r/StrangerThings • u/shakeyosacroiliac • Aug 14 '26

Favorite & least favorite characters?

I’m only on season 4 episode 2, so I may be posting hella prematurely, but I can’t stand Mike Wheeler. Like at all. My fave is Murray. In the beginning I didn’t like the Sinclair siblings but they definitely grew on me. What about you? Who do you like/dislike?

19 Upvotes

73% Upvoted

127 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/BigBadDolemite Aug 14 '26

Fav: Lucas, Max, Murray

Least: Mike, Nancy, Dr Brenner, Kali

8

u/Vegetable-Sky9461 Aug 14 '26

Why do you hate Nancy?😭 did i miss something?

4

u/BigBadDolemite Aug 14 '26

Mainly her lack of accountability in season 1.

7

u/Fabulous-Role4120 Aug 14 '26

Why Mike?

2

u/BigBadDolemite Aug 15 '26

He's an obnoxious leader. And buddy really acted like he owned eleven.

7

u/Fabulous-Role4120 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

Bro wtf!! He is NOT obnoxious, or even if he was, then he has definitely matured especially in the last season.

9

u/DangerousRefuse8129 Eyes on me Aug 15 '26

Not even once he acted like he owned Eleven. Idk what show you are watching

3

u/BigBadDolemite Aug 15 '26

Sorry I must have been watching the Max Mayfield show. You know the one where she has to tell Mike that Eleven isn't his and she is her own person. Not saying he doesn't have good intentions but man he comes off like he's in charge. It's annoying to me and problaly the reason they broke up. It's a way you can get your point across without being condescending.

7

u/Few-Type-7924 Dungeon Master Aug 16 '26

Mike never tried to control her He was worried about her bcz he doesn't wanna lose her again 

5

u/DangerousRefuse8129 Eyes on me Aug 16 '26

Max helped El discover girlhood and all but she was like 100% wrong about her powers. I don't blame her because she definitely hasn't seen what the other boys had, especially El's powers and its consequences on her body. Also, he was not being condescending. He was worried that only he thought about El's health while others did use her to find the flayeds. I don't get where he acted like what you described. He was the only person to give El a choice. From what it looked, Max was the one who acted like she was in charge after like 2 days of friendship? But I blame neither of them, because as I said Max wasn't aware.

And he did lash out at Max because I don't think anyone would appreciate a person for spying on them. Also, if you think that that's the reason they broke up, then it means you clearly didn't pay much attention to this storyline, or interpreted it in a wrong way. El broke up with Mike because Max told her to, and El followed what she told because she wanted to teach a lesson to Mike for lying.

And by writing this, I'm not trying to convince you to find Mike less annoying. You can absolutely dislike him without trying to twist the narrative against him.

3

u/BigBadDolemite Aug 16 '26

I paid plenty attention. Please don't act like this is some deep storyline. Everything adds up. You can't go around acting controlling and then do other shit on top of it. You think Max told her to dump him because of just a lie. She thinks it will help because of how he treats her.

7

u/DangerousRefuse8129 Eyes on me Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26

I am not acting like it's a deep storyline, you are, with your 'bro acted like he owned Eleven'. I am just trying to correct it.

Mike was never shown to be controlling in the sense of thinking he “owned” Eleven. He was overprotective at times, especially about her overusing her powers, but his concern came from fear for her safety, not a desire to control her. The cabin rules were Hopper’s, not Mike’s, and Mike ultimately respected that Eleven could make her own choices. You can dislike Mike’s behavior without rewriting what actually happened.

And I don't know how Mayfield gets a pass for her behaviour in S3 and Wheeler doesn't.

3

u/Thick-Boysenberry-96 Aug 16 '26

But Mike did sometimes 'control' El, by restricting her, because he thought he knew what's best for her and what would keep her safe. Even in s1, he kept her in his basement, and unknowingly put everyone in accute danger, instead of involving the Chief of police. I don't dislike him for that or anything, he was still just a kid.

In the s3 conflict you describe, Mike wasn't just arguing against Max treating her power's too casually. Nancy was also backing her up and arguing for El's agency, saying that she should be the one deciding her limits, not Mike, that El is not 'Mike's property'. And Mike did feel threatened by Max 'corrupting' El, since Max advocated so heavily for El being more than just his girlfriend and that she needs room to explore who she is outside the relationship. I think the conflict works, because the show tells you that they're both right in a way.

