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Ever since the award-winning Netflix series Stranger Things was released in 2016, it managed to gain a massive fanbase and become one of the most well-known television series of all time. There are many pieces of the show that helped its success, but by far, the most popular part of the series was the relationship between two of the main characters, Mike Wheeler and Eleven (Jane) Hopper. Fans adored the two teens together and continued to root for them throughout the episodes, although there were some points in the story where the relationship was faulty. Despite the widespread love for the romance, the relationship in and of itself is incredibly flawed to the point of questioning whether or not they should truly be together.
011 + The Middle School Nerd
When Mike and Eleven first met, she had just escaped from the laboratory. She had been subject to scientific experiments studying her supernatural ability of telekinesis. She stayed in Mike’s basement for a week while she helped him and his friends — Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson — find Will Byers, who had gone missing. Between meeting him in the woods and her eventual disappearance after rescuing Will and defeating the monster who had taken him, Mike and Eleven became incredibly connected.
Mike took care of her in her traumatized state, and she quickly came to trust him more than anyone else she had met. They shared a kiss in the Hawkins Middle School lunchroom after he made a failed attempt to ask her to dance at his school, but the happy moment was quickly ruined when Eleven sacrificed herself, forcing them to be separated for almost a year.
The Timeline Counts
After being apart for three hundred fifty-three days, the young pair were finally reunited while they were trying to take down yet another monster. Once things calmed down, they resumed their previous relationship and even finally got to go to the dance Mike had invited Eleven to so long ago. It was like the long gap had never even happened, as they picked things back up so incredibly quickly and continued with it well into the summer months. But, unfortunately, despite how tear-jerking and incredible the story of their relationship was, it still had many faults that would later come out, causing trouble in “paradise.” An important piece of the timeline of Mike and Eleven’s relationship was the time itself. It had only been a week between when they first met in the woods and their kiss in the cafeteria.
Regardless of how much had happened in that short time frame, it still is a shockingly small period of time for such a deep relationship to form. When Eleven first came into Mike’s life, she could barely talk because of how sheltered she was in the laboratory. She was terrified to the point of being incapable of functioning at moments. Mike had been by far the most welcoming out of the three boys when she first arrived, and her staying at his house helped further develop a bond between them. What Eleven really needed after being put through years of trauma was someone who truly cared about her and wanted to keep her safe, and Mike was more than willing to be that person for her. She had been so relieved to finally have someone protect her that she fell for him without a second thought.
Mike quickly developed feelings for her because she made him feel important and useful. Together, both of the ways they fell for each other made for an unhealthy relationship. They were so blinded by the seemingly good qualities that they skipped past other important building blocks of relationships, such as getting to know the other person on a deeper level. No matter how powerful this bond was, there was only so much he could learn about who she was. Ultimately, by the time Mike made an attempt at starting a relationship with Eleven, all he really knew about her was her name, that she was hiding from “bad people,” and that she had special powers. Unfortunately, this is not nearly enough to fully understand a person to be able to pursue a romantic relationship with them.
El? Are You There?
After Eleven vanished, Mike was devastated. He tried to contact her every night she was gone and refused to give up on her, no matter how much it seemed like she was truly gone. What he was unaware of at this time was that Eleven was using her powers to be with him every time he called. This showed that neither of them let go or moved on since the last they had been together. Once again, despite this being seemingly adorable, it was very flawed. Mike and Eleven were young and deserved time to grow as people and learn about themselves, especially Eleven. Eleven running away from the lab had given her a chance to live her life for the first time. She deserved a chance to learn about the world she had been shielded from and to understand who she was. But, instead, her being so attached to Mike hindered her progress because she was so caught up on someone else that she was not leaving enough energy to focus on learning about herself.
Eleven was not the only one who needed space to grow; so did Mike. Mike was only thirteen years old and still immature. He often thought about solely what affected himself and took little account of those around him, which was not uncommon for teenagers. Lucas even pointed out how as soon as a girl started being around him, Mike instantly devoted all of his attention to this new person who seemed to think so highly of him. He warped his perception of what was important during that week Mike and Eleven first met, which should have been finding his friend, into spending as much time with the new girl that was possible. Mike needed to learn how to look at how his actions affected other people. Not everything was about him and his life, which were flaws that would eventually come around to hurt the very relationship he devoted nearly a year of his life to.
