I did a thing gay

(Steve and Dustin got me a couple times in this new batch of episodes.) But those moments of genuine feeling are often buried, little blips between hours of mind-numbing, murkily lit action-movie theatrics.

The five-minute tearjerking scene was something that Noah Schnapp worked on for a long time, wanting to nail it for the sake of the character—and himself.

"He had [the scene] months in advance, and he just worked it and worked it,” Ross Duffer told Deadline.

His brother Jonathan, who previously had a heart-to-heart with him back in season 4, also rushes over to wrap him up in a tight hug. But then I realised he's just my Tammy, and by Tammy, I mean it was never about him.

But then today Vecna showed me what would happen if I did this, if I told you guys the truth.

At the end of his emotional speech, Joyce (Winona Ryder) immediately comforts him and reassures him that he will "never lose [her], ever".

He even name-drops Tammy and says his crush on Mike “was never about him; it was about me,” which Robin said to him almost verbatim. As a longtime fan with a degree of emotional investment in these characters, I’m susceptible to final-season sentimentality, so it’s hard not to well up when Joyce, Jonathan, and each of Will’s besties individually tell him they’ll always be there for him.

I mean, I do just— Just not like you guys do. He also nailed the more grounded, human beats, like when Will listens to a story from his mom’s boyfriend about fighting off a recurring nightmare. But is it necessary for Will to useher exact language when he speaks his truth later? But the truth is the issue was never screen time.

But the truth is... But he was also once my favorite character, the most underrated role and performance in the show. I am different."

Stranger Things 5 finally saw Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) open up about his sexuality and come out to his friends and family in an emotional scene that fans of the beloved character have been waiting a long time to see.

In case you haven't been keeping up, Will is gay.

We watched him weigh his anxiety about appearing not normal against his bone-deep fear of what would happen if he let the monsters in. Season five is all climax, and as a result very little of it feels truly climactic.

Back in season two, Will listens to Mr. Clarke tell the story of Phineas Gage, who improbably survived an iron rod through the head but became a different man as a result.

The show has been building to this moment for a long time.