Stranger Things stars mock the finale in new SNL skit: 'After dating an Eleven, tens fall short'

It’s been over two weeks since Stranger Things wrapped up, and the fandom is still broken. What do you mean Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) sacrificed herself along with the Upside Down and might never reunite with the love of her life, Mike (Finn Wolfhard)?

The series ended on an ambiguous note, hinting that she could have survived—and perhaps ended up in Iceland. That was enough for fans to cook up the theory of a ‘secret Episode 9,’ dubbed Conformity Gate, which many believed was all an illusion created by the series’ prime antagonist, Vecna.

We cling to what we want to believe, don’t we? In that spirit, Finn Wolfhard hosted a Saturday Night Live sketch where he reunited with his close friends Dustin and Lucas. A few inappropriate jokes sparked backlash on social media, but what thrilled the ‘Mileven’ fandom was Wolfhard acknowledging that Mike would never move on from Eleven. After all, “when you’ve dated an Eleven, the tens fall short,” he says, morosely. They address the secret Episode 9, and also the problem of missing characters (no, seriously what happened to Dustin's girlfriend who helped them save the world?).

The sketch ends with Mike dragging his friends to Iceland, hoping to find Eleven. Fans were quick to note that “this was better than the actual finale,” as it showcased Mike’s lifelong devotion to Eleven.

There’s a lot to be said about closure here. While most characters got happy endings, the heartbeat of the show—Mike and Eleven—did not get theirs. After all, it was Mike who found Eleven in the rainy woods, took her home, and kept her warm and safe. After she vanished at the end of Season 1, he called her every day for 353 days until they finally reunited and attended the long-promised Snow Ball. Their relationship quietly unfolded over the seasons—sometimes with teenage silliness, and sometimes under the weight of a world pushing them to recognize the depth of their feelings.

And then, it all ended in Season 5. Back to the original question: why can’t Eleven get a happy ending? At this point, we might just have to accept the SNL skit as canon.