Eleven and Mike’s relationship with each other caused problems in both of their lives that they most likely did not even notice or see as an issue. Mike would constantly cancel plans and ignore his other friends in order to spend more time with Eleven or do something even remotely related to her. When his friend Dustin got back from being away at summer camp and wanted to show Mike the new radio he had built, Mike lied to him, saying that he had to leave for “curfew,” when in actuality, he just wanted to spend time alone with Eleven. Another instance was when Mike and Will had gotten into an argument about how all Mike ever wanted to do anymore was be with his girlfriend, and instead of reacting maturely to Will’s accusation, Mike instead got mad at him and yelled, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” (( Stranger Things. “The Case of the Missing Life Guard.” Netflix video, 21:37. July 4, 2019. )) That had always been a sensitive topic to Will, which Mike was very well aware of, but he said it anyway because he was mad about someone sharing their opinion on his relationship.
Eleven also allowed her time with Mike to drive a wedge into her life, but in a slightly different way. When Jim Hopper, Eleven’s new guardian, rescued her in the woods, she went to live with him. This was an important bond that both of them needed and valued for their own reasons. Eleven never had a good parental figure while she was in the lab, and who she thought was her “father” there treated her horribly and was responsible for a good portion of her trauma. Hopper previously had a daughter, but she passed away. Eleven spent all of her time with him until she began to see Mike again. Suddenly, she began to spend all of her time with her boyfriend, instead of the man who had become her father.
Happy 4th Of July
Hopper began to get fed up with Mike and Eleven being together every second of the summer and told Mike to stay away from her for a little while. However, Mike did not tell her why he couldn’t spend time with her, and he lied to her by saying his grandmother was sick. When Eleven found out he was not telling the truth, she broke up with him and went her own way. She became closer with the other girl in the little group, Max Mayfield, and the two became best friends.
With help from Max, Eleven began to explore more of her personality and started to learn that she could still enjoy life without being with Mike all the time. She started to become more independent, not only from Mike but from Hopper as well. Although breakups are usually hard to go through, Eleven took it well and grew as a person, showing that the split was certainly for the best.
Regular Teenage Girl
Max was accommodating in Eleven becoming more of her own person. Max and Mike had never gotten along much, so she held some firm opinions against him, which ended up being beneficial to getting Eleven to call it quits with them. Max opened her eyes to see that Eleven went with whatever Mike or Hopper said, and even though they both wanted good things for her, they wanted it on their terms without her input. Mike felt a strong need to protect Eleven after losing her for so long, but he did it to such a strong extent to where she had no space to grow. She had become too reliant on him, and she needed the ability to make decisions for herself and to run her own life.
Eleven spent almost the entirety of her life being treated like a test subject like she belonged to someone, and she deserved to be able to live without constantly being under the control of someone elsewhere. She never had opportunities to exist the way she pleased. Mike may not have seen it, but having a break in his relationship with Eleven was also beneficial to him. Although no one was forcing him to, he felt like he had to be responsible for keeping a person who had gone through so many terrible things stable and safe. This was a massive task for just a teenage boy to try to manage. He spent all of his time worrying about what might happen to Eleven, so he didn’t have any time to live his own life. Even though Mike loved her so much, he would never admit that he was carrying too big of a responsibility.
Goodbyes And Moving Vans
The fate of Mike and Eleven is never officially confirmed in the finale of season three. After Hopper did not return from his mission, Eleven began to stay with the Byers, who had been planning on moving out of Hawkins. Eleven had nowhere else to go, so she packed up her belongings and went with them. The goodbyes were tearful, and perhaps one of the hardest was from Mike.
Mike had shown up with the rest of the group to assist in packing up the house and had come to Eleven’s room to pick up a few of her remaining things with her. As he was with her, Eleven revealed that she had overheard what he had said a while back when Mike thought she was not in earshot — that he loves her. Mike tried to explain what he had been talking about, but Eleven cut him off by kissing him, somewhat explaining how she felt toward him. This made Mike and Eleven’s goodbyes to each other even more tearful, but they promised to call and visit each other while they were apart.
The Next Chapter
Mike and Eleven have a relationship with many faults, but they care about each other more than anyone else in the world. Eleven deserves to be able to become who she wants to be without being constantly under protection and close watch by those around her, and her moving away will give her the chance to do that without Mike. The distance could also help Mike understand what she needs to continue to progress in the right direction and could bring him to a better place in his own personal development.
No matter their flaws, the most important thing for Mike and Eleven is that they love each other. If they find a balance where they can continue to be in a relationship while leaving enough room for growth for the both of them, it is probable that they can work out in the end.