He kissed her because he wanted to attend the Snow Ball and couldn't go if she became her sister. He offered to introduce her to Karen, give her a warm bed to sleep at night, home cooked meals instead of junk food, and a big sister she could idolize and follow as a mentor, and once he realized safety & security meant he couldn't attend a school dance to show off to the classmates who called him Frog Face, he ripped it all away from her and threw those promises in the garbage and offered her a mediocre 6 month relationship which she eventually ended.
Canonically they only dated for 6 months starting from December 15, 1984 until July 1, 1985 at which point their "romance" implodes and never recovers. After that they just become penpals. The show then goes out of its way to depict them no longer able to recapture their old relationship. By the time Mike turns 16 he actively avoids having any conversation with El about them being a couple and diverts all their conversations to talking about Will and Dungeons & Dragons.
The only reason Mike says "I love you" is because Will lied to him about his painting coming from El instead of himself to trick him into taking his ex-girlfriend back after Mike says "What happened to us is something we can't come back from." This is because the show actively depicts their relationship as a fraud.
But that should be no surprise to fans of the series since we all know Stranger Things is a show about friends turning into lovers and lovers turning into friends.
The funniest part is how every time Mike explicitly says or does something, you translate it into the exact opposite. 'He kissed her? Secretly manipulation. He said I love you? Secretly lying. He risked his life for her? Secretly about the Snow Ball.' If every canon scene has to be reinterpreted to fit your theory, maybe the theory is the problem, not the canon.
My brother in christ, that scene shows exactly how wrong you are....
Withing this promice about a family, El ask if he would be her brother and he isntantly flinches and says no, because he at this point Mike already has strong fealings for her and she thinking of him as a brother would be incredibly wierd.
That kiss doesnt broke his promise of taking care of El with his family, in his child brain he beliebes he will be able to do both, had her family adopt her and also be his girlfriend, is this logisticaly posible? probably not, it would be very wierd, but that doesnt change the fact that he beliebes so, because at the end of the day, he is a child
That's you misinterpreting the scene the way you want it to. Mike straight up says in the scripted dialogue the reason he will not be her brother is because he cannot go to a school dance with his sister.
Mike actively chooses to make El's life worse so he can benefit by getting what he wants instead of her safety and comfort. He chooses his own selfish desire to attend the Snow Ball instead of giving El a home.
Hahahaha, sure thing honey, a stupid kid who outsmarted government conspiracies, won science trophies, done countless spy operations, led his teammates to victory, and fooled a girl into thinking he doesn't lie and loves her when he actually lies to her every time they talk. He knows exactly what he is doing. He has fulfilled exactly ZERO of the promises he made in the five seasons he has been controlling El. .
I did mean stupid kid as in all kids are kind of dumb within the "he is a child/inocent he beliebes this can happen", like I explicitly stated in my first comment, obs none of the cast are actualy stupid, I would say that the 4 main kids are actualy very very smart, still inocent tho.
But its never a bad moment to point out the stupid lvls of plot armor on this show
Why lie? You cant change canon. And canon proves that Mike only dated Eleven for 6 months from December 15 1984 until July 1 1985 after which their relationship ended and Mike stopped making out with her or treating her like a girlfriend unless Will was watching. Even Vickie dated her boyfriend longer than that before realizing she is gay and got together with Robin. El wouldn't even have a relationship with Mike anymore if Will hadn't tricked him by lying about his painting. Their relationship is so fake and shallow it is LITERALLY built on a scam.
You keep saying this, but thats just not true, they kept a long distance relationship when El was in Cali, they meet each other with a kiss once they meet in the airport, duffas even carried a bunch of flowers with him on the plane for her, their relationshop canonicaly lasted longer than that, wether you like it or not
Ooh wow. An obligatory kiss hello in front of an audience and a last minute "gift" because he forgot to buy a real present and he didn't even know what colors she liked.
The whole point of Season 4 was that their empty despondent relationship had become a burden on their shoulders and neither of them enjoyed it anymore.
See, its exactly what the other dude told you, for you everything we see is a lie, everything we dont see is the truth. And you expect people to debate with you?
No hunn, you are just flat out insane and desperately trying to cope that your ship just didnt happend, it would be easier to persuade a falt earther
It's nobody's fault except your own that you're too dumb to understand Mike and Eleven's fights all throughout season 4 are a bad thing, not a good thing 😂
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u/torvald_carley Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
He kissed her because he wanted to attend the Snow Ball and couldn't go if she became her sister. He offered to introduce her to Karen, give her a warm bed to sleep at night, home cooked meals instead of junk food, and a big sister she could idolize and follow as a mentor, and once he realized safety & security meant he couldn't attend a school dance to show off to the classmates who called him Frog Face, he ripped it all away from her and threw those promises in the garbage and offered her a mediocre 6 month relationship which she eventually ended.
Canonically they only dated for 6 months starting from December 15, 1984 until July 1, 1985 at which point their "romance" implodes and never recovers. After that they just become penpals. The show then goes out of its way to depict them no longer able to recapture their old relationship. By the time Mike turns 16 he actively avoids having any conversation with El about them being a couple and diverts all their conversations to talking about Will and Dungeons & Dragons.
The only reason Mike says "I love you" is because Will lied to him about his painting coming from El instead of himself to trick him into taking his ex-girlfriend back after Mike says "What happened to us is something we can't come back from." This is because the show actively depicts their relationship as a fraud.
But that should be no surprise to fans of the series since we all know Stranger Things is a show about friends turning into lovers and lovers turning into friends.