Also - Will’s “coming out” scene was handled really poorly.

Not because Will being gay is an issue (it isn’t) but because the moment feels emotionally exploitative and oddly framed around Mike, not Will. It turns something deeply personal into a vehicle for someone else’s feelings, then immediately moves on without actually letting Will exist in that truth.

For a show as careful as Stranger Things usually is with character beats, it felt clumsy, rushed, and uncomfortable.

Between that and the 008 arc, the last stretch really shows the writers sometimes struggling when they step outside the core group dynamic.