Stranger Things set up the dynamic between Robin and Steve built on the perceived default naturalism of heteronormativity, but this season three subplot is paralleling another narrative in season four.

In the opening of season four, Will can be seen working on a painting that Eleven speculates is for a girl he likes, only for the truth to be revealed later in the season when he gifts the painting to Mike. Here we’re given hints of a potential heterosexual relationship that never comes to fruition, with Eleven just assuming that since Will is a boy he will by default have a crush on a girl.

After Will hands over the painting to Mike, he voices his amazement at the gift before Will finds a way to begin speaking about Eleven, saying “She basically commissioned it, she told me what to draw.” But this contradicts Eleven’s monologue where she explicitly states that Will wouldn’t let her see his painting.

Will goes on to say, “These past few months she’s been so lost without you. She’s just so different from other people. And when you’re different, sometimes you feel like a mistake. But you make her feel like she’s not a mistake at all, like she’s better for being different. And that gives her the courage to fight on. If she seemed mean to you or if it was like she was pushing you away, it’s just because she’s scared of losing you like you’re scared of losing her. And if she has to lose you, I think she’d rather just get it over with quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid. She needs you Mike, and she always will.”

Reading this speech on paper it may seem straight forward. But watching this play out in motion gives more context to it. As Will begins talking about how lost Eleven has been, the camera flashes to his older brother Johnathan, who is driving, before he looks in the rear-view window and we get to see the two boys from his point of view. Why is Johnathan’s reaction important if this is supposed to be about the relationship between Eleven and Mike? Because it’s not. Will is simply using Eleven’s name as a placeholder for how he feels. Samantha Coley writing for the Collider supports this when she writes, “In the episode, Will unveils his painting from Volume 1 and explains the complexities of El and Mike’s feelings for each other. To Mike, he’s talking about Eleven, but for Will, Jonathan, and the audience, we can see that he’s also talking about himself.”

Mike is looking at Will as he speaks, but Will is avoiding his gaze by looking out the window as he’s delivering the line, “And when you’re different, sometimes you feel like a mistake.” The way his voice becomes hoarse and tears well in his eyes tells the viewer that he’s resonating with the words he’s saying, rather than simply saying them on behalf of Eleven.

Eleven and Will’s feelings and the situations that they’re put in parallel each other because they both have romantic feelings towards Mike. That’s why after his speech is done, Will turns to the window and covers his mouth to suppress his crying, because he knows that they both feel the same.

This is referenced later in the season when Jonathan has a heart to heart with Will, saying that he can always come talk to him when he needs to. Samantha Coley commented on this scene, writing, “We later also get a conversation between Will and Jonathan where Jonathan makes it abundantly clear to Will that he loves him for exactly who he is. As a queer person, Jonathan’s careful and intentional affection for his younger brother speaks volumes.”

Everything in Will’s speech would make perfect sense with the story line even if you swapped Eleven’s name with Will’s and had him speak in the first person. By doing this, Stranger Things addresses the hegemonic ideology that heteronormativity is the natural default and ultimately challenges it by re-framing heterosexual romances in a queer light, showing the interchangeable similarities between loves that society perceives as “normal” vs “different.”

Works Cited

Coley, Samantha. “Will’s Speech to Mike in Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 8 Explained.” Collider, 4 July 2022, collider.com/stranger-things-season-4-will-byers-speech-car-scene-sexuality- duffer-brothers-comments/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.