Not gonna blame the cast for anything they did. The Duffers played them too: gave actors vague directions, cut scenes, never let them debunk Byler even though they could debunk everything else, made Noah literally give sweat, blood and tears for hours, used his personal +
If Byler isn't endgame and they gave the gay actor who fell in love with his best friend and played a gay character who also fell in love with his best friend AND sacrificed his feelings AND hardwork to help a hetslop dysfunctional relationship THE PAINTING AS A GIFT they're MEAN
You can’t use “realism” as an excuse in a sci-fi. “It’s realistic that a high school couple wouldn’t last,” “it’s realistic that a gay person’s first love is always unreciprocated.” They just used a radio tower to revive a demogorgon that Will snapped, crackled and popped.