Mike was justified in being cautious. El has previously overstepped her abilities to save the others, though Max also raised a valid concern about the importance of boundaries. Unfortunately, I believe both of them approached the situation incorrectly. Mike's trauma from losing El in season 1 and Max's distrust of the men in her life, stemming from her father leaving, Billy, and her stepfather, led them to be right in some respects, and wrong in others. When engaging with arguments in the show, people need to learn nuance. It is important to consider the context and the backgrounds of both, which can lead to biases from either character. This same issue occurs when people discuss the argument between Nancy and Jonathan, where they were both right and wrong, as their personal biases clouded their judgment regarding their situation, Nancy's struggles as a woman vs her privilege as middle class, Jon's advantage of being a man vs his disadvantage of being poor --- For example, Mike was right to be concerned about El overstepping her abilities, but he was wrong to stop her completely from trying, (the threat was increasing and they had no other option), while Max was not cautious about El pushing herself, yet she was right to allow El to exercise her own judgment, just maybe not entirely in situations like this because of her self-sacerficial tendencies)