves Will).

Why on earth is Will's FULL FACE in this shot? Because the truth is, if the viewer is meant to take this as a 100% genuine love confession from Mike, Will would not have been in this shot. It would've been an intimate close-up of Mike but Will is positioned right behind Mike, almost like he is at the back of his mind when Mike is confessing his 'love'. Mike loves Will and the confession is meant for him not El.

Mike's confession of romantic love to El is completely inconsistent with his previous behaviour, where he's struggled to express his love for her. This sudden declaration doesn’t make sense. It seems like he's saying what he believes El needs to hear to stay alive and save herself and Max, or it might be another instance of Mike projecting his feelings for Will onto El. I think it’s a combination of both these reasons. 

He also says that when he met her he "knew right then and there, in that moment" that he loved her. This is completely FALSE as Mike didn't care much about El at all and wanted to send her away so he could keep looking for Will. 

Additionally, Mike only tells El he loves her because she's dying. It's important to note that Will is the one who encourages Mike to keep talking to El. Mike wouldn't have said these things without Will's encouragement. Will even uses the same phrase he used when he covertly confessed his love for Mike to convince him to say this.

Everyone knows the phrase "eyes are the windows to the soul". Eyes are also a big thing in season 4 with Vecna taking everyone's eyes and so on. When Mike and El are talking, for some reason, Mike's eyes are always obscured. He wears sunglasses in an airport and pizza goggles when El is trying to reconnect with him. With Will, they aren't. 

Mike and Will's scenes together this season are always so beautifully pleasing. Will is framed in the light, with sunlight between them, while Mike is in the dark. This could symbolize that Mike is still 'in the dark' about Will being gay, or that Mike himself is still in denial or in the closet about his own sexuality. Alternatively, it might foreshadow Mike being engulfed by 'darkness' in season 5. Also, towards the end of the season, El and Mike aren't talking and we know they haven't discussed what Mike said, so we may be able to interpret that as a Byler sign.

The way they framed this is so interesting and so painfully obvious. The couples are spread out and not grouped together. We also get close up shots of each pairing which just emphasises their formation even further. El is up the front, walking past Mike, almost as if she is moving on from him, and by herself. Jopper are together, Jancy are together, oh and MIKE AND WILL are together but yeah, that totally means nothing.

Mike and Will are placed on one of the Stranger Things thumbnails together, paralleling to other couples like Lucas and Max and Joyce and Hopper. El and Mike aren't on a banner together even though they are a couple. Why is Mike on a banner with Will and not El?