I think this post by @aurorabyler has clarified at least one reason why the Mike Monologue felt so weird to me. I’d have to see an edit with this done to be sure, but I genuinely think that the monologue would have felt almost totally acceptable if it had focused on flashbacks instead of on his face. It feels like we shouldn’t be seeing him say this stuff. It feels like they should be montaging some good memories, and there are plenty they could pull out, but they just don’t! It’s almost entirely Mike’s terrified face intercut with El, Will, and Jonathan's equally terrified faces. Instead of feeling lovely and big and important, it feels like everyone is waiting in a panic to see if it’ll work. It doesn’t feel like a love confession. It feels like trying a key in a lock when you don’t know if it’ll fit or not.