PLEASE HEAR ME OUT EVERYONE!! The Duffers didn’t lie about Mike going back to being the leader/heart of the group he was from season 1-2. He did, especially in volume 1. He made 99% of the plans such the crawls with his friends and the Turnbow trap with the whole party, he and Nancy went to find out who “Mr. Whatsit” was through their mom, fought the demogorgon at the Turnbow house, and risked his life saving the kids he barely even knew and protected them during the attack at the mac-z. Those moments were huge on his part, you guys cannot deny that.

I understand people are upset with his character in volume 2, since there was nothing much going on with him in those 3 episodes, but you guys shouldn’t forget the great things he did in volume 1; it seems like people have already forgotten that after volume 2 came out. The only reason why it seemed like he did nothing in volume 2 is due to the situation he was involved in with others like Joyce, Will, Lucas, etc. Their plan failed, the kids got taken away, they lost contact with others in the upside down, Will became unconscious, and they ran out of plans. So honestly they really had nothing else to do, but they're trying to figure things out, and that does not make them useless. Be realistic! Besides, almost every main characters were sidelined in volume 2, it wasn’t just Mike.

However in the finale, Mike did get involved in the final battle and helped defeating the mindflayer with his flare gun; that was definitely NOT “nothing,” and the epilogue definitely showed that he is the main character after all, since he’s the storyteller and he came up with a theory, believing El is still alive; I mean it was all based on his POV.

Also, I want to address the situation a lot of people misunderstood, which is where it seemed like he didn't react to his family in danger. You guys, just because he didn't really show much emotions doesn't mean that he didn't care. Do not judge the book by its cover! I mean, everyone's life was at high stakes at the moment, and sometimes there's just not much time to crash out. So, Mike probably just needed repress his emotions and focus on solving the problem. Besides, he did seem pretty upset about his sister getting kidnapped if you ask me. I remember he was like, "after all this time it comes for Holly, Holly who has nothing to do with any of this, it makes no goddamn sense." I don't know about you guys, but I can definitely see the guilt and fear in his eyes.

Furthermore, during the emotional scene between him and El, about him not saying ILY back, he was in the middle of freaking out over losing her and if he did, it would justify that he accepts letting her go which he wasn't prepared for that. El saying ILY was meant to say goodbye to him.

One more thing! He is nothing like his useless father; I've seen quite a lot of people saying that he is.  But, he is clearly like Karen and his sisters.  Unlike Ted who is literally a boring pathetic sore loser, Mike puts himself out there fighting his ass off and risking his life to save the world.

So all I'm trying to say is that his character wasn't entirely ruined in this season like many people say. I hope everyone understands. Thank you!

Mike’s Character in S5 was really NOT that bad