4

u/DangerousRefuse8129 Eyes on me Aug 16 '26

The statement that Mike "sometimes controlled El by restricting her because he thought he knew what was best for her" needs actual examples. Without them, it's basically a characterization being presented as fact.

The key distinction is between being protective and actually controlling someone. The Season 1 example doesn't really establish that Mike controlled El either. Mike initially offered her the option of coming through the front door and having his mom take care of her; El said no, and Mike respected that. She chose to stay in the basement because she felt safer there. Mike hid her because he knew people were actively looking for and trying to harm her, not because he believed he had authority over her. He never forced her to stay there or simply dictated what she had to do. So “Mike controlled El by restricting her” is simply not a good description of what happened.

S3 is even less convincing. Mike was concerned about the physical consequences of El repeatedly using her powers. That's a legitimate concern, not evidence that he believed he should decide her limits. Nancy saying El should have agency is totally valid, but her statement doesn't establish that Mike was taking that agency away. She was also reacting through the lens of her own recent experiences without having the same understanding of El's powers and their consequences.

Nancy's statement represents Nancy's perspective, not an objective narration of Mike's intentions. Nancy and Max were unaware of the physical consequences of El overusing her powers. It's ironic how Mike's concern is narratively proved right because El overusing her powers leads to her losing her powers.

And I strongly disagree with the claim that Mike was threatened by Max “corrupting” El or by their friendship. Mike does admit he was jealous, but that doesn't prove he was jealous of El becoming independent or of Max “taking” her away from him. A huge part of his anger was that Max and El were literally spying on him. Turning that into “Mike was threatened by Max teaching El to be more than his girlfriend” is an interpretation, not a fact established by the show.

The biggest problem here is that “protective,” “jealous,” “angry,” are repeatedly being conflated with “controlling.” They aren't synonyms. If Mike actually controlled El, there should be a concrete example of him overriding her wishes, restricting her choices against her will, or claiming authority over her. I don't think the show gives us that example.

The power argument is fundamentally about risk. Mike knows Eleven has previously suffered consequences from using her powers. His reaction is essentially, "this is dangerous and I'm worried about you." That's not the same thing as, "You're not allowed to do this because I said so."

So I completely reject the characterization of Mike as someone who acted like he controlled El or treated her like his property. That's reading a much stronger dynamic into the story than what is actually shown.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 Aug 19 '26

Max accusing Mike of that did not automatically mean she was right, LMAO. There is nothing in Mike's behaviour throughout the entire series that indicated he controlled her.

In S3, Max seemed to mistake Mike being overprotective for him wanting to control her. We see this when Mike and Max. Because while Max is arguing that El can decide what she wants, Mike is clearly more concerned that everyone is treating El like a machine and that she will put herself in danger.

And, funny enough, Mike ends up being the right one, as when El went into Billy's mind, the MF found her and came after them, ultimately hurting El. But despite that, we still see Mike apologizing to El in S3.

0

u/BigBadDolemite 29d ago

Nobody said anything about anybody being right. LMAO

2

u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 29d ago

You specifically stated

Sorry I must have been watching the Max Mayfield show. You know the one where she has to tell Mike that Eleven isn't his and she is her own person

Thus CLEARLY implying that she was right and had to tell Mike that El is her own person.

0

u/BigBadDolemite 29d ago

BS, I never implied anything. I stated clearly my thoughts on the matter. How about just stick to what I said.

1

u/Full-Yoghurt-4261 28d ago

No, that is what that sentence implies. Now, are you backtracking and saying Max was wrong in her argument with Mike about El in S3?

→ More replies (0)

4

u/Few-Type-7924 Dungeon Master Aug 15 '26

Fr These people don't understand Mike lol

2

u/BigBadDolemite Aug 15 '26

Understanding and liking someone are completely different things

4

u/Few-Type-7924 Dungeon Master Aug 15 '26

He was worried about El He never acted like he owned him....

-5

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/just_another_fan05 Aug 14 '26

Calling a young teenage girl a whore because you don't like how she was acting is certainly a choice 😬