Stranger Issues has needed to serve numerous masters in its ultimate season, balancing what usually seems like a dozen competing plot threads and steadily increasing mysteries. However its most satisfying choice has been to lastly put Will Byers again on the heart of the motion. The boy whose unique disappearance began this complete journey appears poised to assist convey it to an finish, as he and his mates put together to face off in opposition to Vecna and confront the subsequent stage of their lives. And, for Will, a part of that journey has essentially concerned accepting who he’s.
The present has been teasing out Will’s exploration of his sexuality for a number of seasons now, primarily by means of his apparent crush on his finest good friend Mike. The present has well by no means mocked him for his emotions or made them into some type of joke that the character’s not in on, an uncomfortable joke for his mates or the viewers watching at dwelling to giggle at. As a substitute, Stranger Issues gave Will a much-needed queer mentor in Robin, who supplied him a real-world instance that he may very well be each true to himself and joyful. And now, in its penultimate episode, Stranger Issues lastly addresses the difficulty immediately, permitting Will to lastly declare the id he’s so lengthy been afraid to call. “I don’t like ladies,” he says. “I imply…I do. Simply…simply not such as you guys do.”
To be honest, it virtually feels merciless to criticize Will’s massive second right here. Noah Schnapp sells the heck out of a genuinely transferring monologue that doesn’t pull its punches about what an enormous, earthshattering deal it could have been for a child to return out within the Eighties. This isn’t to say popping out isn’t an equally vital expertise for LGBTQ youth in 2025, merely that we’re — fortunately — a great distance from an Indiana within the early days of the AIDS disaster when Will would have had valuable few public position fashions for learn how to resolve who he needed to be. That is, really, an enormous deal. It issues. And that’s why the best way Stranger Issues selected to deal with it feels so clunky and unlucky.
Will doesn’t come out in a one-on-one dialog with the mom who’s all the time adored him, the brother who’s protected him, or any of the core group of mates who’ve been by his aspect for many of his life. As a substitute, he’s pressured to reveal his soul in entrance of what seems like half the city, together with a number of individuals he’s barely shared any screentime with. What’s Kali doing as a part of this second? Or Murray? What worth does Vickie’s presence add, past her being queer herself? Has she ever even met Will? At this level, they could as properly simply go on and wheel Karen in right here from the hospital so she will participate as properly!
